UCD Concepts

Carson Pirie Scott sure has.

I woke up to receive an e-mail with the subject line “It’s Your Birthday This Month! Celebrate with 25% off!”.

Ok, it’s an e-mail from the sender “Carson’s Birthday Wishes”.  Now how nice was that?

This was something completely unexpected and a pleasant surprise.

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Now take a look at the page the e-mail links to.

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Cool, I have been wanting to buy an iPod Nano and I can use the 10% off right now to buy online.

Oh wait, no I can’t.  The coupon is not good for Internet orders.  Seriously?  Carson’s just lost a sale.

What’s the point of sending out a coupon to your online subscribers if you are not going to let them use the coupon online?

Let me break down the experience.

1. Yeah, I got a coupon in the e-mail and I was just looking to buy an iPod.
2. Awesome, I get an extra 10% off the price.
3. What, can’t use the coupon online?
4. Ok, I’ll just go to Apple’s website and get one for $20 more, but at least I have the convenience of not having to leave my house to purchase it.
5. I am satsified with my purchase on Apple.com and even got free engraving on my new iPod.

Well, there it is.   That’s how I roll.

I am guessing that Carson’s was just trying to get me in the door (and possibly buy more while I was there), but I just don’t have the time to drive off to find a Carson’s to purchase from.

I realized I still have a warm, fuzzy feeling from Carson’s though.  They went above and beyond by offering me something as personalized as they did and it me me feel good about Carson’s overall.  I hope that they offer me something I can use online in the future though.

Have you been given that personal touch lately?  If not, I hope you do soon.

Cheers.

Did I get your attention?

Well this e-mail from Peapod sure got mine.  I can’t even begin to tell you how much I want to order from them based off the e-mail they sent me.

Tell me if this is enticing to you.

This has got to be one of the best looking sundaes I have ever seen.  It is seriously making my mouth water it looks so good.

Anyway, what do you think?  Did Peapod hit the nail on the head with this one?  It’s simple, direct and let’s you know when the deal expires so you make no mistake knowing when you need to order by.

Great job Peapod!  I’ll be placing my order now.

Here’s another old post lost in the digital space. Thanks to www.archive.org I was able to get this one back.
Circuit City is no longer around as far as I know, but when I originally wrote this one I was getting very interested in email marketing techniques. There are some really good writers out there and they are paid to focus on taking your money.

Enjoy this post from November 20, 2008.

Some of you who read my posts may see a pattern here when I display another e-mail from Circuit City.  I have to admit that I am quite fond of their marketing techniques.

Today I received an interesting e-mail that actually had me thinking about shopping even when I didn’t have to.  It wasn’t the subject line that caught me, but rather the big red bow.

I was drawn to the writing beneath the picture saying “How to shop big on a budget” and felt compelled to click.  Now if you knew me, you would know that I am clueless to the term budget when standing in any electronics section of any store.

What I did think about when reading this e-mail is all those affected by the current status of the market/economy and how Circuit City is trying to help those who have been affected.

Let’s take a look and see.

I can see how Circuit City is trying to help the customer feel like it’s ok to think (and buy) small or so I thought until I actually clicked the link.

What I saw next had me wondering what was Circuit City thinking.

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Now I don’t know about you, but I was thinking that I would learn a thing or two about budgeting.  I don’t think that is the case here.  I’m reading this as something that is telling me to go spend $400 on a gaming system (PS3) or Blue-Ray dvd player because, and I quote, “one sensational gift will wow the whole family.”

I guess it all depends on who the gift is really for and what the real intent is behind that gift.  I’d like to think that maybe Circuit City is really trying to help the consumer here.  Sure there are links to other products that don’t cost that much, but no matter how you look at this, the bottom line is get one gift worth lots of money because it will be better for the family.

I know that this is business and they’re trying to make money, but I’m just wondering if they are taking advantage of a situation here by relating today’s economic issues with purchasing big ticket items.  I can’t speak for all families, but if the guess is that people will only be spending around $466, why would you advertise a $400 product?

How did you feel the e-mail and corresponding page compliments the consumer?  Is this something you would agree with?

Your thoughts?

Cheers.