SkyMall uses IBM Coremetrics to boost email relevancy and sales

SkyMall is a multichannel direct marketer offering high-quality, innovative merchandise from top direct marketers and manufacturers through its SkyMall catalog and website, skymall.com. The SkyMall catalog is seen by approximately 88 percent of all domestic air passengers reaching more than 650 million air travelers annually. SkyMall also offers turn-key merchandise and fulfillment solutions for loyalty marketing programs.

The SkyMall brand is almost universally known among affluent and well-educated travelers who are receptive to innovative, unique products.

SkyMall is owned by NY-based private equity fund, Spire Capital Partners and The Greenspun Corporation. Corporate offices are located in Phoenix, Arizona. SkyMall was founded in 1990.

If you have been on an airplane, you have probably seen it—tucked away in the back of the seat in front of you—a catalog loaded with unique gadgets you cannot find anywhere else. Using IBM® LIVEmail and ExactTarget, SkyMall now delivers highly personalized emails that keep readers just as engaged as if they were sitting on an airplane flipping through the SkyMall catalog.


Multi-channel retailer SkyMall reaches more than 650 million air travelers annually through its catalog and website, www.skymall.com. The SkyMall catalog, a publication found on 88 percent of domestic air flights, features high-quality, innovative merchandise from top direct marketers and manufacturers. The challenge is to convert the interest generated while a passenger is airborne into a purchase decision on the ground.

A robust integration between the IBM Coremetrics Digital Marketing Optimization Suite and ExactTarget’s email services, gives SkyMall the information needed to deliver highly relevant emails that keep its customers engaged. The automated process is simple: IBM LIVEmail captures behavioral data when the customer visits the SkyMall website and associates that behavior with the profiles of SkyMall’s email subscribers.

Targeted emails automatically delivered
The IBM LIVEmail integration gives SkyMall marketers unparalleled insight into the on-site activities of their customers, as well as the tools needed to take immediate action. One of SkyMall’s main goals in establishing a more engaging email program was to recapture revenue lost when potential customers abandoned items placed in their shopping carts. The IBM LIVEmail integration with ExactTarget was just the solution SkyMall was looking for.

Today, IBM Coremetrics automatically syndicates abandoned cart data to ExactTarget via the IBM LIVEmail application, where emails are automatically triggered using ExactTarget’s Automated Interaction Management (AIM) functionality. The email features dynamic content blocks where the recipient’s abandoned product(s) are displayed. The vivid product callouts, special discount offer, and conversational copywriting are all aimed at grabbing the reader’s interest and re-engaging them in the purchase cycle.

Results. Recaptured.
Since implementing the new program, SkyMall has been able to recapture 3 - 5 percent of abandoned cart sales from shoppers who have provided email addresses and has seen a solid decline in lost cart revenue. Even in a down economy, year over year email sales are up 34 percent, a trend the company attributes to better connection with customers through relevant and personalized email marketing messages. Moreover, SkyMall’s abandoned cart email boasts a 32 percent higher open rate than other promotional emails and receives an 18 percent higher click-through rate.

Looking ahead, SkyMall plans to leverage IBM Coremetrics data to ascertain customers’ demonstrated product affinities to provide specific product recommendations. Combining related products with personalized emails means that SkyMall will deepen their customer ties by providing evn more contextually relevant, customer-centric communications.

For more information
To learn more about IBM Coremetrics please contact your IBM marketing representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit the following website: ibm.com/software/marketing-solutions