Buying online? The stars must align.

I have five email accounts—one for personal use, one for junk mail, and three for school. I very rarely get personal email, and school email stresses me out. I hate to say it, but I enjoy checking my junk email account most of all. Here, I receive information about flight deals from Expedia, Kayak, Travelocity, and Vayama. I receive sales announcements from DSW, Fossil, Gap, Old Navy. I receive newsletters from American Farmland Trust, and Powell’s Books. I receive a lot of junk email, and I could go on and on about where it comes from. But I asked for it. All of this mail comes from companies I have purchased something from, donated money to, or expressed interest in. I feel like a stranger could look through the junk email I receive and learn quite a bit about me.

My point is that the vast majority of junk I receive was solicited by me. And while I am glad I don’t get these twenty-five junk emails per day sent to my personal email address, I am actually interested in most of what lands in my junk email inbox. That said, I rarely purchase anything based on the junk emails that are sent to me.

I have three main reasons for this: I don’t have any money and I don’t like putting a purchase on my credit card knowing I probably won’t be able to pay it off, I am impatient when it comes to getting what I want (waiting five days for shipping is usually not an option for me), and, even if I see something I am actually interested in, I rarely take the time to click through on the email message and get to the webpage where I could actually make the purchase. I will look at something, say to myself, “Hmm…that’s cute,” or “Hmm…that’s a good deal,” and move on.

Occasionally, however, one of these emails will reach me at the perfect time. Much to the dismay of the people actually sending these emails, a purchase is entirely dependent on my “mood.” I have to have the time, be in the mood to spend money I don’t have, and be presented with something specific that I was hoping to buy anyway. No matter the deal offered via email, or the flashy graphics used on the email promotion, if these factors aren’t met, I won’t buy.

The most recent experience I had with buying something based on an email campaign was through a sales announcement from Old Navy. I had wanted a khaki colored skirt for a long time, but it wasn’t something I actually needed and thus had never gone out to a store to look for. I was quickly going through my junk email inbox one day, clicking on those items that interested me and immediately deleting those that did not. In the midst of this, I happened upon an Old Navy “ad” that showed a number of items that were currently on sale via their website. Lo and behold there was a khaki colored skirt on the email; it was just what I had been looking for. I clicked through to their website and bought that skirt, as well as a dress. I thought, heck, I was already there and putting a purchase on my credit card, may as well look around and see if there was anything else I wanted.

The vast majority of online purchases I make are for items that I have sought out. I will think to myself, “I would like some new shoes,” or “I would like to travel to LA to visit my good friend,” or “I need to buy this book for school,” and onto the internet I go. But every so often the stars will all align, and I find myself making a purchase based on one little email that has landed in one of my many email accounts.

I suspect my attitude toward online purchases based on email campaigns is not unusual. As was mentioned in class, direct email campaigns can expect an average response rate of two percent. How could marketers expect a better result? Their customers are fickle. Their only option is to inundate our email inboxes with their constant promotions hoping they may reach a small portion of these people at their “perfect time.” With all of this in mind, I have no problem with the amount of junk emails I get, even if they rarely result in a sale for the company and an exciting purchase for me. We’re all just trying to make a living after all.