• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, March 16, 2005

Orders-per-e-mail-delivered rates reached an all-time high of 0.35 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004--up from the previous high of 0.3 percent in the second quarter of 2003, DoubleClick reported this week. In addition, click-to-purchase conversion rates in e-mail marketing campaigns increased 14 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2004--from 4.2 to 4.8 percent. As e-mail volume rose, however, the average revenue per e-mail remained at 26 cents, which resulted in an 11 percent year-over-year decline in average order size to $89, DoubleClick found.

"E-mail delivery has remained a major focus for marketers in recent years due to the backlash to the spam onslaught," read DoubleClick's fourth-quarter 2004 E-mail Trend Report. "However, many marketers have realized that by focusing on delivery as a primary goal, they risk losing sight of the true goal of building relationships with their customers and increasing email productivity."

Bounce-back rates declined to an all-time low of 9.4 percent in the fourth quarter, while open rates declined to 32.6 percent and click rates declined to 8 percent.

DoubleClick bases its report on aggregate data, including billions of permission-based e-mails, from hundreds of clients of its DARTmail e-mail delivery system.