Feeling a bit down and with very little money left after Christmas, those January sales can be so hard to resist as a little pick me up...all those lovely discounted clothes and useful electronic goods! Of course, retailers know only too well that they can get us to make purchases we don't need, while enabling them to clear old stock.

Yes, the sales are well & truly on. In fact, they been on since pre-Christmas, but the consumer mindset of Boxing day and January sales has now kicked in and both retailers and etailers need to maximise their presence to make themselves stand out from the crowd.

I am the first to admit that I personally struggle to not open all the enticing well designed ASOS emails that I remain subscribed to & that keep dropping in my inbox, with their ever increasing discount promises of 50% and 75% off in their subject lines.Would be very interesting to see their campaign statistics. It’s like a guilty pleasure to not hit the delete button and instead to covertly return later to the email in your lunch break, or to sneak a peek when you get home. Then, once opened, it’s so easy to find something you want, but of course don’t need. Judging by the number of ASOS packages arriving at the Extravision office, there are a few work colleagues here, who are also enjoying a sneaky bargain purchase triggered by an email.

So, what are my other email vices? OK, as well as ASOS, I always love getting my annual January 50% discount email from the Blackhouse group, which always gets rewarded with a table booking for my birthday. It’s become a kind of tradition in our family to take advantage of this offer, as it would kind of be rude not to, after so kindly rewarding/targeting me. Yes, I am fully aware that they are simply filling their empty restaurants with bargain hunting foodies, but it works for me! And as the only smallprint exception to the 50% off the total bill, is on their Kobe steak, all is well.

Here are a few more creative email designs that I found on this online fashion review site from some well known fashion retailers and etailers...Tesco, New Look etc. It would be good to hear about your guilty pleasure January sales emails and let me know if you have succombed to a bit of temptation….