Online Retailer Improves ROAS by 50% by Sending Hallmark Cards to Customers

Mariah Olson

BACKGROUND

As an early adopter of direct-to-consumer online retail, a $1 billion beauty company embraced digital commerce at a time when competitors were still thinking about the impact the internet would have on their business. The company utilized diversity and inclusion branding to engage an eager and active audience, and quickly became a dominant retailer who helped change what it meant to “go shopping.” After dominating the market for over two decades, other companies started to catch up, and the online retailer began facing increasing pressure to stay ahead of the competition and keep and retain their buyers. Additionally, without a physical brick-and-mortar presence, the company felt as if it wasn’t truly connected to its customers and wanted to build more personal, authentic relationships with them.

SOLUTION

In 2017, the online retailer began testing whether Hallmark cards could help them build stronger relationships with their customers and help them fight off advances from the competition. The solution was simple—send personalized Hallmark cards with unique offers to customers in order to deliver a “human moment,” which would eventually lead to increased sales.

RESULTS

Over the years, Hallmark cards have repeatedly beat the company’s other direct mail formats in critical metrics, such as incremental lift, incremental revenue and return on ad spend (ROAS).

The Hallmark card program has produced: