While many retailers have premiered their Christmas campaigns early this year, according to recent data from SparkPost, consumers are not in the ‘festive mood’.

The data from the Messagebird company, shows that despite marketers increasing their Christmas email campaigns by 11%, UK consumers are ‘less engaged’, with read rates dropping by nearly 20% from the same period in 2021.

According to email sending service SparkPost, the data has revealed an ‘alarming disconnect’ between marketers and consumers when it comes to email engagement. Rising energy costs, inflation and the cost of living crisis are said to be the main contributing factors causing people to develop general disinterest in marketing campaigns.

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“Times are tough for many people right now, and the decrease in email engagement may be an indicator of how people are feeling towards spending,” Messagebird SparkPost manager of research analytics, John Landsman, said.

“It’s at times like this that brands need to have empathy, whilst adapting how they communicate and market products in ways that are relevant to the consumer and sensitive to the situations at hand.

“Email has time and again proven to be the best resource for solid data to improve future touch-points with customers across all marketing channels. It is the fastest and most effective way to measure the success of a brand’s customer experience and provides the flexibility and strength marketing teams need to continue to market successfully as the tides continue to change.”