Why Resending Matters in Ecommerce Marketing
In ecommerce, email remains one of the most reliable ways to connect with customers. Yet many retailers overlook a simple tactic that can dramatically improve results: resending email campaigns.
Resending is not spam. It is a strategic way to give your content a second chance at being seen. With inboxes overflowing and customers easily distracted, even a well-designed campaign often goes unnoticed the first time around.
On average ecommerce open rates hover around 25–30 percent, meaning three out of four subscribers never see your message. Resending can lift your total opens by up to 30 percent. A second send helps your offer cut through the noise, creating more clicks and conversions without new creative work.
Data-Driven Insights from Resending
Resending is not guesswork; it is a data-led optimisation method. By tracking performance between your first and second sends, you can uncover powerful insights:
- Preferred send times: Identify when your audience is most active.
- Day-of-week trends: Learn whether weekday or weekend sends perform better.
- Subject line responsiveness: Test which tone, length, or emojis attract attention.
By tracking the performance of both original sends and resends, we’ve identified the best times to send email campaigns for our clients. The difference between the best and worst times of the week for one of our ecommerce clients is 1400%!
Increasing ROI Without Additional Creative Work
You’ve spent time and probably money developing great email campaigns. Resending multiplies that investment’s value. Instead of starting fresh, reusing proven content extends its reach and impact.
Example:
We sent a campaign for a firewood company in the autumn that generated just over £3,000.
The resend to non-openers the next evening, with a new subject line, generated another £3,300
That’s >100% uplift in sales for that campaign, from just a few clicks. For this client this type of result happens 1-2 times a year, with the average (over the last 4 years) being a 28% uplift in sales per campaign.
How to Resend Effectively
The difference between a smart resend and a spammy one lies in subtle but deliberate changes. Here are best practices:
- Revise the subject line: Add urgency, curiosity, or simplicity to stand out.
- Adjust send timing: Try a different day or hour based on audience behaviour.
- Segment carefully: Only resend to non-openers or those who clicked but did not buy.
- Refresh visuals: Change the hero image, call to action, or headline slightly.
- Add a friendly note: Use phrases like “In case you missed this earlier in the week” to show consideration.
These tweaks keep your communication relevant and customer-focused while maintaining brand consistency.
Avoiding Fatigue and Overexposure
Resends do deliver, but too many follow-ups can lead to unsubscribes and brand fatigue.
- Limit resends to one per campaign, occasionally two for major sales or product launches.
- Always exclude previous openers and purchasers from resends.
- Use automation to manage frequency and maintain consistency.
Your emails need to remain as helpful reminders, not repetitive interruptions.
Supporting Broader Ecommerce Goals
Resending isn’t just for sales campaigns; they work for every part of your communications.
Common use cases include:
- Product launches: Ensures late openers still see your announcement.
- Seasonal promotions: Reminds customers before sales end.
- Abandoned cart flows: Gently re-engages hesitant shoppers.
- Post-purchase communications: Highlights complementary products or loyalty offers.
Each resend strengthens continuity, creating more touchpoints and improving overall conversion rates.
Leveraging Automation and AI
Modern ecommerce tools make resending smarter and more efficient. Platforms like Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and Shopify Email can:
- Automatically detect who didn’t open or click your first message.
- Optimise resend timing based on past engagement data.
- Personalise subject lines or offers using AI.
Example:
AI might identify that one shopper tends to open emails at 9 a.m. on weekdays while another prefers 8 p.m. on Sundays. Automated resends can adapt accordingly, ensuring maximum visibility with minimal manual effort.
Automation turns resending into a scalable, intelligent growth tactic, not just a manual follow-up.
Measuring and Refining Performance
Success in resending comes from measurement and adjustment. Track the following metrics for both your initial and follow-up sends:
- Open rate
- Click-through rate
- Conversion rate
- Unsubscribe rate
Focus on what is important for your business. As an ecommerce business, this will mostly be revenue and that comes from click rates. Open rates are great, but they don’t usually mean revenue. Your email platform will give you stats you can use but use Google Analytics as a confirmation tool as well.
Building a Smarter Ecommerce Email Strategy
Resending is not about repeating yourself. It is about maximising visibility, learning from data, and respecting your customers’ time.
In an ecommerce landscape filled with distractions, persistence pays off. By resending intelligently, you extend your campaign’s reach, recover missed opportunities, and increase sales without additional creative costs.
Resending should become a core component of your email strategy—a practical habit that turns overlooked messages into measurable results.
Of course, if you need some help with this, please get in touch.
