SAN BRUNO, CA--(Marketwire - Dec 1, 2011) - [ Responsys, Inc. ] (NASDAQ: [ MKTG ]), the leading provider of email and [ cross-channel marketing solutions ], today announced that promotional email marketing volume during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend hit an all-time high, helping to drive significant increases in online sales.

"Over the five day holiday weekend, promotional email volume sent by major retailers was up 27% year-over-year, with Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday all seeing record email volumes," said Chad White, Research Director at Responsys, who tracks the email marketing activity of more than 100 of the top retailers on the Retail Email Blog. "Retailers are making email marketing central to their cross-channel marketing efforts this holiday season like never before, and the record online sales results speak for themselves."

Cyber Monday Retains Throne as Busiest Email Marketing Day of the Year
Up from 77% last year, a massive 87% of major retailers sent at least one promotional email to their subscribers on Cyber Monday, making it the largest email marketing day of the year for the fifth consecutive year. That email volume increase helped propel Cyber Monday online sales to a new all-time high, up 33% year-over-year and shattering last year's record of $1.03 billion, according to IBM Coremetrics.

Black Friday Becomes More Multichannel
This year, 81% of major retailers sent at least one promotional email campaign to their subscribers on Black Friday, making it the second busiest promotional email day on record behind this year's Cyber Monday. Last year, 69% of retailers sent email on Black Friday. That increase in email volume helped drive significant gains in online sales, which jumped 24.3% compared to Black Friday 2010, according to IBM Coremetrics.

"This year's Black Friday email marketing campaigns were much more focused on buying online than in past years, with even large store-based retailers like J.C. Penney and Office Depot promoting their online sales just as prominently as their in-store sales," continued White. "'Avoiding crowds' and 'skipping lines' were common messaging themes, which definitely foreshadowed a strong Cyber Monday."

Thanksgiving is New Kick-off of Holiday Shopping Season
This year, 75% of major retailers sent at least one promotional email campaign to their subscribers on Thanksgiving Day, up from 60% last year and only 45% in 2009. That increase supported a huge leap in online sales, which rose 39.3% compared to Thanksgiving Day 2010, according to IBM Coremetrics.

"Big box retailers opening their stores on Thanksgiving last year have very quickly turned the holiday into a highly promotional and hotly contested shopping day," said White. "This shift has been further catalyzed by the rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets, which has made it much easier for consumers to shop online while visiting friends and family. While some may bemoan the creep of commercialism into the Thanksgiving holiday, there's no putting the genie back in the bottle at this point."

About Responsys
Responsys is the leading provider of email and cross-channel marketing solutions that enable companies to engage in relationship marketing across the interactive channels customers are embracing today -- email, mobile, social, web and display. With Responsys solutions, marketers can create, execute, and automate highly dynamic campaigns and lifecycle marketing programs that are designed to grow revenue, increase marketing efficiency, and strengthen customer loyalty. Responsys' New School Marketing vision, flexible on-demand application suite, and customer success-focused services aim to deliver high ROI, increased levels of automation and fast time-to-value. Founded in 1998, Responsys is headquartered in San Bruno, California and has offices throughout the world. Responsys serves world-class brands such as: American Family Mutual Insurance Company, Avis Europe, Continental Airlines, Deutsche Lufthansa, Dollar Thrifty, Lands' End, LEGO, LinkedIn, Newegg, Qantas, Southwest Airlines, and UnitedHealthcare. For more information about Responsys, visit [ responsys.com ].

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