2018 Holiday Marketing Guide Lessons & opportunities from the 2017 holiday season Executive Summary 2017 was a relatively strong year for holiday sales, buoyed by strong employment and higher consumer confidence. The National Retail Federation reported that holiday sales during November and December of 2017 increased by 5.5% year-over-year, the largest increase since 2010. 1Similarly, eMarketer reported that retail ecommerce grew by 17.8% in 2017, 2demonstrating that retail continues to undergo significant changes affected by shifts in consumer behaviors and preferences. With analysts estimating a more modest growth for the 2018 holiday season (15.3% increase in retail ecommerce and a total retail holiday sales growth of 3.8%), 2and the ongoing shifts in the retail landscape, it is more important than ever for brands to make the most of their holiday planning. To help marketers understand and identify opportunities and trends, Yes Lifecycle Marketing analyzed almost 8 billion emails sent in Q4 2017 through its Yesmail360i platform. In addition to analyzing standard email metrics like engagement and conversion rates, we looked at the day of the week performance and types of offers promoted in the subject line to determine the effectiveness of holiday-themed messages and see how timing and incentives affected engagement.2 Introduction Key Findings Quick Definitions In this report, we will examine the adoption rate of different Q4 holidays in marketers messages, compare the performance of each holiday listed above, illustrate best practices with creative examples from top performers and provide tips for the 2018 holiday season. - In Q4 2017, holiday-themed emails generated lower open rates than standard messages. - Despite lower engagement, themed emails that featured 5 out of the 9 events identified above generated higher conversion rates* than standard emails. - 2017 was a good year for marketers who capitalized on Cyber Monday. Despite the fact that nearly a third of brands sent messages around this event, the conversion rates for Cyber Monday were the highest from all holidays. *Conversion rate is defined as the ratio of unique email clicks to purchases Business as Usual (BAU)/Standard Messages: For the purposes of this report, BAU emails (also referred to as standard emails) are marketing messages that do not have a holiday theme and are not part of a triggered program (e.g. welcome, reactivation, transactional, birthday, etc.) Email Offer Types: Our analysis includes 3 of the most common offer types referenced in campaign subject lines: - % off and $ off: These incentives advertise a specific percent off or a dollar amount off purchase. Examples include: “Ring in 2018 with 17% off” and “5% off with any purchase”. - Free shipping: A straightforward incentive that can include certain limitations, for example, “Free shipping on orders over $50” or “Free shipping: today ONLY.” Major holidays in the fourth quarter of 2017 Introduction anchor Columbus Day: Monday, October 9 Thanksgiving Thursday, November 23 Halloween Tuesday, October 31 Black Friday Friday, November 24 Cyber Monday Monday, November 27 Christmas Monday, December 25 Green Monday Monday, December 11 New Year 2018 Monday, January 1