Ecommerce email marketing is usually exciting and itnereactive. With the summer in full swing, ecommerce stores across the digital realm will be working hard on their latest, greatest campaigns.
Yep – that’s why your inbox is chock-full of offers from stores you’ve both shopped at and – naughty… – not heard of.
So, if you run an ecommerce store or are planning to enter the field, I’d like to show you three examples of ecommerce email marketing which I think is quite brilliant.
Get ready to be inspired!
1. ASOS (wait… where’s the offer?)
One quick look at the latest email I received from online clothes retailer ASOS and you’d be forgiven for wondering why they bothered.
Where’s the tempting offer? What about their new summer lines? What am I supposed to do with this email?
Here’s the header:
The purpose of this email is to introduce email subscribers to ASOS’ worldwide project that supports creative young people. Click-through to the landing page, and you’re met with what is essentially a carbon copy of the rest of the email:
I’ve only included a snippet of the page above, but you get the idea. Click any of the buttons, and you’re delivered a story about the creative in question and the ways in which ASOS has helped them.
This is a brand engagement email – not an offer email, and it does the task brilliantly. It’s a surprise to receive, for starters, and demands exploration. That probably also means it’ll stay in your inbox, too, and…
Wait… what’s that in the pre-header?
Sneaky so-and-sos… 🙂
2. Firebox (yawn… oh, I want one now!)
I feature Firebox on this blog a lot, but for good reason – I think their email marketing is fantastic.
If you run an ecommerce shop, chances are you’ll have a number of slow moving products that are – despite their best intentions – as boring as feather dusters. They might be feather dusters, come to think of it.
How do you make them interesting and purchasable?
Enter Firebox and their take on the humble kettle:
OK, granted – it’s a fancy kettle, but it’s still a kettle. However, thanks to no-nonsense product imagery and playful copy, I now want this kettle. Quite badly.
Ecommerce email marketing is all about making effective use of every square inch of available space, and if we scroll down, Firebox has taken the opportunity to show us some more of their new products:
Spot the white space? Yep – that’s important, too.
3. PetsPyjamas (show me the offer!)
The ecommerce sector is rather well versed at devising simple, great, big, whacking offers and promoting the hell out of them.
Here’s one such example from online pet store PetsPyjamas:
And what does a simple offer need to ensure it encourages action?
Urgency (lots of it).
Let’s count the urgent stuff above… we’ve got:
- “Last Chance…”
- “Hurry”
- “…ends Monday midnight!”
- “Hurry” (again)
- “…only got this weekend…”
Phew! We’d better crack on, eh?
Final thought
Ecommerce email marketing is at its best when it looks easy, and the examples above perform the same trick Messi demonstrates with a football. Moreover, they make it look effortless.
It isn’t, but I’ve hopefully given you some inspiration today!
