How’s My Gear?

That’s what online retailer DogFunk wants to know. As a Christmas present to myself, and because I was headed back to my hometown of Buffalo, NY in the midst of a winter storm, I purchased a Coal “The Yukon” Brim Beanie from this gen-x online retailer. The website itself had a great theme, and definitely appropriate for their target demographic. I won’t get into details about the site itself and the checkout process, but the communication from the online retailer is what impressed me the most.

The usual email order confirmation came through immediately, but not the kind of typical order confirmation emails that consumers usually receive. It contained information with estimated ship dates, where to get answers to questions, as well as on-site promotions. It was very well laid out, thoughtful, and clear. And in line with their gen-x theme, they don’t just plainly state that orders ship within 24 hours, instead they declare “Get stoked - most items ship within 24 hours.” As promised, I also received a similar email once the item shipped with tracking information. All were great examples of transactional email marketing.

But the focus of this article revolves around yet a third email I received about this order. An email that most retailers overlook - the follow up email. I received this email exactly 30 days after my order - just enough time for me to receive it, try it out, and form an opinion about it. This email encouraged me to visit their website and complete a review of the product, as well as welcoming me as part of the “community”. This is an example of a very creative way to get in front of the consumer while not pushing marketing materials down their throat. This email is intended to ensure that I am satisfied with my purchase and might qualify it to get around CAN-SPAM compliance issues around email Marketing as long as it is positioned appropriately.

We applaud DogFunk.com in their transactional marketing practices, where they clearly have created a balance in intensity between the marketing and service mix in these emails. Statistics show that a younger audience is more accepting of marketing content in their transactional emails than older audiences (29% of consumers aged 18-34 don’t mind marketing information in service emails as long as the important service information is readily seen). Assuming that DogFunk.com’s demographics are within that range, they have employed what appears to be an effective marketing tactic.