Stat Source: Sign-up forms, channel preferences, etc.

Retail email marketing statistics and benchmarks from the past month:

Stat: 40% of potential subscribers are not completing the sign-up process. Source: Nielsen Norman Group’s Email Newsletter Usability report. Denise Cox has a good discussion of the report here.
>>Keep sign-ups simple and don’t ask for information you don’t need or can get later. Also, make the benefits of signing up clear and provide sample emails so they can feel better about what they’re signing up for.

Stat: 72% of consumers would prefer to receive opt-in promotional messages via email; direct mail was a distant second with 26%. However, 59% of consumers would prefer to receive unsolicited promotional messages via direct mail; email was a distant second at 38%. In both cases, none of the other channels—messaging through social networks, instant messaging, phone, text messaging and RSS—garnered more than 1%. Source: ExactTarget’s 2008 Channel Preference Survey
>>Direct mail and email can be a powerful one-two punch, with direct mail kicking off new relationships and then email nurturing those relationships.

Stat: More than 88% of respondents said they would like organizations to give them more choices over the content and frequency of the emails they receive. Source: Habeas/Ipsos study, May 2008
>>And here’s the reality: Only 28% of major online retailers offer emails on different topics, and only 1% give subscribers the opportunity to select the frequency at which they receive email during the sign-up process, according to the Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study.

Stat: U.S. Internet users viewed 11.5 billion online videos during March, representing a 13% gain versus February and a 64% gain versus March 2007. Source: comScore Video Metrix service, March 2008 data
>>Consider linking to product demonstration, educational and instructional videos on your site or blog, running consumer-generated video contests, etc. Explore Video tag.

Stat: 57% of major online retailers design their emails so that they are entirely or mostly composed of images. Source: Email Experience Council, Retail Email Rendering Benchmark Study
>>With approximately half of all email users blocking images by default in their primary inboxes, emails that are composed entirely or mostly of images can create serious rendering challenges.

For more stats, read past Stat Source posts or visit eec silver sponsor EmailStatCenter.com. Also check out results from the eec’s latest Two-Click Survey.
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