Shoppers Prefer Email Promotions Over Social Media, Survey Shows

- July 14, 2010



Santa Clara, CA – July 14, 2010 – CrossView survey examines shopper promotion preferences across channels CrossView, a premier provider of cross-channel commerce solutions, today announced the results of a survey designed to determine shoppers’ retail promotion preferences. CrossView surveyed 160 shoppers across four states – North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois and Kansas – from Apr. 23 to 27, 2010.

When surveyed, 35% said they were shopping due to a recently received promotion from a retailer. Of those who did not receive a promotion, 68% said they would have been more likely to visit a store if they had been given one.

“The survey findings reinforce how important promotions are in influencing consumer purchasing decisions,” said Mark Fodor, Chief Executive Officer at CrossView. “It also shows that delivery methods and consumer preferences are across the board, which means that retailers need to be able to communicate brand, product and promotional messaging consistently across channels.”

Among respondents shopping due to a promotion, delivery methods included:
  • 32% Mailer
  • 29% In-Store
  • 27% E-mail
  • 9% Other (TV, Street Sign, Website, Newspaper, etc)
  • 4% Text
  • 0% Social Media
The survey showed a significant consumer preference for receiving promotions via email (37%) as opposed to other methods of delivery. Social media, considered by many retailers as the next wave of consumer communication, ranked nearly last with 9%.

Fodor adds, “Consumers have very definite ideas of how they want to receive promotional materials. Regardless of which technologies are ‘hot,’ shoppers expect to navigate between channels based on convenience and personal preference.”

The final results showed that preferred methods of receiving retail ranked as such:
  • 37% E-Mail
  • 23% Mailer
  • 18% Text
  • 11% In-Store
  • 9% Social Media
  • 3% Other (TV, Street Sign, Website, Newspaper, etc)
The shoppers also indicated willingness to receive other types of communications from retailers. Thirty-nine percent of respondents stated they would like to receive new product information, 16% requested store opening/closing notices, and 12% stated they would like to receive discounts/coupons.

Respondents were 64% female and 36% male. For additional CrossView retail studies and whitepapers, visit www.crossview.com.

About CrossView:

CrossView is a premier provider of cross-channel commerce solutions and has been serving the retail community since 1997. Clients range from top 10 Internet retailers to organizations expanding into multiple channels. CrossView's product suite is integrated with a company's core retail management systems, bringing together all information around customers, orders, products, pricing, promotions and inventory across all sales channels. For more information, visit www.crossview.com.