Even though transactional emails see 8x more opens and clicks than any other type of email — and can generate 6x more revenue — it’s shocking to see how many companies fall short. In our unboxing blog series we take a look at the transactional emails of the biggest and most popular retailers. Join us to see what’s working, what’s not, and apply these learnings to your own transactional emails.
Let’s Study Anthropologie
Today we’ll be analyzing Anthropologie, a retailer established in 1992 that has grown to 200 brick-and-mortar locations worldwide as well as an e-commerce site. Their product offerings range from bohemian home decor to women’s apparel, niche beauty products and more.
Anthropologie’s homepage states that they cater to “the well-traveled, creative woman” and that notion is soundly reinforced by their marketing efforts. Every piece of collateral, from their social posts, to marketing emails, to their website and display ads, all evoke a sense of romantic wanderlust and eclectic, tasteful creativity. Anthropologie knows its audience and is doing a fantastic job of marketing to it with inspiring imagery and craveable products.
Anthropologie’s Purchase Experience
For a deeper look at Anthropologie’s email purchase experience, the MailCharts data team bought a decorative knob online for $2.21 plus tax and shipping.
From the time of purchase through the first 30 days, Anthropologie sent us 26 emails. While this is much less aggressive than Zulily’s 37, it’s on par with other retailers’ email program of roughly one email a day. Today we’ll take a look a two transactional emails — the Order Confirmation and the Shipping Notification — plus a promotional birthday email.
Order Confirmed
There are a ton of things that Anthropologie is doing well in this email. The subtle color scheme, clean layout and clear, easy-to-follow hierarchy are a few examples of email best practices. In the green “Shipping Information” box, we like the helpful way they let us know that another email will be on its way when the product ships. And including the last four digits of the card we used for the purchase is great.
The “Still seeking more?” banner in the footer is a nice cross-promotional effort that is classy and understated, rather than salesy and in-your-face. Below that, in the fine print, is the support contact information, which is exactly where you’d expect to find it in a minimalist email design like this.
Hats off to you, Anthropologie!
The very next day we receive the Shipping Notification.
A Prompt Shipping Notification
The following shipping email is nearly identical to the Order Confirmation email, with the main difference being the bold, blue “TRACK ORDER” CTA at the top. The green box tells us our tracking number and just like in the Order Confirmation, we have an image of the product we ordered as another visual confirmation. Again, a clear hierarchy and simple layout make for great user experience.
A Playful Birthday Email
About six weeks later, at the beginning of our birthday month, Anthropologie sends us this email with the header “Happy Birthday, Party Animal!” and a fun, playful design of a dog in a party hat playing with a ball. We love when brands tie their copy and design motifs together and this is a great example of that.
The “15% Off” is clearly stated yet this email doesn’t feel sales-y. Anthropology lets you know what the promotion is, but don’t belabor the point by adding a bunch of product images and prices. Again this email is totally on point for Anthropologie’s brand strategy of tasteful, understated messaging.
The promotion itself also has attractive qualities. You can use it during your entire birthday month rather than just on the day, and you can use it in store or online. They even include a barcode so you can scan it while you’re in the store, rather than having to read off the 14 digit code to the sales clerk.
Then our product arrived.
The Anthropologie Unboxing Experience
Anthropologie’s package design aligns with their “well traveled” customer target by employing an attractive and eye-catching pattern with a bit of southwestern flair.
The product itself was wrapped in bubble wrap and tissue paper. We love the added touch of the tissue paper because it mirrors what you would receive if you were to purchase this knob in the store. When opening the packages we felt as though we were receiving a gift.
Wrapping Up
We’re giving Anthropologie high marks for a consistent, on-brand purchase experience with both the product and emails. Their clean layouts and simple hierarchies make for a great user experience.
To learn more about Anthropologie’s email strategy, sign up for a MailCharts account today and take a deep dive into their cart abandonment user flow. (You know you want to). You can also find insights like these for thousands of other companies.
