evo, an outdoor retailer, saw high return rates for ski boots purchased online due to the difficulty of properly trying on ski boots at home. To address this, evo implemented an automated 3-part email series providing guidance on properly trying on and caring for new ski boots. This series saw much higher open and click rates compared to evo's other emails, and helped improve customer satisfaction while reducing returns.

1. case study
PRECISION TIMING
How evo saw 3.2 times the opens and 9 times
the clicks with Automated How-to Guides
+

2. PAGE 1PAGE 1
automated
how-to
guides
As any winter sports enthusiast knows, ski boots can be difficult to try on, even in stores.
evo, an outdoor lifestyle retailer, was seeing a high number of returns and exchanges from online
ski boot orders, and attributed this to the challenges associated with trying on ski boots at home.
Selling over 16,000 pairs a year, ski boots are one of their highest grossing products.
To counteract this trend, evo created an automated series of emails with the goal of educating
customers about their newly purchased ski boots.

3. IMPLEMENTING THIS 3 PART
CAMPAIGN LED TO:
- Improved customer satisfaction
- Increased trust in their brand
- Improved brand engagement
- Lift in repeat sales
- Reduced return rates
Using clean and simple subject lines, evo generated average
open rates of 58% and average click rates of 25% (both
measured as a percent of recipients). evo set up their three
part email series to send immediately after a ski boot purchase.
Using purchase history data, analyzed and imported by
Windsor Circle’s Retention Predictive Lifecycle & Customer
Retention Software into evo’s marketing platform, emails send
automatically on the following schedule:
THESE AUTOMATED EMAILS USE THE
FOLLOWING DATA-DRIVEN RULES :
- WC_Purchased_Category contains “SKIBOOTS”
- WC_Recency_Actual is 4 days ago
These emails do not provide any discount codes or sales
pitches; they simply help customers understand how to
properly try on ski boots. With the goal of making customers’
lives easier, evo implemented this campaign and achieved
fantastic results.
58%
25%
OPEN RATES
CLICK RATES
PAGE 2
post purchase email series
EMAIL 01.
sent 4 days
after purchase
EMAIL 02.
sent 8 days
after purchase
EMAIL 03.
sent 10 days
after purchase

4. post purchase email series
The first email customers receive once they purchase ski
boots explains how to try on their boots properly and sets the
customer up to receive the second email (see text in the email).
The purpose of this email is to help customers utilize
their product, as well as to start building a relationship
with the customer.
Over a 12 month period, this email was sent to over 10,000
customers. Of that number, over 7,000 (more than half!) opened
the email. Of these, over half clicked on the call to action.
01.
GUIDE TO TRYING ON
YOUR BOOTS
PAGE 3
WHY THIS WORKS
01. clear headers
02. stong image
04. clear call to action
03. simple text explaining
the purpose of email
OPEN RATE: 67.8%
CLICK RATE: 38%
email subject: SKI BOOT GUIDE - PART 1

5. post purchase email series
Eight days after the purchase, customers are sent a second
email. Building on the first email, email 2 helps strengthen the
relationship between evo and the customer.
Email 2 uses the same format as email 1 (clear header, strong
image, simple and to the point text, etc). evo references email
1 and includes a link to that content to ensure customers are
getting all the necessary information about their product.
Over a 12 month period, this email was sent to over 9,500
customers. Of that number, over half opened it. Of these,
45% clicked on the links in the email, or 25% of recipients.
02.
HOW-TO VIDEO
PAGE 4
WHY THIS WORKS
01. clear headers
02. stong image
03. simple text including
link to information
from Email 1
04. clear call to action
OPEN RATE: 56%
CLICK RATE: 25%
email subject: SKI BOOT GUIDE - PART 2

6. post purchase email series
Keeping with the theme of helping their customers have
the best boot experience possible, evo sends a product
recommendation email two days after email 2. After all, what’s
the point of great ski boots without great socks?
By adding value to their customer’s purchase, evo is now viewed
as a trusted vendor, so sending a product recommendation is a
great idea.
Over a 12 month period, this email was sent to over 9,500
customers. Of that number over 4,500 opened it.
03.
SKI BOOT GUIDE -
PART 3
PAGE 5
WHY THIS WORKS
01. use of engaging image
03. clear call to action
02. Mentions purchased
product
OPEN RATE: 49%
CLICK RATE: 8%
email subject: SKI BOOT GUIDE - PART 3

7. data drives results
Using purchase history, product, and customer data evo saw
3.2x the open rate (average open rate of 58%) and 9.6x the
click rate (average click rate of 25%) when compared to all
other emails sent during the same time period
(July 2013 – May 2014).
3.2 TIMES THE OPEN RATE
9.6 TIMES THE CLICK RATE
PAGE 6
10%
30%
50%
70%
18.1%
2.6%
58%
25%
67.8%
38%
56%
26%
48.3%
8%
JULY-MAY
(BEFORE WINDSOR CIRCLE)
JULY-MAY
(WINDSOR CIRCLE)
TRY ON GUIDE
(EMAIL 01)
FIT BETTER GUIDE
(EMAIL 02)
SOCKS GUIDE
(EMAIL 03)
OPEN
RATE
CLICK
RATE

8. guaranteed integrations
PAGE 5
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DATA WITH ONE TOOL
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Behavioral DataGoogle Analytics Database
Plus custom, home-grown, and other platforms

9. roi and retention results
“We’re now in the retention
automation phase of our business.
We send all of our customer data
to Windsor Circle, it scores our
customers every day with a rank,
and using Silverpop, we are rolling
out a series of emails that harness
this data in an automated way,
message customers based on
where they are in their lifecycle,
and are much more targeted to
their behavior.”
Nathan Decker,
eCommerce Manager, Evo
back in
the habit
automated product
replenishment
supply &
demand
pos supply solutions
business in
the front
B2B online retailers use
predictive data to increase
customer retention
MORE RESOURCES
windsorcircle.com/results
PAGE 7
REVENUE
IN 30 DAYS
30
12% LIFT
RATE
10X ROI
FACTS NOT
CLAIMS
Windsor Circle clients
see, on average, a 10x ROI
and a 12% life in retention
rate within 12 months and
revenue in just 30 days.

10. see windsor
circle in
action.
request a demo today.
windsorcircle.com
sales@windsorcircle.com
+1.877.848.4113