PETCO e-commerce director fully explores email marketing potential

• As the director of e-commerce marketing for pet-related products and services giant PETCO, Blank is well-steeped in the all-important skill of growing an e-mail list --- and using that list as effectively as possible.
• PETCO, as one of the country's largest animal food and supplies retailers, has a well-developed e-tail presence.
• The site opened for business in 2000, and now sells everything from t-shirts for dogs to care kits for pet Gecko lizards.
• With this wide a selection --- which means all kinds of pet owners --- PETCO could use a broad-brush approach in building its e-mail list, but Blank said she believes in a carefully targeted effort to harvest new e-mail addresses.
• "We're not, for instance, going on large ad networks and running contests to win a Ford Explorer, because that could be just anybody," she says.
• "We're trying to target niche pet sites, or partner with organizations around pet ownership."
• One of the key techniques the site uses to build its e-mail list is a coupon offer.
• Every user who gives his or her e-mail address is awarded a $10 coupon for PETCO products.
• The site makes it clear that pet-related information, not just sales offers, will be included in company mailings.
• Throughout the PETCO site are solicitations to sign up for a specialized newsletter, "with animal care information, exclusive offers and more."
• Making It Personal Many shoppers don't give their e-mail address because they're afraid they'll get a blizzard of ads from the company that don't relate to their individual desires.
• PETCO handles this by personalizing its mailings.
• PETCO has created e-mail templates, which are filled with different offers --- personalized --- based on factors like each consumer's purchase history.
• E-mails are personalized based on a list of variables ranging from pet type, combination of pet type, purchase frequency, and five possible shopping offers.