We’ve been using 1ShoppingCart for the past four or five years to handle all of our autoresponders, products and affiliate program. I have referred 1SC like crazy and have signed up many of my clients with their service. The thing is, 1SC held a huge part of the market share for this type of product back when I joined. They really are one of the most comprehensive tools out there for small businesses doing e-commerce. My opinion on that fact hasn’t changed.
The reason we’re switching though is because the e-mail marketing portion of 1ShoppingCart has gone down the toilet completely. It’s no secret that 1SC’s deliverability rate is amongst the worst for programs like this and I have statistics to back it up.
Let’s take a look at my 1ShoppingCart stats. The first thing we’ll look at is my current client count. I have recently begun bringing over lists from 1SC to MailChimp and deleting subscribers from 1SC so the number is a bit lower than usual. However, it’ll still show you the surprising stats.
Current Client Count in 1SC
Now, let’s look at a broadcast that I recently sent out to EVERYONE in my cart. By choosing “Entire Client Database” in 1SC, I *should* be able to e-mail everyone in my database – the 17,235 clients that it counts above.
Broadcast Stats Sent to "Entire Client Database"
What you are seeing here is that I sent a broadcast out to my “Entire Client Database” but only 2,522 people received it. In fact, I have never been able to e-mail more than 2,500ish people which is less than TWENTY PERCENT of my cart total. The 84 and 3% figures are failed e-mails.
My average open rate for HTML e-mails in 1ShoppingCart has hovered around 15-30% with some e-mails getting a higher open rate depending on subject lines, etc. So, the open rate was good – I just couldn’t e-mail the entire list of people in my cart.
Now, let’s quickly look at my MailChimp account. Here is an example from one of our current broadcasts.
MailChimp Broadcast Stats
You can see here that out of everyone on that list, nearly everyone received the e-mail. Now, some did not receive it and this is usually due to soft and hard bounces. This e-mail was only sent to a portion of our list in MailChimp but the deliverability is much higher. The open rate is comparable so we’re not losing anything there.
I’ve asked 1ShoppingCart why I can only e-mail a portion of my list and they always blame their double opt-in. They say that 15,000+ have not completed their opt-in. Now, this could be the case. However, it worries me that 15,000 haven’t been confirmed in some way, shape or form. I really doubt that it’s the fault of 15,000 people… Something is faulty on 1SC’s end.
The other things I am digging with MailChimp are the social media sharing and the ease of using templates. They are current, relevant and they get it.
So, I’m in the process now of finding an e-commerce solution and then I’ll be closing my 1ShoppingCart account. For the price they charge me every month to hold the 17,000 clients but only allow me to e-mail 2,500, it just doesn’t seem fair or worth it.
I've also switched from 1SC to MailChimp over a year ago. I feel that I don't have to go thru so many hoops like I did with 1SC in order to send a newsletter or announcement out.
I agree with you completely! It's definitely an easier interface to work with
Pingback: ExecTweets Canada » ErinBlaskie at 08/13/10 06:57:01
Thx Erin! I just trust and follow what you do. You have your finger in the pie:)
wow, that is amazing.
Thanks Sue!
I adore Mailchimp and their groovy videos, quirky and humorous updates and their fantastic integrations with so many plugins too.
This is a great analysis and thanks too as I was consider OneShoppingCart a while back
Hi Natalie!
Thanks for commenting!
I love the personality that MailChimp brings to the table too! It makes using their system fun and you can't often say that about e-mail marketing clients 
Erin
Thanks for sharing Erin. I have been watching your updates and tweets of the transition and it has helped me make the final switch over myself.
I too have used 1SC for quite awhile and have recommended to many clients. The social media sharing aspect as well as being able to send out RSS type newsletters is very attractive and appealing. I'm looking forward to the final switch over and playing with all their cool features. It seems like there is something new constantly to go play with.
Natalie makes a great point to – the entire look and feel of the site, it's quirky and humorous attitude is quite infectious.
That's awesome Martha! You actually inspired this post with your question on 1SC
Erin
Thanks for this informative post. I am currently using AWeber and I'm wondering if you considered it before switching. If so, why did you choose MailChimp instead? I was thinking about moving to 1ShoppingCart, but after reading your post, I am considering Mail Chimp.
Hi Erin, appreciate your post and have encountered the same question and problem with some of my clients. I was wondering, are you still using 1SC for anything else, selling products, autoresponders, affiliate programs etc.? If so, are you exporting/importing from 1SC to MailChimp these customers? In other words, are you making the email communication list a stand alone and hoping that your buyers will opt-in to MailChimp? What's your strategy? Thanks…love your information!
Hi
I am just evaluating different options. I currently use Constant Contact for my database management, mailings, and e-zine. It does a good job at this. The only downside I have found is their lack of custom brand support. I have to use their stuff.
Anyway, I am now looking for a shopping cart to manageme my products and wondered if there was something that did both. I did consider 1SC since so many people seemed to have started out that way, but many no longer use it. Maybe what you are describing is the reason – I don't know.
I have also been looking at InfusionSoft (which I cannot afford yet) and MailChimp. I do have a question. How is MailChimp for handling a shopping cart, sales stats, and inventory?
Thanks for your thoughts,
Barb
I am starting a new biz and was just getting ready to sign up for 1SC but then caught your post. I, too, have always been impressed with MailChimp quirkiness. So, I'm interested in your response to the last several comments posted: are you going to continue with 1SC for other features? How does MailChimp fare with shopping cart integration?
Thanks!
We are new the the data base business and use Mac computers. Does mailchimp work just as well with Macs?
What are some downsides of Mailchimp if any?
Thanks for sharing!
I own a MailChimp account and a 1sc account. I have 2,500 contacts that I want to import to 1sc and I'm tried for 3 days. Each time, it fails and doesn't even send me an email about it. When I check the reasons, it says "duplicate emails on lines…" so I delete those and try again. Shouldn't it just merge? It's a damn software after all. Then it says cannot recognize line 1 and fails.
Over at MailChimp I can easily upload contacts and they are not sent some stupid "You just opted in" message that causes lots of people to bail out. The problem is that I get this message "We don't allow role-based addresses" and some emails were not imported. This is for anyone who was an @companyname.com email instead of gmail or hotmail or something.
I wish there was an email auto-responder software with a live chat to handle these types of questions as we are sending emails out. When you need to send a broadcast, you need a solution right then and not a week later.