The Alchemy Worx Consumer Mailbox Index, a monthly survey of what email marketers are up to...
The AWCM Index [pronounced: aw-suh m], regularly reports on volumes, frequency, timing of messages received by the monitor.
The AWCM Index reveals a 2% decrease in the total volume of emails received in April 2009 compared to March (down from 307 to 302). However while the April volume figure remained higher than recorded in January and February (by 7% and 11% respectively), it did not reach levels recorded in November and December 2008 (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Monthly volume received
Following consecutive increases in the number of emails in week 17 and 18 (71 and 77 respectively), week 19 saw the volume of emails fall to 62 emails, the lowest number since week 9 in February/March (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Weekly volume received
Almost all the brands we monitor chose not to send any email over the Easter holiday period.
We received only 2 emails on Good Friday and 3 on Easter Monday (Figure 3). By comparison the daily average for a Friday is 60 and Monday is 36.
Figure 3: Number of Companies Mailing per Month
The number of companies sending emails increased slightly in April, to 75 (74%) of the 107 companies on the AWCM Index, following 3 consecutive decreases in the first three months of 2009. However, the number sending emails remained lower than recorded in January and February 2009 (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Number of Companies Mailing per Month
With a 1% increase in the number of companies sending emails in April over March, but a 2% decrease in the number of emails received, the average number of emails sent per active company decreased to 3.89. However, these figures remained higher than January and February 2009 (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Average Frequency
Across the 40 weeks that the AWCM Index has been running, the majority of messages (91%) were received in the monitor on week days. Thursday and Friday were the most popular send days during the working week, accounting for 21% and 25% of mailings respectively, ahead of Wednesday (18%), Tuesday (14%) and Monday (13%) (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Average Day of the Week (Aug08 - Apr09)
The share of messages received on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays increased in Q2 2009 over Q1 2009, with Thursdays also increasing share in Q1 2009 vs Q4 2008. Monday lost share in each of the last two quarters, down from c15% to c11%, while Tuesdays dropped from c17% to c14% in the latest quarter over Q1 (Figure 7).
Figure 7: Day of the Week by Quarter
Methodology
The AWCM Index was started in July 2008 with a fixed number of subscriptions. The index is made up of subscriptions to over 100 free email newsletters or offer programs. The companies represented in the survey cover a broad range of consumer goods and services, including travel, retail, supermarket, comparison sites, DIY / furniture, fashion, health, jewelry, mobile phones, movies, music, photography and electrical goods. Please email us for a full list of companies.
Analysis has been undertaken by Alchemy Worx and the independent research agency BML.
