It Could Get Ugly

RETAILERS THAT STILL USE all-HTML e-mail — and there apparently are a lot of them — are in for a horrendous online holiday shopping season, according to Epsilon Interactive's chief marketing officer Michael Della Penna.

The prediction comes on the heels of an Epsilon study in which the e-mail service provider determined that 65% of e-mail users encountered image suppression, where e-mail arrives in recipient's inboxes without visible graphics.

“If you're a retailer doing all-image e-mail, you're in for a rude awakening in the fourth quarter,” he said. “All those valuable promotional efforts you're putting together are not going to be seen by key prospects and customers.”

E-mailbox providers — AOL, Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft among them — increasingly are blocking HTML in an attempt to fight the transmission of viruses through e-mail.

How inbox providers display image suppression to e-mail recipients differs. For example, Google's Gmail leaves a blank space or box where the image is meant to be, but still renders the text elements of the marketer's message. AOL's free e-mail service AIM.com hides the entire message behind a graphic, asking: “Do you know who sent you this e-mail? If you don't know who sent you this e-mail, be cautious opening it.”

Epsilon's poll noted that 69% of those who experienced image suppression said they sometimes activate images in statements or order forms from senders they've patronized. Also, 57% said they occasionally view images in promotional e-mail from similar sources.

But that still leaves a huge segment of e-mail recipients who aren't seeing marketers' graphics: Just 15% said they'll always turn on the graphics in promotional e-mail from senders with which they have a business relationship.

At the same time, many retailers take their print direct marketing pieces and repurpose them for e-mail, believing they're saving time and money in production by using creative that's already proven to work. Large ad agencies often will reuse print creative for e-mail because producing new art and copy requires getting all the appropriate people at the client company to sign off on it. So it's easier to use creative that's already been given the OK by everyone who matters on the client side.

“You don't want to take the shortcut this year,” said Della Penna. “You really have to rethink the way you rebuild creative.”

As more and more images are suppressed, recipients of all-HTML e-mail see nothing but opt-out instructions.

And it may get worse: In another survey by Epsilon this past January, 65% of those questioned said they'd buy in a store after receiving a promotional e-mail. As a result, retailers that fail to address image suppression may also find their offline sales affected.

Della Penna said e-mail should include a mix of images and text, all above the fold, that ensure the recipient sees the marketer's offer whether or not the images are blocked. He also recommended that senders educate recipients about default image suppression and how to turn images on.

Otherwise, he said, “you're going to get slaughtered online this year.”