46 Autumn Subject Lines for Ecommerce Emails and Why They’re Awesome

The life of an email marketer (or owner who does it all) gets tiring. It’s all on you to come up with unique and interesting email subject lines year-round.

And you only get three chances to entice a subscriber to open your email:

• The “From” field 
• The preview text
• Your subject line

Most of your chance for an awesome open rate rides on that subject line.

Luckily, holidays and seasons give you plenty of opportunities to get creative.

Read on to discover almost four dozen autumn subject lines for ecommerce emails to kick your burnout to the curb. 

Why should you prioritize and optimize your autumn subject lines for ecommerce?

Winter holidays get most of the attention, but what about all that incredible fall spending?

Back-to-school

Autumn is filled with plenty of opportunities to boost revenue and win customers. Take back-to-school, for example. In 2019, each household spent an estimated $696 on back-to-school items. 

Although lots of kids might not be “going back” to school in quite the same way, many still need new clothing, distance-learning supplies, and electronics. 

Back-to-college spending gets its own category at the National Retail Federation too, and for a good reason. Each home spends nearly $1,000 each year, on average.

Halloween

Did you know the average person spends about $86 on their Halloween costume and other related items? 

If you’re a Halloween fanatic, that figure may sound tiny to you. Overall, however, Halloween is an $8.8 billion industry each year.

Halloween lovers won’t find this surprising either: Americans spend almost half a billion dollars on pet costumes each year.

It’s unclear how COVID-19 will impact Halloween celebrations in different regions. Regardless, it’s a holiday ecommerce stores can’t afford to take lightly.

Back to Life (Second New Year)

That refreshing feeling of new notebooks and goal setting doesn’t end after we finish school. 

Over the years, Pinterest found something interesting: Searches for pins on productivity, self-improvement, new routines, and goal setting spike in autumn. 

The trend is so obvious they compare it to New Year:

In other words, feel free to fill your autumn subject lines for ecommerce with topics like:

• New skincare routines
• Tools for cleaning and chores
• Planners and bullet journals
• Positivity tools
• Productivity resources
• Fitness routines
• Home renovation
• Budgeting and financial planning
• Organizational tools

Football

The fate of fall football is unclear right now, but it’ll eventually return.

When it does, make sure to optimize your autumn subject lines for ecommerce with relevant products and ideas on:

• Game Day recipes
• Cozy blankets
• Mixology

Thanksgiving

Americans spend more on Thanksgiving each year. Some even host multiple parties.

While 82% of the average $186 per person is spent on food, a portion also goes to travel. Don’t forget to promote your Thanksgiving décor and kitchenware too.

You can also send interactive survey emails, as Suiteness did here, to gauge each customer’s personal feelings:

Breast Cancer Awareness

When October hits, it’s all things pink.

Bumble and bumble. sent this email along with the impactful headline “Make a big difference.” It’s personalized for beauty buyers and encourages subscribers to make a purchase for an important cause. Consider implementing strategies like these into your ecommerce emails to support Awareness Month, as well as cater to your audience’s interests.

Other niche opportunities

Depending on your audience, don’t forget to take advantage of all the smaller autumn holidays over the next few months:

• Veteran’s Day
• Oktoberfest 
• Election season
• Boss’s Day
• Sweetest Day
• Mawlid
• Yom Kippur 
• Various national days (like pepperoni pizza day)

How to write winning autumn subject lines for ecommerce

Now that you’ve got a few themes in mind, let’s cover some best practices to writing winning autumn subject lines for ecommerce.

Keep it short and concise.

Most emails are opened on mobile devices. This matters because it means your subject lines need to be super short—ideally, less than 40 characters. Make your point and get out of dodge. 

Use an emoji in your autumn subject lines for ecommerce.

Fifty-six percent of brands that include an emoji in their email subject lines enjoy a better unique open rate. It may be worth giving a try, provided that it’s appropriate for your brand and message.

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Get them guessing.

Use your autumn subject lines for ecommerce to build suspense. Ask a question, include a number, or allude to something interesting. This may help pique curiosities and increase the likelihood of your emails getting opened.

Make smart use of your preview text and first body sentence.

Most email clients give you about 120-150 characters to stretch your preview text. Put it to good use. Don’t just repeat your subject line here because subscribers see both consecutively. 

Instead, use your preview text to expand on your subject line or elaborate. 

If your preview text isn’t long, Gmail and other apps might also show subscribers the first sentence or two inside their push notification. Again, make sure you’re not too repetitious anywhere here, so you can squeeze every ounce of real estate. 

Personalize your autumn subject lines for ecommerce as much as possible.

Personalized email marketing is critical for results. With CM Commerce, you can segment your audience by setting up custom fields based on demographics, location, or behavior. 

From there, customize your subject line content for each group, so it’s super relevant. 

Fall is an especially important time to segment by location. Customers living in Florida probably don’t care much for stocking up on winter gear like some northerners do, for example.

Include some keywords in your autumn subject lines for ecommerce.

Put yourself in the minds of your customers. What do they need right now? What problems do they face? 

Use these answers as keywords in your subject line, such as:

• Tablets for school
• Warm raincoats 
• Halloween costumes

The goal here is to grab attention by mentioning something already on their mind.

46 examples of awesome autumn subject lines for ecommerce campaigns

Sometimes you need a little inspiration to jumpstart your own creativity.  The examples below play on different fall themes and emojis to grab attention in the inbox.

1. Where (and Why) to Travel This Autumn

2. Fall for Fun and Take $30 Off any Room Style at Zehnder’s Splash Village

3. The world’s best places to see autumn colors

4. Stream Bloody Murder with Your Free Month Trial ?

5. Thank you, Teachers!

6. National Pepperoni Pizza Day!

7. ? Fall into 40% off ?

8. 17 Healthy and Delicious Alternatives to Candy

9. Enjoy National Family Day With PIZZA!

10. We like a little mystery ?

11. Just-right warmth for fall hangouts

12. Spoooooky ??????? shows coming your way! ?

13. All Treats, No Tricks = 50% Off

14. 50% Off Halloween Essentials Ends Soon

15. Don’t FALL behind on your flea & tick prevention

16. Get new styles as cool as the weather ?

17. Rocktober Ticket Deals – released today! ♫

18. 6 Proven Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar

19. Your Scary-Good Halloween Treat…

20. Have fun with your four-legged friend this Halloween

21. ? Boo! Uncover your mystery deal

22. Enter for a chance to win! ? Tickets & a Trip!

23. ? Scary good offer! Up to 75% OFF awaits…

24. #CatsAgainstCancer

25. ? Calling all black cats ?

26. Our new fall color just dropped

27. Get first dibs on this sweet deal ?

28. ⚠️ This is NOT a trick!

29. ? Get pumped up! 75% OFF could be yours

30. ?Bone-a-fide bestsellers

31. Hurry, our monster €5.95 eBook deal ends tonight

32. It’s game on for thoughtful gifting

33. Sweet as ?

34. ? Feast on savings! 40% OFF + FREE shipping

35. ?Gobble up this deal! 

36. Fall into Weekend Savings In DC

37. Best BLANKET Ever! Weighted Insert + Flannel Cover = Comfort Like Never Before!

38. ?New Season Reads from Hurst?

39. Fall in Love with Pumpkin Pie Hummus

40. Our 75% Off eLearning Sale Is Still Going Strong!

41. Enhance your planning routine with a desk calendar.

42. Will you be a hero this Halloween?

43. ? BOO!

44. Make that extra hour count…

45. Happy Halloween—see if you find a special treat

46. We Thank You, Veterans ?️

Wrap up

Make your autumn subject lines for ecommerce count. Keep the following in mind when formulating them:

• Run A/B tests to see which performs best.
• Use one emoji.
• Personalize as much as you can.
• Optimize your preview text.

Give your abandoned cart emails a boost with these examples and strategies for your subject lines.