7 Valentine’s Day Emails We Love from Savage X Fenty, Saks Fifth Avenue and Zales

Dating back to 496 AD, the Feast of St. Valentine’s Day was initially conceived to celebrate the lives of two legendary Christian martyrs. Many people don’t realize that the day had no connection to love and romance until Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem called “Valentines” 10 centuries later. Of course, we all get that connection now.

The National Retail Federation projects that consumers will break records and spend $27.4 billion this Valentine’s Day, a 32% increase over last year. With that much revenue on the line, naturally retailers are sending a lot of emails. Here are seven of our favorite Valentine’s Day emails:

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The Bouqs Company: “Welcome to The Bouqs Company!”

With the exception of Elvis Presley’s death, Valentine’s Day is the biggest day of the year for floral retailers. Naturally, a brand like The Bouqs Company is going to make a strong first impression this time of year. Bouqs educates new subscribers on some of its differentiators — farm-fresh flowers and a simplified supply chain, for example — and most popular bouquets, a great recommendation strategy for converting new customers. The beautiful imagery, 30% discount and floral puns also take this Valentine’s Day email beyond garden variety.

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Savage X Fenty: “♥️ NEW: The V-Day Shop JUST Dropped ♥️”

In January, Savage X Fenty announced its first-ever designer collaboration with Adam Selman. Adam, in Rihanna’s words, embodies “everything the brand stands for — fun, playful, sexy.” Just before Valentine’s Day, the brand sent this email letting customers know his limited-edition VIP boxes are ready, with sneak peeks of their contents. We love the way Savage X Fenty built up to this announcement. The subject line was also particularly strong, combining several of last year’s top-performing tactics: urgency, themed emojis and SELECTIVE capitalization for emphasis.

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Saks Fifth Avenue: “The Valentine’s Day Gift Guide: from the traditionalist to the anti-romantic”

Spouses and significant others are naturally the most common valentine recipients. However, the NRF notes that their share of spend is down 9% from a decade ago as consumers increasingly buy gifts for other loved ones. Department stores are the most popular shopping destination for Valentine’s Day shoppers and Saks Fifth Avenue sent out this gift guide for everyone you could be shopping for. At the same time, Saks also created gift guides for different personas, such as the difficult-to-shop-for person who kind of hates the holiday.

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Alex and Ani: “Designed by *YOU*”

Flowers may be the holiday’s most popular gift, but jewelry is a close second. You don’t have to have a valentine to get a valentine. Alex and Ani knows that, and sent this Valentine’s Day email to promote self-gifting, which is a part of every shopping season. During the holidays, nearly 80% of consumers shop for themselves and China’s Singles Day is the biggest ecommerce day in the world. Alex and Ani’s email has a nice takeaway about loving yourself in addition to treating yourself.

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OpenTable: “Are you ready for Valentine’s this year?”

In the weeks leading up, people make 70 Valentine’s Day restaurant reservations every minute. OpenTable would know; that’s why the online reservation platform created a helpful hub. The hub has sweepstakes, guides to great date spots and plenty of alarming facts. Did you know most Valentine’s Day reservations are made 10 days in advance? With a fun animation and customer-centric language, OpenTable’s message is simple and drives urgency, surely sending plenty of prospective diners to the hub.

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Shopbop: “V-Day outfits for every plan”

Gifts are the common denominator of most holiday emails and we like the way Shopbop looks at the bigger picture: what are you wearing to that date night? Or your girls night out? The retailer curates outfits for every variation of a Friday night, including the pajamas and sleep masks for those customers planning a quiet night at home. Shopbop also didn’t forget to include personalized product recommendations, which we consider a staple of a good ecommerce email.

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Zales: “Save Up to 50% Off Gifts That Say ‘I Love You'”

The biggest shopping day of last year wasn’t Black Friday or Cyber Monday. It was Super Saturday, the final Saturday before Christmas, which goes to show how many last-minute shoppers are out there. Zales appeals to those people with a final push a few days before Valentine’s Day. The steep discount and real-time clock counting down to February 13 are a great combination in this Valentine’s Day email, especially when you factor in the free shipping.

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