The report, conducted by Spam Ratings, looked at emails sent by 100 leading brands over the past six months. It found that 51% of them failed to comply with good email practice guidelines, by sending large volumes of emails that users had explicitly consented not to receive.
The findings revealed that 44 of the brands surveyed automatically opted people in to receive emails, rather than letting users proactively sign up. In addition, 56% of the emails sent by the top 100 brands were not explicitly asked for by consumers.
The Direct Marketing Association and Information Commissioner’s Office stated that the onus was on companies to ensure that proactive consent had been obtained before emails were sent.
The research showed that Arcadia Group was the company with the worst record for sending not explicitly asked-for emails.
Spam Ratings claims to independently rate websites so consumers can avoid unwanted emails and spam abuse.
It offered the somewhat unlikely scenario that a user who signed up to its Topshop, Wallis, Dorothy Perkins, Topman, Evans, Miss Selfridge and Burton brands would have received 394 emails over a six-month period – working out at two per day.
Andy Yates, co-founder of Spam Ratings, said: "Common sense tells us that if consumers actively request emails, then they are more likely to read them than delete them. Responsible brands need to communicate and have a dialogue with consumers, rather than annoy them."
Arcadia Group did not respond to requests for comment.
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