30 Best Email Marketing Examples In eCommerce (2024)

You already know what email marketing is – but what kind of emails should you be sending from your eCommerce store?

Well, go no further. We’ve surveyed over 500+ eCommerce brands and compiled this list of 30 email marketing examples to take inspiration from.

Let’s go!

30 Best Email Marketing Examples from eCommerce Brands

> Must-have Emails / Transactional Emails

1. Account Confirmation Emails

Brand: Alo Yoga

Subject Line: Alo Customer Account Invitation

👉 Key takeaway: Use account confirmation emails to get subscribers towards their first (or second) purchase – here's how you do it:

• Tease elements like an unlockable discount 
• Follow up with how close they are to unlocking the discount (in case of inactivity)
• Show user activity from your socials (as Alo Yoga does)
• Reaffirm and explain brand benefits like quick shipping, BNPL options, etc. 

FURTHER READING: Turn boring transactional emails into cash cows: 10 proven ideas

2. Welcome Emails

Brand: Pretty Little Thing

👉 Key takeaway: Use welcome emails to educate shoppers while helping you map out their interests – make sure you:

• Start with the benefits teased in your account confirmation email (like welcome discounts, BNPL payment, etc.)
• Offer ways to collect subscriber information like birthdays, anniversary dates, etc. 
• Showcase the latest drops/collections based on sizes, gender, etc. (so that you can track which links get clicked and collect user preferences)
• Introduce trust-building elements like trust badges, logos of press mentions, etc.

FURTHER READING: 15 Incredible Examples of Welcome Emails (eCommerce)

3. Activation Emails

Brand: Patrick Ta

Subject Line: Hey Friend, Complimentary Lip Gloss Inside

Preview Text: Exclusive first-time gift + 15% off your order ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ 

👉 Key takeaway: Segment your activation emails by tracking engagement from your welcome flow – here are some ideas:

• Opened the welcome email and browsed: Recommend products based on browsing history with a reminder of the discount
• Opened the welcome email but didn’t browse: Remind about the welcome discount in ‘$’ value and offer free shipping/samples (like the example does)
• Didn’t open the welcome email: Send them to your re-engagement flow

FURTHER READING: 18 Welcome Email Best Practices To Drive More Sales

4. Policy Update Emails

Brand: Satomi Kawakita

Subject Line: An Important Reminder: Price Increase Effective May 1st

👉 Key takeaway: Policy updates don't exactly fall under marketing emails – but you can use them to announce:

• Changes to your product manufacturing processes
• Modifications to your ongoing programs like loyalty programs
• Updates on brand milestones like the number of returns handled, impact on recycling etc.

FURTHER READING: 25 Tips to Increase Sales Through Email Marketing (+ Amazing Examples)

> Abandonment Emails

5. Browse Abandonment Emails

Brand: Dooney & Bourke

Subject Line: The Gretta Brenna is Calling Your Name!

Preview Text: Take another look at this iconic style with 10% off.

👉 Key takeaway: Consider changing the incentives for existing shoppers in your browse abandonment emails – and, experiment with the following: 

• Recommending products based on their purchase as well as browsing history 
• Reminding about indirect incentives like redeemable loyalty points
• Offering direct incentives like discounts on their next order

FURTHER READING: How To (Actually) Drive Sales Through Browse Abandonment Emails

6. Cart Abandonment Emails

Brand: Session

Subject Line: 2 hours left.

Preview Text: Your 10% off code will expire soon 

👉 Key takeaway: Create a flow for your cart abandonment emails to build urgency – here's a cart abandonment flow you can try:

• Start with a simple reminder like “We’ve saved your cart”
• Follow up with “Your cart will be expiring soon”
• Offer a flash discount to non-engagers with a countdown timer
• Offer limited-time free shipping / extra warranty for engagers who haven't made a purchase yet
• Do a final follow-up (example above)
• End the flow 

P.S. Consider changing the incentives in your cart abandonment emails – experiment with free gifting options, and other brand benefits that shoppers may be interested in.

FURTHER READING: 40 Abandoned Cart Email Examples That Actually Win Back Lost Customers

7. 1:1 Emails

Brand: The Inside

Subject Line: 20% off expires tonight! ⏰

👉 Key takeaway: Plain text emails feel immensely personal – consider using them for:

• Cart abandonment flows
• Announcing VIP sales
• Taking feedback from shoppers returning items / leaving negative feedback
• Re-engaging subscribers 

P.S. Overusing plain text emails will lead them to lose value. 

FURTHER READING: eCommerce Email Copywriting: 20 Game-Changing Tips

Also check out: Top eCommerce Email Marketing Trends For 2025

> Sales Emails

8. Early-Access Emails

Brand: Nike

Subject Line: Classic first move, — 👌

Preview Text: Now check out the Nike App and see what else is waiting for you.

👉 Key takeaway: Use your early access emails to offer exclusive access and other loyalty program benefits. Periodically track engagement, and send these emails to:

• Subscribers who open more than 50% of all emails sent
• Recent purchasers who match (or are close to) your store’s AOV
• Subscribers who’ve completed a micro-conversion (like signing up)

FURTHER READING: 15 amazing drip email campaigns that actually drive sales

9. Pre-Order Emails

Brand: Kendra Scott

Subject Line: Your First Look at Disney | Kendra Scott

Preview Text: The countdown is on! So, let’s plan your buy.

👉 Key takeaway: Other than offering early access, consider building your pre-order email flow with:

• A sneak peek of your upcoming collection/product with an explainer
• An exclusive flash sale to active email subscribers 72 hours, prior to the launch
• A countdown email to the launch event

FURTHER READING: The Right Way to Calculate Email Marketing ROI in eCommerce

10. Live-Stream Announcement Emails

Brand: Ann Marie

Subject Line: Watch the Replay: Live Makeup Suggestions from Annmarie Skin Care!

Preview Text: Makeup Suggestions from Annmarie Skin Care ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ 

👉 Key takeaway: You can use your live-stream emails to build up solid hype – here’s one example live stream email flow:

• 1st email: Announce the details of the live stream – like topic, dates, platform, etc.
• 2nd email: Follow up with an expanded detail of why the live stream is being held – feature some social proof regarding guests/hosts
• 3rd email: Post-live summary, showing takeaways and suggestions (like the example above)

P.S. You can level up the exclusivity, by announcing that exclusive discounts will be given – and only live-stream attendees will have access to the post-live recording and discount.

FURTHER READING: 25 Ways to Grow Your Email Click Through Rate Quickly (eCommerce)

11. Mystery Emails

Brand: Nine West

Subject Line: 🎉 Congrats, You've Unlocked a Secret Offer

Preview Text:  Click to reveal

👉 Key takeaway: Delivering personalization as well as gamification, drives intrigue PLUS sales – here are some ideas you can implement:

• Use the subject line and preview text to pique the sense of intrigue and exclusivity (note how this example does this)
• Offer a tiered discount that shows the discount the user has unlocked and the ones they can unlock if they cross a $X threshold (adjust X to your AOV)
• Or gray out the offer and ask subscribers to click – which will lead them to a custom landing page
• You can also consider using a dynamic counter in the email to update how many subscribers have gotten a discount 

P.S. You can use this type of email to collect user data – check how Nine West can easily map shoe sizes to a shopper’s profile – all they have to do is track which sizes get clicked on. 😉

FURTHER READING: eCommerce Email Mobile Optimization: 35 Guidelines For Store Owners

12. Product Launch Emails

Brand: Color Standard

👉 Key takeaway: Space your product launch emails to create a lasting impact – here are some ideas:

• For the 1st email: Show the product from different angles to bring out the key benefits paired with USPs like “a short you can wear all day, minus the odor”
• For the 2nd email: Follow up with more social proof (like creators wearing your product) and reaffirm the product’s USP with different copy
• For the last product launch email: Try segmenting by engagement – for engaging subscribers, send browse abandonment emails offering an incentive to try the product out – and, for the rest, re-introduce the product, once more 

P.S. Feature the newly launched product periodically in your monthly newsletters (Color Standard does the same).

FURTHER READING: 10 product launch email examples that drove massive sales (+ templates)

13. Holiday / Seasonal Emails

Brand: Crocs

Subject Line: Father’s Day Gifting Made Easy

Preview Text: Show Dad he’s #1 with all-day comfort and Dad-approved styles. Free shipping on qualified orders.

👉 Key takeaway: Seasonal emails are perfect for showcasing your humor – but you should use them for curating products – because shoppers are looking for inspiration – here are some ideas you can try:

• Start early and remind subscribers to buy at a discounted price (early shoppers are always down for discounts)
• Introduce collections or product ranges in line with the seasonality (like red white and blue napkins for the 4th of July)
• Close to the end of the sale, offer shoppers express delivery options like next-day delivery or pick-up in-store 
• End your seasonal flow with a newsletter email, thanking shoppers for shopping

FURTHER READING: Best-Performing Holiday Email Templates for eCommerce (+ Brand Examples)

14. Upsell / Cross-sell Emails

Brand: Vaporfi

Subject Line: Price Drops ↘️ Kits Starting at $7.99

Preview Text: Quality Kits at Rock Bottom Prices

👉 Key takeaway: Combine upsells with cross-sells by categorizing intelligently (Vaporfi does this by sorting products by price). Other than that, you can also try these ideas for upselling/cross-selling:

• Show a product comparison chart in your emails out of your recommendations
• Offer pre-created bundles (or create their own bundle) out of your product recommendations 
• Use the decoy effect – which means you should change some attributes of a listing to make it more attractive
• Showcase seasonality in your upsells/cross-sells

P.S. Avoid recommending more than 3 products in a row – this will help you avoid creating choice paralysis for shoppers.

FURTHER READING: eCommerce Upsell Emails: High-converting Examples (+ Templates)

15. Discount / Promotional Emails

Brand: Origins

👉 Key takeaway: Try framing your discounts in such a way that shoppers can’t afford to miss them – note how Origins makes customers feel they will lose out on a ‘just for them’ offer:

• The email copy feels extremely personalized (note the “our bestsellers just for you”)
• Shows animated images in the hero section to show different combinations of bundles
• Changes the value of the offer in each email to maximize the value proposition (note how the second email shows “$186 value” instead of “$99 value”)

P.S. You can use this exact method to clear out your slow-moving inventory (all while increasing your AOV).

FURTHER READING: 40 Discount Email Templates (& Examples) for eCommerce Stores

16. Newsletter Emails

Brand: Stumptown Coffee Roasters

­

👉 Key takeaway: Use your newsletters as a way to connect with your customers – and, celebrate them – here are some ideas to include in your newsletters:

• Monthly roundups of brand updates, bestselling products, newly launched collections
• Factoids on products, showing research, and testimonials
• Community roundups, showcasing user-generated content, or sowing ideas for a cause
• Celebrating seasonal events like New Years, Back to School, etc
• Post-purchase education, showing customers how to take care of their purchases

FURTHER READING: eCommerce Newsletter: 20 Ways To Stand Out And Actually Drive Sales

> Post Purchase Emails

17. Thank You / Order Confirmation Emails

Brand: MeUndies

Subject Line: Order Received (Thanks!)

👉 Key takeaway: Order confirmation emails can be fun and light-hearted, but must be deeply functional. Remember to:

• Follow up with an account confirmation email, to help convert shoppers who’ve made their first purchase using guest checkout.
• Include a section showing how to use the product a customer has purchased
• Provide a breakdown of your order with clear delivery instructions and date 

P.S. Consider modifying this template for sending at the end of giveaway campaigns – try showcasing social proof with photos and videos of giveaway winners with the products. If you’re running a giveaway for a cause, show your impact on the cause (like no. of donations raised, amount raised, etc.). 

FURTHER READING: Top 20 eCommerce Thank You Email Examples That Convert

18. Shipping Emails

Brand: Vuori

Subject Line: Your Order Is Making Moves

👉 Key takeaway: Always offer content to handle post-purchase regret – along with options to:

• Track rewards and increase user retention 
• Option to download invoices
• Check policies regarding warranty, shipping 
• Option to find service points

FURTHER READING: 29 easy-to-copy confirmation email templates (eCommerce)

19. Review Emails

Brand: Chewy

Subject Line: Tell us what you think

👉 Key takeaway: Apart from dynamically loading products from past purchases and asking shoppers to review those, try following up in this manner:

• For negative reviews, follow up with a separate survey and winback flow (offer benefits like flat $X off or flat X% off)
• For positive reviews, show them that you’ve featured their review on your website
• For non-engagers, ask what went wrong – and, offer incentives to review (like a referral bonus)

P.S. Make sure you aren’t triggering review emails, way too quickly – for example, products with a longer shelf life should be ideally followed up within 20 to 30 days of usage (like cellphones, earphones, etc).

FURTHER READING: 17 Unconventional Post-Purchase Emails (+ How to copy them)

Also check out: 10 Questions to Ask When Hiring An eCommerce Email Marketing Agency

20. Survey Emails

Brand: Ocean Saver

Subject Line: Your chance to spill the tea ☕

Preview Text: Your feedback will help us create the future

👉 Key takeaway: Not all survey emails have to tease a reward – a common call can also help deliver the impact. If you’re wondering who you should send these survey emails to, try people who:

• Had a chat with your chatbot/live chat agent
• Made a return/complaint
• Left positive feedback
• Left negative feedback
• To non-engaging subscribers

FURTHER READING: Reduce eCommerce Returns with Intelligent UX (+ Smart Handling ideas)

> Loyalty Emails

21. Giveaway Emails

Brand: Act + Acre

Subject Line: Enter To Win Your Dream Hair

Preview Text: Win your custom summer hair routine valued at $200 ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ 

👉 Key takeaway: Start with the impact first – use the $ value to reel in subscribers. 

• Showcase the value and the goal in the subject and preview text 
• Show the product(s) in use along with some proof 
• Follow up with your brand benefits (check the iconography above the footer)

FURTHER READING: 12 eCommerce Brands Acing Cause Marketing in 2024

22. Anniversary Emails

Brand: The Baby Cubby

Subject Line: It's Your (First Purchase) Anniversary!

Preview Text: Enjoy a special gift inside! ­ ­ ­

👉 Key takeaway: Other than celebrating the birthdays of customers, also celebrate customer and brand milestones like:

• Purchase anniversaries
• Engagement/wedding anniversaries (especially relevant for jewelry brands) 
• First school day
• First social media post about the brand 
• First review/impact made through reviews 

FURTHER READING: 26 Brilliant Ways To Boost eCommerce Repeat Sales

23. Rewards Emails

Brand: Hallmark

Subject Line: You just earned points from Crown Rewards!

Preview Text: Thanks for your purchase.

👉 Key takeaway: make it work as an activation email for new customers 

• Show suggestions based on customer history 
• Ask to create an account 
• Showcase rewards earned with a progress bar showing the top reward that can be earned
• Offer limited-time exclusive email discounts­ ­for email subscribers

Do check out: 15 Top Examples of eCommerce Teaser Emails (+ Templates)

24. Replenishment Emails

Brand: Office Depot

Subject Line: {name}, It's time for a refill.

Preview Text: Office Depot® Check your ink. Make sure you have a good supply.

👉 Key takeaway: Persistent personalization is key to driving return sales – however, make sure you:

• Avoid cross-selling on every replenishment email – just offer deals on quantities here (or on shipping)
• Allow users to customize their subscription preferences within the email like frequency of deliveries, adjust product quantities, or even swap out items based on their current needs

FURTHER READING: Writing Replenishment Emails That Convert

25. Referral Emails

Brand: Away

Subject Line: Give $20, get $20

👉 Key takeaways: 

• Creates an added incentive for shoppers by keeping referrals as a part of your activation as well as post-purchase flow
• You can also use referrals for days like “National Friends Day” or “Random Acts of Kindness Day” – check this awesome referral email from Kailo:

FURTHER READING:  eCommerce Referral Email: 10 Examples That Really Work

> Triggered Emails

26. Quiz Emails

Brand: Estee Lauder

Subject Line: A Flawless Quiz ✨ Find Your Foundation Match

Preview Text: Meet your perfect shade and finish.

👉 Key takeaway: This particular email in essence is a browse abandonment email, but in reality quiz emails can be used to:

• Show influencer-backed recommendations
• Create and upsell routines with products 
• Help deliver brand services like finding sizes or saving personalization like vehicle model year and type

FURTHER READING: 17 Proven Ideas to Improve Email Marketing Conversion Rate (+ Examples)

27. Out-of-Stock Emails

Brand: MVMT

Subject Line: We're Retiring These!

Preview Text: Once they're gone, they're gone for good

👉 Key takeaway: Turn your out-of-stock emails into FOMO drivers like MVMT does. Just because out-of-stock emails are transactional, doesn’t mean they can’t have a humorous edge. 

For example, you could notify users who’ve got products with low stocks added to a wishlist.

FURTHER READING: 13 Triggered Email Examples That Actually Drive Conversions

28. Back-in-Stock Emails

Brand: Chubbies

Subject Line: IT'S A LIMITED EDITION RESTOCK PARTY

Preview Text: And George Kittle is coming! ­ 

👉 Key takeaway: Not all back-in-stock emails have to be an announcement, you can take them a step further and make them limited editions, as Chubbies does. 

FURTHER READING: 24 Best Back-In-Stock Email Examples (+Templates)

29. Re-engagement Emails

Brand: Peak Chocolate (AU)

Subject Line: Is everything ok?

👉 Key takeaway: Try being genuine in your re-engagement emails. Why: new subscribers signing up and dropping off is never a good sign (and ultimately leads your emails to be marked as graymail). 

Need more ideas for your re-engagement emails?

FURTHER READING: Re-engagement Email Examples That (Actually) Win Back Subscribers

30. Winback Emails

Brand: Carparts.com

Subject Line: It's been a while!

Preview Text: Stock up on parts online.

👉 Key takeaway: Winback emails are for existing shoppers who have dropped off from your emails. 

Thus, they require something way more direct – like an incentive along with discounts on products they may need (like car accessories or parts tailored to the subscriber's vehicle model).

FURTHER READING: 11 High-Converting Win Back Email Examples (+ Templates)

RECOMMENDED READING

Fashion Email Marketing: 32 Workflow Ideas (With Real Examples)

Jewelry Email Marketing: 40 Amazing Examples For Online Stores

Brilliant eCommerce Retargeting (and Remarketing) Examples

Ready to put these best email marketing examples to action?

Remember: most eCommerce store owners don’t see email as a serious revenue stream.

Ask them about the importance of email marketing, and you'll hear: “we don’t really have a major strategy,” “we mostly use generic templates,” or “we just send emails to people on our list.”

BUT AT THE SAME TIME:

There are stores out there that drive 30%+ of their revenue from email marketing. 

Engage can help you do the same – Book a free demo.

We’ll show you:

• workflows we can create for your store,
• proven ways to drive 30% or more $$ from email alone, and
• successful templates and strategies from your industry (and others).