Every store has them: customers who bought once or twice, then drifted away. They already know and trust you, which makes them far cheaper to reactivate than a stranger is to acquire. A win-back flow reaches lapsed customers at the point where they’re slipping from “quiet” to “gone,” reminds them what they’re missing, and gives a reason to come back now.
When to use it
- You have customers who haven’t purchased in a while (often 60, 90, or 120+ days, depending on your buying cycle).
- You’d rather reactivate a known customer than pay to acquire a new one.
- You want to keep your list healthy by re-engaging — or cleanly sunsetting — dormant contacts.
How it works
There are two solid ways to build this; pick the one that fits how you think about “lapsed.”
Trigger on Order placed, then a long Delay — say 90 days. A Binary step then asks “have they ordered again?” If yes, they exit; if no, the win-back emails go out. This needs only the store events every plan has. Build a segment of lapsed customers (e.g. “last order more than 90 days ago”). Trigger the flow when contacts enter that segment, and use re-entry after a cooldown so the same person isn’t re-engaged too often. Set it up
- Decide what “lapsed” means for your store — base it on your typical time between orders, not a round number.
- Create the automation: either Order placed → long delay → Binary “ordered since?”, or trigger on entry to a lapsed-customer segment.
- Write the sequence below. Lead with connection, not a discount.
- Add a Coupon step before the final email — a stronger, short-expiry offer for the people who didn’t respond to the softer touch.
- Set re-entry to after a cooldown (e.g. 90 days) so you don’t pester the same people, and Publish.
The proven 3-email sequence
Win-back is the one flow where leading with a generous discount is justified — these customers have already stopped buying, so a softer touch alone often isn’t enough. Make the offer count, but keep the expiry short.
Make it work harder
- Make it a true offer. Win-back discounts can be more generous than your welcome offer — you’re competing against “they’ve forgotten us,” not against full price.
- Keep your list clean. Contacts who ignore the whole series are telling you something. Moving long-term non-responders to suppressed protects your sender reputation and your deliverability for everyone else.
- Personalize the reminder. Referencing what they bought before (“your favorite is back in stock”) beats a generic “we miss you.”
Measure it
Open the automation’s analytics and watch reactivated revenue — orders from customers who’d gone quiet. Even a modest reactivation rate is high-margin revenue you’d otherwise have lost entirely. 
