Timing the trigger

When is a trigger email not a trigger? When you can’t remember why it was sent. Take this example from John Lewis: Last week I was shopping for some sunglasses. I fancied a pair spotted on one site and did a Google product search to compare prices and get more details. John Lewis had the pair in stock as well as information on UV protection, zoomable images, and in case they weren’t the right pair for me, some suggestions on what else I might like in different price points.

For one reason or another, I decided not to buy the sunglasses. I left JohnLewis.com and thought no more about it. That happened at the weekend. On Wednesday, I received an email from John Lewis titled: “Thank you for your interest. Free standard delivery on all orders over £30”. This left me puzzled. What interest? Is John Lewis referring to the sunglasses I looked at three days prior, or have I inadvertently visited the site and triggered some other kind of action? And why did it wait until Wednesday to send me this email?

In my opinion, a trigger emails should be almost instant—Amy Africa recommends waiting no more than two hours after the consumer has carried out the action (abandoned basket, or abandoned search, for instance). Three days later and it’s definitely too late. So whilst I appreciate that John Lewis wants my custom enough to bother sending me such an email, its trigger marketing ends up shooting itself in the foot.