As an ecommerce business owner, email is (or should be) a crucial part of your strategy. Email allows you to gather feedback from your best customers, announce new product lines and promotions, and ultimately generate more sales. The Direct Marketing Association, or DMA, estimated in 2019 that for every $1 spent on email marketing, you get an average return of $42 → a 42X ROI! (DMA, 2019)
But not all emails are created equal. Some email templates perform much better for ecommerce businesses than others. Some templates are must-haves for your ecommerce business to get the most of its email program. Let’s look at a couple of them:
This is a no-brainer. Subscribing to your email list, no matter how battle-tested and refined your user experience is, is a big commitment for consumers. We are more inundated with information than ever before, so treat any elective conversion with care.
At the very least - let them know they’ve been added to your list and that there’s great stuff on the way. At the very most, let your brand’s personality shine through. Add some imagery or even video to pump up the production value. Add a personal touch. Make them feel grateful that they opted to receive communications from a brand like yours.
Feel free to offer a VIP discount or incentive right off the bat to begin their purchase journey (if they haven’t bought already).
Lastly, don’t put pressure on yourself to make it the best email you’ve ever created, but make them feel excited for what your brand has to offer and privileged to be one of your subscribers.
Arguably the number one reason consumers hand over their email address is to be notified of new promotions or sales. In fact, Shop.org found in 2013 that 64 percent of US Internet users have printed a coupon from an email.
While printing coupons may be a thing of the past, maintaining status as an email subscriber of your business purely for sales is a very present thing. Email is perhaps the most effective channel to announce a sale - your subscribers are captive (they login to their inbox and there you are) they are engaged (they choose to open the email) and they have shown direct interest in your brand or product. (by subscribing in the first place)
That said, there are certain best practices for your sales announcement email.
Much like the sales announcement email, the goal here is to keep your subscribers informed of a sale. Part of the reason you put an expiration date on the sale is to be able to announce its ending. It is another touchpoint that your subscribers would not only permit, but be appreciative of.
Most of your subscribers, even if they’re planning on making a purchase during your sale, aren’t closely monitoring it. They may very well plan on buying but forget it’s going on. Subscribers will appreciate a last minute nudge to remind them to check out your store before the sale ends. Use it to your advantage. Remind them the sale is ending, highlight some of their previously purchased or liked items (if available) and think about throwing in an additional discount or incentive (free shipping, bonus gift) to provide even more value.
This is an easy win here. The Valued Customer email is a great way to boost open rates, be human, and most importantly, please your loyal customers. The Valued Customer email is a low lift email that can go a long way in maintaining a customer’s good will towards you, even if it’s waning.
The format is simple. Use something like “We Appreciate You” in the subject line. The key is to be personal and direct. There’s no catch here- your customers will appreciate you straight shooting them. In the body of the email, if possible, include their name, how long they’ve been a customer/subscriber, or even their first purchase - if you have that info handy.
Feel free to use an incentive if you’d like, but it’s not necessary. Loyalty sales can be great for a short term win, but you can come off disingenuous if the email revolves around that. Remember, be as human as possible here, as if you were speaking with your customer directly in conversation.
The last but certainly not least is the Abandoned Cart email. This is a tried-and-true email template in ecommerce for good reason. The Abandoned Cart email is simple - trigger this email to be sent within 2 hours of your customer or visitor getting to the cart stage of the funnel but ultimately leaving it or closing out their window.
Do one of two things - remind them to complete their purchase or ask them if something went wrong. Both come off as helpful and non-pressing. Make the email minimal in copy and maximal in CTAs to complete the purchase, making full use of product or lifestyle imagery.
Lastly, don’t consider Abandoned Cart a one-email play. It should be a larger funnel, and some experts cite 4-5 emails are best practice for the “Abandoned Cart” flow. Test and see what works best for your business and go from there.
Have any other favorite ecommerce email templates? Share with us by emailing hello@wayfinderagency.com
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