Torrid Uses Lifecycle Messaging Techniques to Drive
Incremental Revenue and Improve Operational Efficiency
Torrid (www.torrid.com) is a distinct multi-channel specialty retail concept operated by Hot Topic, Inc. It's a fashion-forward brand that sells apparel, lingerie, shoes and accessories designed for various lifestyles targeting plus-size young women, ages 15 to 29.
Torrid was manually sending welcome letters each week to newly registered subscribers. The weekly process was time consuming; updating the HTML required hours of work from the marketing department, and pulling the lists of new subscribers required development resources. The email sending times were also inconsistent - sending occurred whenever resources were available - and the emails were often sent a full week after subscribers initially signed up on the site. Due to the delays between signup and sending, Torrid was receiving high spam complaints from subscribers who didn't remember registering, and they were losing new subscribers as a result; not to mention the loss of new revenue opportunities.
By implementing a daily automated welcome letter sending strategy, Torrid optimized their email communications during the critical early days of their subscriber lifecycle. As a result, they recognized benefits in a multitude of areas:
The overall cost to automate the welcome letters cost the company an additional $5 per month. By comparison, the revenue gained from the emails tripled. The return ratio for every dollar spent increased from $79-1 to $232-1.
The marketing team now saves 24 hours per month by automating the sending process, reducing the average time expenditure to only about 30 minutes. Time spent on updating the content, QA, importing, testing, and all the back and forth communication is now focused on a monthly coupon promo code update.
Prior to the automation, any type of scheduling conflict had potential to push out the time of sending. Even without any delays, subscribers were waiting up to a full week to receive their first email. There was also more room for error with all of the different teams involved and back and forth that took place. Now, Torrid is able to maintain consistency of the sending date and time with an automated system. This ensures that the subscriber receives their welcome message within 24 hours of signup.
Now that automated delivery helps ensure consistent email deployment at the same time of day, the marketing team can pull more accurate reporting data for analysis, eliminating differences from week to week that previously made accurate testing difficult.
The previous time gap between signup and receiving the welcome letter caused an increase in spam complaints from new subscribers who, by the time they received their first email, had forgotten they'd subscribed in the first place. This damaged the brand's reputation, and reduced the size and conversion potential of their list. Under the new process, the welcome letter is received in a timely manner - when both the signup and the brands are top of mind - resulting in increased revenue and brand recognition.
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