Editorial Articles

These days, everyone is looking for a great bargain. The world of online shopping has made it easier than ever to comparison shop. Plus, it's immediate and completely accessible. Even in shaky economic times, consumers are looking to spend – they just want to get more for their money. Factor in the rise of member-based, limited-time, designer sales sites, and shoppers are in virtual shopping heaven. 

Retailers have seen success in offering exclusive designer sales for years. H&M experienced overnight successes when designers such as Jimmy Choo, Comme Des Garçons and Stella McCartney ran their exclusive sales in the store. Shoppers are desperate for the latest designers but at knock off prices. If they don’t have to face crowds of people sifting through racks and piles – then even better. Imagine being able to pick through all those amazing offers from the comfort of your sofa.

Online shopping and e-commerce is a proven and successful channel for driving revenue for many retailers. But how can retailers offer the same kind of bargain deals on only a select number of garments? Well, when they’re gone, they’re gone and the customers know it. They have to act fast to get the latest deal. What’s even more evolutionary is that the sense of urgency isn’t just a one time and done instance, companies have turned it into an entire business model.

Previously, retailers have been challenged by serious lag times in email distribution, which directly impacted customer satisfaction. For example, if a sale alert arrived to the inbox for some customers at 10 am and for others at 11 am or 12 pm – some of the much desired inventory could already be gone, limiting the equality for consumers. Some retailers have found a way to get these offers and sales notices to their clients faster – which means more real-time traffic to the site, and greater customer satisfaction – leveraging burst email technology.

Hautelook is one such sample sales site that is taking advantage of this technology. A US-based fashion site that hosts up to 12 sales daily lasting 48-72 hours each, Hautelook recently deployed burst technology to manage all of its 60-80% off designer merchandise sales. Each of the 2+ million customers receive a unique and personalised email, based on their shopping behavior and email preferences, and that experience is delivered for each of them within the same 5-minute window. This gives customers equal access to the website’s sales.

In order to achieve this level of speed, volume and personalisation, HauteLook had to migrate from an outsourced email service provider to a dedicated email solution that could directly connect to their customer databases. Because most email service providers have their clients running on a shared email infrastructure, there's no guarantee that sufficient resources will be available if other clients are sending high-volume campaigns at the same time. HauteLook's dedicated solution solves this problem, while also providing the scalability to accommodate their rapid growth.

The necessity for such technology came at the demand of the consumer, which further proves that the brands no longer control or drive the marketing experience. Consumers know there has been a massive swing in power here, and they are taking full advantage (as well they should). Heed what your customers are saying – they are saying it for a reason. Had Hautelook not taken their customer feedback seriously and subsequently found a solution to support the need – they might not have become the 2+ million member strong retailer they are today.

As the consumer gets more and more sophisticated in the ways of email messaging and online marketing capabilities, the programmes and experiences we offer them must correlate - otherwise it will be the marketer that gets left behind and your customers may just go riding off in to the sunset with a competitor.

Kara Trivunovic
Sr. Director Strategic Services, StrongMail