Experian Q3 2016 Email Benchmarking Report

1. Quarterly email benchmark report
Q3 2016 — July, August, September
A Cross-Channel Marketing email report

2. CONTENTS
Executive summary: Q3 2016.....................................................................................................................1
Spotlight on: Rules for triggers...................................................................................................................2
Q3 2016 benchmark volume.......................................................................................................................5
Performance analysis.................................................................................................................................6
Mobile trends.............................................................................................................................................10
Appendix: Metrics definitions...................................................................................................................12

3. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 1
Executive summary: Q3 2016
The following report details overall email marketing trends for the third quarter of 2016, as well as the key performance indicators (KPIs) that shaped
the year-over-year email program success for Cross-Channel Marketing clients.
Key trends:
• Email volume rose by 19.8% in Q3 2016 compared to Q3 2015. Though send volume increased, transaction rates, revenue per email, and average
order values were similar to the rates seen in Q3 2015.
• Year-over-year total click rates have declined for the past 4 quarters. We found a negative correlation between the increase in clicks on mobile
phones, and the decline in total click rates.
• Quarter-to-quarter volume had a modest 3.9% increase for Q3 compared to Q2 2016. Most metrics were similar to those seen in Q2, but
revenue per email and average order values were somewhat lower. For example, luxury brands showed a drop in average orders from $539 in
Q2 to $472 in Q3.
In this quarter’s Spotlight on section, we explore rules for triggers:
• Business rules for trigger emails such as abandon cart and browse campaigns often include suppression rules of 24 hours, 2 weeks,
or even 30 days.
• The shorter, 24-hour period, allows more than one abandon cart email to be sent to the same email address if the customer abandons another cart
even on the next day. Our study of abandon cart emails in July 2016 found that customers who received multiple abandon cart emails were 2.4
times more likely to complete a transaction than customers who received only one.
• Business rules for trigger emails should be driven by customer behavior, and brands should test reducing any suppressions to find the optimal
cadence for these email programs.

4. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 2
Spotlight on: Rules for triggers
As the holiday season approaches, consumers will be stocking their online carts in the hunt for the perfect gifts. However, it is important that items
actually make it from the cart to the gift box, and that’s where triggered campaigns can help. A recent analysis of abandon cart campaigns highlighted the
importance of business rules in designing and deploying triggered messages. A retail brand came to us with a question as to why one set of the campaigns
in their abandon cart program had higher transaction rates than the other. Both sets of campaigns were deployed within one hour of the cart being
abandoned. A close look at the business rules for these campaigns revealed that the lower performing set of campaigns suppressed subscribers for 2 weeks
after the first abandon cart message had been delivered, while the more successful campaigns had only a 24-hour suppression. Intrigued by this difference,
we wanted to see if there were any subscribers that received additional abandon cart messages after the first 24 hours and if so, how they performed.
The business rules
It is normal business practice to suppress duplicates in any email. It is
also common to be concerned about sending too many emails to the
same subscribers for fear of increasing unsubscribe rates, especially
during the flurried activity of holiday shopping. With these concerns in
mind, we found that some brands choose to suppress abandon cart and
browse triggers for 2 weeks or even, in some cases, for 30 days.
Both sets of campaigns were deployed within one hour of the cart being
abandoned. A close look at the business rules for these campaigns
revealed that the lower performing set of campaigns suppressed
subscribers for 2 weeks after the first abandon cart message had been
delivered, while the more successful campaigns had only a 24-hour
suppression. Intrigued by this difference, we wanted to see if there were
any subscribers that received additional abandon cart messages after the
first 24 hours and if so, how they performed.
Send another
abandon cart email if
abandonment is beyond
the suppression period
Send another
abandon cart email if
abandonment is beyond
the suppression period
Cart
abandoned
Cart
abandoned
Send 1st
abandon cart
email
Send 1st
abandon cart
email
2nd or
more carts
abandoned
2nd or
more carts
abandoned
Suppress if
sent within
past 2 weeks
Suppress if
sent within
past 24 hours
2 weeks
or more
Just
24 hours
The flow for the more successful abandon cart campaign is the
same, with the exception of the length of suppression

5. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 3
The customers
To analyze the impact of the shorter suppression rule, we expanded our
analysis to include over half a million abandon cart emails sent from
several brands in July, 2016. By counting campaigns sent at the email
address level, and matching email addresses to specific transactions,
we were able to identify differences in the performance of those
customers who received multiple abandon cart emails compared to
those that only received one. This study did not look at any follow-up
campaigns in an abandon cart series, but instead only focused on the
initial abandon response. 10% of the recipients of these abandon cart
campaigns received more than one abandon cart email and generated
18% of the total transactions for these campaigns. Transaction rates per
customer were used to compare the response of these multiple abandon
cart recipients to those in the same campaigns that received only one
abandon cart email.
In addition, these multi-abandoned cart recipients had a 43.4% higher rate
of multiple transactions than those customers receiving only one email
(9.9% of multi-email recipients had multiple transactions compared to
6.9% for those receiving only one email). To see if the higher transaction
rates per customer occurred with other types of triggers, we also looked at
browse email campaigns
1 abandon cart email
Transactionratepercustomer
Transaction rates more than doubled for those
receiving multiple abandon cart emails
Source: Cross-Channel Marketing Multiple abandon cart emails
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
1.9%
4.6%
11.2%
1 browse email
Transactionratepercustomer
Although rates were lower, the pattern was the same
for those receiving multiple browse emails
Source: Cross-Channel Marketing Multiple browse emails
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
0.4%
0.5%
0.2%
0.5%

6. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 4
Discussion
The high rates of transactions per customer for those receiving multiple
emails would appear to indicate that these customers are not bothered
by receiving more than one abandon cart email. To the contrary, they
seem to welcome it. This is not surprising if we consider that customers
have initiated the contact with the brand, selected items, and then
abandoned a cart before receiving each email. People abandon carts for
many reasons: a phone call, a child’s needs, an appointment to make,
a budget to check. In our study, 70% of people who received multiple
abandon cart emails and then completed a purchase did so after
receiving, on average, 2 abandon cart emails. These buyers are clearly
willing to hear from the brand again, though brands must remember
it’s necessary to test suppression lengths and optimal frequency to find
the ideal cadence. While business rules are needed to maximize the
deliverability and response of email campaigns, a case can be made that
the rules for trigger campaigns, such as abandon cart and browse, should
be driven first by the customer behavior. If we remove the word ’email’
from this discussion, and imagine a customer in a retail store, we can
see how some suppression rules may be illogical. If a customer seeking
that perfect present went to a store today, and left without purchasing,
would you instruct the store personnel to ignore them the next day if they
returned? Would you not try to sell them anything for the next two weeks?
Summary
An analysis of business rules for abandon cart emails has shown that
some suppression rules (of 2 weeks or more) may be reducing the
possible response to these trigger campaigns. In campaigns with only
a 24-hour suppression, subscribers who received 2 or more abandon
cart emails within 7 days had more than double the transaction rate per
customer than those receiving only one email. This same pattern held for
browse campaigns as well.
• As the holiday season ramps up, review the business rules for your
trigger campaigns, and see if they are in line with the customers’
interactions with your brand
• Test reducing any suppressions to find the optimal cadence for
delivering these trigger campaigns
If you would like more information on how Experian Marketing
Services can help you optimize your trigger campaigns, please
call 1 844 747 1667 or visit www.experian.com/marketingservices.

7. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 5
Q3 2016 benchmark volume
Year-over-year volume comparison
The following benchmarks report the year-over-year (YOY) trends for
Q3 2016 compared to Q3 2015. This quarter, email volume rose by 19.8%
compared to the same quarter last year.
2.9%
37.5%
22.3%
16.3%
38.1%
6.2%
19.8%
Volume variance Q3 2016 versus Q3 2015, by industry
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
All industryTravelPublishersMulti-channel
retailers
Media
and
entertainment
Consumer
products
and
services
Business
products
and
services
• 73% of consumer products and services and 76% of multi-channel retail
brands had YOY gains in volume in Q3.
• For the other verticals, only about half of the brands in each vertical had
volume increases.
Volume variance, quarter-to-quarter
-0.2% -0.5%
27.7%
4.5%
-8.1%
3.9%
-5.5%
Volume variance Q3 2016 compared to Q2 2016,
by industry
-10%
-5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
All industryTravelPublishersMulti-channel
retailers
Media
and
entertainment
Consumer
products
and
services
Business
products
and
services
• Overall volume rose by a modest 3.9% in Q3 compared to Q2 2016.
• Within media and entertainment, gaming and media/broadcast brands
had large volume increases.

8. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 6
Performance analysis
To enhance our understanding of performance by industry, we analyzed all Q3 metrics for 2016 versus 2015.
Positive change Minimal change Negative change
All industry: Q3 year-over-year performance analysis
All industry: Q3 2016 compared to Q2 2016 performance analysis
• Even as send volume increased, transaction
rates were similar to the rates seen in Q3 2015.
• The declines in revenue per email and average
order values were driven by lower average
order values for luxury brands ($539 in Q2
compared to $472 in Q3).

9. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 7
Business products and services: Q3 YOY performance analysis
• While the Q3 2016 click rates rose for business
products and services, only 50% of the brands
had statistically significant increases in total
and unique click rates.
Consumer products and services: Q3 YOY performance analysis
• For consumer products and services, open
and transaction rates were higher than last
year, despite a 37% increase in volume. Beauty
and consumer financial brands led the volume
increases.
• While overall click rates declined, 46% of
brands had statistically significant year-over-
year increases in both total and unique click
rates, and 50% had significant increases in
transaction rates and revenue per email.
Media and entertainment: Q3 YOY performance analysis
• Q3 YOY total open rates for media and
entertainment brands matched those seen in
Q3 2015.
• Click rates declined as volume increased.
At the same time, the percentage of clicks
occurring on mobile phones and tablets grew
from 44% in 2015 to 54% in 2016.

10. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 8
Multi-channel retailers: Q3 YOY performance analysis
• While unique open and click rates were lower
YOY for multi-channel retailers, the results
were mixed, as 50% of brands had statistically
significant increases in open and click rates.
Publishers: Q3 YOY performance analysis
• Year-over-year open and click rates rose for
publishers, even as volume increased by over
38%. It will be interesting to see if these trends
continue after the election season.
Travel: Q3 YOY performance analysis
• While click rates had YOY declines for travel,
the results were mixed, as 42% of travel brands
had significant increases in click rates.
• The percentage of clicks received on mobile
phones and tablets rose from 42% in Q3 2015 to
50% in Q3 2016 for travel brands.

11. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 9
Methodology
Cross-Channel Marketing’s quarterly benchmarks are based on the
analysis of major email marketing trends and key performance indicators
across six major verticals: business products and services, consumer
products and services, media and entertainment, multi-channel retailers,
publishers, and travel. Data analyzed in these benchmark reports are from
client brands within the United States and Canada that have opted to
participate in the study. All metrics, including the historical benchmarks,
reflect average performance 7 days after the emails were sent.
Trend to watch: Declines in click rates related to
mobile use
All industry total click rates have declined year-over-year for each of the
past four quarters. During this period, there has been a large increase
in the percentage of clicks generated on mobile phones. We found a
significant negative correlation between these two metrics (-92%).
As mobile use continues to grow, brands must strive to ensure the
clear visibility and ease of use of mobile calls-to-action.
-0.2% -0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5%
Q2:2015
Q3:2015
Q4:2015
Q1:2016
Q2:2016
Q3:2016
Total click rates have declined as the percent of clicks on
mobile phones have increased
Source: Cross-Channel Marketing
Uniqueopenrates
6.9%
27.5%
38.1%
34.4%
43.5%
8.5%
4.9%
-12.6%
-9.5%
-12.0%
-10.9%
5.7%
YOY change in
total click rate
YOY change in % of
clicks on mobile phones

12. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 10
Mobile device trends
Email opens and clicks by platform (Q3 2016)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
TravelPublishers
Multi-channel
retailers
Media and
entertainment
Consumer
products and services
Business products
and servicesAll industry
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Source: Cross-Channel Marketing
PercentofopensPercentofclicks
Desktop Mobile Tablet
$0.08%
44%
43%
13%
16%
5%
51%
12%
45%
16%
51%
13%
30%
19%
36%
23%
79%
37% 39% 36%
51%
41%
51%
41%
8%
87%
11%
2%
45%
48%
7%
46%
45%
9%
38%
53%
9%
58%
29%
13%
50%
34%
16%
• 56% of total email opens occurred on mobile phones or tablets in Q3 2016, a 4% increase from 54% in Q3 2015.
• The majority of email opens and total clicks occurred on mobile phones or tablets for all industries except business products and services and publishers.

13. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 11
Email opens and clicks by platform (Q3 2016)
-40%
-20%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
TravelPublishers
Multi-channel
retailers
Media and
entertainment
Consumer products
and services
Business products
and servicesAll industry
-40%
-20%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Source: Cross-Channel Marketing
Year-over-yearopenchangeYear-over-yearclickchange
-4.3%
-15.3%
6.7%
-29.9%
-18.9% -16.1%
-1.9%
-13.6%
13.1%
-11.11% -15.7%
-21.3%
28.9%
-20.1%
2.3%
27.5%
-15.0%
63.7%
17.9% 15.9%
-12.7%
19.4%
8.6%
3.1%
-63.7%
3.9%
76.1%
1.1%
57.2%
22.4%
-24.4%
-6.5% -6.7%
45.9%
85.2%
-32.9%
12.3%
25.0%
13.1%
-1.4%
74.5%
-39.3%
Desktop Mobile Tablet
• The large increase in the percentage of clicks received on mobile phones was led by consumer products and services, media and entertainment,
multi-channel retailers, and travel brands.

14. Quarterly benchmark report Q3 2016 (July, August, September) | 12
Appendix: Metrics definitions
Total opens: All opens recorded for the mailing including multiple opens by the same subscriber. Total open rates are (total opens/received).
Unique opens: The number of unique subscribers that have opened an HTML-formatted message. Unique open rates are (unique opens/received).
Total clicks: Every click on a tracked link, including multiple clicks by a given subscriber. Total click rates are (total clicks/received).
Unique clicks: The number of unique subscribers who have clicked on any link. Unique click rates are (unique clicks/received).
Click-to-open rates: Unique clicks as a percentage of unique opens (unique clicks/unique opens).
Transaction rates: Overall percentage of transactions as related to delivered messages (transactions/received). This metric only includes data for clients
who have implemented Experian Marketing Services’ Track to Purchase functionality.
Transaction-to-click rates: Percentage of transactions compared to the number of unique clicks (transactions/unique clicks). This metric only includes
data for clients who have implemented Experian Marketing Services’ Track to Purchase functionality.
Average order value: Average total amount for each transaction. This metric only includes data for clients who have implemented Experian Marketing
Services’ Track to Purchase functionality.
Revenue per email delivered: Average amount earned for each delivered email (total order/received).
Bounce rates: The percentage of subscribers that did not receive a mailing because their email addresses hard bounced (bounce/sent).
Unsubscribe rates: The total percentage of subscribers lost as a result of users unsubscribing from the mailing (unique unsubscribers/received).

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November 2016
Intelligent interactions.
Every time.