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, send days, from addresses, and spam folder messages received by the monitor.
The AWCM Index reveals a 5% decrease in the total volume of emails received in June 2009 compared to May (down from 314 to 298). This is the lowest level recorded since February 2009 (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Monthly volume received
Following an increase in the number of emails in week 28, week 29 saw a decrease in the number of emails to 67, however did not fall as low as the level recorded in week 27 (Figure 2).
Over the next 12 months, we will be looking to identify the extent to which these changes are attributable to seasonality, and the current economic climate.
Figure 2: Weekly volume received
The number of companies sending emails fell in June 2009 to 73 (from 75 in May) of the 107 companies on the AWCM Index, the lowest level recorded so far in 2009 (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Number of Companies Mailing per Month
With the number of companies sending emails in June over May falling, and a drop in the number of emails received, the average number of emails sent per active company decreased to 4.02, however it did not fall as low as the level recorded in April 2009 (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Average Frequency
Across the 45 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 23% of mailings respectively, ahead of Wednesday (19%), Tuesday (15%) and Monday (13%) (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Average Day of the Week (Aug08 - July09)
The share of messages received on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays increased in Q3 2009 over Q2 2009, with Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays increasing for the second consecutive quarter. Mondays lost share in each of the last four quarters, down from c15% in Q4 2008 to c10% in Q3 2009, while Tuesdays and Sundays dropped in the latest quarter over Q2 2009 from c15% to c13% and c5% to c3% respectively (Figure 6).
Figure 6: 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 sample list of companies.
Analysis has been undertaken by Alchemy Worx and the independent Research agency BML
