• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 12, 2010

According to Chad White, research director at Responsys and author of the Retail Email Blog, as of Oct. 29, 57% of top online retailers had begun their holiday email marketing campaigns. Prior to October, first references to the holidays by retail email marketers we're running ahead of both 2008 and 2009 levels.

During the first weeks of October, first mentions slowed to below the levels seen in 2008 when retailers were urgent to kick off the holiday season before the economy got any worse. However, first references to the holiday season surged during the week of 10/25, and now stand ahead of 2009 and 2008.

Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.0 promotional emails on average during the week ending Oct. 29, 2010. That's down 2% week-over-week, down 1% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 15% year-over-year.

Virtually all marketers use Email and company websites as marketing channels, according to a recent study from Lyris, reported by Marketing Charts. Email marketing (97%) and company websites (96%) are the most frequently used marketing channels for all respondent groups.

The week of October 25th saw the first reference to Black Friday, which is Nov. 26th this year. In November Veterans Day will be dwarfed by Thanksgiving references, which in turn will be dwarfed by references to the holidays and Christmas. By mid November, more than half of all retail emails will include at least one reference to the holidays.

Friday was the most popular day to send retail emails, with 50% of major online retailers sending a promotional email. Monday, October 25 and Thursday, October 28 tied for second place. Typically, the weekends have the lightest retail promotional email traffic, Saturday, October 23 had the lowest percentage of major online retailers sending emails, followed by Sunday.

Retail Email Participation Rate (% Major Online Retailers Sending At Least One Promotional email)
Day/Date Email Sent		% Retailers Sending
Sat	10/23	21%
Sun	10/24	30
Mon	10/25	44
Tue	10/26	42
Wed	10/27	41
Thu	10/28	44
Fri	10/29	50
Source: Smith-Harmon, November 2010

For additional information from the Smith-Harmon blog, please visit here, or for detailed charts and graphs, visit Marketing Charts here.