In recent years, clothing giant J. Crew has moved out of the realm of catalogs and into suburban malls with numerous retail stores — and onto the Internet with its World Wide Web site. After successfully entering the ever-growing e-commerce market, J. Crew wanted to convince people to accept marketing materials via e-mail.
In October 1997, J. Crew teamed with NetCreations to devise a method to take advantage of this untapped resource. NetCreations developed custom e-mail delivery software to aid J. Crew in this new endeavor.
When customers visit the J. Crew Web site, they have an option to enter their names and addresses to receive periodic e-mails regarding sales and promotions. After entering their names and addresses, customers simply await the promotional e-mails.
Using its e-mail house file, J. Crew sends messages weekly, usually offering its customers incentives designed to encourage them to return to the J. Crew Web site with their credit cards in hand.
J. Crew has stated that e-mail marketing has proven more cost effective than other strategies it had considered. While J. Crew hasn’t revealed specific figures regarding marketing via commercial e-mail, it has maintained its relationship with NetCreations and has stated that it is extremely pleased with the outcome.
