The auto opt-in
I have been surprised in recent months by the number of ecommerce sites that have defaulted to opt-in upon completion of a purchase.
Opt-in is, of course, supposed to be a voluntary and user-defined action. But it hasn't been that way for me as much as it used to.
As consumer spending slows, retailers, anxious to retain traffic and minimize customer acquisition costs, are taking steps to reach out to shoppers that fit their profiles. And what better way to do that than by hitting up previously converted users?
Interestingly, the sites that have opted me in recently are not uninformed small businesses; they're major corporations with major legal departments, all of whom should presumably know better. Among the offenders:
Have you been spammed--I mean, opted in--recently? By whom?
Opt-in is, of course, supposed to be a voluntary and user-defined action. But it hasn't been that way for me as much as it used to.
As consumer spending slows, retailers, anxious to retain traffic and minimize customer acquisition costs, are taking steps to reach out to shoppers that fit their profiles. And what better way to do that than by hitting up previously converted users?
Interestingly, the sites that have opted me in recently are not uninformed small businesses; they're major corporations with major legal departments, all of whom should presumably know better. Among the offenders:
- Barnes & Noble, where I haven't shopped since 2007
- Citi, for a credit card that gets less than $1000/year in charges
- Home Decorators Collection, after a recent purchase (a Home Depot subsidiary)
Have you been spammed--I mean, opted in--recently? By whom?
Labels: email, email marketing, marketing, privacy
posted by David Wertheimer at
9:31 AM
1 Comments
