Wall Street Journal quotes research by marketing-technology company Responsys Inc on the Emails being sent by Retailers. Some great facts in there:

1. In 2011, the nation's top 100 retailers by e-commerce revenue sent recipients an average of 177 emails apiece, up 87% from 2007
2. Neiman Marcus Group Inc. sent each recipient more than 500 emails apiece in 2011 which is 30% more than what they sent in 2007.
3. The rates at which recipients open retail emails and click on links have declined, in the first six months of 2007, consumers opened 19% of the retail emails they received and clicked through to the website 3.9% of the time. By the first half of 2011, those numbers shrank to 12.5% and 2.8%, respectively.
4. Sending fewer emails have paid off for some retailers, Nicole Miller has seen the rate at which customers "unsubscribe"—or request to stop receiving emails—drop, and the percentage of recipients who open the emails has grown from 15% to 40%, according to Andrea Marron, director of digital strategy at the company. Meanwhile, the percentage of online sales that began with an email has grown to 17% from 10%.
5. Loyalty program members tend to open more emails then general subscribers. Members of the rewards program typically open more than 30% of the Gamestop emails they get, compared with less than 10% for general subscribers.

Read more: Stores Smarten Up Amid Spam Flood

Google’s Zero Moment of Truth

The way we shop is changing and marketing strategies are simply not keeping pace. Whether we're shopping for corn flakes, concert tickets or a honeymoon in Paris, the Internet has changed how we decide what to buy. Today we're all digital explorers, seeking out online ratings, social media-based peer reviews, videos, and in-depth product details as we move down the path to purchase. Marketing has evolved and modern marketing strategies have to evolve with the changing shape of shopping.

At Google, we call this online decision-making moment the Zero Moment of Truth -- or simply ZMOT.

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