Email marketing remains a cornerstone of customer engagement for ecommerce businesses, and it can be a very profitable channel for fashion brands.
But as we all know, success doesn’t happen overnight, and it often doesn’t come easy. It can be difficult, especially if you’re just starting out, to get a grip on how successful your email marketing campaigns actually are, and to pinpoint areas for improvement.
This is where benchmarks can be really helpful. Of course, every brand is different, so not meeting these benchmarks doesn’t necessarily mean you’re “failing”, but they can give you an idea of where your competitors are and where you may be falling short.
Using The 2024 Benchmark Report from Klaviyo, we’ve laid out all of the key stats and trends for email marketing in the fashion sector below, so you can get an idea of what fashion brands are achieving with this channel. Plus, we offer some actionable tips from our email marketing experts to help you turn subscribers into customers.
Open rate
Average open rate: 40.48%
Top 10% open rate: 56.94%
How to improve open rate:
Subject lines and previews: craft compelling and personalised subject lines that entice recipients to open your emails. A/B testing different subject lines can provide insights into what prompts your recipients to open your emails. Relevance is key when it comes to boosting engagement rates, so make sure all of your subject lines are relevant to the contents of the email – relying too heavily on clickbait copy to get people to open emails will only lead to higher unsubscribe rates.
Segmentation: industry-leading emails convert 5x more subscribers and drive 8x more revenue per recipient. So what are they doing differently? Highly targeted segmentation. It might be easier to send a generic email to your entire mailing list, but tailored content is much more likely to engage specific segments, leading to higher open rates.
Timing: experiment with sending emails at different times and on different days to find the optimal sending schedule for your audience.
Click rate
Average click rate: 1.64%
Top 10% click rate: 5.42%
How to improve click through rate:
Content relevance: relevancy needs to be a key consideration for every aspect of your email marketing strategy. Personalisation, such as using the recipient’s name and providing product recommendations based on past purchases, can significantly boost CTR.
Clear call-to-actions (CTAs): use clear and compelling CTAs. Use simple, action-oriented language and make sure the CTA buttons stand out within the email.
Mobile optimisation: with a large number of users accessing emails on mobile devices, ensure your emails are mobile-friendly. No one wants to engage with an email that looks poor on their device. Responsive design and easily tappable buttons can improve the user experience and increase clicks.
Conversion rate
Average conversion rate: 0.08%
Top 10% conversion rate: 0.36%
How to improve conversion rate:
Landing page consistency: ensure that the landing pages your emails link to are consistent with the email content and CTAs. A seamless transition from email to landing page enhances the user experience and increases the likelihood of conversions.
Incentives: offer exclusive discounts, free shipping, or other incentives to encourage recipients to take action. Limited-time offers can create a sense of urgency, as can the use of countdown timers within the body of your email. This is particularly effective for fashion brands launching seasonal sales or discounts.
Simplified checkout process: make the conversion process as easy as possible. Minimise the number of steps required to complete a purchase and offer multiple payment options.
Unsubscribe rate
Average unsubscribe rate: 0.27%
Top 10% unsubscribe rate: 0.08%
How to lower unsubscribe rates:
Relevance and frequency: send emails that are relevant to your audience and avoid overloading their inboxes. Let subscribers choose their email preferences, including frequency and types of emails they wish to receive.
Engagement strategies: implement re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers. You can use automations to do this (more on those later), for example by targeting subscribers who haven’t made a purchase for a certain number of days. Consider offering incentives to stay subscribed or allow them to update their preferences.
Automation and flows
An email automation, referred to in Klaviyo as a flow, is an email or email sequence triggered when a subscriber takes a certain action. This could be visiting a product page, making a purchase, abandoning a basket or subscribing in the first place. You can also set up flows for certain events, such as birthdays.
Flows are very effective for driving engagement because they’re based on what’s important or relevant to customers, proving the power of personalisation.
In fact, top-performing flows can convert 4X more recipients, so these automations can have a significant impact on your bottom line. Let’s take a look at some of the key benchmarks for email automations for the fashion sector.
Email flows engagement rate: 52.75%
Top 10% email flows engagement rate: 68.75%
Open rate: 52.75%
Top 10% open rate: 68.75%
Click rate: 5.22%
Top 10% click rate: 12.68%
Conversion rate: 1.77%
Top 10% conversion rate: 5.8%
Unsubscribe rate: 0.64%
Top 10% unsubscribe rate: 0%
When compared to campaigns, flows generate more engagement at every stage of the funnel. But certain flows tend to drive more revenue and engagement than others. According to Klaviyo, abandoned cart flows are the highest converting automations, followed by welcome flows.
How to create successful flows:
Cover your bases: when it comes to email automations, there are four main types that every ecommerce brand should implement to boost conversions. These are:
1. Welcome flow
2. Abandoned basket flow
3. Abandoned browsing flow
4. Post-purchase flow
Tailor your content: the top 10% of welcome flows convert almost 5x as many people as the average. Segment your audience based on demographics, purchase history, and engagement levels. Send targeted emails that cater to their specific needs and interests.
Behavioural triggers: Set up automations based on customer behaviour, such as browsing certain product categories or spending a specific amount of time on your website.
Templates: don’t cut corners – design is just as important for flows as it is for campaigns. Work with a creative designer to put a template in place for each automation type, ensuring that every email delivers a great user journey and a cohesive brand experience.
Email campaigns missing the mark? We have extensive experience working with fashion ecommerce brands to boost sales, revenue and subscribers. See our work or send us a message to get started.
