Latest / The Retention Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Email, SMS, and Loyalty for Repeat Customers / How One Brand Uses Multi-Touch Email to Win Back Lapsed Customers
Transcript
- Lucas: Alright Luna, I want to talk about something that keeps a lot of marketers up at night: the lapsed customer. You know, the person who bought once, maybe twice, and then just… vanished. Luna: Oh, I know that feeling. It's like you put all this effort into acquisition, and then they ghost you. Lucas: Exactly. So today I want to look at a specific case: a mid-sized DTC home goods brand—think kitchen tools, storage, that sort of thing. They decided to tackle their lapsed customer problem with a structured win-back email sequence. And the results are pretty impressive. Luna: Okay, I'm in. What did they do? Lucas: So they identified customers who hadn't purchased in over twelve months—about 40,000 people. And they sent them a sequence of five emails over the course of a year. The first email went out on day 90 of inactivity, then day 120, day 180, day 270, and finally day 365. Luna: That's a long window. A full year. Most brands give up after three or four months. Lucas: Right, and that's the point. They wanted to catch people at different stages of 'why haven't they bought again.' The first email was simple: a reminder of what they bought before, with a friendly 'we still have that in stock' kind of vibe. No discount. Luna: Just a nudge. I like that. Don't train people to wait for a coupon. Lucas: Exactly. The open rate on that first email was 22 percent. Click-through rate, about 3 percent. Not huge, but it reactivated about 1,200 customers right off the bat. Then the second email, at day 120, included a customer testimonial—someone who'd been buying for years—and a 10 percent discount. Luna: That's the one I'd guess performed best. Social proof plus a small incentive. Lucas: You'd be right. Open rate jumped to 28 percent, click-through to 6 percent. That single email brought back another 2,000 customers. And here's the detail I love: they personalized the product recommendations based on what each person had bought before. So if you bought a knife set, you saw the knife sharpener or a cutting board. Luna: That's smart. It's not just a generic 'come back.' It's 'remember that thing you liked? Here's something that goes with it.' Lucas: Exactly. The third email, at day 180, was a bit more aggressive: 20 percent off, plus a free shipping code. Open rate held at 26 percent, click-through at 5 percent. Another 1,800 customers. The fourth email, at day 270, was a 'we miss you' with a 25 percent discount and a featured product story. That one had a 24 percent open rate, 4 percent click-through. Luna: So diminishing returns, but still meaningful numbers. What about the fifth email? Lucas: The fifth email was the 'last chance' email. Literally subject line: 'Is this goodbye? Final offer inside.' And it offered 30 percent off. Open rate was 19 percent, click-through 3 percent. But it still brought back about 900 people. Luna: Okay, I have a question about that one. Doesn't that feel a bit desperate? Like, 'please come back, here's a huge discount'—does that devalue the brand long-term? Lucas: That's a really fair concern. And this brand actually tracked that. They looked at the average order value of those reactivated customers compared to new customers. It was lower—about 15 percent lower on the first purchase back. But by the second purchase, it was back to normal. Luna: So the discount didn't permanently condition them to wait for sales. They just needed that extra push to come back. Lucas: Exactly. Overall, across the five emails, they reactivated about 22 percent of the lapsed customer base. That's roughly 8,800 people. And the revenue from those reactivated customers over the next six months was about $1.2 million. The cost of the email sends? Essentially zero. Just the discounts, which were already factored into margins. Luna: That's a solid ROI. But I wonder—did they have any issues with people unsubscribing or marking as spam? Lucas: They did track that. The unsubscribe rate across the sequence was about 0.5 percent per email. So cumulatively, maybe 2.5 percent of the list unsubscribed. But that's actually fine—those are people who were already disengaged. Cleaning the list is a benefit. Luna: True. Better to have a smaller, more engaged list than a big one full of people who never open. Lucas: And you know, one thing that stood out to me was how they used purchase history for personalization. It wasn't just product recommendations. They also tailored the email copy. If you bought a baking set, the email talked about new recipes. If you bought cleaning supplies, it talked about home organization tips. Luna: That adds a layer of relevance that a generic win-back just can't match. It makes the customer feel seen. Lucas: Right. And I think that's the takeaway: win-back campaigns work best when they're not just about discounts. They're about re-establishing a connection. The discounts help, but the personalization and the timing matter just as much. Luna: Alright, so if a brand is just starting a win-back sequence, what's the one thing they should get right? Lucas: I'd say start with a no-discount email. Just a reminder. See who bites. Then escalate slowly. Don't lead with 30 percent off, because then you've trained them to wait for the big sale. Let the first email be about the relationship, not the transaction. Luna: That makes sense. And if today's conversation gave you one idea you might try, honestly, that's worth something. If it was worth a coffee to you, there's a link—buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Keeps the show ad-free and independent. Lucas: Yeah, we don't run ads, so listener support really is what keeps this going. No pressure, but if you find value, that's the place. Luna: Alright, back to the data. Lucas, you mentioned the brand also tracked repeat purchase rates from the reactivated customers. What did they find? Lucas: Great question. They looked at the 8,800 reactivated customers over the next 12 months. About 35 percent of them made a second purchase within six months of reactivation. And the average order value of those second purchases was actually 10 percent higher than their original purchase. Luna: So the win-back didn't just bring them back—it brought back better customers. That's the dream. Lucas: Exactly. And it shows that a well-timed, well-personalized sequence can do more than just recover revenue. It can actually re-engage people who are still interested, they just needed a reason to come back. Luna: So what's the downside? Is there a risk of over-emailing? Lucas: Absolutely. If you send too many too fast, you'll annoy people. This brand spaced them out by 30 to 90 days. That's key. And they had a clear unsubscribe option in every email. Respect the customer's inbox. Luna: Good. I think brands sometimes forget that retention isn't just about getting them to buy again—it's about not making them hate you. Lucas: Right. And I think the final lesson from this case is that you shouldn't give up on lapsed customers too quickly. Some people take a year to come back. But if you have a structured sequence, you can catch them when they're ready. Luna: And the data backs it up. 22 percent reactivation, $1.2 million in revenue. That's a powerful argument for not letting your lapsed list gather dust. Lucas: Exactly. So next time you're looking at your analytics and you see that big chunk of 'inactive' customers, remember: they're not gone. They're just waiting for the right email. Luna: And maybe a 25 percent off coupon. But mostly the right email.