We live in a world where some web push notification services are offered on an audience size basis. But the cost is so low, do you really need to clean up your database?
If you factor in the labor cost of setup, maintenance, testing, and segmentation, the answer may be YES. Check this test out and decide whether you want to run your own.
Who
I was managing web push notifications for a brand with a very low repeat purchase rate – less than 1.5x – in a low loyalty industry very focused on occasion and holiday gifting.
What
I wanted to see whether people who signed up during a period that included a holiday were likely to buy again when the holiday came back around.
- Do people who signed up for Mother’s Day the previous year buy for Mother’s Day in the current year?
- Do people who signed up for Hanukkah / Christmas last year buy for Mother’s Day in the current year?
Methodology
I broke the database into segments by join date: April through September (Mother’s Day) or October to December (Hanukkah / Christmas) of the previous year, and people who joined in the current year. I then sent web push notifications every other day in the two weeks leading up to Mother’s Day, with daily sends in the days immediately preceding the holiday.
Results
| Join Date | View / Sent | CTR | % of Rev |
| 1/1-5/8 Current Year | 57% | 1.07% | 75% |
| 10/1-12/31 Prior Year | 44% | 0.71% | 21% |
| 4/1-9/30 Prior Year | 37% | 0.60% | 4% |
People who joined in the current year accounted for 75% of sales. People were just using push notifications for discounts and then walking away – kind of like bar flies who just want to get a drink out of you, but aren’t interested in what you have to say.
It was a lot of drinks, though, relatively speaking. Our peak day was right before Mother’s Day, when 4.6k people signed up within 24 hours.
Conclusion
Depending on your industry and customer behavior, if you’re strapped for a budget, you might be able to reduce the size of your web push notification database without many losing sales. As always, you should run your own tests and do what’s right for your business.
