Torrid triples click-through rate with emails linked to personalized maps

Brief:

Women's fashion retailer Torrid tripled the click rate for its emailed promotions by personalizing them with a local map based on the recipient's location. Email click-throughs rose from less than 5% to almost 15% after adding LiveMap technology from email personalization company Liveclicker, according to an announcement.
Customers who open the emails see a map that includes real-time information about nearby Torrid locations, including store hours, curbside or in-store pickup options, phone number and traffic patterns.
Personalization and localization of Torrid's emails increasing engagement could lead to higher foot traffic in stores that have been imperiled by the coronavirus pandemic. To help people see nearby locations, the map has color-coded pins for each store based on a user's proximity to Torrid's more than 600 stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.

Insight:

Torrid's higher click-through rates for emails linked to local maps indicate how personalization can be effective at generating a direct response from mobile customers. As many retailers struggle with declines in store visits because of the pandemic, personalized maps with more complete and customized information about nearby locations and their shopping options may help to rebound foot traffic.

With the key holiday shopping season approaching, retailers will need to formulate strategies to drive foot traffic, though e-commerce is likely to be more prominent this year as stores limit visitor capacity and consumers avoid crowds. Shoppers will be looking for information like Torrid provided in its emails that linked to personalized maps.

A location-based targeting strategy must be mindful of consumer privacy, considering that the selling of location data has become a source of controversy in recent years. However, many shoppers are willing to share their location data with trusted store brands in exchange for more personalized, valuable experiences. Following the pandemic's onset in February and March, about 23% of people who use retailer apps consented to share their location data, a 31% gain from pre-pandemic levels worldwide, per a study by Airship. Its research also found that the location data opt-in rate for retailers was higher than for service providers such as utilities (14%), travel and transportation (12%), media (8.2%) and entertainment (7.1%).

While major grocery store chains that remained open during lockdowns have mostly recovered their foot traffic, other kinds of brick-and-mortar retailers have struggled to regain in-person visitors. For example, Macy's has seen declines in foot traffic ranging from 44% to 48% in the past few months compared with a year earlier, while Kohl's declines have ranged from 22% to 36%, a study from location data company Placer.ai shows.