News & Press Releases

Moms Reward Retail Email Marketers for Campaigns that Offer Value and Discounts - If They Are Convinced to Subscribe

69% Subscribe to Only 1 to 5 Retail Emails; 86% Subscribe for Discounts and Coupons; Price and Photos Are Top Motivators to Click Through to Web Site

INTERNET RETAILER CONFERENCE

Chicago, IL. (June 8, 2005) - Moms are active email users and email promotions and newsletters from retailers are a significant influencer of their online purchase decisions, according to a new study on Moms and email. The joint survey, conducted by Lucid Marketing (www.lucidmarketing.com), a marketing and media services company specializing in marketing to Mothers, and EmailLabs (www.emaillabs.com), the leading Web services provider in the email marketing space, also underscores the challenge of getting into Moms' inner circle of emails.

The survey results suggest that Moms are selective when it comes to email marketing with 69 percent subscribing to only one to five retail email promotions/newsletters. If Moms are not familiar with the retailer, 39 percent cited they are "not likely" to opt-in to email promotions. Moms also place an extremely high value on discounts and coupons, with 86 percent indicating savings as the reason why they subscribe to retailing newsletters and promotions. Additionally, Moms are more likely to click through emails that include product pricing (62 percent) and photos (61 percent).

"With 75 million Moms in the United States influencing 80 percent of consumer household purchasing decisions, it's critical that retailers understand how to gain the trust of Moms and deliver value through the email marketing channel," said Kevin Burke, president of Lucid Marketing. "With nearly 70 percent of Moms subscribing to a limiting one to five retail email promotions and newsletters, retailers have to do a better job conveying the value of their email promotions or they will likely never get Moms to subscribe -- let alone click and purchase."

"The results of the study give retail email marketers a tactical roadmap for creating more successful email programs based on greater personalization and relevance for today's Internet-savvy Moms," said Loren McDonald, VP of marketing at EmailLabs. "Establishing yourself in Moms' small circle of emails will depend on email marketers' ability to offer relevant, valuable emails that offer discounts and make it easy for Moms to quickly and easily make purchase decisions."

Paying attention to the 'to' and 'from' lines, offering discounts in the subject line and displaying price and photos for her shopping convenience will help retailers effectively market to Moms.

The survey was designed to better understand how Moms are using and acting on emails from online retailers and is a follow-up to an earlier Lucid Marketing survey. Conducted from May 18-31, 2005, 695 Moms responded to the 23-question national survey. Respondents were Moms with young children and with varying work status.

To download a copy of the Effective Tactics for Email Marketing to Moms report, visit:

Lucid Marketing - http://www.lucidmarketing.com/researchreports.php?pageid=62 or

EmailLabs - http://www.emaillabs.com/reports/moms_email_tactics.html

Key Questions & Results:

I.    Approximately how many online retail email
newsletters/promotions do you subscribe to?

0              2.8%

1 - 5          69.4%

6 - 10         25.7%

11 - 15        4.9%

16+            4.7%


II.   When scanning your inbox to determine which emails to open,
what do you typically base your decision on?

Both the "from name" and the "subject line"     56.4%

The "from name"                                 40.6%

The "subject line"                              2.6%


III.  When visiting a new (to you) online retail website, how
likely are you to opt-in to their email newsletter/promotions
(of those that offer them)?

Varies based on the perceived value of the email    53.7%

Not likely                                          38.7%

Very likely                                         7.6%


IV.   Why do you sign up for retail email newsletters or promotions?

To receive coupons or special discounts       86.6%

To find out what is on sale                   69.0%

To learn about new products                   42.0%

To receive information relevant to me         41.0%

To receive information on events              26.0%

To learn about the company                    6.3%


V.    What type of product information within an email is most likely
to motivate you to click through from an email to the company's
website?

Displaying price                         62.7%

Photo of product                         61.7%

Delivery information                     43.7%

Brand name                               42.4%

Displaying dollar savings                36.1%

Brief description of product             36.1%

Displaying % savings                     24.3%

Number of items / days left in sale      14.9%

Ratings and testimonials                 13.0%

About EmailLabs
EmailLabs is a leading provider of high-performance email marketing solutions to agencies, publishers and marketing departments of middle-market and Global 2000 companies. The EmailLabs email marketing platform is provided as an ASP (Web-based) service, and is easily integrated with a company's Web site, sales force automation and CRM technologies through EmailLabs' application programming interface (API). For the fourth consecutive year, EmailLabs has been recognized by ASPnews.com as one of the Top 50 ASPs worldwide and as a Top 25 Service Provider for the Software-as-a Service (SaaS) and Business Service Provider category. The company provides email marketing solutions to more than 550 companies, including Nokia, Agilent, PalmSource and Jupitermedia. Headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., EmailLabs was founded in 1999 and is a subsidiary of Lyris, Inc. (OTCBB:JLHY). For more information, visit www.EmailLabs.com.