🛍️ Secrets Every Email Marketer Should Know About E-commerce

Surprising Insights to Drive Engagement, Sales, and Long-Term Growth

From: Just West of Otay Lakes

Hey – It’s Luis.

Welcome to Day 12 of the 30-Day Writing Challenge!

Yesterday, I sat down to watch Lioness, only to realize the season had already wrapped last week.

Now, on to today’s writing...

There are many things most people don’t know about working in e-commerce. Here are a few surprising insights:

Insight #1: Product Display Pages (PDPs) Are Like Store Windows

For example, did you know…

Just like Tiffany’s iconic window displays, which have captivated audiences since 1837 with their ability to spark dreams and aspirations, your PDPs grab the attention of buyers, prospects, and window shoppers.

Pro Tip: Focus on feedback from “Verified Buyers.” Non-verified reviews are often noise and rarely provide actionable insights.

Insight #2: Your Ads Are a Net—But Not All Fish Bite

Your ads are like nets cast into the sea, gathering fish of every kind. Some people will click on your ad, sign up for your newsletter to get a discount code, and then never engage again. This Casual Audience often makes up the largest segment of your email list.

Pro Tip: Create a segment for subscribers with “zero clicks” over the past 180 days. Exclude them from active campaigns to improve performance metrics and focus on your most engaged readers.

Insight #3: Scarcity Works—But It Depends on Your Audience

Scarcity taps into the fear of missing out, making people want something more. The fear of loss is typically stronger than the desire for gain—except when marketing to affluent audiences.

Dan Kennedy defines the affluent as individuals earning $200,000 or more annually.

For these audiences, I’ve found that desire for gain drives urgency more effectively than fear of loss.

For example, I’ve tested subject lines like:

• “Enjoy [XX]% OFF Storewide Today. Prices go up tomorrow!”

• “Save [XX]% Storewide Today. Prices go up tomorrow!”

Results: 'Enjoy' consistently outperformed 'Save' in conversions, likely because it appeals to the affluent desire for experiences rather than discounts.

Pro Tip: When targeting affluent audiences, emphasize benefits over loss aversion. Split-test subject lines to identify what resonates best.

The Biggest Lesson Most People Don’t Know

If you want to triple your email sales, here’s the secret: send more emails to your engaged segments.

“Every creator and every company is, and needs to be, a media company. A creator or a company without a media component today is like a creator or a company without a website.” –Nicolas Cole, Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create a Category of One

It’s not about how but who.¹ Who can you partner with or hire to create the content your customers love? Teamwork makes the dream work.

More, Better, New

Alex Hormozi introduced me to this simple yet powerful framework:

• More: Do more of what already works.

• Better: Improve what you’re already doing.

• New: Expand into untapped areas or strategies.

“You’ve done some advertising, and it works to some degree. So, the next step is simple: do more of it. Crank up the volume to your max capacity.” Alex Hormozi, $100M Leads: How to Get Strangers To Want To Buy Your Stuff

Pro Tip: The business that delivers the most value wins. So, focus on creating and sharing interesting and valuable content with your audience.

Success in e-commerce isn’t about reinventing the wheel—it’s about doubling down on what works.

P.S. What’s one surprising thing you’ve learned in your industry? Hit reply—I’d love to hear about it!

1. Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by by Dan Sullivan, Benjamin Hardy