Lifecycle email for mid-market: the seven sequences that pay back
If you only build seven sequences, build these seven.
Lifecycle email is high-margin revenue most mid-market brands under-build. Seven sequences cover 80% of the opportunity. Beyond seven, you're into diminishing returns; below seven, you're leaving meaningful revenue on the table every month.
The seven sequences
- Welcome — three emails over five days, introducing brand, hero product and best-fit offer.
- Browse abandon — single email at 24 hours with product-specific context.
- Cart abandon — two emails, first at 1 hour, second at 24 hours with incentive only on the second.
- Post-purchase — order confirmation, shipping notice, delivery follow-up, review request at day 14.
- Replenishment — triggered on category-specific cadence (consumables: 30–60 days).
- Winback — at 90 and 180 days of inactivity, escalating offer.
- Loyalty milestone — birthday, anniversary, tier upgrade.
The build order
Welcome and cart first — they pay back fastest. Replenishment and winback next — they unlock LTV. Loyalty last — it's revenue you'd otherwise leak but rarely transformative. Build them sequentially, not in parallel; a fully-instrumented welcome flow beats four half-built ones.
Measurement
Revenue per recipient, not open rate, is the metric to defend. A welcome series with a 40% open rate and £0.40 RPR underperforms one with a 25% open rate and £1.10 RPR. The latter is what pays for the team.