Mailbites

Short, practical email & retention

Mailbites is our newsletter for ecommerce operators. One idea per issue, written to be read in five minutes and used the same afternoon. Every issue we send is published here too.

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28 issues published

Issue 28Jun 5, 20264 min read

Dark mode is quietly breaking your emails

The same email renders three different ways. Your test send only shows you one of them.

Issue 27Jun 2, 20264 min read

Your open rate is lying to you

Roughly half your opens are machines. Here are the three numbers that still tell the truth.

Issue 26May 29, 20264 min read

Your unsubscribe link isn't as compliant as you think

You ticked the compliance box years ago. Gmail quietly moved the box.

Issue 25May 26, 20264 min read

Who reads your email first now?

Hint: it isn't your customer. And it's quietly writing your first impression for you.

Issue 24May 19, 20262 min read

The audience nobody can take from you

Your followers belong to the algorithm. Your list belongs to you. That difference is everything.

Issue 23May 12, 20262 min read

The subscribers who can't read your email

A chunk of your list uses larger text, screen readers, or low vision. Your email might be invisible to them.

Issue 22May 5, 20262 min read

How to stop training customers to wait for a sale

Every blanket discount teaches your list that full price is for suckers. There's a better way.

Issue 21Apr 28, 20262 min read

Your highest-open email is a receipt

Order confirmations get opened far more than anything else you send. Most are blank receipts.

Issue 20Apr 21, 20262 min read

When to text and when to email

SMS isn't a louder email. Using them interchangeably is how you get muted on both.

Issue 19Apr 14, 20262 min read

Your top 5% don't want points

Most loyalty programs reward the wrong thing. Here's what your best customers actually want.

Issue 18Apr 7, 20262 min read

Asking for the review at the worst possible moment

The review email that fires when the box arrives, not when the product's been used, gets you nothing.

Issue 17Mar 31, 20262 min read

The opposite of unsubscribe

When someone's about to leave, offering 'less' beats offering 'nothing.' Most brands don't ask.

Issue 16Mar 24, 20262 min read

Your domain has a credit score

Switch tools or blast a cold list, and you'll learn what sender reputation is the hard way.

Issue 15Mar 17, 20262 min read

Three records standing between you and the inbox

SPF, DKIM, DMARC. Boring, invisible, and the reason half your email never arrives.

Issue 14Mar 10, 20262 min read

The ugly email that outsells your beautiful one

Sometimes the plain email from a real person beats the agency-designed template. Here's when.

Issue 13Mar 3, 20262 min read

You're designing for a screen nobody uses

Most of your list opens on a phone. Most of your emails are built on a desktop. See the problem?

Issue 12Feb 24, 20262 min read

One email, one job

Every extra button you add makes the important one harder to click. The math is brutal.

Issue 11Feb 17, 20262 min read

How often is too often?

The honest answer to email frequency isn't a number. It's a question most brands never ask.

Issue 10Feb 10, 20262 min read

There is no best time to send

The 'send at 10am Tuesday' advice is a myth that's costing you. Here's what actually matters.

Issue 09Feb 3, 20262 min read

Nobody reads your subject line first

They read who it's from. Your sender name is the most undervalued field in the inbox.

Issue 08Jan 27, 20262 min read

The subject line rule that survived everything

Clever loses to clear, every single time. Here's why, and how to test it without open rates.

Issue 07Jan 20, 20262 min read

Stop emailing everyone the same thing

The batch-and-blast is quietly training your best customers to ignore you.

Issue 06Jan 13, 20262 min read

Before you delete them, send this

A lapsing customer is cheaper to win back than a stranger is to acquire. For a little while.

Issue 05Jan 6, 20262 min read

The reorder email everyone sends on the wrong day

Day 30 for everyone is why your customers buy their refill from someone else.

Issue 04Dec 30, 20252 min read

The most persuadable moment you're ignoring

The window between order one and order two decides your whole year. Most brands fill it with silence.

Issue 03Dec 23, 20252 min read

They looked, they left, you said nothing

Browse abandonment is the most overlooked signal in your store, and one of the warmest.

Issue 02Dec 16, 20252 min read

The 70% who fill a cart and vanish

They didn't leave because of price. Here's what the cart email is actually for.

Issue 01Dec 9, 20252 min read

Your best email goes out while you're asleep

The welcome series is the highest-paid email you'll ever write. Most brands waste it on a coupon.