Etailers try to jump-start holiday shopping

[mandy]

With forecasters predicting soft holiday sales, online retailers are going on the marketing offensive, hoping to get consumers shopping early with aggressive e-mail campaigns and plans for more promotions than ever on the Monday after Thanksgiving. In a sign that consumers may be responding, one index of 10 large e-retailers shows sales were up 30% last week over the same week a year ago.

49% of the top 100 online retailers sent out at least one marketing e-mail yesterday, up sharply from 29% last year, according to RetailEmail.Blogspot, which tracks the e-mail marketing campaigns of top e-retailers and is associated with the Direct Marketing Association’s Email Experience Council. That follows a 14% increase in e-mail volume last week compared with the same week a year ago. E-mail volume also was up in advance of the Columbus Day and Veterans Day sales...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=24490