The leading US internet retailers sent 12% more marketing emails in 2009 than they did before, at an average of 132 emails to each subscriber, according to a new analysis by Smith-Harmon.

On average, that works out at 11 emails a month and 2.5 emails per week per subscriber, says the company, a division of Responsys.

The most popular day of the year was Cyber Monday, when 71% of retailers sent a promotional email, followed by Black Friday and the first two Mondays in December.

“Retailers have been increasing contact frequency for several years running. Sooner or later it will flatten out,” says Ed Henrich, vice president of professional services at Responsys. “I think 2010 is when we will finally start to see segmentation and analytics start to reduce contact frequency. In the long run, smart and respectful marketers win.”

Readers can download a copy of the full findings of the analysis free of charge from Smith-Harmon’s website.

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