• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, March 10, 2009

While basic transactional email practices remain strong, many well-known brands have missed opportunities to maximize sales and up-sell potential, according to a new report conducted by Return Path's newly revamped Professional Services Group.

To solve that problem, according to Return Path, brands should better target messages to buyers and include promotions in transactional messaging.

"Retailers still struggle to integrate purchase history and customer data," said Margaret Farmakis, senior director of email response consulting at Return Path. "When done right, it can exponentially increase response rates by making email more engaging for recipients."

Today, 58% of retailers sent the same first promotional email to buyers as to non-buyers--missing opportunities to personalize or adapt the first promotional email based on a customer's purchase, according to the report.

Meanwhile, only 15% of retailers used data they received during the purchase process to target their promotional messages to buyers.

And, further corroding the trust between companies and consumers, 31% of companies added customers to their email lists--following a purchase--without even requesting permission.

The study is all the more discouraging given other industry trends, which point to consumers' growing affinity for email.

For instance, a recent study conducted by database marketing agency Merkle and research firm Harris Interactive found that the average number of company emails that consumers allow to clog their inboxes has increased from 9 to 10.

Slightly more than half--53%--of consumers reported adding at least one company to their address books to ensure that emails land in their inboxes.

Return Path's Professional Services Group combines Return Path's formerly separate Deliverability Consulting and Strategic Services units.