New research from Responsys shows that 78 per cent of the UK’s top 50 online retailers do not personalise emails, and struggle to engage customers with relevant content.

Despite the hype surrounding targeted marketing based on shoppers’ preferences and previous interactions with a brand, only eight per cent of retailers target customers according to gender and just 12 percent make recommendations based on location.

Less than a quarter send emails that respond to individual customer behaviour such as abandoning shopping carts or browsing the website. Instead, in an effort to provide customers with timely information, 66 per cent of online retailers link emails to upcoming offers or brand events, and a further 14 per cent use bank holidays and national events as a hook.

Remarkably, a fifth of online retailers fail to communicate with customers over email at all, even after they have actively signed up to receive emails. However, 22 per cent of online retailers are frequent mailers; sending emails out every three to five days and over a third send weekly updates.

Forty six per cent of retailers now include social media links in emails, a fifth include a mobile element, and 20 per cent encourage users to share content by forwarding emails to a friend.

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