Gander Mountain

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Overview

Gander Mountain may only have launched their e-commerce site a few years ago, but they are proving to be a quick study in online marketing. They implemented a number of best practices for email marketing which have helped drive a significant upswing in revenue, and their use of welcome series emails stands out as a shining example of one of their most effective tactics to date.

Gander Mountain is a multi-channel outdoor retailer with 116 brick & mortar locations, in addition to an e-commerce site and a catalog operation. They serve the needs of outdoor enthusiasts with hunting, fishing, camping, and outdoor equipment and apparel. The email marketing program, directed by Will Devlin, Digital Marketing Manager, is not only a major driver of online revenue, it also helps to send foot traffic into stores, and creates a sense of cohesion across each of their multiple channels.

Situation

Before beginning their relationship with Bronto Software, Gander Mountain employed an in-house system for email marketing nowhere near robust enough to keep up with the pace of their growth. They had only the most basic ability to send emails to a simple list. There were no insights into email performance, no list management, automation, or segmentation. Because they weren't able to make use of that rich data or preferences, the outcome of their blast emails was poor deliverability and low conversion rates. Needless to say, a retailer like Gander Mountain dreamed of much more.

Solution

To begin with, Gander Mountain instituted automated welcome emails to all new subscribers. Whether they registered at www.gandermountain.com, in-store, through the call center or via sweepstakes, they were added to the email list, which triggered and sent a welcome email within 24 hours. Welcome emails were one of the first strategies Gander Mountain employed with Bronto and they had an immediate impact. Knowing that people are typically at a high point of interest in the brand when they subscribe, they concluded (correctly) that this was an ideal starting point. The initial email was simply a "thank you for subscribing" email, which included links to several categories for browsing, and a coupon code active for a week. Over time, their welcome emails have evolved, and now represent 30% of all email marketing revenue for the company. With the Bronto Marketing Platform, the welcome series are easy to set up and they run automatically. Gander Mountain uses Bronto's automation functionality to easily test different options - on pricing or special offers - and employs Bronto's analytics to see what is providing the best results.

Results

The overall impact of Gander Mountain's email marketing program, especially the welcome emails, has been impressive. Looking at sales-per-delivered as a measure of email success, Gander's typical email marketing is at $0.03, but the welcome email is at $1.85. The average order value from their welcome email is $20 more than the overall - $126 vs. $106. Gander Mountain expects even higher conversions and revenue lift as they work to evolve their email programs, and they’ve already mapped out the next step in their plan - to use Bronto's segmentation capabilities to deliver highly targeted campaigns.