Cyber Monday Stretches Beyond Retail Industry with Email Marketing Campaigns

Author:

Amy Tierney

Source:

Cyber Monday isn’t just for retailers anymore. This year, a new trend emerged showing marketers from other industries attempting to cash in on Cyber Monday email marketing promotions.
 
While typically associated with the retail sector, “Cyber Monday” is proving to be more than just a shopping day full of discounts on gifts and gadgets. Marketers from industries—including Travel and Hospitality and Media and Publishing—tried to capture the halo effect from the Monday after Thanksgiving to boost sales.
 
For example in the travel sector, companies like Orbitz and Frontier Airlines sent subscribers Cyber Monday-branded emails that offered limited-time deals. Unlike other promotions, Orbitz sent its email three days in advance of Cyber Monday, and featured discounts off hotels for holiday travel.
 
Meanwhile, Frontier Airlines ran a one-day only email promotion that offered steep airfare discounts for flights purchased on Cyber Monday.
 
That’s not all. The Media and Publishing industry jumped on the Cyber Monday bandwagon. Marvel Entertainment offered a 30% discount off digital comics via email on Monday. In addition, Condé Nast sent an email to subscribers on behalf of Allure Magazine and other publications offering a weeklong promotion of up to 85% off the annual newsstand price of select magazines.
 
The Monday after Thanksgiving was dubbed Cyber Monday in 2005 as part of an effort to get consumers to focus on online shopping. But some companies, including Condé Nast , are featuring online deals beyond Cyber Monday to sustain the momentum.
 
So far, there appears to have been plenty of activity around the busiest online shopping day, at least on the retail side. According to analytics group Coremetrics, online sales on Cyber Monday rose 19.4% this year compared to 2009. The average order value on Cyber Monday was $194.89, an 8.3% increase from last year's average of $180.03.