A guide to using automated personalized campaigns to drive increased orders with Cox & Cox

In this session Aynsley Peet, Ecommerce Director, and Kate Sandell, CRM Executive of homeware brand Cox & Cox shared their perspective on how retailers can identify and capitalize on automation opportunities during the peak shopping season. 

Christmas and the peak shopping period represents a lucrative opportunity for Cox & Cox – so the brand starts talking about Christmas earlier than most. As the festive season approached in 2020, the retailer had to strike a balance between showcasing its largest ever product range and reaching new customers – while avoiding alienating customers who weren’t ready for the holiday messages. 

Cox & Cox chose to target consumers who had already begun to search for festive goods, crafting a custom campaign to send to those who had browsed without making a purchase. With the confidence that these consumers had already actively searched for Christmas products, the retailer could be more direct in its use of seasonal messaging and imagery. 

The campaign, dubbed “Christmas Browser” was split into two emails. The first showcased the breadth of products and the various categories available, while the second highlighted more specific trends. The automated email was delivered around seven to ten days after a user abandoned browsing, and worked alongside the generic abandonment follow-ups already in place. 

Each email was uniquely personalized to the recipient based on what they browsed for and featured various hero images and tailored content based on the subcategories they searched within. The campaigns also included a “best seller” pop-out box that highlighted the bestselling items from the category the user expressed interest in. All of this information was reflected in the subject line, meaning recipients knew it was a tailored message as soon as it landed in their inbox.

The final section of the email contained informative and inspirational content, including highly crafted buying guides and content designed to assist consumers in finding the right product for their needs.

The results were remarkable. The open rate of the campaign was 41%, which ranks highly against Ometria’s benchmarks, as did the click-to-open rate of 28%. These metrics are doubly impressive when you compare this personalized campaign with the generic follow-up campaigns: the Christmas Browser campaign drove 36% more orders and boasted a conversion rate 68% higher than the generic browser abandonment campaigns. 

Key lessons:

• Use of behavioral data ensures relevant content delivery and avoids alienating uninterested subscribers
• Hero categories benefit from having their own browse campaign
• Including personalized product recommendations improves conversion
• Enhance the experience with editorial and inspirational content