Thu 8/27 | Ed 402 | Is Your Loyalty Program Worth Joining?

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Loyalty programs are the easiest thing in ecommerce to build badly.

Pick a points system that's complicated, give tiers a name, and throw it on your footer... then wonder why no one really cares.

The ones that actually pull their weight tend to have answered a harder question first, which is what the customer is really buying when they join.

This morning we're looking at two running brands that came to opposite answers, and what each one is built to do. 👇

Also inside:
→ The emails you send the most and change the least
→ SMS just got more expensive, right before the quarter you use it most
→ A stronger body mist, a vibrating flat iron, and a Gen Z brand going collegiate

Campaigns get argued over every week while we just let flows... run.

The majority of your flows still say what they said the quarter you built them. Someone who subscribed this morning is reading copy written for an audience you don't have anymore, and it stays that way because changing a flow means rebuilding it by hand.

Your paid media hasn't had that problem in years. Meta never picks one creative and rides it, it keeps testing and reallocating on its own, and email is the last channel where somebody still has to do that manually.

Allan brings that to your flows. It sits on top of your ESP, you stock the library once, and it assembles the version each subscriber gets and learns from every send.

The 30-day trial includes the creative, so there's almost no lift to start.

→ Start free at getallan.com

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Loyalty emails have a harder job than they get credit for.

You're not just asking someone to buy a product. You're asking them to opt into a relationship with the brand, which means the email has to make the membership feel valuable before the shopper has actually experienced any of the perks.

Bandit and Tracksmith both use membership emails to sell loyalty, but they take two very different routes. Bandit makes the math feel obvious. Tracksmith makes the identity feel aspirational.

Bandit: Make the Value Stack Impossible to Miss

Subject line: The Bandit Membership

Bandit's email is built around a simple promise: this membership gives you more than it takes.

That's the right move for a paid membership or perk-heavy loyalty program because the first question shoppers are going to ask is, "What do I actually get?" Bandit answers that quickly with a long list of benefits.

The email makes the value feel tangible through:

• Early access to drops and restocks

• A standing discount and free shipping

• A $50 annual gift card

• Annual member socks

• Partner perks from brands like ASICS, Bathhouse, Therabody, hotels, and The Feed

That partner ecosystem is doing a lot of work. It makes the membership feel bigger than Bandit's own product catalog and positions the program as support for a runner's broader lifestyle, not just a way to save on gear.

The tradeoff is that the email can start to feel dense. There are a lot of perks to process, and some shoppers may need a clearer hierarchy of what matters most. But the core strategy is clear: if you're charging for access, show people the math.

What brands can take from it:

If your loyalty program has concrete perks, don't hide them behind emotional language. Lead with the value, organize the benefits clearly, and make it easy for shoppers to understand what they're getting back.

Tracksmith: Make Membership Feel Like an Identity Upgrade

Subject line: Excel as an Amateur with the Hare A.C.
Preheader: Benefit from expert advice, free shipping, and more

Tracksmith's Hare A.C. email takes a more elevated approach.

Instead of leading with a long list of perks, the email frames membership around becoming part of a more serious running experience. The headline positions the club as a reimagined running club, and the copy talks about expert advice, professional-level support, exclusive experiences, and access to elite marathoners.

The value here is less about instant savings and more about proximity:

• Proximity to better training

• Proximity to experienced runners

• Proximity to the Tracksmith team

• Proximity to product releases and exclusive experiences

• Proximity to a more committed version of the sport

That's why the physical welcome elements matter. The singlet, welcome letter, and membership number give the program a sense of ceremony, which helps make the membership feel less like an account upgrade and more like joining something with status.

The opportunity is that the practical value could come forward a little more. The email makes the membership feel elevated, but someone deciding whether to join may still want a tighter read on the most useful benefits.

What brands can take from it:

If your loyalty program is built around access, community, or identity, don't reduce it to a discount list. Show shoppers what membership lets them become part of, then back that up with enough practical value to make the decision feel easy.

The Difference Is What Each Brand Has to Prove

Bandit has to prove the membership is worth the money. Tracksmith has to prove the membership is worth belonging to.

That difference shapes the whole email. Bandit stacks benefits until the value feels hard to ignore, while Tracksmith builds a more aspirational case around support, access, and the feeling of being inside the club.

Use Bandit's approach when:

• The membership has a clear dollar-value story

• Perks are the main reason to join

• Partner benefits make the program feel bigger

• Shoppers need to justify the cost quickly

Use Tracksmith's approach when:

• The membership is tied to identity or community

• Access matters as much as savings

• Physical welcome elements can create ceremony

• The brand has enough authority to sell belonging

When you're writing a loyalty email, it's not enough to say "join." You have to make the shopper understand what joining changes.

The timing is rough. Heading into BFCM, texting is about to do real work for you, and it just got more expensive to do it. Every abandoned-cart nudge, every early-access heads-up, every back-in-stock alert costs a little more than it did last month.

Omnisend moved the other way. SMS runs at $0.007 a text with credits included on the Pro plan, so it stays cheap enough to use as an everyday channel instead of saving it for the big moments.

The thing that keeps most brands from switching is the thought of rebuilding everything. Omnisend takes that off your plate: their team moves your automations, segments, forms, and customer data over for you, however tangled the setup, and has you live in about five days.

Handle it now and your Q4 texting scales without your bill scaling with it.

👉 See the new pricing

*Sponsored

Sol de Janeiro made its body mist stronger and charged more for it

Intense versions of Cheirosa 62, 59 and 91 land at Ulta on August 23, alongside a new Cheirosa 74. More than double the fragrance concentration, a solar amber accord, and roughly ten hours of wear, at $34 for 90ml against $26 for the standard mist. Same scent, same customer, higher price.

Pattern Beauty put 12,000 vibrations a minute into a flat iron

Tracee Ellis Ross's brand added a $119 Vibrating Flat Iron to its Heat and Treat line, with ceramic-coated plates that vibrate to cut the snagging textured hair gets from a standard iron. Fourteen heat settings, an LCD display, and a 60-minute auto shutoff. It hit the brand's own site first, then Ulta online on the 19th.

Parke is going collegiate with '47

Chelsea Parke Goles built Parke out of a TikTok following, and on August 25 it releases a licensed collegiate collection with 47 covering nine schools. Mockneck sweatshirts, sweatpants and headwear, from a $17 claw clip to a $140 graphic mockneck. Licensed college merch is a crowded aisle, so the angle is making it wearable off campus.

Annnnd that's a wrap for this edition!

Thanks for hanging with Chase and me. If this gave you an idea for your next program, share ecomemailmarketer.com with your favorite DTC marketer.

Remember: Do shit you love.

🤘 Jimmy Kim & Chase Dimond

PS: Your next best customer might be reading this right now. Want in? Email Jimmy to sponsor this newsletter and more.