Email marketing for outdoor brands is the practice of using automated flows and targeted campaigns to turn casual buyers of hunting, shooting, camping and hiking gear into repeat customers. It works because outdoor shoppers tend to be loyal to brands that understand their sport, so the mechanics matter just as much as the message. Set up properly through a dedicated email marketing programme, it becomes one of your most valuable channels.
Estimated reading time 5 minutes
Key takeaways
- Ecommerce email marketing works differently for outdoor brands because purchases are seasonal and tied to a specific activity.
- Automated flows, not single campaigns, do most of the heavy lifting once you set them up properly.
- Klaviyo is the strongest platform choice for most outdoor retailers, but it’s not the only option.
- Segmenting your list by activity pays for itself, and we’ve covered the detail of that elsewhere.
- Revenue per email matters more than open rates when you’re judging whether it’s working.
Is Ecommerce Email Marketing Different for Outdoor and Country Sports Brands?
Yes, it is. Mainly because of how outdoor customers buy. Someone buying a waterproof jacket or a rifle scope isn’t making an impulse buy, they’re checking specs and waiting for the right season before they commit.
That changes what your emails need to do, because a basic setup built on discount codes and flash sales does worse with buyers who think things through instead of buying on impulse. Timing beats urgency every time.
The upside is that once you get this right, the loyalty runs deep. Someone who trusts a brand’s grasp of hunting, fishing or hillwalking sticks around for years, not just one purchase. And that loyalty is worth more than the sale in front of you.
Are Automated Flows More Important Than Single Campaigns?
Automated flows are the foundation, and campaigns build on top of them. Once you set up a flow it runs in the background and reaches customers the moment they show intent, without you having to hit send.
So where do you start? With the basics. For your outdoor brand, the flows to set up first are:
- Welcome series: introduces new subscribers to your brand and, where relevant, the activity or community they’ve shown interest in.
- Abandoned cart emails: recover browsers who added a jacket or a rifle case to their basket and left. That matters, because outdoor orders tend to be high value.
- After the purchase: an email that checks the product’s doing its job and opens the door to extras or other kit.
- Restock reminders: outdoor gear tends to wear out on a regular cycle. A quick nudge before a boot or a pair of waders needs replacing is an easy win.
Campaigns still matter. Seasonal launches, new product drops and editorial content all have a place. But they work best layered on top of flows that are already doing the steady, thankless job of recovering carts and bringing customers back.
Is Klaviyo the Best Platform for an Outdoor Retailer?
For most outdoor brands built on Shopify, Klaviyo is the strongest starting point, since it’s made for ecommerce and works well with both Shopify and Shopify Plus. It also segments customers well, which suits a sector where people split naturally into groups: shooters, anglers, hikers and campers.
However, it isn’t automatically the right answer for every business. DotDigital and Mailchimp both do the job well. The right choice usually depends on your tech stack, how well your team already knows the platform and whether your marketing needs to sit alongside SMS or other channels too.
As Klaviyo Partners, it’s the platform we know best, though we also work across DotDigital, Mailchimp and others depending on what you already have in place. Either way, you don’t have to set it up alone. An email marketing agency that knows outdoor brands can get your flows built properly first time, instead of you learning the platform from scratch.
Whichever platform you choose, getting it set up properly pays off. The DMA’s Marketer Email Tracker 2026 puts average UK email ROI at around £41 for every £1 you spend, up from £38 the year before. That figure climbs higher still when you build flows around relevant segments rather than one generic list.
Is List Segmentation Worth the Extra Setup Time?
It is, and it’s one of the best things you can do. A deer stalker and a clay shooter usually aren’t the same kind of customer. Sending them the same email wastes the audience you’ve got.
Segmentation isn’t about complexity, it’s about knowing who you’re talking to. We’ve written in detail elsewhere about how to segment an outdoor email list by activity and season, so we’ll keep this part brief. Purchase history alone tells you most of what you need to know, so build your campaign calendar around real seasonal windows such as when shooting seasons open or when hiking picks up in spring. That beats a generic retail calendar every time.
Is Email Revenue the Only Metric That Matters?
Revenue is the metric that matters most, but it’s not the only one worth tracking. Open rates and click through rates still tell you whether your subject lines and content are working. Unsubscribe rates usually flag when frequency or relevance has slipped.
The number to build your reporting around, though, is revenue per email and revenue per flow. Judge welcome series and abandoned cart flows by the pounds they generate, not the percentage of people who open them. A flow with a modest open rate but a strong conversion rate is doing its job. One with excellent engagement but no purchases behind it isn’t.
Set a baseline in your first month. Then track it against list growth and product launches so you can see which changes actually move revenue rather than just activity.
Ready to Turn Your List into a Revenue Channel?
If your outdoor brand’s email marketing is still running on generic campaigns and one list for everyone, there’s a lot of revenue sitting untapped. We work with outdoor and country sports retailers, including Bushwear, the UK’s number one outdoor clothing and footwear brand. We know the segmentation, timing and platform decisions that make the difference in this sector. Get in touch and we’ll take an honest look at where your email programme stands today, and what it could be doing instead.
FAQ: Email Marketing for Outdoor and Country Sports Brands
Is Ecommerce Email Marketing Different for Outdoor and Country Sports Brands?
Yes, it is. Mainly because of how outdoor customers buy. Someone buying a waterproof jacket or a rifle scope isn’t making an impulse buy, they’re checking specs and waiting for the right season before they commit.
That changes what your emails need to do, because a basic setup built on discount codes and flash sales does worse with buyers who think things through instead of buying on impulse. Timing beats urgency every time.
The upside is that once you get this right, the loyalty runs deep. Someone who trusts a brand’s grasp of hunting, fishing or hillwalking sticks around for years, not just one purchase. And that loyalty is worth more than the sale in front of you.
Are Automated Flows More Important Than Single Campaigns?
Automated flows are the foundation, and campaigns build on top of them. Once you set up a flow it runs in the background and reaches customers the moment they show intent, without you having to hit send.
So where do you start? With the basics. For your outdoor brand, the flows to set up first are:
- Welcome series: introduces new subscribers to your brand and, where relevant, the activity or community they’ve shown interest in.
- Abandoned cart emails: recover browsers who added a jacket or a rifle case to their basket and left. That matters, because outdoor orders tend to be high value.
- After the purchase: an email that checks the product’s doing its job and opens the door to extras or other kit.
- Restock reminders: outdoor gear tends to wear out on a regular cycle. A quick nudge before a boot or a pair of waders needs replacing is an easy win.
Campaigns still matter. Seasonal launches, new product drops and editorial content all have a place. But they work best layered on top of flows that are already doing the steady, thankless job of recovering carts and bringing customers back.
Is Klaviyo the Best Platform for an Outdoor Retailer?
For most outdoor brands built on Shopify, Klaviyo is the strongest starting point, since it’s made for ecommerce and works well with both Shopify and Shopify Plus. It also segments customers well, which suits a sector where people split naturally into groups: shooters, anglers, hikers and campers.
However, it isn’t automatically the right answer for every business. DotDigital and Mailchimp both do the job well. The right choice usually depends on your tech stack, how well your team already knows the platform and whether your marketing needs to sit alongside SMS or other channels too.
As Klaviyo Partners, it’s the platform we know best, though we also work across DotDigital, Mailchimp and others depending on what you already have in place. Either way, you don’t have to set it up alone. An email marketing agency that knows outdoor brands can get your flows built properly first time, instead of you learning the platform from scratch.
Whichever platform you choose, getting it set up properly pays off. The DMA’s Marketer Email Tracker 2026 puts average UK email ROI at around £41 for every £1 you spend, up from £38 the year before. That figure climbs higher still when you build flows around relevant segments rather than one generic list.
Is List Segmentation Worth the Extra Setup Time?
It is, and it’s one of the best things you can do. A deer stalker and a clay shooter usually aren’t the same kind of customer. Sending them the same email wastes the audience you’ve got.
Segmentation isn’t about complexity, it’s about knowing who you’re talking to. We’ve written in detail elsewhere about how to segment an outdoor email list by activity and season, so we’ll keep this part brief. Purchase history alone tells you most of what you need to know, so build your campaign calendar around real seasonal windows such as when shooting seasons open or when hiking picks up in spring. That beats a generic retail calendar every time.
Is Email Revenue the Only Metric That Matters?
Revenue is the metric that matters most, but it’s not the only one worth tracking. Open rates and click through rates still tell you whether your subject lines and content are working. Unsubscribe rates usually flag when frequency or relevance has slipped.
The number to build your reporting around, though, is revenue per email and revenue per flow. Judge welcome series and abandoned cart flows by the pounds they generate, not the percentage of people who open them. A flow with a modest open rate but a strong conversion rate is doing its job. One with excellent engagement but no purchases behind it isn’t.
Set a baseline in your first month. Then track it against list growth and product launches so you can see which changes actually move revenue rather than just activity.
