There’s been a lot of talk and criticism directed at online shoe retailers these days…BrontoFire has recently covered DSW and Zappos’ calls-to-action (or lack thereof), and DJ and I also poured a little gasoline on the Zappos fire over at eROI this week.
DSW and Zappos may have their issues, but now there’s a new kid on the block, a certain ShoeSteal.com. And the name of their game is SPAM. Check out this “Welcome to ShoeSteal.com” message I received in one of my personal accounts the other day:
Shoe lover that I am, I have never heard of this company before now, so I obviously have never opted in to receive email marketing from them. They must have obtained my address via a shady co-registration site or rented/purchased list. Judging from their site, they look pretty brand-spanking new, so I imagine the latter scenario is most likely. List purchasing is a big no-no, but list rental is a common tactic new businesses (or businesses new to email marketing) like to use to kickstart their programs – and it’s a practice that we here at Bronto advise to use only with extreme caution.
ShoeSteal.com may have some great deals, but I won’t be shopping there any time soon. Spamming is no way to start a relationship.
Julie Waite
Account Manager
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You “poured some gasoline”? Next time bring some grenades.
I agree with these posts. I have seen an increase in email from brands I have no relationship with as well. In looking through the headers of the emails, instead of just assuming that they were from these brands, I am finding that they are 3rd party list rentals in many of the cases.
Bad way to start? Yes. And many of these Tier 2 and 3 brands are pulling out all the stops, most likely due to some sleazy list rental sales people out there.
See you in Park City for the annual EIS Snowball fight.
i think this was sent to those who are registered on http://www.shoes.com and it’s a new, non-free shipping subsidiary. check out the brick & mortar address and the ‘About us’ section of this “new” company.
like you, i’d never heard of shoesteal.com but when i went to the site, it looks EXACTLY like shoes.com…except for their $5 for first pair and $1 each pair thereafter policy.
my verdict: NOT IMPRESSED AT ALL.
Interesting insight, LJ - I am a customer of shoes.com, and they have my email address. Of course that still doesn’t mean that I opted in to receive messages from shoesteal.com, so they are abusing their good customers with this new venture. Ideally, they should have sent an opt-in campaign announcing the launch of shoesteal.com with an explicit endorsement from shoes.com. I’d love to know how this message performed in terms of opens, clicks, complaints and unsubscribes.
hmmm… interesting point. But really, deals a deal regardless of how it came into my inbox. If this site is real and selling good stuff why not buy from them and save a few bucks? I hate spam as much as the next guy, but if i can save 5 bucks. You got my sale.
@j,
yeah… but it’s a lesser deal than the original site that decided to send ’spam’ to their regular customers.
this new site, shoesteal.com, *charges* for shipping, whereas shoes.com doesn’t…