Marketing Emails Including Discounts Influence Consumer Purchase Decisions

Marketing emails that include some form of discount for consumers can heavily influence their purchasing behaviour, new information from BlueHornet and published on the Marketing Charts website reveals. Such emails influence consumers more than opt-in text message alerts, Facebook posts and direct mail.

The survey asked more than 1,300 US consumers aged between 18 and 75 years old to rate on a scale of one to seven (one being the least influential, and seven being the most) where various marketing messages rate in terms of their influence on their shopping habits. Emails with discounts came first, with an average score of 4.5, followed by emails again – this time containing interesting product news or new service information – with a score of 4.2. Direct mail came third with a score of 3.8.

Facebook posts from friends relating to specific products scored 3.0, whereas Facebook posts from companies came lower with 2.6. Tweets came last, with an average score of only 1.9.

Authors of the report noted that the modern day customer is “trained to wait for discounts”, with around 10% of consumers abandoning their online shopping trolleys in order to take advantage of email discounts – a tactic many retail brands are making the most of.

The top three most popular forms of discount were receiving money off the original retail price, followed by a percentage off the retail price – as stated by consumers in the 18-24, 25-34 and 35-45 age groups. The third most popular form of discount – free shipping – was quoted as the preferred form of discount for consumers in older age brackets.

Seven out of ten respondents listed email as their preferred channel of communication from businesses, with 60% of those in the 18-24 and 25-34 age groups checking their email and social media accounts on their smartphones first thing every morning.