AM Inbox: Newegg asks for subscriber feedback in new header

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The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Newegg, 8/19 — Back to School All-Category Savings Spectacular! Up to 60% Off!
Newegg has redesigned their email headers, adding a number of prominent elements. To me the most interesting one is the “Vote on Future Deals” link, which takes you to a three-question survey (see below) that collects feedback on the deals included in the email but also feedback on the design of the email itself. It makes me wonder if Newegg took up the eec’s recent Double Dog Dare to ask subscribers to rate their emails. They also add links to a weekly giveaway and to talk to Newegg rep. They also make their refer-a-friend and subscribe links larger, apparently trying to amp their viral pass-along rate. Here’s the new header, as well as a banner toward the bottom of the email pointing out the additions to the header…



…and here’s the old header from an Aug. 14 email:



And here’s the survey landing page, with the selections about their email design revealed:



Ralph Lauren, 8/16 — Shop Exclusive US Open Apparel - Online Or On Your Phone
Ralph Lauren launches a mobile ecommerce site, m.RalphLauren.com. Here’s the landing page that explains how Ralph Lauren Mobile works.



Eddie Bauer, 8/19 — Fall's favorite sweaters are exclusively at Eddie Bauer.
I’m not sure what went wrong with this email, but it highlights the need for solid design for images-off environments—not only for the half of your subscribers that are blocking images by default, but also for those instances like this where your images don’t load for some reason. Eddie Bauer smartly includes a “click to view online” link; however, the images were absent there as well. Thankfully, Eddie Bauer also makes good use of succinct, but descriptive alt text, plus they use HTML text for their nav bar and footer administration center. Eddie Bauer is among the 14% of retailers that use HTML text nav bars, accounting to the Retail Email Rendering Benchmark Study.



Bed Bath & Beyond, 8/19 — Products for Independent Living by Moen
Bed Bath & Beyond has redesigned their preheader, adding a preheader message as well as a “View on Mobile Device” link. I like that they were able to make these additions while simultaneously reducing the length of their preheader text by a line. For more on preheaders, check out the Retail Email Rendering Benchmark Study.



…and here’s the old preheader from an Aug. 13 email:



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 8/18 — Labor Day Sale - End of Summer Deals
Circuit City, 8/17 — Save on campus must-haves (beverages not included)
Sam’s Club, 8/18 — Gear and Gadgets for Back to College
Cooking.com, 8/18 — Back-To-School Ready? Recipes for Easy-Pack Lunches, Desserts and Snacks
Art.com, 8/19 — 3 Days Only - Back to School Special Inside
Newegg, 8/19 — Back to School All-Category Savings Spectacular! Up to 60% Off!
Toys “R” Us, 8/17 — Shop This Week's Super Deals on Video Games, Back to School and More!
Nordstrom, 8/19 — Pre-Order Cole Haan 2008 Fall Collection
J. Jill, 8/18 — Let us inspire you: the corded short trench.
Crate & Barrel, 8/18 — Get to know our Ready to Assemble furniture
RedEnvelope, 8/18 — Check out our 5 Favorite Summertime Gifts
Northern Tool, 8/18 — Chad, Your Opinion Could Be Worth A $557 DeWalt Power Tool Kit
DisneyShopping, 8/18 — Create Your Own Products Today!
Norm Thompson, 8/18 — What's your color personality? Take a look!
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