• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 1, 2013

According to new research from Retention Science identifying the types of promotional offers that work best, and when they should be sent to generate maximum revenue for online retailers, while consumers shop online in the afternoon and evening (65%), most promotional emails are sent first thing in the morning, hitting consumers when they aren’t in the buying mood. The data was derived from an analysis of 100 million online transactions, 20 million user profiles and 100 email campaigns.

Email Conversion Rates by Time of Day
Time of Day	Conversion Rate
Morning	28.5%
Afternoon	38
Evening	27
Late night	6.5
Source: RetentionScience, October 2013

What’s more, says the report, although there is some variation by industry, the data showed that promotional offers sent on Tuesdays and Fridays perform best (28 and 26% conversion respectively). Saturday was the lowest-performing day of the week with just 3% conversion rates, followed by Sunday with 6%.

Email Conversion Rates by Day of the Week
Day	Conversion Rate
Monday	8%
Tuesday	28
Wednesday	12
Thursday	17
Friday	26
Saturday	3
Sunday	6
Source: RetentionScience, October 2013

For example, the report says, a women’s fashion retailer with six physical stores located on the West Coast and a robust online presence, recently experienced the benefits of modifying its email campaign timing. Since the retailer switched to Tuesday evening promotional emails three months ago, it has seen revenues increase by 300%.
Data scientist, Chris Gore, notes that “… online retailers are hungry for insights into when, how and where their customers are buying… particularly as we enter the holiday season… “
The research revealed that free-shipping offers trum percent-off offers in terms of conversion. Free shipping offers convert at rates between 0.22% and 1.9%, making them twice as effective as price-reduction offers, which covert at rates between 0.1% and 0.8%.

Conversion Effectiveness of Offers
Offer	Conversion Rate
Percent off	0.1% - 0.8%
Free shipping	0.22% - 1.9%
Source: RetentionScience, October 2013

The report quotes the owner of one of the largest online stores for bikes and accessory kits, who said “… based on (this kind of information)… (since) we began offering individually tailored offers to our customers based on their preferences… we have seen a 200% increase in conversion… (and) a 133% increase in existing customer spending… “ 
The research also reveals, says the report, that 89% of the conversions resulting from subscription email newsletters occur during the first 14 days of the subscription period. The first and third days of subscription deliver the highest rates, with 23% and 11%, respectively.

Email Subscription Commerce Conversion Rates
Days Passed Since Subscription	Conversion Rate
1	23%
2	8
3	11
4	6
5	7
6	5
7	8
8	2
9	7
10	4
11	2
12	1
13	3
14	2
Source: RetentionScience, October 2013

For more information from Retention Science, please visit here.