Should you increase email frequency?
It is a temptation for email marketers to begin to send out more offers to customers if current campaigns are working well in the hope that increased frequency will yield greater returns.
This can be a risky strategy though; while more emails may produce better results, there is a point at which customers will tire of too many emails and start to unsubscribe, ignore, or mark emails as spam.
How to spoil your checkout process
I looked at VistaPrint's checkout process last month, and found it one of the most annoying and complicated ones I had ever seen, but now I have found a checkout to rival it.
Like VistaPrint, domain name registration company GoDaddy overcomplicates its checkout process by adding a ridiculous amount of cross-selling options that are sure to annoy all but the most determined customers.
How often should retailers be sending out emails?
Finding the right balance for email frequency is crucial for retailers, but some get it badly wrong and run the risk of annoying customers by sending far too many promotional emails.
Having already put me off the purchase with way too much cross selling during the checkout process, VistaPrint has now compounded the problem by sending my 10 emails in the space of 11 days.
Overcomplicating the checkout process
Checkout processes are supposed to be made as easy as possible for customers to complete. Of course, a certain amount of detail is required to complete a transaction, but this should be made relatively painless for the user.
The checkout and purchase process should be smooth and easy to understand, distractions should be removed, while the amount of information required and the number of steps should be kept to a minimum to make it as quick as possible. This is not the case on VistaPrint though, which has one of the most complicated checkouts I have seen.
