The AWCM Index reveals a 4% decrease in the total volume of emails received in February 2009 compared to January (down from 283 to 272). The February volume figure was also lower than in the last three months of 2008, but 13% ahead of September 2008, and 22% ahead of August (See Figure 1).

Figure 1: Monthly volume received

The relatively low email volumes received in February may be partly due to the fact that there are less days in the month. There were particularly low numbers in the last two weeks of the month (weeks 8 and 9), which represented a return to the levels seen in late September, with only the week immediately after Christmas (week 1) showing a lower number received. In contrast, the 85 emails received in the second week of February (week 7) was the 4th highest number recorded since the ACWM index began. So far, the first two weeks in March saw slightly lower email volumes compared to the equivalent weeks in February, but it remains to be seen whether the last two weeks of the month will make up the shortfall, or drop off as they did in February (see 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 decreased in February, to 77 (72%) of the 107 companies on the AWCM Index, having been around 80 in each of the three previous months. However, the number sending emails in February remained ahead of August-October 2008 (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Number of Companies Mailing per Month

With a 4% drop in both the number of companies sending emails in February over January, and the number of emails received, the average number of emails sent per active company remained more or less level, at 3.53. These figures were almost identical to the average number of emails sent in August and September, so that on the surface there appears to be a great deal of consistency in activity outside of the pre-Christmas period (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Average Frequency

However, looking more deeply at the data shows a switch in levels of activity between August/September 2008 and the first two months of 2009, with a decrease in the number of companies relying on a single monthly email, from around 30% to 22-23% in February 2009. There also appeared to be something of a drop off in companies sending 4-5 emails per month. Instead, an increasing proportion of companies have been sending 2-3 emails per month (up from 26% in August, to 39% in February). The number sending 6 or more emails remained level between August/September and January/February, at around 15% of companies, increasing to 22-23% of companies during October-December (see Figure 5).

Figure 5: Frequency of Mailings per Month

Across the 28 weeks that the AWCM Index has been running, the majority of messages (91%) were received in the monitor on week days. Friday was the most popular send day during the working week, accounting for 23% of mailings, ahead of Thursday (21%) and Wednesday (19%) (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Average Day of the Week (Aug08 - Mar09)

The share of messages received on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays increased in Q1 2009 over Q4 2008, with Friday and Sunday also increasing share in Q4 vs Q3 2008. Wednesday has lost share in each of the last two quarters, down from 21% to 18%, with Thursday also losing share over the period as a whole.

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