Christmas email ideas for small shops
By December your customers have heard plenty of sales pitches. What they still want is help: what to buy, whether it will arrive, and where to go if they run out of time. These nine ideas are built around exactly that. Each has a sample subject line and a couple of sentences of copy to adapt.
Before you start
You don’t need all nine. Most small shops do well with four or five, spaced out so nobody feels buried. Christmas Day falls on a Friday in 2026, which makes Thursday, December 24 your last real day for most shoppers. Plan backward from there, and check your carrier’s published holiday shipping dates in early December rather than relying on last year’s.
Nine Christmas email ideas
1. The gift guide
Subject: Gifts for everyone on your list (under $50, under $100)
Group your products by who they’re for or what they cost, then pick three to six per group. Example copy: “Stuck on what to get? We sorted our shelves by price and by person, so you can stop scrolling and start wrapping.” Our gift guide email template has a fill-in version.
2. The “still in stock” reassurance
Subject: Good news: these are in stock and ready to ship
Early December shoppers worry about sellouts. Example copy: “We know how fast gift season goes. Here are our five most-asked-for items, all on the shelf today, all ready to ship.”
3. The last day to ship
Subject: Order by [day] for Christmas delivery
The most useful email you will send all month, provided the date is true. Example copy: “[Day, date, time and time zone] is the last day we can ship with [service] and still be comfortable about Christmas. After that, we have other ways to help, below.” Use our last day to ship template.
4. The gift card email
Subject: A gift card arrives in seconds
For anyone past the shipping cutoff. Example copy: “Out of time? A [Shop Name] gift card goes to their inbox the moment you check out, with a note from you.”
5. Local pickup and delivery
Subject: Skip the shipping: pick up in [town]
If you have a storefront or can deliver nearby, say so plainly. Example copy: “Order online until [time] on [day] and pick up at [address] the same afternoon. We’ll have it wrapped and waiting.”
6. The gift wrap and note email
Subject: We’ll wrap it and write the card
Example copy: “Add gift wrap at checkout and tell us what to write. We’ll handle the paper, the ribbon and the handwriting.” Only send this if you really offer it.
7. Christmas Eve hours
Subject: Our hours for Christmas week
Short and practical. Example copy: “We’re open [hours] on Thursday, December 24, and closed Friday and Saturday. Online orders placed after [cutoff] will ship [date].”
8. The Christmas Day thank-you
Subject: Thank you from all of us at [Shop Name]
No product, no button, or one soft link at the bottom. Example copy: “This season you trusted us with your gifts, and that means a lot to a small shop. Merry Christmas from our table to yours.”
9. The January note
Subject: Gift card in a drawer? Here’s what we’re excited about
Send in the first week of January. Example copy: “If someone gave you a [Shop Name] gift card, welcome. Here are a few things new customers love to start with.”
Keep each email honest
- Only name dates and promises you can keep.
- One main button per email.
- Mention only products that are in stock.
- Write like you’d talk to a regular at the counter.
If you’d like the whole December run written for you, see our Christmas email packages. The free email kit also has a few starter templates.
Want to see this built from your own products?
Paste your store's address into our free mockup tool and get a Black Friday email made from your real products. No card needed.
Prefer to skip the writing? We write and design the whole run for your shop, ready to import into Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend or Shopify Email, in 72 hours.