Harbor Freight Tools cans spam: the retailer has seen double-digit results through better targeting its email marketing.(BEST PRACTICES FOR CUSTOMER-CENTRIC ORGANIZATIONS)

CRM Magazine, February, 2005 by Beasty, Colin

As the Internet became an increasingly efficient marketing vehicle for Harbor Freight Tools, the company's email marketing campaign had become a weak spot. The 37-year-old tool-and-equipment catalog retailer was using a multichannel approach--including about 190 retail stores, a catalog business, and a Web site--to deliver more than 7,000 tool and equipment items to more than five million customers.

But Harbor Freight had no means to track its outgoing email, and had no idea how effective that email marketing was. Plus, it couldn't confirm if messages were reaching intended audiences ...