---
title: Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study
description: The Email Experience Council (EEC) announced the release of its third annual Retail Email Sub...
---

[Email Marketing Tips & News | Website Magazine's Email Marketing Blog](https://www.websitemagazine.com/email)

# [Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study](https://www.websitemagazine.com/email/retail-email-subscription-benchmark-study)

 Written by [Pete Prestipino](https://www.websitemagazine.com/email/author/pete-prestipino) | Nov 20, 2008 6:00:00 AM

**The [Email Experience Council (EEC)](https://www.emailexperience.org/) announced the release of its third annual "Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study." **

The report examined the opt-in practices of 120 of the top online retailers and found there is a clear trend toward richer subscription processes. The study also found that retailers are putting more focus on list hygiene.  Thirty-eight percent of retailers ask subscribers to confirm their email address by re-entering it, up from 27% last year.  Also, 5% of retailers now use a confirmed (double) opt-in process, up from 3% last year, which improves list quality. Other findings from the Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study include:

- After falling from 27% in 2006 to 8% last year, the percentage of retailers using sign-up incentives rebounded to 13% this year, despite growing concerns about the quality of subscribers that are attracted by sweepstakes and other incentives.
- With recent evidence suggesting that putting privacy policies front and center during the subscription process actually reduces sign-ups, only 36% of retailers mentioned their privacy policy this year, down from 45% last year.
- Despite quicker subscription fulfillments overall, 29% of retailers took 15 days or longer to honor opt-ins or failed to honor them all together.  That figure was the same as last year.

[View full post](https://www.websitemagazine.com/email/retail-email-subscription-benchmark-study)

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