Ten Thousand Villages Manages Multiple Automated Campaigns for Multiple Locations with Ease
Online Retailer Streamlines Communications through Extensive Preference Center and Behaviorally Triggered Email Solution
Ten Thousand Villages, the largest fair trade organization in the US, with 78 branded retail locations and 300 alliance shops and a large online presence, needed a way to organize, manage, and unify communications across its entire organization. It has a large and loyal customer base, but it lacked an easy way to consistently communicate across the multiple locations, many of which are co-owned or co-ops. Each location has its own email list and another corporate list is maintained for website visitors and eCommerce customers. Managing that amount of data while ensuring customers receive a consistent message but don't receive duplicate messages is no easy task. Ten Thousand Villages turned to Listrak, its email service provider, for help.
Listrak built a preference center and online CMS repository solution for Ten Thousand Villages. Subscribers may opt-in from its homepage by entering their email addresses. They are taken to a second page requesting their first and last names, addresses, zip codes, and birthdays. Subscribers may select to receive emails regarding online shopping promotions and/or emails from local stores. The page includes the statement "You will not receive duplicate emails if you subscribe to multiple email lists" prominently displayed so subscribers may opt-in to more than one list with confidence. All of the data is stored in Listrak's profile management database.
Ten Thousand Villages creates and deploys several emails per month – an average of two each week – that it sends to its entire subscriber base. Individual stores may select which emails to send to their lists. To streamline and manage the selection process, Listrak built an online repository that allows Ten Thousand Villages to upload each message to a website, then each location can login and simply click a checkbox next to each message it wishes to deploy.
It also takes advantage of Listrak's behaviorally triggered email solution through its automated welcome email, birthday emails, and shopping cart abandonment campaigns. The welcome message is sent immediately and contains details on what types of communications recipients should expect and two coupons – one that may be redeemed online and one that may be redeemed at the local store.
Birthday emails, which include 15% off coupons, are sent to every customer whose birthday falls in the same month three days before that month begins. If a new subscriber opts-in to the list during his or her birthday month, the birthday email is immediately deployed along with the welcome message.
The shopping cart abandonment campaign is made up of a three-message series that includes a discount ladder to maximize profits. The first message is sent one hour after the abandonment occurs and includes a 5% off discount. The second message, sent two days later to customers that didn't complete the purchase, includes a 10% off discount to sweeten the deal. The third message repeats the 10% off discount and is sent as a final reminder five days later to customers that still haven't completed the purchase.
With Listrak, Ten Thousand Villages has implemented a successful email strategy that works for recipients, individual stores, and its corporate headquarters. Its monthly newsletter campaigns and its eCommerce list have a 2.7% conversion rate and $59.59 average order value. The birthday campaign has similar results – 2.2% conversion rate and $52.33 AOV. However, its shopping cart abandonment series has an average conversion rate ten times higher than its other campaigns! The first message's conversion rate is 34.8%, the second message is 24.1%, and the third is 23.1%. And its welcome message has one of the highest average order values of any campaign with $68.54. This multi-faceted email strategy keeps subscribers engaged and customers purchasing again and again.
Founded in 1946, Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit network of more than 390 retail outlets throughout the United States selling unique handmade jewelry, home products, and art representing the diverse cultures. Ten Thousand Villages strives to improve the livelihood of disadvantaged artisans in 38 countries. Learn more at www.tenthousandvillages.com.
Download PDF