In this article on plain text email examples, you’ll learn:
- What are plain text emails?
- Plain text vs HTML: Which format is the best?
- Why is sending more plain-text emails a great idea?
- Which ecommerce brands to watch for inspiration?
- What makes a good plain text email?
I’ve written hundreds of plain text emails for my clients over the years. This list includes some of those emails but also takes inspiration from other e-commerce brands.
What are plain text emails?
As the name suggests, plain text emails contain only text. There are no fancy visuals, beautiful images, or HTML code. When you receive a plain text email, you can’t really tell if it was sent by a friend, colleague, or an e-commerce brand. That’s the beauty of these simple, text-only emails.
Email format: plain text vs HTML
98.2% of e-commerce email examples on Mailboard are styled. That means roughly only 2 out of 100 emails you receive from brands are plain text.
If you hear these numbers, you’d think visual emails are the way to go. I tend to believe it’s one of those things where brands go, “If everyone else is doing it, so should we.”
Yet, copying the mass marketing tactics of other companies is rarely a winning strategy.
E-commerce marketers who send plain text emails report having better deliverability, higher engagement, and increased conversions.
Another huge benefit of zero-graphic emails is that they take less than an hour to ship out. I’ve written highly converting emails for my clients in less than thirty minutes.
Does that mean every email you send should be plain text?
No, but if you don’t have plain text emails in your email strategy, there’s a high chance you’re missing out.
Top-performing emails
Just because you write a plain text email doesn’t make it automatically effective. You must know how to format it and write great copy.
After hours of analyzing plain text emails, I’ve compiled a list of traits that make an effective plain text email:
- Conversational
- Personal
- Entertaining
- Use storytelling
- Valuable
- Relevant
- Human
- Easy-to-read
Scroll down and you’ll see these traits in action.
If you want more inspiration, check out:
21 Creative Campaign Angles Claude or ChatGPT Won’t Tell You
Learn moreGet the 21 Creative Campaign Angles guide
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15 Plain Text Email Examples For E-Commerce Brands
#1 Eight Sleep
Email idea: Answer FAQs
What stands out about this email?
This email is all about answering common customer questions about a specific product.
It’s a great exercise in general because it challenges you to write great direct response copy.
You can find objections in the comment sections of your Meta or Tiktok ads. Another way to find FAQs is by digging into your customer support tickets.
#2 Universal Standard
Email idea: Communicate your USP
What stands out about this email?
According to David Ogilvy, without a unique selling point (USP), your marketing is weak. You must know what makes your product beneficial to its users and different from the competition.
Universal Standard does a great job of laying down the sales argument here. Also, notice how this email is selling a dress (a highly visual product), but there’s not a single image attached.
#3 myota
Email idea: Give a status update
What stands out about this email?
As Gary Vaynerchuk says, “Document, don’t create.”
When you tell stories like myota does in this email, you have built an email marketing moat. No one can copy you because you’re talking about what’s going on in your business.
These types of emails are pattern breakers from typical emails — super personable and effective.
#4 Proper Good
Email idea: Winback
What stands out about this email?
Most e-commerce brands get winback emails all wrong. They play it safe and send boring, corporate-looking emails.
In reality, most of these customers have already churned, so sending a creative, outside-the-box email is low risk, high reward.
This email by Proper Good is not one of those boring emails. It gives a status update, yet also “bribes” customers with a compelling offer. Reading this email leaves me feeling hungry.
#5 Tower 28 Beauty
Email idea: Announce a sale
What stands out about this email?
Info product marketer Daniel Throssell has a brilliant thought on sales campaigns:
“A promotion with a strong narrative is powerful and compelling.”
“An offer without a strong narrative is weak and random.”
The same applies to e-commerce emails.
Each sale you run should be based on a strong narrative.
Giving 20% off because it’s a random Saturday is NOT a strong narrative.
Before running a sale, you need a compelling answer to this question:
Why are you making this offer at this price at this time?
Tower 28 Beauty runs a 16% sale because it’s their 6th birthday. That’s a pretty compelling reason.
#6 Good Ranchers
Email idea: Campaign follow-up
What stands out about this email?
Follow-up reminders are perhaps the best use case for plain text emails. Naturally, you’ll make the most revenue at the start of a promotion and the end of the sale.
This email does a great job of driving urgency and getting the reader to buy right away. It mentions a one-time $50 discount and gives a deadline for when it expires.
You can send these at the end of any sale you run.
#7 Graza
Email idea: Back in stock
What stands out about this email?
This is an awesome email. It’s short, funny, yet drives massive urgency.
When you’re specific about the product quantity (like Graza is here), the scarcity feels more authentic.
I can’t help but LOL at the call to action.
Click here for more back-in-stock email inspiration.
#8 Von Baer
Email idea: Cart abandonment
What stands out about this email?
There aren’t many email A/B tests worth running for e-commerce brands, but if there’s one, it’s the plain text vs design-heavy cart abandonment email.
I wrote this email for one of my clients, and it converted 2x better than their visual email.
Most abandoned carts happen because people get distracted. But some still need convincing to get over the hump. In this email, we doubled down on the product quality and shared a story about the craftsmanship of each item.
#9 100mL
Email idea: Tell your founding story
What stands out about this email?
Customers buy from brands with a mission — those that stand to solve a specific problem. 100mL is all about ensuring you stay true to your skin care routine whilst traveling.
The biggest mistake e-commerce brands make when talking about their founding story is making it about themselves. Customers don’t care that you have a passion for sneakers.
Instead, they want to know whether you understand their pain and how your product can help them ease it.
#10 AAVRANI
Email idea: Launch a product
What stands out about this email?
Using plain text emails for new launches is great because you can talk about the product’s benefits in great detail, as AAVRANI does here.
When launching a product, make sure your email is filled with excitement. If you’re not excited about the launch, why should the reader be?
My only critique is that the email could be perceived as a bit of a difficult read due to a lack of whitespace.
#11 AVALINE
Email idea: Welcome offer
What stands out about this email?
I love throwing in a plain text email reminder in welcome sequences. It works as a pattern disruptor, and if you can get a response from the reader, it helps your deliverability as well.
I also LOVE how AVALINE describes the wines in this email. Descriptions like “light,” “crisp,” and “refreshing” help readers picture themselves already sipping on the wine.
#12 CRAFTD
Email idea: Order Confirmation
What stands out about this email?
Transactional emails get read, so here’s your chance to stand out with conversational emails. This one by CRAFTD builds goodwill by thanking the customer and offering them support directly in the email.
Attaching an offer as a P.S. is smart as well.
#13 BAMBU EARTH
Email idea: Review collection
What stands out about this email?
Asking for product reviews is a great idea post-purchase. You can use the social proof to improve CRO, as well as retarget customers on Meta. This email by Bambu Earth asks for a video testimonial. Make sure when you ask to submit video testimonials, you set ground rules and give them a thank-you offer.
#14 Grove Collaborative
Email idea: Replenishment
What stands out about this email?
Replenishment emails can be effective if you sell a consumable. This email from Grove Collaborative fits all the boxes. It highlights a discount, it’s conversational, and comes from an actual person.
#15 Hostage Tape
Email idea: Storytelling
What stands out about this email?
This email is proof that you can find email ideas/stories anywhere. It talks about a random Reddit post and positions the product as the solution. You just have to get creative with it.
READ MORE: How eCommerce Marketers Can Write Stories That Sell
What you should do next
Send a plain text email to your list. See how it performs and make it a regular part of your email strategy.
