Email Breakdown #97: Western Rise Part 1

Sometimes, you have to pull up your roots and move.

If you run a 100% online business, that’s not too hard. You just need to move yourself and your family (if applicable).

But not all companies are like that. 

Some have physical infrastructure, including inventory stored in a warehouse. Moving becomes a costly headache.

Not only do you have to coordinate the logistics…

But you have to pay to move all that stuff. 

(And who knows if any of your inventory is damaged in transit.)

You know what could work better?

Sell it all to your customers at deep discounts!

Yeah, you may earn a razor thin profit or even take a loss. But the more inventory you sell, the less inventory you have to move… or worse, throw out.

Plus, you win some goodwill with your customers. You give them a rare opportunity to grab their favorites as a fat discount.

Yet, you DON’T devalue your product because the discount has a concrete reason. 

Western Rise, an apparel company, recently moved its warehouse and did everything I laid out above.

Yes — the brand ran an email promo for it, too. 

So today, I’ll show you how they used email to liquidate some of that inventory, make their move easier, and snag some customer goodwill…

Table of Contents

About Western Rise The Email: The Subject Line and Preview Text: The Body Copy Takeaways What to Do Next

About Western Rise

Western Rise is an apparel company on a mission to “make quality apparel for the modern one-bag traveler so they can carry less and experience more.” 

The brand calls itself “a brand for the modern traveler.” It focuses on making lightweight yet durable and stylish apparel for male travelers.

The company was founded by Will and Kelly Watters (a husband-wife duo) in 2015. 

Both were avid travelers and understood the need for quality clothing that could balance aesthetics, sophistication, and function while traveling.

Both have backgrounds in textiles, too. So they combined their love of travel and industry knowledge to create Western Rise.

Western Rise also has a “Find My Fit” tool on the site to help you find the best items for you.

Finally, Western Rise publishes blog content (the blog is called the “Journal,” I like it) around travel wardrobes, such as “What to wear in XYZ destination” or “Outfit ideas for ABC event.”

Such content builds trust and shows expertise while offering natural selling opportunities.

Lesson in there!

The Email: 

Today’s email is a “Warehouse Sale” email, attempting to liquidate inventory while the company moves its warehouse location:

You’ll see the copy in the rest of this post. Don’t worry.

For now, note the different blocks. You have a hero section, copy discussing the promo, and other product/blog post blocks.

Let’s cover these in more detail…

The Subject Line and Preview Text: 

The subject/preview complex offers a bit of humor and curiosity in one package:

This is a bit out of the ordinary to see from Western Rise. Really, for many brands. 

There’s no mention of a promo or a “buy now” or anything.

Instead, it’s a relatable quip about moving and packing. Enough to make the reader scratch their head and wonder what it’s about…

And then open.

Hey, it worked on me!

The Body Copy

First is our hero section, listing the brand name and a nice, big hero image:

The image conveys the “Warehouse Sale” theme well, what with showing an empty warehouse room.

Pairs perfectly with the overlaid copy.

Speaking of copy, we have the body copy next:

Western Rise pays off the subject/preview complex immediately, then hits you with the relatability again.

Who likes packing for a move? I don’t. It’s one of my least favorite things on earth. I only work hard to earn enough to pay full-service movers!

Anyway, that gives Western Rise the perfect framing to refocus on the customer for the third sentence…

And that third sentence justifies the reason for the sale. 

Justifying a sale, especially a big one, helps protect the perceived value of your products. 

If you randomly discount stuff all the time, why doesn’t that stuff ALWAYS cost only that discounted amount? 

And you can’t fake justification, either. As we’ve covered, Western Rise would prefer to liquidate the inventory.

That way, they help their customers get great stuff for cheap, and save money and time packing. 

Everyone wins!

That’s why Western Rise announces the sale in the next paragraph:

Sale announcement, then a bit of basic proof usage (“best-selling”) and specificity (“end of season travel gear”).

The second sentence reminds the customer of the product range while highlighting what are likely some of the more popular categories.

Smart. In most cases, you want to focus on selling the easiest-to-sell product. 

Even in this case, when items are marked down heavily, the brand might have more of those bestsellers and thus want to sell more.

I appreciate the bolding of the promo name. It breaks things up a bit and draws attention to the main event.

We then move to the CTA section:

I like the way it’s done, too.

Using “Note:” makes it feel like a smaller, “off to the side” kind of reminder. Like its separate from the copy.

Something about it feels more natural.

Now that we’ve finished the body copy, let’s hit the other blocks. First a Recommended Product Block:

We have a nice mix of shirts, vests, and pants. I’ll assume these are the top sellers, hence the “Top Picks” header.

Good on Western Rise for using the strikethrough on the usual price. As we already know, this isn’t fake “discounting.”

I also like how each item has a “Shop Now” button, but users can also click “Shop Sale” to see everything.

Any items in this block that stand out are easy to buy… but pickier buyers can still easily access the rest of the store.

Our next block links to some blog posts:

That top blog post is a great idea. It fits this Warehouse Sale well. 

I bet customers in this niche want relevant style tips, so adding that article lets them skim through and see WHAT they should buy…

And then, assuming the post links to products, take advantage of the big savings.

One thing I’d change is the other two blocks. 

Those, too, could link to other popular Western Rise pieces on “What to wear when XYZ” or similar pieces and sell even more products. 

Casts a wider net.

Finally, our footer:

Framing your SMS list as an exclusive club — and ACTING on that exclusivity — can drive more signups.

People are already skeptical about giving their email and usually need some incentive. 

Even more so for SMS. Those notifications are even more annoying than email when irrelevant to you.

So good on Western Rise for framing it as “Joining the club” and promising first dibs/knowledge on discounts/deals.

That helps filter out people who may not want SMS from Western Rise.

Also, it’s generally a good idea to drop it at the bottom of emails. 

Email readers have proven they’re engaged by, well, engaging. 

So dropping an SMS signup block in the email will help nab even more signups (alongside a popup form).

The very last thing is that little slogan at the bottom. “Travel further with less.” 

I don’t know if that’s the brand’s slogan, but I like it. I enjoy the idea of being able to travel for longer and more often without bringing as much with me, after all.

Takeaways

Here are some big takeaways:

1. The Copy Mechanics

Second-Person and One-to-One

I like how it focuses on the reader AND writes as if they’re speaking to one person.

Yes, Western Rise uses “we” a bit, but it’s just enough to explain why the sale exists.

The brand still manages to turn that back to the reader by highlighting what’s in it for them and why they could benefit.

The line “Instead of cramming everything into boxes, we’d rather see it in your hands—and on your next adventure” encapsulates this perfectly.

Western Rise manages to make a sentence about their situation… about the reader instead.

Urgency + Scarcity

Scarcity is a form of urgency defined by the limited availability of a product. Urgency is a more general form of limitedness (including scarcity, but also time).

Still, Western Rise incorporates both without faking either one.

Time and stock are BOTH limited because they can’t sell products when moving day comes. Those products will be disposed of or in transit.

Technically, yes, the inventory won’t be gone for good if not bought. 

But the deals end when moving day comes… because the reason for the sale won’t exist any longer.

Relatability

Despite writing as “we,” Western Rise relates to the individual reader by commiserating over the pain of packing for a move.

(Hits home with me — packing is my least favorite thing on planet Earth.)

The reader gets a chuckle out of the line, and laughter is a great sales tactic. 

Plus, the reader feels like they’re helping the brand they like and f the real people behind it. 

The reader plays a small part in making their lives easier while grabbing great products at insane discounts. Everyone wins.

2. The Email Structure

The email structure is as follows:

1. Hero section
2. Big announcement
3. Sale justification
4. Sale description
5. Product range/benefit copy
6. Scarcity + urgency
7. CTA
8. Recommended product block
9. Blog post block
10. SMS list signup CTA

Sections 1-7 are the main event for this email. Everything else is fairly standard eCom apparel stuff.

Apparel is one of the few niches where more visuals and more HTML elements can work.

(The blog post section in particular is good, but could be even better if all three posts tackled different “what to wear” angles or similar topics.)

Yet, as you can see, there’s nothing wrong (and a LOT right) with a bit of copy.

In apparel, even just a paragraph or two of copy can set you far apart from other brands.

3. The Overall Strategy

Saving on logistics

Moving inventory costs money. Inventory could get damaged in transit, too. 

Oh, and company cash is tied up in that inventory while it is traveling and unable to be sold.

So running this “we’re moving” sale boosts Western Rise’s cash flows and “unties” cash from inventory — even if profits suffer.

I’d rather have cash on hand and be a bit in the red than tons of “paper profits” without any money!

Winning new long-term customers

The hardest customer to convert is one who, well, isn’t yet a customer.

You can give them all the proof in the world that your product is superior, but they won’t know for sure until they buy and use the product.

But skeptical subscribers who never bought find it a LOT easier to make that purchase if the price is that low.

So this sale also doubles as an easy way to get a flood of new people into “Western Rise World,” so to speak.

Once they win that customer over, the game is all about keeping them around and making more purchases.

That tends to be easier if they have a good customer retention system in place. And, of course, Western Rise would be selling its products at regular prices again.

What to Do Next

1. Get on my email list using the signup form below for more Email Breakdowns and other helpful marketing content.
2. Share this with someone who might find it helpful (or entertaining).
3. Reach out to me if you want help writing emails like this one.
4. Check out Western Rise to put together a wardrobe that lets you travel in comfort and style!