Win Back Emails
Learn how to send Winback emails automatically and retain your inactive customers.
Last updated
Learn how to send Winback emails automatically and retain your inactive customers.
Last updated
A Win-Back email is a carefully crafted message sent to re-engage inactive customers. It is primarily a motivation for inactive customers to come back and make a purchase at your store.
An inactive customer is someone who previously engaged with your store but they've not made a repeat purchase for a long time at your store.
Win-Back emails play a crucial role in encouraging repeat purchases. Customers may stop purchasing for various reasons, such as switching to a competitor, no longer needing your products, or even having had a negative experience. Sending a Win-Back email is a sincere effort to re-engage them and address any concerns they may have.
You miss the opportunity to learn why a customer left.
You forgo the chance to recover customers you spent significant resources acquiring.
Studies show that 61% of eCommerce revenue comes from repeat customers. Additionally, acquiring a new customer can cost up to 300% more than retaining an existing one.
To maximize the effectiveness of Win-Back emails, consider the following best practices:
Some of them are listed below:
The subject line is your first chance to grab attention in a crowded inbox. A compelling subject line increases the likelihood that inactive customers will open and read your email.
Examples of effective subject lines:
"Hi Laura, We miss you at {{shop.name}}"
"Laura, here's a small gift for you"
"Many offers are waiting for you, Laura"
The content of the email should be perfectly tailored with the intent to bring back inactive customers to the store.
Example:
Start with a warm greeting: “Hey Steffie…”
Engage with customers on a one-on-one basis. When personalized emails land in their inbox, customers sense that you miss them and genuinely want them back in your community.
Two things to be focused on in your win-back emails:
Acknowledge your inactive customers’ absence
List out what they are missing
To rekindle shopping interest, consider personalizing a coupon code for an even greater impact on your business.
Examples:
Buy one, get three free offers
Free shipping and returns
Discount coupons for purchases over a certain amount
Including a very vigorous CTA can also facilitate bringing back inactive customers
Examples:
Get your free rewards
Welcome back!
Collect your coupon
Avail 10% OFF Now!
For a clear picture, we have come up with some examples. It will help you in drafting the mail in a refined manner. Example 1
Takeaways from this email template:
It is simple.
Offers a strong incentive
Has a clear Call-To-Action (CTA)
Example 2
Takeaways from this email template:
Visually appealing design
A strong incentive
A direct CTA
Product recommendations
Example 3
Takeaways from this email template:
Small but meaningful conversation
Benefits were highlighted
Incentives were mentioned
You can replicate any of the email templates in your win-back emails and get better customer re-engagement rates.
Retainful makes it easy to set up your own Win-Back Email workflow using its user-friendly automation editor. With Retainful’s pre-built templates, you can create this workflow in just a few straightforward steps, allowing you to focus on other important tasks and enhance your productivity.
Follow the below steps to create the Win-Back Email Workflow:
Login into your Retainful dashboard
Navigate to ‘Automation’ -> ‘Create Workflow’ -> and select ‘Win-Back Email.’
3. Give a ‘Name’ to your Win-Back workflow and click ‘Continue’ to proceed.
Now, you will be redirected to the ‘Automation Workflow Builder’ immediately.
At the top of your workflow, you’ll find the ‘Trigger’. This feature allows you to define when a customer enters the workflow. By default, the trigger is set to include all customers as soon as they place a successful order.
To customize this further, simply click on the ‘Trigger’. You will then see options for ‘Trigger Rules’ and ‘Customer Rules’. If you need to apply specific conditions, you can configure custom rules on the right-hand side.
You learn how to configure the trigger here.
Now, we are at the 1st ‘Email’ block of the workflow. You can click on the ‘Email’ block to customize the email subject line, preview text, and email content.
You can provide the ‘Subject Line’ as per your choice, and when you click ‘Save,’ it will be updated automatically. ‘Editing’ the Email Content is very easy with Retainful’s drag and drop email editor.
Click on the ‘Edit Email Content’ button to edit the email’s content. This will bring up the visual drag-and-drop email editor. If you would like to change the email template, you can click on the ‘Change template’ button on the left top and select a template of your choice.
To learn more about editing email content, click here.
Now, click on the ‘Close’ to go back to the previous page.
Your Win-back email workflow will be ready now.
After you've finished customizing your email template, you can send a test email to preview how it will appear in your inbox.
To do this, return to the top of the email editor and click the ‘Send Test Email’ button. This will help ensure that all content is displayed as expected.
Once you’re satisfied with the preview, click ‘Save’ to confirm the changes, including any content updates and logo replacements, in the email template.
Note: The test email is for illustration purposes only; the values and data included are not representative of actual customer information.
Now, click on the ‘Close’ to go back to the previous page.
Your Win-back email workflow will be ready now.
If you wish to have more sequences of emails, then you can click on the ‘+’ icon and select the desired option.
If you are going to send a series of emails, then you can follow the below sequence.
Email 1: Expressing your Feeling
The purpose of your first email should be to express their feeling of missing them for a long time. Just let the customer know that their presence matters a lot to you. This email can be sent when you don’t find customers in your shopping arena for more than 45 days.
Email 2: A motivation to make inactive customers come back
This email should be sent 24 to 48 hours after the customer has received their first mail
Make sure to include a simple motivation. A 5 to 10% coupon code or a free shipping offer that encourages their return.
You can also consider including a few best-selling or featured products in your store in this email
Email 3: Reminder of the motivation + Brand Value with a social proof
This email should be sent 2 or 3 days after sending the 3rd email.
It should remind them about the offer in Email #2 but should ask the customer to take quick action to complete the purchase. Example: "Your coupon will expire soon."
Include customer reviews or testimonials in this email as this will help build trust
Once you're ready to activate the Win-Back Email Workflow, click the ‘Start Workflow’ button at the top-right corner. This will set your workflow live and start sending Win-Back emails to re-engage your inactive customers.
Your Win-Back Email Workflow is set to ‘Live’ now.
When your customers place an order, they will enter into the Win-back email workflow immediately and wait for 45 days, if they don’t place an order during the 45-day wait period, they will receive the Win-back email automatically.
You can follow the below instructions to test your win-back email workflow.
Make sure you have set live the Win-Back Email Workflow at your Retainful dashboard -> Automation (The status of the workflow should be ‘Live’)
You can test your Win-Back Email workflow is by placing a successful order in your store. You can consider choosing a low-value product in your store for placing this order
Open your storefront (your online storefront) in a Private / Incognito window (so that you can test like a customer)
Place a successful order
You should receive the Win-Back email after 45 days. Make sure you don't place any orders within that 45 days with the same email address.
However, if you would like to test the workflow with a short period and see if the email comes through correctly, you can try this alternative approach.
Step 1: Go to your Retainful dashboard -> Automation -> Edit your 'Win-Back email workflow' Step 2: Click on the 'Wait' block, set the time delay for 10 minutes and Save.
Step 3: Click on 'Start Workflow' to set it live or 'Save & Publish' the changes.
Step 4: Visit your store in an incognito / private window and place an order.
You should receive the win-back email after 10 minutes.
For example: If you have placed the order at 10:00 AM, you should receive the win-back email at 10:10 AM. (Make sure you don't place any orders with the same email address within the 10 minutes time interval.)
NOTE: After testing the workflow, reset the 'Wait' block time delay to 45 days. This will ensure that the win-back email is sent out automatically 45 days after a customer places an order.
What is an exit rule in win-back automation?
An exit rule is a condition set within the automation that removes a customer from the win-back campaign once they meet specific criteria, such as re-engaging with your brand, making a purchase, or unsubscribing.
Why is adding an exit rule in win-back automation important?
Adding an exit rule is crucial because:
Prevents Irrelevant Messaging
Customers who re-engage or make a purchase won’t continue receiving unnecessary win-back emails, avoiding frustration.
Improves Customer Experience
By removing customers from the automation at the right time, you ensure they only receive messages relevant to their current engagement status.
Maintains Campaign Effectiveness
It allows the automation to focus only on inactive customers, keeping the campaign targeted and efficient.
Preserves Brand Reputation
Sending redundant messages can damage trust. Exit rules help maintain a professional image.
Accurate Reporting and Insights
Exit rules ensure campaign metrics like conversion rates and open rates reflect actual performance without being skewed by re-engaged customers.
What happens if there’s no exit rule in win-back automation?
Without an exit rule:
Customers who have already re-engaged may continue receiving win-back emails, leading to annoyance.
Campaign metrics can become inaccurate, as repeat interactions may inflate data.
Resources can be wasted on targeting customers who no longer need reactivation efforts
