How to Use Your Post-Peak Email Strategy to Build Loyalty in Ecommerce

Peak season is typically dominated by intense customer acquisition efforts, delivering an influx of new customers. Once the dust settles on the deals and discounts of peak period, a different opportunity emerges – turning these first-time shoppers into loyal, full-price customers who return throughout the year.

Yet maintaining momentum after peak season can be challenging. Customer fatigue, returns management and inbox saturation all contribute to disengagement, making retention particularly difficult. Brands that stand out during this period are those that continue to offer relevance and value – through genuine appreciation, educational content and thoughtful personalisation.

Email remains one of the most effective channels for nurturing relationships with and building loyalty amongst newly acquired customers. With a well-executed strategy, brands can leverage their post-purchase communications to create meaningful experiences that drive repeat sales and maximise customer lifetime value.

In this article, we’ll explore how the Klaviyo platform in particular can help brands to drive loyalty after peak season – combining rich customer data with automation and predictive analytics.

Making the most out of your post-peak email strategy

1. Segment your post-peak audience to increase relevance

Treating all your newly-acquired customers the same way is a fast route to disengagement. Instead, effective post-peak email marketing begins with segmentation – understanding who these new shoppers are, why they purchased, and what they’re likely to do next.

You can leverage data gathered during peak season to split your audience into groups, creating meaningful segments based on purchase history, engagement level and buyer intent. The more tailored the messaging, the more likely shoppers are to return once the seasonal rush is over.

Some useful segments to consider for new customers include:

• High-value customers – Segment customers who spent the most or made the most purchases during peak season. This group will typically respond well to recognition and exclusivity, so be sure to prioritise retention through appreciation messaging, early access to new collections, personalised recommendations or loyalty offers.

• One-item buyers – Customers who only purchased one item from you over peak season may be tricker to convert into repeat buyers. This segment benefits heavily from strong post-purchase onboarding. Use social proof, educational content and complementary recommendations to build trust.

• Deal-driven customers – For brands who ran peak season sales, some new customers will have been driven solely by discounts. Signals that characterise this sort of shopper include purchasing during the strongest discount windows and interacting with promo banners. To build loyalty, consider tailoring email communications with future sale previews and price-drop alerts.

• Highly engaged peak shoppers – Target customers who opened and clicked through emails during peak season, visited your site frequently, or engaged with content repeatedly. Thank them for their support and offer them exclusive content or other perks like first-look at new products.

Platforms like Klaviyo make this significantly easier by capturing granular behavioural and transactional data throughout peak season, enabling more nuanced, high-intent segmentation that directly supports retention. Users can even describe to Klaviyo’s Segments AI tool the customers they want to connect with, and an appropriate segment will be generated for them.

2. Automate retention flows to maintain engagement

To retain customers after peak season, it’s important to shift your email strategy from high-volume sales campaigns to personalised retention flows that provide value and build loyalty. Well-designed email flows keep customers engaged, ensuring every interaction feels timely and relevant.

Examples of retention flows we often recommend to our email marketing clients include:

• Post-purchase educational flow – Sending a series of emails sharing product care guides, styling inspiration, or how-to content can help customers get the most out of their purchase. This is a great way to extend the purchase experience beyond the checkout – building trust and demonstrating your commitment to providing a high-quality customer experience.

• Cross-sell flow – Use peak season purchase data to recommend complementary products. For example, a first-time buyer who bought a hairdryer might receive a tailored recommendation for a subscription to a styling or heat protection product, or someone who purchased a set of kitchen pans could be sent a targeted suggestion for matching utensils.

• Loyalty program flow – Encourage satisfied customers to stay engaged by joining your loyalty program. Automating this flow can help increase lifetime value without constant manual input from your marketing team.

• Review request flow – Asking for feedback on a purchase can be a good opportunity to engage one-time peak season shoppers. By including relevant content and even product recommendations in your email, you can pique their interest and encourage future purchases.

• Engagement milestones – Celebrating small customer milestones with a thoughtful message or small gift can strengthen brand affinity. For example, sending an automated email that recognises it’s been a month since someone became a customer and thanking them for their support is a small but powerful way to make shoppers feel special and nurture loyalty.

• Win-back flow – Re-engagement emails can help to recapture inactive customers with personalised incentives. Klaviyo’s predictive analytics tools can identify when a shopper is likely to disengage, allowing you to act before it’s too late.

Swanky’s in-house Klaviyo experts use Klaviyo to create custom flows and content that are thoughtfully tailored to each brand’s audience, goals and unique needs. You can read more about some of these key email automations in our guide to mastering Klaviyo flows.

3. Use value-led storytelling & product education to increase satisfaction

An effective way to retain customers acquired during peak season is to help them get the most out of the product they’ve just purchased. By guiding customers through how to use, care for or style their products, you can help shift their mindset from “transaction” to “relationship”. This works by increasing perceived value, reducing buyer’s remorse, nurturing confidence in your brand, and increasing customer satisfaction.

When customers feel supported and informed, they are far more likely to return to your brand.

Examples of personalised product education include:

• ‘Getting started’ messaging – Emails that include quick-start instructions, beginner tips or simple steps for achieving the best results will help customers feel confident in your product from day one. This type of content is invaluable in reducing early friction, especially in categories such as home tech, skincare or supplements.

• Care and maintenance guides – Sharing helpful advice around storage, washing and upkeep encourages customers to build habits around your products – keeping your brand top of mind. It also demonstrates a high level of care for shoppers, which helps to strengthen relationships and encourage loyalty.

• Usage inspiration – Whether you sell clothing, food or make up, “ways to use” content demonstrates the versatility of your range, increases engagement and often leads to natural cross-sell opportunities. This could include emails with styling suggestions, recipe ideas, routine builders, or “get the look” ideas.

• FAQs – Thinking proactively about reducing customer frustration by answering common questions and providing troubleshooting tips via email can be an effective way to provide value and demonstrate your commitment to customer service.

With Klaviyo’s event-based triggers and product-specific content blocks, these educational, value-led messages can be automated into emails that adapt for each customer. Whether you’re guiding a new buyer through their first haircare product, first pair of running shoes, or first piece of flat-pack furniture, Klaviyo ensures they receive the right support at the right moment in the post-purchase journey.

4. Leverage user generated content to build trust

Customers acquired during peak season often make quick, transactional decisions – influenced by urgency, gift buying or promotional pricing. As a result, they may have limited emotional connection with your brand in the early stages.

One of the most effective ways to bridge this gap is through the use of user generated content (UGC) in your post-purchase emails. UGC includes things like images, videos, reviews, ratings and stories created by people who already love your products.

A powerful form of social proof, UGC shows new customers that people like them are using and enjoying your products in real life – thereby reducing uncertainty and increasing overall purchase confidence. It also shifts your email content away from brand-led messaging towards the voices of your community, which resonates strongly with today’s consumers.

Examples of UGC for use in your emails include:

• Reviews and testimonials – Pulling in snippets of recent reviews is useful for reassuring new customers about product quality, sizing, fit or performance. Featuring reviews that speak to common peak-season doubts, like returns concerns or product suitability, is especially effective immediately after a peak period. Meanwhile, longer-form customer stories are particularly useful for higher-consideration industries, such as fitness, health or luxury home products. Here you can see a snapshot of a recent email we created, which uses reviews to build trust after peak season.

• Authentic photos and videos – UGC showing customers using your products adds an authenticity that polished product photography can’t replicate. Fashion, beauty, home and lifestyle brands benefit particularly from showcasing products in real-life customer environments.

• Before-and-after content – Showcasing transformations helps new customers visualise their own results and feel more invested in your brand and its products. This can be especially impactful for beauty, wellness and home improvement brands.

• Community spotlights – Celebrating standout customers or brand advocates creates a sense of belonging and may inspire newly acquired customers to join your community and engage more deeply with your brand.

Klaviyo integrates seamlessly with review platforms like Okendo, REVIEWS.io and Judge.me, allowing retailers to automatically pull star ratings, highlights and customer photos into email templates. Dynamic product review blocks ensure each customer sees content relevant to their recent purchase, making the experience even more personal.

By weaving UGC into your replenishment flows, onboarding sequences and win-back campaigns, you can create a powerful, trust-building layer that supports long-term loyalty.

5. Measure success & keep iterating

Building loyalty in ecommerce isn’t a one-off initiative – it’s a continuous, data-led process. To understand whether your post-peak email strategy is resonating with new customers, it’s important to track performance across key metrics and adapt based on what the data tells you.

Some of the most important indicators to track include:

• Repeat purchase rate – A clear reflection of how effectively you’re nurturing newly acquired customers.

• Customer lifetime value – A core measure of long-term loyalty and the sustainability of your retention strategy.

• Open and click-through rates – Useful for assessing engagement and the relevance of your messaging.

• Unsubscribe rates – A signal of whether content, frequency or targeting may need adjusting.

Beyond these quantitative metrics, qualitative signals, such as customer replies, support queries, review sentiment and UGC engagement, can also provide valuable insight into how well your messaging is landing.

Klaviyo’s built-in analytics and reporting tools make it simple to monitor these metrics, visualise trends and identify where improvements can be made. With easy access to real-time data, it’s easier to pinpoint which segments, flows or content types are driving loyalty, and which need refinement.

Combining this with a culture of continuous experimentation is where retailers see the biggest gains. Thoughtful A/B testing across subject lines, content blocks, incentives and send times ensures you’re always learning and evolving your approach.

Over time, these incremental improvements compound, helping your brand to build deeper connections and maintain loyalty long after the peak season rush.

Post-peak email strategy with a Klaviyo Platinum Partner

With thoughtful segmentation, automation and value-driven storytelling, brands can transform one-time peak season purchases into lasting – and profitable – customer relationships.

Swanky’s dedicated in-house Klaviyo specialists can help you design, implement and optimise a post-peak email strategy that builds loyalty at scale. Contact the team today to discuss your project.