Understand the role of alerts for shoppers and if the preference to control the information one receives outweighs the inbound email and advertising that dominates shopper inboxes and results.

1. ALERTS AND MARKETING BEHAVIOR
September, 2015
THE E-TAILING GROUP

2. - PAGE 2 -the e-tailing group
Survey Objective
Understand the role of alerts for shoppers and if
the preference to control the information one
receives outweighs the inbound email and
advertising that dominates shopper inboxes and
results

3. - PAGE 3 -the e-tailing group
Proposed Findings
• Email’s relevancy has declined over the past year causing
shoppers to further ignore them and unsubscribe even more than
in the past
• Shoppers like to use the product page for more than purchasing.
The product page is multi-dimensional where consumer-controlled
alerts are valuable to shoppers.
• Digital advertising and retargeting are becoming overwhelming.
Not only are shoppers ignoring those ads more frequently, they’ve
begun to block receipt of these ads as well.
• Shoppers are concerned with the level of data that retailers are
collecting about them

4. - PAGE 4 -the e-tailing group
Methodology and Sample Summary
• 1,029 consumers completed an
online questionnaire in
September 2015
– 52% female/48% male
– Researched products online 4 or
more times in the past year
– Purchased at least 2 products per
month online in a typical month
11%
22%
18%
22%
27%
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55+
What is your age?
Q1-4

5. - PAGE 5 -the e-tailing group
Topline Findings
• Shoppers see significant value in all alerts particularly price
– ½ of shoppers would opt in for price alerts
– While some shoppers have set up these alerts comparable percentages report
not having the opportunity
– Younger shoppers and women see greater value in product page alerts
• Shoppers are particularly interested in out of stock alerts
– 2 in 3 are willing to sign up for these alerts
– Out of stocks often result in lost sales to competitors
• Wishlists are an organizational tool for shoppers to save and shop more so than
sharing where alerts are also welcome
• An overabundance of email is causing more shoppers to consider unsubscribing
with a 1-click opt out to do so of interest
• Personalization efforts still receive an average grade while shoppers express
concern about data collection and its implications

6. - PAGE 6 -the e-tailing group
Shoppers seek a deal as the majority of shoppers see
products they would purchase on sale but never full price
55%
37%
9%
I see a fair amount of products that
I would buy if/when they go on sale
or clearance, but would never buy
at full price
I see a large percentage of
products that I’d consider buying
if/when they go on sale or
clearance, but would never buy at
full price
I will simply pay full price rather
than wait for alerts that prices have
dropped on products I’m interested
in
Which of the following statements best reflects
your shopping behavior as it relates to price?
Select one.
Q12

7. - PAGE 7 -the e-tailing group
43% of shoppers would wait for the sale if they had the time
43%
37%
14%
6%
If I have the time, I will usually wait
for the sale
If I think the price is fair, I'm likely
to buy immediately (versus waiting
for a future sale)
If I need something soon/now, I
would buy immediately
If I have the time, I will sometimes
wait for the sale
For products you intend to buy now or in the
near future, how often would you wait for that
product to go on sale versus buying it
immediately?
Q14

8. - PAGE 8 -the e-tailing group
8 out of 10 shoppers find value in price and back in stock
alerts
80%
78%
76%
68%
57%
50%
Alert that notifies you when the price of a
product on a website has dropped
Alert that notifies you when an out-of-
stock product is back in stock
Alert that notifies you when an item(s) on a
wish list or gift registry has dropped in
price
Alert that notifies you when the price of
products you have liked or pinned via
social media has dropped
Alert that notifies you when new products
from a particular brand (Uggs, Under
Armour, etc.) are available
Alert that notifies you when a new review
(positive or negative) has been posted on
any product that you are thinking about
How valuable would the following email alerts be when
visiting a retailer’s product page?
Top-2: Highly/Somewhat Valuable
Q5
New products
and new review
alerts are also
valued by 1 in 2
shoppers

9. - PAGE 9 -the e-tailing group
Deal-minded shoppers interested in large numbers of
products see greater value in alerts
Large number of
products of
interest but
would never pay
full price
Fair number of
products of
interest but
would never pay
full price
Alert that notifies you when the price of a product on a website has dropped 61% 39%
Alert that notifies you when an out-of-stock product is back in stock 52% 35%
Alert that notifies you when the price of products you have liked or pinned via
social media has dropped
43% 30%
Alert that notifies you when an item(s) on a wish list or gift registry has dropped
in price
53% 39%
Alert that notifies you when new products from a particular brand (Uggs, Under
Armour, etc.) are available
32% 19%
Alert that notifies you when a new review (positive or negative) has been posted
on any product that you are thinking about purchasing in the future
28% 17%
Cross-tab: Q. Which of the following statements bests reflects your shopping behavior as it
relates to price. Select one.
Q. How valuable would the following email alerts be
when visiting a retailer’s product page?
Highly Valuable
Q12 vs. Q5

10. - PAGE 10 -the e-tailing group
Interest in alerts is stronger among younger shoppers
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+
Alert that notifies you when the price of a
product on a website has dropped
56% 54% 52% 42% 38%
Alert that notifies you when an out-of-stock
product is back in stock
46% 44% 47% 38% 37%
Alert that notifies you when the price of products
you have liked or pinned via social media has
dropped
35% 41% 41% 31% 29%
Alert that notifies you when an item(s) on a wish
list or gift registry has dropped in price
50% 47% 49% 39% 38%
Alert that notifies you when new products from a
particular brand (Uggs, Under Armour, etc.) are
available
20% 28% 31% 21% 20%
Alert that notifies you when a new review
(positive or negative) has been posted on any
product that you are thinking about purchasing
in the future
21% 24% 30% 16% 18%
How valuable would the following email alerts be when visiting a
retailer’s product page?
Highly Valuable
Q4 vs. Q5

11. - PAGE 11 -the e-tailing group
Women find alerts slightly more valuable than males
Male Female
Alert that notifies you when the price of a product on a
website has dropped
43% 50%
Alert that notifies you when an out-of-stock product is
back in stock
37% 46%
Alert that notifies you when the price of products you
have liked or pinned via social media has dropped
32% 37%
Alert that notifies you when an item(s) on a wish list or
gift registry has dropped in price
38% 48%
Alert that notifies you when new products from a
particular brand (Uggs, Under Armour, etc.) are
available
24% 24%
Alert that notifies you when a new review (positive or
negative) has been posted on any product that you are
thinking about purchasing in the future
21% 22%
How valuable would the following email alerts be when visiting a
retailer’s product page?
Highly Valuable
Q3 vs. Q5

12. - PAGE 12 -the e-tailing group
Half of shoppers would frequently opt in to get price
alerts when made available on the product page
17%
33%
32%
13%
5%
All the time
Frequently
Some of the time
Once in a while
Never
If a product page had a button alongside the Add
to Cart button saying Get Price Alerts for emails
just when the product goes on sale, how often
would you opt-in and enter your email to get
alerted?
Q14

13. - PAGE 13 -the e-tailing group
Almost 40% of shoppers have taken advantage of either
back-in stock or price drop alerts
42%
39%
31%
20%
15%
14%
9%
Alert that notifies you when a product is back in
stock
Alert that notifies you when the price of a product
on a website has dropped
I haven't been able to set up alerts on any
shopping sites
Alert that notifies you when an item(s) on a wish
list or registry has dropped in place
Alert that notifies you when new products from a
particular manufacturer (Uggs, Under Armour,
etc.) are available
Alert that notifies you when the price of products
you have liked or pinned via social media has
dropped
Alert that notifies you when new content (reviews,
etc.) regarding a particular manufacturer (Uggs,
Under Armour, etc.) has been posted
Which of these alerts have you already taken advantage of on a
retailer’s website? Check all that apply.
Q7
1 in 3 shoppers
have not been
able to set up
alerts on any
shopping sites

14. - PAGE 14 -the e-tailing group
Almost half of shoppers rarely or never encounter alerts
when shopping online
13%
40%
31%
16%
Frequently
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
How often have you encountered opportunities
to set up these kinds of alerts when shopping
online?
Q6

15. - PAGE 15 -the e-tailing group
Shoppers are proactive with almost half going to search
engines or competitors when encountering out of stocks
50%
43%
33%
17%
6%
I go to my favorite search engine to
see where the product might be
available
I immediately go to a competitor to
see if they have the product in
stock
I hunt around but usually check
back to see if the product comes
back in stock
It negatively affects my opinion of
that retailer
I am less likely to shop from that
retailer in the future
What is your reaction when you encounter
products that are out of stock on a retail
website? Check all that apply.
Q8

16. - PAGE 16 -the e-tailing group
2 out of 3 shoppers would be likely to leave their email to
receive a back in stock alert
25%
41%
19%
10%
5%
Very Likely
Somewhat Likely
Neither Likely nor Unlikely
Somewhat Unlikely
Not at all Likely
If you come across a product that is out of stock,
how likely would you be to leave your email
address to get alerted when the product is back
in stock?
Q9

17. - PAGE 17 -the e-tailing group
2 out of 3 shoppers sometimes create and utilize their
own wish lists
71%
69%
42%
32%
Created a wish list
Returned to your wish list to make a
purchase
Shopped from a wish list that was shared
with you
Shared a wish list with others
Shoppers have the ability to create, manage and shop
from Wish Lists that store products of interest identified
as favorites or added in the course of shopping. How
often have you done each of the following?
Top-2: Frequently/Sometimes
Q10
1 in 3 have shopped a
shared wish list or
shared one of their own

18. - PAGE 18 -the e-tailing group
The majority of shoppers would set up wish list alerts for
stock status and price drops
20%
32%
30%
13%
5%
All of the time
Most of the time
Some of the time
Once in awhile
Never
If you could set up a Wish List or a Favorites List that would
automatically send you emails updating the stock status or any
price drops on designated items, how often would you use this
feature in your shopping?
Q11

19. - PAGE 19 -the e-tailing group
Half of shoppers take advantage of social sharing alerts
at least some of the time
8%
16%
23%
20%
33%
All the time
Frequently
Some of the time
Once in a while
Never
How often do you share products via the social
icons found on product pages (Facebook,
Twitter, Pinterest, Houzz, etc.)?
Q12
1 in 3 never share
products with peers

20. - PAGE 20 -the e-tailing group
56% of shoppers would be likely to set up new model alerts
17%
39%
26%
12%
6%
Highly Likely
Somewhat Likely
Neither Likely nor Unlikely
Somewhat Unlikely
Not at all Likely
If you could set up alerts when a newer model/version of
a product is available or when new product from a
particular brand is available, how likely would you be to
do that?
Q16

21. - PAGE 21 -the e-tailing group
With email overload, almost 1 in 2 shoppers would consider
unsubscribing even from retailers where they frequently buy
47%
42%
24%
12%
When I receive too much email from a
retailer where I rarely buy, I often
unsubscribe
When I receive too much email from a
retailer where I frequently buy, I sometimes
consider unsubscribing
I rarely read marketing email and always
delete
As I’m reading much more of my email on
my mobile device, I tend to ignore it more
than when had looked at it on my desktop
How would you define the volume/quality of email
marketing you receive from shopping sites? Check all
that apply.
Q17
Almost half
would
unsubscribe
from those
retailers where
they rarely buy

22. - PAGE 22 -the e-tailing group
More than 1 in 4 shoppers would be highly likely to
unsubscribe via a 1-click service
28%
35%
25%
9%
3%
Highly Likely
Somewhat Likely
Neither Likely nor Unlikely
Somewhat Unlikely
Not at all Likely
If there was a way to unsubscribe from all
marketing email with 1-click, how likely might
you be to do this?
Q18
The majority
would be
somewhat likely

23. - PAGE 23 -the e-tailing group
Shoppers would receive a B-/C+ grade for efforts in
personalizing the shopping experience
13%
38%
38%
7%
4%
A=Site experiences are always personalized
and relevant making browse and buy
behavior strong
B=Site experiences are mostly personalized
and relevant making browse and buy
behavior strong
C=While some site experiences are
personalized and relevant others are lacking
in their efforts
D=Current personalization across retail sites
is not as personalized or relevant as i might
like it to be
F=Retailers are failing in their efforts to
deliver personalized and relevant shopping
experiences
Over the past years, retailers have invested significant time
into personalizing the shopping experience. If you had to give
them a grade that reflects how valuable those efforts have
been, how would you score their efforts?
Q19

24. - PAGE 24 -the e-tailing group
56% of shoppers are concerned with current data collection
56%
29%
24%
17%
11%
Though it’s part of the online shopping
experience, I’m becoming more
concerned about data collection
Marketers should be both careful and
measured in what information they
capture
It’s part of the online shopping
experience so i’ve simply come to expect
it without any cause for concern
I’ve started to use blocking software (or
incognito mode) to prevent personal
information collection
I’m willing to sacrifice my privacy in
exchange for a more personalized
shopping experience
What are your sentiments about the amount of
private & personal data that is captured when
shopping online? Check all that apply.
Q20

25. - PAGE 25 -the e-tailing group
Next Steps
• Agree on topline results and key press
points
• Press release collaboration
• Thought leadership one pager or
editorial article
THANK YOU
Lauren Freedman
LF@e-tailing.com
773-975-7280
www.e-tailing.com