Win-back email templates that use discounts to bring back shoppers. 

It’s no secret that, when it comes to making a purchase, price is one of the most important factors considered by consumers. Afterall, who doesn’t love it when they get a great deal on something they’ve been after?

To stay competitive in a growing ecommerce space, brands resort to discounting offers to keep their customers coming back to their store.

One of the best ways to incentivize loyalty and keep your customers coming back for more is by offering a discount on products or services. Retailers can improve their business’ profitability with well-executed discount campaigns to attract new customers and retain their existing ones.

Depending upon what stage your business is in, the number of customers you serve, the types of products you offer, and your pricing strategy, discounts can serve as a massive source of ROI for your brand.

But how can you craft a discount email for your customer win-back strategy that will entice buyers back to your store, without seeming too pushy?

Let’s give you some really good discount win-back email examples.

Win-back email templates that use discounts to entice buyers

Not sure if discounts are a good strategy to bring back buyers that are no longer engaged with your business? Well, here are some brands that are proactively using discounts in their win-back email templates.

1. Anthropologie

Anthropologie, a clothing, accessories, and home products retailer, sends a re-engagement email to win back its inactive customers.

What we like about this email:

• Anthropologie takes a humanizing approach in its win-back email by showing an interest in what the customer thinks of their brand. They give their customers a reason to respond by offering an incentive, like the discount code for filling out a feedback survey. This works well for them as it throws light on possible reasons subscribers might have to abandon the brand
• The copy in the email is very direct as they straight-up ask, “Have you seen improvement?” Using direct language increases the reader’s likeliness to respond back with answers you can actually use to bring improvements.

2. Ruggable

Ruggable is an online retailer that sells rugs. The brand sends a discount incentive win-back email with the subject line: “Don’t Miss Out! 15% off with free delivery” to re-engage their inactive customers.

What we like about this email:

• The email has a clear subject line that offers a time-limited proposal, the promise of free delivery, and a 15% discount. All of which sounds highly promising.
• Apart from highlighting this golden offer, the email displays a photograph of the product that the reader can instantly check out on their website. This is followed by a clear and visible CTA button right below the picture that enables the shopper to purchase the product in a few seconds.
• Lastly, the email also includes CTAs to other pages of the website. They present three different categories to cater to readers who are interested in something else.

3. High Sierra

High Sierra is an online store that sells top-quality backpacks, luggage, and bags. The brand sends a re-engagement email under the subject line: “Final Chance to unlock 20% off on your purchase”

What we like about this email:

• The email’s noteworthy quality is its subject line that instantly induces FOMO. Also, using the word “you” in the subject line is a great tactic to personalize the email, so that the readers feel that the information shared in the email is just for them.
• Additionally, the email includes “Final Chance” and a ticking clock to build urgency and help quicken the reader’s response.
• Moreover, the brand offers a 20% additional discount on products with initial reduction. Such discount tactics are used by marketers to reactivate last-minute buyers in a flash sale.

4. Birchbox

Birchbox, a beauty product subscription service uses its end-of-year win-back email to add a percentage discount offer and woo back its inactive customers.

What we like about this email:

• Birchbox uses the new year as a way to persuade its inactive customers to try out their service. Unlike other brands, they send a long but personal copy along with an enclosed offer, turning this email into an effective win-back tactic for them.
• The brand offers a discount coupon code for 50 percent off to their readers on their first subscription box with a 6-month sign-up, which sounds like a pretty big deal.

5. Astley Clarke

Astley Clarke is an online store selling fine jewelry. It sends an incentive based win-back email under the subject line: 17% off for the next 2 days only!

What we like about this email:

• Astley Clarke’s win-back email does a great job at convincing their inactive customers to return to shop at their online store.
• Unlike other win-back emails which are not copy heavy, they include some funny copy by adding a listicle on the 17 benefits for coming back to Astley Clarke.
• The content is effectively led by an offer code, which creates urgency by mentioning that the offer is active only for two days. As a result, customers are more likely to act quickly.

6. Rufflebuttts

Rufflebuttts, an online store for kids clothing, shares a win-back email with the subject line: “Oh Joy”

What we like about this email:

• We like how Rufflebutts playfully uses content to remind customers that they are offering a coupon for 20% off their next purchase along with free shipping if they shop again.
• Additionally, they make sure to include related imagery to show customers what they’re missing.They feature four other collections including gifts, swimwear, best sellers, and their signature rufflebutts.
• The brand does a great job of making it easy for customers to shop by including two CTAs: to shop either the boys’ collections or the girls’. As an added benefit, including these CTAs is a great way to gather more data on shoppers’ preferences.

7. Girlfriend

Girlfriend Collective is a women’s activewear brand that sells high quality clothes from recycled materials. It’s win-back email comes with the Subject line: “We miss you. Here’s $20.”

What we like about this email:

• The brand goes for a simple and straightforward subject line for its winback email and immediately informs its subscribers that there’s an incentive to buy.
• This email is crafted in the form of a letter written from the team. By directly addressing the recipient, the messaging makes it sound very personal, as if they are directly talking to the reader.
• Adhering to a casual, conversational, and inviting tone, Girlfriend encourages the reader to browse around the website and check out new products, without being too pushy.
• The email CTA is optimized to take the reader back to Girlfriend’s website and the message that the offer is limited time is communicated clearly in the bottom. This builds urgency to encourage customers to act quickly.

8. Misguided

Misguided, a women’s clothing store, sends a win-back email with an unmissable incentive to its lapsed customers to encourage them to get back to their store.

What we like about this email:

• The email has a clear message highlighting the purpose of the email: reminding their customers about the brand. Wording like “still into us?” and “we miss you!” serve this purpose.
• The email contains an incentive to encourage shoppers to purchase their products, along with a CTA to the product page.

9. Adidas

Adidas, a sportswear brand, incentivizes its win-back email to get its inactive customers to come back and make a purchase. We really like this win-back email template for various reasons!

What we like about this email:

• Adidas encourages spend above £70 with a discount incentive that the reader gets to use via a personalized code.
• The email has CTA to product pages, making it easier for the reader to navigate to his/her preferred section.
• They are offering this offer for a limited time. This can be a good tactic to create urgency.

10. Not on the High Street

Not on the High Street, an online store specializing in personalized gifting, uses a discount incentive in its win-back email to lure back its lost customers.

What we like about this email:

• The email uses clear and friendly messages throughout its copy to encourage customers to continue remaining engaged with its emails.
• It provides incentives for lapsed customers to spend on their products
• The copy also provides readers with an easy-to-find and clear unsubscribe option.

11. Boden

Boden, an online fashion and accessory store, sends a win-back email under the subject line: This is us, winning you back!

What we like about this email:

• Boden’s minimal copy approach coupled with a neat design ensures that only the most essential information is displayed to the viewer.
• The email offers everything of importance to an inactive customer: a discount incentive, free delivery and returns guarantee, an option to change their email preferences and a referral incentive.

12. JOY

JOY, an online clothing retailer, uses its win-back email to make the user know they’ve got a fantastic offer waiting for them.

What we like about this email:

• JOY uses urgency to tempt its customer into making a purchase on its online store. It adds a deadline by allowing only a week to avail the winback voucher.
• The brand uses just the right amount of polite and minimalistic copy in its win-back email

13. Soak and Sleep

Soak and Sleep, an online bed and bath brand, sends a win-back email with the subject line: Final Chance!

What we like about this email:

• Soak and Sleep’s win-back email highlights a discount of 25% off, which is a limited-time offer. This naturally creates a desire to act instantly.
• The email uses a polite and minimalistic last call subject line. There are no icons or moving images, just simply – “final chance.”
• The email content uses visual presentation to help the buyer make an informed decision on which product to purchase. They do so by including photos of the products on sale and a brief description of each.

14. bareMinerals

bareMinerals, a makeup and skincare brand sends a friendly re-engagement email to lure back their inactive customers under the subject line: We Miss You, {First Name}!

What we like about this email:

• bareMinerals’ win-back email goes one step further to make its readers valued by adding the phrase “can you blame us?”. The copy is friendly and welcoming.
• The email includes a discount code “MISSYOU” to fully leverage the potential of this remarketing campaign.
• The copy doesn’t sound salesy and coupled with this template and color scheme, it manages to put a reader’s mind at ease and makes them open to the brand’s offer.

15. Crocs

Crocs, a footwear brand, works out a pretty short and sweet win-back email for customers who haven’t shopped with the brand for long.

What we like about this email:

• With minimal copy, Crocs knows how to highlight its best deal: a discount incentive. However it comes with a catch: the incentive works on a particular cart value, making this a good tactic to get customers to buy more expensive items.
• The email provides an easy way to unsubscribe. By using the words

“break up”, the brand attempts to let the customer know that they’ll be missing out on some pretty good deals if they unsubscribe.

Conclusion

We hope these 15 examples arm you with some inspiration and tips on how you can create your own win-back campaign using discount incentives and encourage customers to return to your ecommerce store.

It’s important to remember that no matter how hard you try, you cannot win back all your inactive customers. As a brand, the best thing you can do is try.

Trying to win back your unengaged subscribers may seem daunting, but implementing a well thought discount winback email campaign is the best way to automate the process of reaching out to customers as soon as they’re about to ghost you.

Add enticing subject lines, send the email at strategic timings, and include engaging content to create an email series that fits your unique audience. Make sure to A/B test it, and evaluate the results to bring improvement and increase your open and conversion rates with customers that might have moved on from your brand otherwise.

Looking to set up powerful customer win-back email flows? Explore RetainIQ today.