Boxing Day email marketing examples from top UK and global brands

In the past, Boxing Day sales may have been associated with bigger and more traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, like Currys PC World, DFS, and John Lewis. But with more people shopping online than ever before, Boxing Day is an opportunity for brands of all sizes—as long as they have an online presence.

When Klaviyo did a survey of 1K consumers across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the UK, and asked, “What’s the biggest shopping day of the year?,” British consumers were the only group to rate Boxing Day higher than Black Friday. In fact, 48% of Brits said Boxing Day is the most popular shopping day of the year in the UK, versus 45% saying Black Friday is the most popular.

Even if your British consumers shopped on Black Friday, Boxing Day is an important moment to give your shoppers one last amazing customer experience for the year.

Real-life Boxing Day email examples for promotions

1. Highlight discounts in your Boxing Day email strategy

After the often expensive pre-Christmas shopping season, UK consumers expect large discounts. One way to engage with your customers is to highlight the discounts—even more than your products.

The goal with this strategy is to entice subscribers into clicking calls-to-action (CTAs) that are too good to miss. Oak Furnitureland, a British retailer, added a timer for urgency:

Their email included a countdown timer to create a sense of urgency for their Boxing Day sale, which ended at midnight, while the rest of the email displayed large CTAs to entice subscribers into clicking through to the brand’s website to see exactly which furniture was discounted and by how much. 

Their email also included an additional offer to increase the brand’s average order value (AOV), where customers could claim 2 free accessories worth up to £600—but only if they spent over £1,500 first.

Oak Furnitureland sent their first email in the afternoon on Christmas Day and then another email early in the morning on Boxing Day. Discount-focused Boxing Day emails aren’t reserved just for furniture and big-box retailers: Skinnydip London also focuses on discounts: 

Their email—while still in keeping with their brand voice—is typical of what you’ll see many retailers and ecommerce businesses sending their subscribers on Boxing Day. The 50% discount is hard to miss and the CTAs are direct, enticing subscribers to click to find out more.

Example subject lines:

• Boxing Day Sale: Get 20% off everything!
• Our Best Ever Boxing Day SALE! £50 off all [insert product category]
• Surprise! MEGA 50% Off Boxing Day Sale

Abby Gettys, customer support enablement specialist at Klaviyo, says that when writing a subject line, the perception of a better discount should decide whether you offer customers a percentage off—or dollars off—your promotion.

“I typically see the offer that sounds higher outperforms other offers,” she says. “So, if the dollar amount is $50 off and the percentage is 10% off, even if the 10% off equates to more than $50, $50 will likely get the best results.”

2. Thoughtful and timely email copy just before or after Boxing Day

Deep discounts aren’t the only thing that’ll entice customers to spend their hard-earned dollars on Boxing Day. If you time your emails just right and focus your copy on something that your subscribers might already be thinking about—you’ll boost excitement for your offers in a different way.

Evolve Beauty, an award-winning natural skincare brand, offered a 25% discount, along with a thoughtful note from the founder, Laura Rudoe. In her note, Rudoe writes about the importance of treating yourself and picking up belated gifts for friends—2 things that her customers might be thinking about on Boxing Day.

Contemporary furniture retailer Danetti is another example of a brand using thoughtful and timely email copy to attract some sales. They sent 2 emails on Boxing Day last year—the first in the morning and another in the evening. These emails were timed so that they were less likely to interrupt their customers’ festivities with friends and family. 

Danetti’s evening email focused on discounted beds and mattresses—just as their subscribers were thinking about turning in for the night.

This approach works because you don’t have to worry about disturbing someone at an inappropriate time. Smart email marketing platforms enable you to send emails based on subscriber location or time zone, so all you have to think about is when you want your subscribers to read your email—the platform takes care of the rest.

Example subject lines:

• Didn’t get what you wanted?
• Grab it now – 30% off!
• TO: Me. FROM: Me. BEST GIFT EVER!
• Ring in the new year with the [insert product name] you’ve always wanted

3. A week of sales for a Boxing Day email series or automations

Who says that Boxing Day promotions have to last for just a day? 

For the past few years, Boxing Day sales have been starting earlier and earlier for some retailers—and now  they’re often included in a prolonged Boxing Week sales event.

A longer sale period helps to keep the orders flooding in through the days in between Boxing Day and the new year, which can be a little quiet once the usual Boxing Day frenzy has come to a halt.

Bang & Strike, a premium men’s underwear brand, hit the right note when the team sent a series of simple emails starting on Boxing Day and leading up to the new year. By sending 3 emails across 12 days, they didn’t overdo it.

Example subject lines:

• BOXING WEEK SALE – 2 DAYS TO GO!
• Let the celebrations continue! Get up to 35% off.
• Boxing Week Sale! Save up to 50% + FREE Shipping

4. Winter sales that lead into a Boxing Day email

Some brands choose to focus their copy around “Winter Sales” rather than “Boxing Day Sales”—but the emails are sent on the same day. 

The team at Holland Cooper, a luxury British-made tweed clothing brand, used wintery imagery in their email and took the time to showcase some of their clothing that would be ideal for cold weather—very fitting for an email sent at this time of year.

Natural Baby Shower, an expert in eco-friendly baby products, is another brand that promoted a winter sale on Boxing Day last year.

While the products on sale were spread across all kinds of categories, the email’s featured image was winter-focused to help set the tone for the sale and the rest of the email.

Example subject lines:

• ⛄ Woohoo! Up to 70% off Winter Sale starts NOW.
• Don’t miss our BIG winter sale! 50% off everything
• Brrr! You know what that means… WINTER SALE 50% OFF!

5. Early January-themed emails that help the finale

New Year’s resolutions is another option for a themed email, especially for sports, fitness, or wellness brands. Nuun, a company that specializes in  hydration and electrolyte products, launched an email offering a free 8-week training program.

Using phrases like “start the year off strong” and “get a jumpstart on your goals,” the email resonated especially well with their customers. A free email course also helps to position Nuun as an authority on fitness, helping the brand to grow its community online, which leads to more sales.

Tracksmith, a running apparel brand, also focused its email copy on its customers’ New Year’s resolutions and goals—allowing the team to make some fast sales at the same time.

The Tracksmith team launched a calendar on December 26 to help its customers get a headstart on their running goals—perfect timing for anyone worrying about a post-holiday exercise slump.

By sending these January-focused emails in December, both brands get a headstart on the competition—not a bad way to ring in the new year.

Example subject lines:

• Get a headstart on your resolutions: 15% off ALL sportswear
• New Year, New You: 25% off self-care essentials (you deserve it!)
• 7 must-haves if you’re going vegan in January

Beyond Boxing Day

It’s not too late to start crafting your final emails of the year. While Boxing Day provides a terrific opportunity to send promotional emails for your business, remember that this has been a challenging time for many people. If you communicate with empathy, you may just make your customers’—if not your company’s—holiday season a little brighter.