Start the New Year Off Right

Another year has gone by, can you believe it? How did your business finish off 2019? “New year, new products?” Not bad, but we see new inventory emails throughout the year. Here are a few alternative methods retailers embraced this year.

New Year’s Resolutions

What says “New Year” more than resolutions?! These retailers added value in a creative way by tying that theme in with their products.

From: Serena & Lily
Date: 1/01/20
Subject Line: New year, new look. Let’s go.

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A few of Serena & Lily resolutions include (in my own words) spending more time with family & friends (entertaining), enjoying the indoors & outdoors (decorating), and improving sleep habits (bedding). The design is simple yet refined with the images being the main focus. The numbered list and minimal text makes for a quick scroll.

From: Williams Sonoma
Date: 12/30/19
Subject Line: 🍓🍊🥝 Start fresh with Vitamix: Up to $175 off + Your Code for 25% Off Inside!

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Williams-Sonoma encourages you to get inspired by new recipes (Williams-Sonoma recipe box), replace your expired spices with fresh ones (salt & pepper mills), get organized (plastic container set), start healthy habits by making your own meals (lunch bag), and more. I appreciate their zig-zagging layout to keep your eye moving.

Top Sellers of 2019

This is a great way to highlight your company’s most coveted items! It’s also a fun way for subscribers to see what’s popular among their peers.

From: Hot Topic
Date: 12/30/19
Subject Line: Our FAVE MERCH of 2019

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Hot Topic revealed their “Top 19 of 2019.” I like their use of the number 19 to represent the year. The email is simply designed with the product images being the focus in a numbered list. It lacks flow, but it gets the job done.

From: Ulta Beauty
Date: 12/30/19
Subject Line: $10 off $30 on Urban Decay + Top Beauty of 2019 ⭐

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Ulta highlighted their “Best Beauty of 2019” with customer quotes and ratings. It also has nice flow, call-to-actions for each product, and some dimension with the addition of decorative quotation marks.

Year in Review

Okay, so I talked about this one last year, but I still like it! Why not put the data you’ve collected to use in a fun year-end-summary! I really enjoyed this one from Fitbit.

From: Fitbit
Date: 1/08/20
Subject Line: Your year in review

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Don’t judge me by these numbers, lol. The email informed me of my accomplishments for the year — it summarized my average steps, calories burned, and sleep habits. I learned some things about me! (Like my average bedtime was 11:16pm, when I thought it was 10pm.) As for the design, the header was animated with confetti, adding to the New Year feel and creating interest. The stats are treated like an infographic with pops of color and easy to digest content. I found this impressive considering all the text is generated with HTML. They also included call-to-actions in each section.