Top online retailers set a record for the volume of promotional email they sent last week. According to Chad White, research director at Responsys and author of the Retail Email Blog, top online retailers sent their subscribers an average of 4.1 promotional emails each during the week ending December 18, 2009.

This number represents roughly an 11% increase from the average of 3.7 promotional emails top online retailers sent their subscribers during the week ending December 11, 2009. Average promotional email volume for the week ending December 11 also rose 44% from slightly more than 2.8 the week ending November 20, 2009 and 5% from about 3.8 during the equivalent four week-period in November-December 2008, reports Retailer Daily.

Turnaround?

Last week, White predicted retail email volume would fall for the first time since the Retail Email Blog began tracking retailer email campaigns in 2006 during the week ending December 18, 2009. However, a surge in emails during this final week of guaranteed Christmas delivery with standard shipping pushed volume above last year's.

Promotional email volume has grown erratically during the 2009 holiday season, White noted. Monday, December 14, was the most popular day to send retail emails last week, with 62% of top online retailers sending at least one promotional email. Thursday, which was Free Shipping Day, turned out to be the least popular weekday last week, with only 48% of top online retailers sending at least one promotional email, but retailers may look to leverage and build awareness of this day in 2010.

Final Push

This week, retailers are expected to make their final push for Christmas messaging, and New Year's messaging will likely start to pick up. Last week, the percentage of top online retailers sending promotional email mentioning Christmas dropped slightly from 90% the week ending December 11. During the same time period, virtually no retailers sent promotional email mentioning New Year's.