How Tommy Hilfiger Optimized Triggered Emails Through A/B Testing

Tommy Hilfiger, a leading ecommerce brand, recently worked with Bluecore to publish a case study detailing how the retailer was able to rehab a limping triggered email program through data and a variety of A/B tests.

The removal of barriers between data sources, as well as a focus on speedy implementations and testing, enabled Tommy Hilfiger to explore new email marketing techniques that powered their six different triggered emails to drive revenue and improve relationships with customers.

Below we detail two of the unique findings that Tommy Hilfiger discovered through A/B testing.

Two-Touch Abandoned Cart Programs are More Effective

The first of Tommy’s major findings came after developing a two-touch Abandoned Cart email trigger. The first email is followed 24 hours later by a second touch.

Tommy Hilfiger’s two-touch program integrates the concept of spacing out sends with regular reminders for customers extremely close to completing their purchase.

This strategy helped increase overall conversions for the Abandoned Cart program, which has been found to have an 15.3% average conversion rate for retailers in the Apparel industry (according to Bluecore’s 2015 Benchmark Report).

Addressing Individual Customers by Name Grabs Their Attention

The second valuable finding from Tommy Hilfiger’s A/B testing surrounds the addition of first names to the address line to improve email performance. In a world where email inboxes are more crowded than ever, it becomes more and more important for retailers to set themselves apart.

An easy way to do this is addressing individual customers by their first name through a combination of customer data and content personalization. Tommy Hilfiger’s A/B testing around this found that adding individual customers’ names to their subject lines improved Open Rates as well as overall email performance.

Customers want this kind of personalization, and they’ll be more likely to engage with retailers that are using their data in order to customize messaging for them. A 2012 study by Digital Trends found that 73% of consumers surveyed said they prefer to do business with retailers who use personal information to make their shopping experience more relevant.

Beyond Tommy Hilfiger – To Show or Not To Show Price Decreases

Several Bluecore partners have also run A/B tests on Price Decrease emails to determine if showing the change in price within the email itself is beneficial to conversions.

A recent A/B test run by a Sporting Goods industry partner revealed that Price Decrease email triggers showing new, reduced prices ultimately produced twice as many click throughs and conversions than the versions without pricing. This is just a single instance – and there may be examples of other retailers experiencing the opposite result from such a test. The learning here is to keep testing. What works for one brand may not work for yours.