An ecommerce newsletter worth opening when there's no sale on
Most shops call every promotional email the newsletter. A real one is a regular send people would open with no offer in it. That's harder to write.
- 090Newsletter
- A regularly distributed publication, generally about one main topic of interest to its subscribers, used in ecommerce for updates and promotions.
- Sent on
- A fixed rhythm you can keep up, so it becomes a habit
- Built from
- One main story, a couple of smaller items, products woven through
- Needs
- Marketing consent, or the soft opt-in for existing customers
- Not the same as
- A sale email with a masthead on top
When every promotional email gets called the newsletter
Ask to see a shop's newsletter and you'll often get last Tuesday's sale email. Blame the sign-up form. If the pop-up says join our newsletter, everything sent afterwards gets called the newsletter, whatever it is.
It matters, because the two do different jobs. A sale email asks for an order today. A newsletter earns the open next week, by being worth reading when there's nothing to buy. A list that only ever gets the first kind learns to ignore you until the code arrives.
What goes in a newsletter people actually open
- One main story: a new range, how something's made, a customer's routine, your view on something in the category
- Two or three smaller items, like a tip, a restock or a review worth reading
- Products linked from inside the story, not a grid tacked on the end
- A subject line that names the story, not the brand and the date
Keep the shape the same every time and send on the same day. Readers learn where things are, and the habit does a lot of the work. It still sells. It just sells from inside a reason to read.
Who should get the newsletter, and the consent it needs
Not every new customer, straight away. Somebody one order in hasn't decided whether you're a habit, and the post-purchase flow serves them better until a second order lands. Your engaged subscribers are the core audience. People who've ignored months of issues should come off the send.
A shop's newsletter promotes things, so under PECR it's direct marketing. You need consent, or the soft opt-in, which only covers people who've bought or started to buy from you, for similar products, with a clear way to opt out from the start and in every email. The ICO's email marketing guidance is short and plain. Nothing here is legal advice.
Related terms
FAQs
How often should an ecommerce newsletter go out?
As often as you can make it worth opening, on a rhythm you can keep. Weekly suits a shop with plenty to say, monthly suits one that doesn't. Consistency matters more than frequency: the same day, the same shape. Watch clicks and unsubscribes per issue, and if both slip as you add issues, you've found your limit.
Should a newsletter include a discount?
Not by habit. The point of a newsletter is that it's worth opening without one, and a code in every issue turns it back into a sale email. Use an offer when there's a real reason, like a launch or a thank-you to your regulars, and let most issues sell through the story instead.
Is a newsletter different from an email campaign?
It's one kind of campaign. A launch, a restock or a sale goes out once, when there's news. A newsletter goes out on a rhythm, in the same shape, news or not, so it has to be worth opening on its own. In Klaviyo they're built and sent the same way. The difference is the promise you're making to the reader.
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