How Apostrophe redesigned its email strategy

“We collect emails, but the main question is how do we activate the database? » It was from this mindset that Frédéric Hazan, Apostrophe’s director of digital and logistics, began a complete overhaul of his email strategy with the challenge of controlling the marketing ecosystem. “40% of our e-commerce turnover comes from e-mail, shows the director. And the site is also the first storefront before the store. » That’s why business matters are important to this family group, which was founded in 1968 and each has its own e-commerce site, George Rech and Apostrophe. The first label has about ten stores in Spain and department stores, and the second in France.

Three sources for collecting emails

Emails are collected through three channels: the e-commerce site, SEA operations (for example, contests on Facebook or Instagram) and stores. “We had to explain to the teams the interest in intercepting emails because they often saw the Internet as the enemy. tip the manager. And it’s important to consider the source to identify subsequent messages. »

Finally, the database creation overhead works well with over 15,000 connections. But the opening rate of the newsletters created with the free tool was very low… Frédéric Hazan went looking for a more complete solution in the market to review his method, and he chose Sarbacane, another site to raise 110 million euros. November 2022. Email composition, image size, database segmentation, number of contacts, everything has been checked with service provider support to improve email performance.

In this way, Frédéric Hazan was able to review the entire graphic presentation of his newsletters, improving the brands’ products and know-how as much as the commercial operation. “This is one of the criteria that made us choose Sarbacane and allows us to work better on loyalty through the customer experience. he assures. As soon as you register on the site, we automatically send a thank you letter. » Another example is the Apostrophe brand, whose customers are prestigious women who like beautiful clothes, with an average basket of €450. All the work around cuts and materials lead to an email every week. Angle changes from classic commercial mail and allows you to promote new collections or even print with photos and videos. Since 70% of consultations are done on mobile, everything has to be responsive design.

Do not systematically send to most numbers

Another work was carried out regarding the qualification of the base from a business point of view. As the mailer is linked to the ERP, George Rech’s team tracks sales and adds stars to the customer profile in the database to tailor offers and messages. A brand enthusiast or a casual customer will not necessarily receive the same messages. The group is also testing two new mail scenarios, one to track customer satisfaction and one to track product returns. “The number of scripts is important, but it takes time to track everything”shows the director.

Other options, such as sorting the database and not systematically sending messages to as many people as possible, were not clear to Frédéric Hazan. “Working with Sarbacane, we realized we could do better by sending fewer emails and not losing customers.the director testifies. Ultimately, we saved time in our organization through better cost management while achieving increased capacity. For an annual volume of 1.8 million emails, we used to be less than 5%, but now we have an open rate of 40-50%. » A performance that will help grow the e-commerce business in full expansion and will also promote the new identity of the Apostrophe brand, which will soon open a new 300m store.² With a new concept near Avenue Montaigne in Paris.