Winback flow teardown.

A winback flow reaches past customers who have not ordered for longer than their normal buying gap. It triggers when they enter a lapsed segment, leads with a reminder or something new, escalates gently to an incentive, and stops when they buy. It should end with a sunset decision rather than endless chasing.

Trigger and filters.

Entry into a segment of customers whose last order was longer ago than your typical repurchase window, built from Placed Order metrics and a date condition.

• Flow filter: has not placed an order since starting this flow
• Trigger filter: has opened or clicked an email in the last several months, to protect reputation
• Trigger filter: is not in a replenishment or subscription flow
• Flow filter: not received a winback within the past year

Sequence and timing.

1. 1. Email one: we have missed you (Immediately on entry)

   Reconnect with what is new and remind them of favourites.

2. 2. Email two: what has changed (4 days later)

   Share new arrivals, improvements or a restock relevant to past purchases.

3. 3. Email three: a reason to return (5 days later)

   Introduce an incentive for those who did not respond to the first two.

4. 4. Email four: final goodbye (7 days later)

   Offer a preference choice or confirm they will hear less from you.

Branch logic.

• Conditional split on lifetime value, with a stronger incentive and a personal tone only for the best customers
• Split on product category last bought, so the new arrivals match their taste
• Split on engagement: anyone who clicks at any step gets a softer path, anyone silent goes to the sunset flow

Copy outline.

• Missed you

  Warm and short, reference the last item bought, show one new product, no hard sell.

• What has changed

  Three updates such as new range, better packaging or faster delivery, with links.

• Reason to return

  State the incentive, its expiry and why you are offering it, in two sentences.

• Goodbye

  Honest message that you will pause emails unless they click to stay.

What to watch.

• Reactivation rate: lapsed customers who purchase within the flow window
• Unsubscribe and complaint rate, which will be higher than other flows
• Revenue per recipient by branch, to justify the incentive
• Share who go to the sunset path at the end

Common mistakes.

• Defining lapsed as a fixed number of days for every product
• Discounting first, which trains customers to lapse deliberately
• Including unengaged profiles and harming sender reputation
• No end point, so the flow never hands over to a sunset policy

This is a starting structure, not a promise of results. Timing and offers depend on your product, your repurchase window and your list, so test and adjust.

Want this built and tested for you? See our retention strategy service or book a free audit.