11 High-Converting Win Back Email Examples

Win-back emails work!

- 45% of win-back email recipients make an effort to also read subsequent emails from the brand

- 75% of shoppers read a subsequent email within 89 days of receiving the first win-back email, and of this number 25% were still reading emails 300 days after

- Whenever subject lines have featured copy like “we miss you” in a  win-back campaign, read rate has gone up by 13%

Here’s the thing:

Customers go away for valid reasons—and are happy to come back if you can craft a win-back campaign like a champ (no empty promises, only authentic messaging and some GREAT deals!)

11 Best Winback Email Examples that Retain Customers

1. Double down on your brand personality

Brand: EXOH

Subject: Who wouldn't love these bad boys?

👉 Key takeaways from this win-back email example:

• A witty subject line or funny remark about missing them can make your email more memorable.
• Incorporate catchphrases or unique expressions that are synonymous with your brand, making the email instantly recognizable.
• Use CTAs that spark curiosity if it fits your brand. A home decor brand might say, “Discover What’s New,” while a tech brand might use “Unlock Your Next Favorite Gadget.”

2. Lead with a visual reminder

Brand: Perc Coffee

Subject: Did something catch your eye?

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👉 Key takeaways from this win-back email example:

• Start the email with a high-quality image of the product they were browsing. This serves as a visual reminder and instantly reconnects them with the item.
• Use the product they were browsing in the subject line to catch their attention. For example, “Still Thinking About [Product Name]? It’s Waiting for You!” or “Don’t Miss Out on [Product Name]—It’s Almost Yours!”
• Position action-oriented CTA directly below the product image and description to make it easy for the customer to take immediate action.

3. Promote back-in-stock products

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Brand: Valley Cruise Press

Subject: Shhh...Secret 15% Off Sale Today Only 😉

👉 Key takeaways from this win-back email example:

• If the back-in-stock item is something they previously showed interest in, highlight this connection. Use phrases like “We Remembered You Liked This” or “You’ve Been Waiting for This!”
• Emphasize that the product is a best-seller or a customer favorite. Use phrases like “Back by Popular Demand” or “Your Favorite is Back!”
• Mention that the stock is limited to encourage quick action. Use phrases like “Hurry, Limited Stock Available” or “Act Fast—Only a Few Left!”

4. Reassure shoppers about their ‘past experiences’

Brand: hers

Subject: why skin sometimes gets worse before it gets better

👉 Key takeaways from this win-back email example:

• Outline what to expect from the product’s effectiveness. In this context, while using beauty products, everyone goes through a process of adjustment before seeing results. 
• Include detailed, easy-to-follow tutorials on how to use the product effectively. Use visuals like screenshots, infographics, or short videos to illustrate each step.
• Feature stories or testimonials from other members of your customer community, showing how they’re engaging with your brand and its products. 
• Share insider tips or hacks from experts or influencers on how to get the most out of the product. Also, include tips or advice from other customers who have used the product in innovative ways.  

You might also want to check out: Using Videos In Emails – 19 Brilliant Examples From eCommerce Brands

5. Highlight new categories 

Brand: Ashley & Co

Subject: Scent Discovery, a gift from us.

👉 Key takeaways from this win-back email example:

• Based on the subscriber’s previous browsing or purchase history, recommend products from the new categories they might like. This makes the email feel more relevant and encourages exploration.
• Mention if the product of the month is a best-seller or highly rated by other customers. This can add credibility and entice subscribers to check it out.
• Tease what’s coming next month or other new categories launching soon, encouraging subscribers to stay engaged and explore more.

6. Rekindle interest with ‘gift’ options

Brand: Nike

Subject: Last-minute win: Nike gift cards

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👉 Key takeaways from this win-back email example:

• Emphasize that gift cards are a versatile option for any occasion, whether it's for a birthday, anniversary, or a spontaneous gift. Use phrases like “The Perfect Gift for Any Occasion” or “Give the Gift of Choice.”
• Highlight that your gift cards come in customizable amounts, catering to various budgets and making them a flexible choice.
• Offer a referral bonus or discount for customers who refer others to purchase gift cards or explore the gift guide.

Do check out: 14 A/B Testing Ideas For eCommerce Emails

7. Celebrate their special day

Brand: Ray-ban

Subject: Get a birthday reward on us

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👉 Key takeaways from this win-back email example:

• Address the email personally and explain how adding their birthday details will help in customizing their experience. For example, “Hi [Name], We Want to Make Your Birthday Special!”
• Share examples of past birthday campaigns or special offers to give them an idea of what they might receive.
• Reassure customers that their information will be kept secure and used only for the intended purposes. Include a brief note on your privacy policy or data protection practices.

Don't forget to check out: 35 Thanksgiving Email Examples For 2024 (eCommerce)

8. Engage with a product quiz

Brand: Hawthorne

Subject: Our all-new eye cream is for every face

👉 Key takeaways from this win-back email example:

• Build anticipation by teasing the type of results or rewards they can expect. Use language like “Discover Your Perfect Match” or “Find Out Which Product Suits You Best!”
• Highlight popular or trending quiz results to show that others have found value in the quiz.
• Make sure the quiz is mobile-friendly and easy to complete on any device. A significant portion of shoppers will access emails on mobile devices.

9. Urgent! Urgent! Urgent! 

Brand: Caraway

Subject: FINAL HOURS: Prime Day

👉 Key takeaways from this win-back email example:

• Use strong, action-oriented language that conveys urgency, such as “Act Now,” “Don’t Miss Out,” “Last Chance,” or “Final Call.”
• Create visual reminders and count down to the end of a special offer, sale, or event.
• Tie urgency to specific events or seasons, such as “End of Summer Sale – Don’t Miss Out!”

10. Ask about feedback 

Brand: J.Crew

Subject: Thoughts?

👉 Key takeaways from this win-back email example:

• Let customers know how their feedback will be used to make improvements or changes. For example, “Your Feedback Will Help Us Enhance Our Products and Services.”
•  Use a friendly and conversational tone in your email to make customers feel comfortable providing feedback. 
• Send a follow-up email thanking customers for their feedback and letting them know what actions will be taken based on their input.
• Provide access to exclusive content or product previews as a reward for providing feedback. For example, “Complete the Survey and Get a Sneak Peek at Our Upcoming Collection.”

11. Remind them about their ‘loyalty points’

Brand: Copper Cow Coffee

Subject: You’re *this* close to a freebie

👉 Key takeaways from this win-back email example:

• If applicable, remind them of any upcoming expiration dates for their points. For instance, “Don’t Let Your 300 Points Expire – Use Them Before [Date]!”
• Use a clear, compelling CTA button that leads directly to the points redemption page or loyalty program. For example, “Redeem Your Points Now” or “See Your Rewards.”
• Suggest products or categories based on their previous purchases or browsing history that they can buy with their points. For example, “Spend Your Points on Products You Love – Check Out Our Recommendations!”

Win back email vs re-engagement email

What’s primarily different between a win-back email and a re-engagement email is the kind of customer inaction each one targets.

Win-back emails work well for those who’ve not bought at all for a while.

So let’s say, you had a customer named Mary who’d purchase at least twice in three months—after engaging like this for about a year, she has suddenly vanished.

A win-back email carrying a tangible financial benefit is more likely to bring such a customer back.

They may also appreciate it more if you let this discount be applicable on new categories or some categories they’d shown interest in.

However, here’s a quick checklist of *other* benefits (apart from a % discount or code) that you can win them back with:
- Membership benefits
- Referral rewards
- Exclusive (read: gated) content (based on product preferences & browsing history)
- *Early bird* free samples (from a new launch)
- Discounted subscription offer (for example, for 1 year—only for today!)
- A limited time $ discount on items saved in the permanent cart

Re-engagement emails work better for customers who continue to engage but not purchase, but let’s say, if they were engaging at a 9 earlier on a scale of 0 to 10, now they’re at a 4.

So what a re-engagement email does is keep the potential customer interested in the brand—in the hopes that with a *little nudge* their engagement won’t just go up but they will ALSO start buying.

In reality, since this is rarely about just one customer, a re-engagement email campaign can work wonders in helping you retain existing customers (rather than running after acquiring new ones.)

Why is it important to initiate a win-back campaign?

The easiest thing to say would be: to convert dormant customers. 

However, in reality, a win-back email campaign can do lots more in the long-term for your eCommerce business:

Leverage reconnection for retention

Top brands remain at the top because they have one thing in common: they have an average customer retention rate of 94%. 

With the right messaging, offers and permissions (for opt-ins), your existing customers will give you more business than new ones. 

Help analyze response rates

Customer retention isn’t a short-term goal. 

So along with making inactive customers buy today, a great win-back campaign will ensure:

- You know their product preferences

- You know what kind of offers they’re actively going after

- You know the friction points that are making them drop off

All of the above can become your key in taking your retention strategy to the next level. 

Create brand recall & awareness

Given that there are a plethora of brand and product options out there, every once in a way, customers can forget what your brand uniquely stands for. 

A win-back email campaign can change that.

When should you start a win-back campaign?

That really depends on how you define your “inactivity threshold”. 

Come to think about it, this is heavily industry-dependent. 

While a customer buying skincare products regularly should not stay silent for over a month, another buying furniture is likely to go quiet more often (because of the nature of the products.)

Ideally, for your win-back strategy to be effective, you need to get hold of them in the early stages of waning interest. 

If it’s for more perishable products like makeup, skincare and food, begin your win-back campaign 2 to 3 months from the date of last interaction—this timeframe isn’t too early or too late and won’t give customers the impression that you’re chasing them. 

For more durable items, 6 to 8 months from the last purchase is a good timeframe to target. 

Winback Email Example Pro-Tip:

Segment your inactive customers based on their previous purchase and engagement history. 

This will help you talk to someone who has been inactive for 6 months differently than another who has not bought anything in a year. 

What is a typical example of a win-back strategy?

The typical win-back strategy more or less covers the following flow:

Identify the right customers to win back

For this, define the amount of time customers should have been dormant (remember: to factor in industry, category and type of product.)

Segment and then personalize

For this ask some crucial questions:

What’s their customer lifetime value?

What’s their geographical location (& hence purchasing behavior?)

What did they buy before and how much?

How often did they buy before?

Create offers that make them go wow

This is the tough part but also the rewarding part—if you can do it well. 

Look at your segmentation data to figure which customers would enjoy no-threshold free shipping, which ones would prefer a dollar discount and which would be happy to receive a surprise gift.

Make your messaging create a “response”

Think through what would motivate them first. 

Have they engaged enough to be “turned on” by an early discounted access to a new launch?

Or would they happily lean into a 30% storewide discount—when you tell them a brand like yours thrives because of shoppers like them?

Define a window & create an email series

To get the timeframe right, make sure you have some answers:

What’s the average time a customer takes to become inactive? 

How soon do customers open a win-back email or avail the offer or both?

What is the extent of inactivity? 

For example, if the customer has just turned inactive a single win-back email may do the trick, while you may need a series of 3 to 4 if they’ve been lying low for over 6 months. 

Study the results & reiterate

Take a good look at which segment, what kind of offer, what kind of messaging etc. seem to be really effective in the campaign (run A/B tests to make effective comparisons and prove hypotheses.)

You might like this: 20 email personalization templates (examples from great brands)

How many emails do you send in a win-back flow?

Is the campaign meant for a brand that sells skincare products for outdoorsy people?

Or is it to win back customers for a travel gear brand?

You get the hint: there’s no right or wrong answer. 

However, here are a few relevant buckets that you can consider when you plan your flow:

The initial email

Sending just one of this kind is a good idea in most cases, because you’re trying to assess if they even want to engage back.

Offering an update on what’s new and what the brand has been up to, generally, works. A general storewide % discount can also be part of this. 

The follow-up emails

The idea here would be for you to take firmer steps to engage them: send value-add content along with a discount code, feature social proof with a “just launched and here’s an exclusive offer of x% off”, display limited time offers etc. 

The final email

We like to call it the last straw on the camel’s back. 

This is what you send when you see all your win-back emails have gone unopened/ unclicked etc.

What does an effective win-back sequence look like?

Here’s a sequence that we’ve recommended to multiple clients:

Casual check-in

This is to get the pulse of the customer—to make it easy, you can craft a multi-choice feedback email with four or five answers:

- I found a better alternative

- I would like better offers

- Send me more personalized recommendations, please

- Want to see new stuff

Reminder with incentive

“Still there? Since you wanted to see new stuff—here are TWO categories we launched in the last three months….and oh! Here’s a 20% discount you can use to buy off these categories!”

Reminder with anniversary sale offer

“We know we’ve not been in touch for a while but how about reconnecting over our massive 80% across-the-store anniversary sale? This comes just once a year, so why not stock up?”

Reminder with limited time offer

“It’s been raining offers at our site but this one’s just for you! Avail an additional 15% off across the store!”

Time to unsubscribe?

“Are you still enjoying receiving our emails? While we love seeing you have a good time with our offers, we wouldn’t want to be a bother!” 

Winback Email Example Pro Tip:

No matter what sequence you choose, pay special attention to the CTAs you introduce in each email—they will help you track the rate and quality of responses.

How to write a high-converting win-back email

While there are innumerable ways to write win-back emails, the best ones have a few things in common:

A clear, inspiring message

Why must they turn back and want to engage?

What will make them want to buy again? 

Imagine their response when you write something like…

“Have you noticed our website experience has improved?”

“Will you tell us something?”

“Got a minute?”

“Where did you go away? We’re right here waiting”

…and then follow it up with updates on improvements, offers, new launches etc. 

Microcopy that offers supportive information

Make it relevant, non-draggy and cut out the fluff. 

Use bullets if you will, and highlight the numbers. 

Something like: “We’d love to know you’re still thinking of us—let’s say cheers to this connect with a 20% discount from any category you choose to shop from. Offer lasts till 31/ 07/ 2023” is crisp and can prop up a nice, peppy headline. 

A CTA that really drives action

Remember: they’ve seen enough of the “BUY NOWs” and “SHOP NOWs”. 

To make your win-back email convert, your CTAs need to make them act—without thinking. 

So text like…

“Let’s do this!”

“Go! Go! Go!”

“Get the deal” 

…can work wonders. 

A visual that’s relevant AND powerful

Fall back on the purpose of the email to introduce a visual—the truth is most of the time, shoppers aren’t opening emails to look at the visuals, but are taking them in anyway subconsciously—so if something’s off, they’ll close the email and walk away. 

An offer that’s tough to refuse

Touch base with where customers are on their journey to create offers that are compelling AND immediately attractive—yes, that’s what you’re trying to drive: instant action!

20 amazing customer win back email subject lines for inspiration

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1. Ready for a comeback, <insert name>?
2. <insert name>, let’s catch you up on what you’ve been missing out!
3. Hi! <insert name>  Where’d you go?
4. Dear <insert name>, here’s a little something to get back together
5. Hey <insert name>, did you go away just like that?
6. Dear <insert name>, blame it on us if you will!
7. We’d love to hear from you again, <insert name>!
8. Hey friend! Just wanted to say we *really miss* YOU!
9. Wherever you are, just come back!
10. Wait! We want to get back together with you, <insert name>!
11. We haven’t heard from you lately but we’d love to (Crocs)
12. We’ve reserved that last ticket for you (Myntra)
13. Hey, we need to talk! (Missguided)
14. Look at what you’re missing! (Boden)
15. We hate goodbyes. (So we’re emailing you one last time.) (John Paul Mitchell Systems)
16. You + Us We Miss That (GAP)
17. Is this the end? (Flamebridge)
18. Give us a second chance? (Dinnerly)
19. Hello Friend! It’s been awhile! (Land’s End)
20. We miss you at Spy (SPY)

Recommended reading:

25 Product Launch Email Examples That Drove Massive Sales (+ Templates)

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

24 Amazing Drip Email Campaigns That Actually Drive Sales

Email A/B Testing: Elements to Test + Mistakes to Avoid

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