23 Product Recommendation Email Examples That Drive Sales (& How To Make Your Own)
Unexpected Price Tag Surprise: Customers often experience shock at the checkout when prices don't match what was listed, creating frustration and confusion.
The Elusive Helpful Associate: Finding assistance can be a challenge, with associates often hard to locate or unavailable, leaving customers feeling abandoned and unsupported while shopping.
Can You Hear Me Now?: Loud in-store music or announcements can overpower conversations and create an unpleasant shopping environment, turning potential customers away.
The Endless Checkout Line Adventure: Long lines at checkout frustrate customers and discourage purchases, making a simple shopping trip feel tedious and time-consuming.
Navigating the Maze of the Aisles: Disorganized aisles and unclear signage can lead to a confusing shopping experience, causing shoppers to waste time trying to locate desired products.
What’s your worst in-store experience?
Mine has got to be… being hounded by a pushy peddler the moment I walk into the shop.
They’re clearly on a mission, shoving products I couldn’t care less about—even when I shared what I was looking for.
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So naturally, I felt backed into a corner, which only made me want to leave instead of browsing further.
Making a purchase didn’t even cross my mind.
Had that store associate been truly attentive, I’d have felt more understood, trusted their suggestions, and maybe even walked out with something in hand.
Subscribers experience the same frustration when you send emails touting random products. It’s an easy way to earn an “unsubscribe”.
This is why your product recommendation emails should deliver curated, thoughtful options. With the right approach, you can even help customers discover new favorites they didn’t even know they needed.
Get tips and examples on how to create a winning product recommendation email in this blog post. Let’s start.
What Are Product Recommendation Emails?
In ecommerce, product recommendation emails highlight tailored picks for your subscribers (whether they’ve shopped with you before or not).
These email campaigns often take advantage of users’ activity, such as browsing behavior or previous purchases, to pitch the right products.
You can send them as standalone emails or incorporate them into other email flows—like abandoned cart reminders and post-purchase emails (more on this below).
Why should you add them to your email marketing strategy?
Here are a few really good reasons:
- To attract more website traffic. Relevant recommendations in emails encourage customers to go to your website to learn more about your suggested products. OptinMonster reports that product recommendation emails can boost click-through-rates by 840%.
- To spike conversion rates. Upselling and cross-selling product recommendations can increase average order values. In fact, Stacked Marketer’s survey found that more than 20% of consumers end up making an upsell purchase.
- To expedite the purchase process. Finding the right product isn’t easy. Handing tailored recommendations removes overwhelm, enabling the customer to make a quick purchase.
- To bring customers back. Sending well-timed recommendation emails reminds lapsed shoppers what they're missing, whether it's restocked favorites or new products.
Best of all? These benefits come at a fraction of the cost of other marketing channels like SEM or social media.
Email marketing is extremely inexpensive once you build your list and automate your workflows, (which you’ll learn below).
23 Stellar Product Recommendation Email Examples & Templates
Product recommendation emails let you create “aha!” moments for your customers, helping them discover new favorites.
In this roundup, you'll find examples of emails from various workflows and campaign ideas to get you started.
I’ll also point out what makes these emails work, so you can borrow these strategies from fellow ecommerce brands.
Make sure you have a notepad ready.
Welcome emails
The trick to introducing specific products to a new subscriber is to avoid overwhelming them. The focus should be making your prospect feel welcome, not pushing for a sale.
Since you’re still getting to know them, personalizing product recommendations can be a challenge.
You can tread carefully by showcasing products that are already customer favorites. Chances are, your potential customer might love them too.
Here are some excellent examples:
1. Approved By Fritz
Pet essentials brand Approved By Fritz cleverly introduces products by highlighting Fritz’s favorites.
As the brand’s namesake and “mascot-in-chief,” Fritz’s recommendations are sure to curiosity and trust among new subscribers.
2. VRG GRL
VRG GRL keeps it simple by pairing a warm welcome message with a product category button.
This links to a collection of their most loved items, making it easy for new subscribers to explore popular options.
3. Omsom
Omsom’s eye-catching welcome email spotlights their sampler sets instead of showcasing individual products.
I love how they designed the subtle, yet hard-to-miss product recommendation block. Capping it off with media testimonials really drives the pitch home.
4. Vegamour
Vegamour wrapped up their welcome email—which offers a generous 20% discount—with a highlight on their number one bestseller.
This lets new subscribers know which product has already won customers’ hearts (and hair) over.
5. True Classic
True Classic combines a warm welcome with a discount offer and highlights their top three best-selling packs.
This strategy can entice new subscribers to explore and shop right away.
Abandoned cart emails
Why do abandoned cart emails and cross-sell suggestions work so well together? Because they create a tailored shopping experience.
Seeing what your almost-shopper left behind gives you a clue about their preferences.
Presenting additional suggestions in your email might be the gentle nudge they need to hit the purchase button.
If the original product didn’t fully convince them, your cross-selling suggestions could seal the deal. And if you’re lucky, they might even decide to buy both!
These abandoned cart email examples make use of the right elements to convince them to come back and finalize the purchase:
6. King Arthur Baking
Renowned flour supplier King Arthur Baking Company knows what types of sweet pastries you might want to whip up in your kitchen.
Using the headline “Picked Just For You” to introduce the product recommendations can make any subscriber think, “Mr. Arthur, you get me.”
7. Lane Bryant
Lane Bryant ignites some FOMO by showcasing products that are currently “in other shopping bags”.
Highlighting trending items is a good way to nudge shoppers to take action.
8. Coleman
Outdoor gear legacy brand Coleman suggests related products that complement the items left in your cart.
It’s a thoughtful gesture that can also boost the likelihood of additional purchases.
9. prAna
Lifestyle brand prAna pulls cross-selling suggestions from their collection.
This could lead shoppers to find more suitable products or buy more than they intended.
Holiday or seasonal promotional emails
My inbox always floods with product recommendations during the holidays.
Why not? It’s the perfect time to pitch your offerings that are ideal for the season. Just look at how the following brands are nailing this strategy:
10. Molekule
Molekule’s holiday email puts together a Christmas bundle, offering it a discount while marketing it as the perfect Christmas gift.
And they didn’t just claim that title and call it a day—they linked to a blog post that explains why this is a case.
11. Trade Coffee
Trade Coffee produces special coffee blends for Halloween and showcases them proudly in their product recommendation email.
I’m impressed with how witty they presented the product descriptions. Informative and on-brand.
12. Aeropress
Aeropress’ tactic adds purpose to the purchase. They crafted an excellent green beverage for St. Patty’s Day.
You’ll find the recipe on their website, but of course, the perfect product recommendations to pull off the recipe are in the email.
13. Hush Puppies
Hush Puppies puts their best boots forward in time for fall.
By doing so, they position their products as staple items, while establishing their brand as a good source for fashion advice.
14. SeaVees
SeaVees knows the perfect color for summer, and recommends all their yellow goods.
Sending this product recommendation email can inspire customers to add these summer must-haves to their wardrobes.
15. Atoms
Atoms teases the importance of having good shoes for the first day of school and suggested their comfiest pairs.
Anyone who has the preparation mindset will certainly understand its value—especially when there’s a 15% discount thrown in.
Post-purchase emails
Adding complementary products to your post-purchase emails is similar to taking a second swing when the pitch is perfect—your chances of hitting it out of the park are already high.
Take what you know about your customer and suggest products that match their most recent purchase.
Here are examples of brands making the most out of this smart strategy:
16. Rockets of Awesome
Rockets of Awesome sends product recommendations along with their delivery email. If you like what you see, you might be inclined to order more.
17. Pottery Barn
Tapping into the power of suggestion, this delivery confirmation/product recommendation email from Pottery Barn features items that go well with your recent purchase.
The email subtly encourages you to create a cohesive look for your home.
18. Lululemon
Lululemon’s win-back campaign showcases their most popular products.
But the brand also puts their customer insights to suggest items tailored to individual preferences. This two-for-one approach definitely keeps the brand top-of-mind.
19. Huckberry
Okay, okay, so this transaction didn’t go so well for Huckberry.
But there are many reasons products are sent back, like incorrect size or product damage.
It’s not always personal, so the brand went ahead and pitched related products (including their most-requested jacket) anyway.
This turns a potentially negative experience into a new opportunity.
Back-in-stock or limited-time offers
Customer must-haves. New product launches. Special edition items.
You can spotlight what’s back or what’s here for a short time by sending product recommendation emails, as these brands do:
20. Public Goods
Public Goods announces its trail mix and nuts product category is making a triumphant comeback. They wasted no time introducing different items in their snack collection.
21. Riven
Riven goes the considerate route, announcing early that their mouthwash is nearing stockout situation—so they urge customers to stock up and get four to six items at a time.
It has an excellent design, including a comparison chart highlighting how this product is better than its competitors.
What a clever way to build excitement around in-demand products!
22. No Ordinary Moments
No Ordinary Moments’s back-in-stock announcement shows how crucial it is to let customers fully understand the product, especially if you’re sending it to your entire email list.
Some of your subscribers might not be familiar with it yet.
The brand’s product recommendation includes reviews and a well-written product description that educates customers about its key benefits.
23. Misfit Health
Misfit Health’s Cookie Dough flavor product drop embodies FOMO.
They did everything right, from an intriguing subject line to a limited-batch release to a delicious image and description.
This product recommendation email shows that you don’t have to be pushy when creating urgency and excitement for a new product.
How to Write Effective Product Recommendation Emails
As you’ve seen from the examples above, product recommendation emails can stretch across different flows, from welcome emails to post-purchase follow-ups and abandoned cart reminders.
This is why it’s easy to slip into sending a generic, mass-marketed sales pitch, but this doesn’t pull in the desired results.
Follow this step-by-step guide to avoid blatantly generic product suggestions and cultivate high-quality customer experiences.
Using fictional premium baking brand Butter Chi & Co., and two representatives of their customer segments:
- Anne, a baking student exploring beginner-friendly tools, and
- Donna, a long-time, gourmet enthusiast.
These seven steps apply to all email types, but we’ll keep it simple and zero in on cart recovery emails so you can see the entire process in one context, and then apply it to other workflows.
Step 1: Personalize and segment your audience
Personalization pays off for 80% of businesses, as they’ve observed how tailored experiences prompt consumers to spend 38% more.
Back your personalization efforts by gathering data like browsing behavior, purchase history, and preferences.
Feeding this pertinent customer data into your email marketing tool can automatically segment customers and schedule timely follow-ups.
Your recommendations thus hit the bullseye every time because each segment gets targeted offers tailored to their buying habits.
For instance, email marketing software MailChimp lets you create or use pre-built segments using three product recommendation systems:
- Collaborative filtering: Recommends related products based on users’ behaviors (e.g., “people who bought X also bought Y”)
- Content-based filtering system: Recommends similar products based on the customer’s preferred attributes (e.g., category, size, or brand) if there’s enough purchase data
- Hybrid recommendation system: Combines collaborative and content-based filtering for more relevant product recommendations
How Butter Chi & Co. personalizes and segments audience
Using Mailchimp, Butter Chi & Co.’s personalized product recommendations target individual preferences.
Through the tool’s collaborative filtering, they can send the right messages according to their audience segment:
- New shoppers and baking rookies
- Trigger: Anne, the baking student, abandons her cart after adding rolling pins.
- Email: A targeted follow-up email featuring a beginner’s baking essentials set, including multi-sized rolling pins.
- High-value, loyal customers
- Trigger: Donna, a high-value patron, didn’t finish checking out her gourmet butter and a Butter Lover’s Kit.
- Email: An exclusive email with a 15% voucher off artisanal flours and premium aged vanilla extracts.
Other tools like ActiveCampaign offer advanced behavioral segmentation to send targeted recommendations based on customer actions (e.g., sign-up, first purchase, repeat visit).
Meanwhile, Omnisend makes it easy to recommend new arrivals or bestsellers.
You don’t need to curate product lists manually—the tool automatically sends recommendations based on pre-set rules.
Top email marketing tools to automate product recommendations
Automation handpicks product recommendations to reflect whatever product or category interests each customer.
But to make that happen, you need the right email marketing software.
Here’s a shortlist of the top-rated options to help streamline your segmentation and automation efforts.
Step 2: Craft engaging email subject lines
GetResponse reported that the average email open rates have shot up by 12.84 percentage points worldwide, which has been attributed to marketers crafting more compelling subject lines.
If you want to improve your product recommendation emails’ open rates, your subject lines should be more engaging.
Personalize them and keep them fun and on-brand. You can also use it to tease any incentives or perks to entice action.
How Butter Chi & Co. crafts engaging email subject lines
Butter Chi & Co. writes targeted subject lines to nudge back shoppers and drive sales:
- For Anne, the baking rookie
- We’ve saved your baking essentials, Anne! 🧁
- Bake your first masterpiece with these must-haves!
- For Donna the high-value, loyal customers
- Donna, don’t let this roll away! 😿
- Fluffier dough, smoother rolls—15% off this weekend
Your creativity’s the limit.
Try multiple variations to see which gets the best responses using your email marketing software. Platforms like Omnisend, Campaigner, or ActiveCampaign have excellent A/B testing capabilities.
These tools segment your audience and send each version to a different group.
After a set period or performance threshold, they automatically deliver the winning variant to the remaining recipients.
With every subject line that boosts your product recommendation email open rates, you move customers one step closer to conversion.
Step 3: Incorporate elements of a high-converting email
Nael Chhaytli, senior content marketing specialist at GetResponse, has a sharp reminder after writing your subject line:
Don’t overpromise in your subject lines and underdeliver in the actual email.
Maximize conversions with a well-rounded email that captivates readers from start to finish. Keep the copy concise in neat, organized layouts. Well-placed images are also a plus.
How Butter Chi & Co. incorporates elements of a high-converting email
Butter Chi & Co. plays around with their copy, design, and content ideas to find the highest-converting elements.
Here’s what’s been working for them so far:
- Creative, relatable content. The brand doesn’t solely push for a sale. They add quick recipe ideas or baking tips using the items left in the cart.
- Mobile-first design. With most of their emails opened on mobile, they prioritize large fonts, clean layouts, and easy-to-tap buttons to optimize user experience.
- Accessibility considerations. Butter Chi & Co. employs alt text for images and optimal contrast ratio to keep emails inclusive for those with visual impairments.
- Actionable call-to-actions (CTAs). The brand uses strong, on-brand CTAs like “Grab Your Goodies” and “Bake & Save”. Simple and friction-free, these buttons help inspire quick, easy checkouts.
You can also break through customer doubts by adding reviews, testimonials, or user-generated content (UGC) in your product recommendation emails.
You can use marketing automation software like HubSpot to automatically pull in content from social media and review platforms like Trustpilot.
The right mix of compelling content, social proof, and persuasive offers helps attract the right audience.
In the case of abandoned carts, SELSEY, a furniture and home decor retailer, increased conversions by up to 239% using GetResponse. The tool automated abandoned cart email sequences featuring customer reviews, discounts, and educational content.
Top marketing automation tools to simplify sequences
You, too, can drive higher conversions with the right marketing automation tool. Invest in one of these top marketing automation platforms for optimal results:
Step 4: Integrate email campaigns with your ecommerce store
51% of business owners believe that integration with the ecommerce platform is the most useful feature of an email marketing solution.
Integration allows you to send dynamic emails that pull in live product data directly from your online store.
Without it, you’d be stuck manually tracking inventory, scribbling down prices, guessing what your customers want, or worse—recommending sold-out products.
How Butter Chi & Co. integrates email campaigns with their ecommerce store
Butter Chi & Co. opted for MailChimp because it connects seamlessly with their Shopify store. Here’s how it enhances the experience for both Anne (the baking rookie) and Donna (the high-value customer):
- Automatic product substitutions
- If Anne’s hand whisk set is out of stock, she receives a suggestion for a beginner-friendly electric hand mixer.
- The limited truffle salt set is out of stock, so Donna gets offered a smoked sea salt set, another limited-edition product.
- Flash sales and other promotions
- Anne’s flash sale email features a countdown for 15% off on beginner sets like mixing bowls and measuring cups.
- Donna gets exclusive flash sale vouchers with tiered discounts based on her spending. Example: 20% off premium items when she spends over $100 and 30% over $200
- New arrivals and back-in-stock products
- An email automatically notifies Anne when a sold-out hand whisk set is back in stock.
- Donna gets early access to KneadPro 5000, a new line of high-end baking equipment.
Fragmented systems result in static, error-prone email campaigns. Opt for an email marketing solution with robust integration to free up your time while boosting sales.
Step 5: Create customer loyalty program emails with exclusive incentives
52% of shoppers prefer buying from their favorite brand over cheaper or more accessible rivals.
Your patrons are already willing to go the extra mile for you. Incentivize their loyalty in your product recommendation emails by giving them a reason to keep choosing you.
Offer exclusive gifts or early access to product launches, limited discounts, or early-bird promotions.
If you collect customer information during sign-up or via a preference center, use this info to send personalized birthday emails with a birthday discount or free shipping.
Better yet, leverage your email marketing automation tool to automatically run trigger-based campaigns.
Examples: Trigger personalized post-purchase emails with member-only perks right after a purchase. Or, offer special rewards once they hit a specific tier or spending goal.
How Butter Chi & Co. incentivizes loyalty program emails
Butter Chi & Co. utilizes Mailchimp to deliver personalized product recommendations and incentives in their loyalty program emails.
- Anne isn’t a loyalty program member yet, but she receives an invitation after her second purchase. It comes with a 10% discount to encourage her to sign up.
- Donna receives a no-expiry voucher and VIP support after hitting the platinum tier in the loyalty program. Other perks include weekly surprise drops, early access to exclusive events and sales, and birthday discounts.
You’re not only recommending products for one-off sales with incentivized loyalty program emails.
Instead, you’re building long-term relationships and raking in repeat business.
Step 6: Add a sense of urgency with limited-time offers
Incorporating urgency and scarcity into your product recommendation emails taps into something very human: the fear of missing out.
FOMO-driven marketing promotions have been found to trigger impulsive buying.
Since product recommendation emails capitalize on the customer’s existing interest, FOMO could be the last little nudge they need to complete the purchase.
You don’t have to be too techy to implement all these.
Tools like MailChimp and Omnisend have built-in email templates and dynamic product blocks to create personalized, time-sensitive workflows:
This feature allows you to set countdown timers for specific promotions or discounts.
A discount code only valid for the next 48 hours will expire automatically if not used within that timeframe.
How Butter Chi & Co. leverages limited-time offers to boost sales
See how Butter Chi & Co. uses FOMO to recover abandoned carts from high-value shoppers like Donna in this email:
FOMO leverages existing interest to push customers over the finish line. Use it to your advantage wisely—don’t drown them in offers or come off as spammy!
Step 7: Refine your recommendation strategy
You can’t keep sending the same product recommendation emails just because they worked before.
That’s bound to generate a few eyerolls with matching unsubscribes.
A/B testing is a non-negotiable marketing strategy to keep your email marketing campaigns dynamic, engaging, and relevant.
Test your subject lines, product suggestions, CTA placements, and email layouts. Keep an eye on key metrics like click-through rates (CTR) and conversions to determine what works and double down on the winners.
How Butter Chi & Co. tests their product recommendation emails
Butter Chi & Co.’s marketing team runs bi-weekly A/B tests on MailChimp to optimize their recommendation emails.
Example: They test the following elements to see which elements grab Donna’s attention and get higher conversions:
- Subject lines
- Test A: Donna, don’t let this roll away! 😿
- Test B: Fluffier dough, smoother rolls—15% off this weekend
- Product suggestions
- Test A: 15% off on artisanal flours and premium aged vanilla extracts
- Test B: A free gift for the completed gourmet purchase but with a spending threshold
- CTAs (Call-to-Actions)
- Test A: Top of the email [Grab Your Goodies]
- Test B: Bottom of the email [Bake & Save]
- Layout and images
- Test A: A carousel layout where recipients can see multiple products in one space
- Test B: A grid layout where the products are arranged in a fixed pattern with clear labels and callouts
- Sending interval
- Test A: Cart reminder email sent 1 hour after abandoning cart with 1 follow-up after 24 hours
- Test B: Cart reminder email sent 2 hours after abandonment with a follow-up 48 hours later
Most email marketing software like Keap and Drip offer built-in A/B testing tools. Both allow you to test up to 5 variants in a single split test.
However, Keap’s split tests only apply to broadcast emails (i.e., a single message sent to the entire email list simultaneously).
Drip allows for A/B testing within a single workflow—thus, you can test emails as part of a series of actions, delays, or decisions.
Whatever tool you use, analyze the results and declare the winning elements. Incorporate them into your next emails—and set up new tests—to continually maximize conversions.
Score Sales With Satisfying Suggestions
Whether you’re guiding baking rookie Anne or delighting loyal fan Donna, impactful suggestions make all the difference.
Get your customers to realize that “OH! I do need that” when they read your product recommendation emails.
Apply the steps above, optimize your tech stack, and you’ll see both engagement and sales grow.
I’ve got more useful resources for you to check out…
On ecommerce-friendly tools:
- 26 Types Of Marketing Software And What They Do
- The 24 Best Ecommerce Marketing Tools to Grow Your Store
For ecommerce email marketing:
- The 13 Best Ecommerce Email Marketing Courses You Should Be Taking
- Ecommerce Email Marketing: The Ultimate Guide (Best Practices + Examples)
On general ecommerce marketing advice:
- Market Segmentation: The Key to Reaching—and Resonating With—Your Ideal Customers
- Ecommerce Marketing Tips: 13 Proven Strategies to Increase Sales & Reach
Stay on top of commerce trends, tips, and tools? Subscribe to The Ecomm Manager newsletter to get all the latest insights.
Product Recommendation Email FAQs
This FAQ section contains the basics of product recommendation emails to help clarify any confusion and set your campaigns up for success.
What’s the difference between cross-selling and upselling in email marketing?
Cross-selling recommends complementary products to the customer’s current purchase. If someone adds a coffee maker to their cart, you can email them add-on recommendations like premium coffee beans, filters, or a grinder.
On the flip side, upselling encourages customers to upgrade their purchase to a more premium option. You can upsell the customer earlier by sending a follow-up email promoting a higher-end model with a built-in grinder or a smart brewing system.
Which email marketing tools work best for ecommerce product recommendations?
Email platforms like Omnisend, Campaigner, ActiveCampaign, Drip, Keap, and MailChimp integrate with a range of ecommerce platforms.
You can use these tools to implement the steps outlined in this guide and automate your recommendation workflow.
