Rich product descriptions that paint the product with words
Colors remain on-brand to the black and gold in a 70:20:10 ratio
✅ Key takeaways:
White isn’t the only color to use in your emails – use typography and font sizing to establish a visual hierarchy
Focus on the product images first – then the email design
Also, write product descriptions for the mobile reader – note how each description remains crisp (yet visually appealing)
Your subject lines need to be catchy to actually stand out – and get opened – or in simple terms have a high click-to-open rate (here are some ideas to improve CTOR)
Make sure your emails are designed with mobile UX in mind – try formatting your emails in HTML – and reduce relying heavily on entire sections built of images
Curiosity is a great product discovery driver – use it like Fender has
Track link clicks from email quizzes – and, create segments out of those clicks
Launch a custom follow-up flow based on the product – consider showing the journey of the product, a subscriber interacted with – show how it came to be
Subject Line: Join us May 2 for margaritas, tacos, and a special guest.
📌 What we love about this luxury brand's email:
Brand collab in real life
Helps create a sense of community (and mystery)
Short and simply sweet design that doesn't waste any time
✅ Key takeaways:
It doesn't always take a live stream – a 1:1 event helps deliver full value
Make sure your intended community knows in advance (and make it exclusive) – for example, there's no mention of this event on the socials of Food 52 or Cayman Jack
Consider offering this invite to top spenders to help retain customers better
Sent way, way before Christmas – before any promotions have started
Helps recommend no-brainer purchases for a particular holiday – ‘hosting guests’ for Christmas in this case
Shows practicality of the recommendations – note the description of the benches “quadruples as a luggage rack”
Shows new product launches – while displaying visual cues to offer a risk-free trial
✅ Key takeaways:
Nearly half of all luxury shoppers plan their holiday purchases almost three months in advance – sending an email about Christmas during the first week of November is just right
Include a free shipping offer like “order now to get complimentary doorstep delivery” – addressing holiday shopping early can help you get sales while saving on shipping costs
Subject Line: Personalise Your Present is back for a limited time
📌 What we love about this email marketing example:
Shows the full journey of the product as it's personalized
Makes it limited by time
Frames free items as ‘complementary’
Use of the decoy effect (note the addition of the diffuser to draw attention to the ‘sea salt cologne’)
✅ Key takeaways:
Endowment effect (putting more value in things we own) is critical for co-creation drives – nearly 29% of new-gen luxury shoppers want customized/personalized products
Ensure your luxury emails emanate the luxury or show the exclusivity/joy of owning a personalized product
Don’t forget to add in your standard offers in every email – note the “buy online, pick up in-store…samples on every order”
Subject Line: New Styles Added: Up to 60% Off for HBX Members
📌 What we love about this luxury brand's email:
Massive discount on offer
Creating FOMO by simply avoiding all promotional elements
Maintains the tone of an announcement
Usage of hyperbolic discounting (pro members pay to be a part – but 60% seems like a bigger incentive)
✅ Key takeaways:
Use this email strategy only when you’ve got excess/slow-moving stock to clear – it’s worth remembering nearly 30% of consumers shop luxury goods online for deals
Consider creating tiers in your loyalty program – offer separate amounts of discounts to separate tiers
14. Evoke the desire to stay on top
Brand: Ellesse
Subject Line: Stay on 🔝
📌 What we love about this luxury brand’s email:
Subject line grabs eyeballs and speaks directly to the luxury consumer’s psychology
Unedited product photos showing the products in a neutral setting
Visual display of offers like “next-day delivery…30-day returns”
✅ Key takeaways:
Try including in your copy how a subscriber will become one of the first to get access to the product – nearly 50% of luxury shoppers will shell out more, just to be the first people to own that product
Communicate that you have next-day delivery and a long returns window, in your emails
Both are critical to luxury shoppers – according to Klarna, most luxury shoppers are twice as likely to expect next-day delivery
If you’re worried about costs, offer same-day pick-up options – nearly 54% of millennials do want this option
Try including your estimated delivery date from the email date – like ‘get it by xx/xx’ – but make sure the period doesn’t go beyond 5 days
Sensible luxury isn't a trend – research shows that the new age of luxury shoppers care for the greater good – for themselves and the environment
Consider showing more affordable items (like the $28 tote) in your emails – this is because of the “lipstick effect” (smaller indulgences are more likely to get sold in large numbers, due to economic downturns)
However, make sure to remove the objection first – as HOBO has, with their cause
Consider showing your impact once every month or at intervals – show the contributions of individual customers as well
Anniversary emails can be about you and the subscriber – use your emails to remind them how important they are to you
Don’t start with a discount in anniversary emails – only offer one, if a shopper hasn’t been active for a while
Consider offering a 1:1 session through your emails to provide better service – 53% of all luxury shoppers will pay more for brands to which they have an emotional connection
20. Show the post-purchase journey through your newsletters
Brand: Murf
Subject Line: Bike Safety: Lock It Up
📌 What we love about this luxury brand's email:
Shows what the post-purchase experience will look like
Helps create customers out of apprehensive subscribers and repeat sales from cross-sells
✅ Key takeaways:
Segment your email newsletters for existing customers – and, apprehensive subscribers on the edge
Ensure that the emails aren’t vastly different – tune the tonality by purchase stage – for example: add a hook like “grab your {product} + FREE KIT” for subscribers who haven’t made a purchase
Skips the CTA structure – and goes straight up as a note
Inspires customers to jump to action – with a clear “how-to”
The cat – the advice – the tonality
✅ Key takeaways:
Luxury emails don’t always have to show or announce products – they can be personal like the one above
Try exploring the self-care angle in your luxury emails – according to Amazon’s research, nearly 50% of all luxury shoppers buy products for themselves
Usage of on-site content to help establish the email's story
✅ Key takeaways:
Luxury emails should communicate the quality of ingredients, the carbon footprint, and the longevity – remember 72% of luxury shoppers buy luxury items because they last longer and hold their value
Use stories in your emails to connect with luxury shoppers – according to Google, storytelling is the key to retaining luxury shoppers
The story of a World War 2 machine is what drives this luxury email campaign – it innately signals that the watches will in fact be limited in numbers
However, the definition of a ‘good’ email for a luxury product, depends on the product itself. Back in 2020, everyone expected the luxury industry to wither – it would become an industry fueled by ‘cultural and creative excellence.’
In 2024, the definition of luxury has changed – and so has the customer. Now, more than 75% of all luxury purchases are influenced by online channels.
Thus, it’s only natural that emails carry forward the torch from the website.
What are the best email marketing strategies for luxury brands to engage shoppers?
1. Offer a personalized incentive for signup – like exclusivity
2. Use your welcome flow to educate customers about brand benefits
3. Get your copy and design on-brand
4. Use your emails to offer service to subscribers – like this wishlist 😉
5. Use a quiz to direct your attention to collab products
6. Show the journey of the product
7. Go plain text for abandonment emails – the service matters here
8. Use an ICP – like Loog does with their gifting angle
9. Partner live stream ❌ Partner taco night ✅
10. Offer the store experience with employee-generated content
11. Help with planning for the holiday season
12. Co-creation 🤝
13. Make your loyalty benefits exclusive
14. Evoke the desire to stay on top
15. Go stand up for your cause
16. FOMO – all the way
17. Tease a product launch – but don’t tell what it is
18. Update customer preferences
19. Celebrate the customer
20. Show the post-purchase journey through your newsletters
21. Send a self-care note
22. Re-engage customers
23. Educate – and build the hype
24. Show that you took their feedback into account
25. Send a thank-you email for browse abandonment
26. Offer an exclusive rebuy opportunity
27. Turn up the conversational aspect in your back-in-stock emails
Just one step away from hitting send?
Most luxury brand owners don’t see email as a serious revenue stream.
Even if they do, most end up sending the same templatized versions of emails from other brands.
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.