Send a last chance email before your sale ends

Choose a template around your offer

A last chance email usually needs less explanation than the original announcement. Repeat the essential terms and give readers a clear next step. If the first campaign introduced a collection, link to that collection; if it offered a coupon, keep the code easy to find.

A layout with a countdown is useful when everyone shares a fixed deadline. Set the timer to the real end of the promotion, and state that deadline in text as well. The message should still make sense when images aren't displayed or the reader returns to it later.

Keep the main offer and button near the top. A small selection of eligible products can help readers decide where to start, but an unrelated product grid can distract from the reason you're writing.

Last chance email subject lines

Use the subject line to state the offer or the deadline. The preview text can supply the detail that doesn't fit.

These are example offers and times; replace them with your campaign's actual terms. Only use “tonight” if the sending schedule and stated time zone make the deadline clear to your audience.

Three last chance email templates you can adapt

These examples use a homeware promotion. Replace the products, codes, deadlines, and eligibility rules with your actual campaign terms.

1. A final-day sale reminder

Use this when a promotion applies to a collection or a selection of products.

Subject

Last day: 20% off our cozy collection

Preview

The sale ends tonight at 11:59 PM ET.

One final reminder: our weekend sale ends tonight at 11:59 PM ET.

There's still time to save 20% on throws and cushions in our cozy collection. Browse the collection below and find the pieces you've been considering.

Your discount is applied automatically at checkout.

Shop the sale→

We hope you find a new favorite for your home. Thanks for shopping with us.

Keep the destination specific. A reader shouldn't have to search your entire store to find products that qualify.

2. A coupon reminder

Use this when the subscriber needs to enter a code to receive the offer.

Subject

A final reminder to use WEEKEND20

Preview

Save 20% before Sunday at 11:59 PM ET.

Your 20% discount ends Sunday at 11:59 PM ET.

Use WEEKEND20 at checkout on throws and cushions from our cozy collection.

No minimum spend. Gift cards are excluded, and this offer cannot be combined with other discounts.

Use my discount→

Enjoy a little something off your next home refresh — and thank you for being here.

For this scheduled campaign, use a shared expiry date. A welcome coupon that expires a set time after each individual signs up needs a separately timed automation; one broadcast deadline won't accurately describe every subscriber's offer.

3. A free-shipping reminder

Use this when the benefit is a reduction in delivery cost rather than the product price.

Subject

Free shipping ends tonight

Preview

Available on US orders of $50 or more until 9 PM ET.

Thinking about placing an order? Our free standard shipping offer ends tonight at 9 PM ET.

Spend $50 or more for delivery within the contiguous United States. Free shipping is applied automatically at checkout.

Find something for your home below.

Shop with free shipping→

Thanks for making us part of your home. We look forward to packing your order.

Explain any minimum order value or location restriction close to the offer. Those details affect the customer's decision and shouldn't come as a surprise at checkout.

How to send a last chance email with Getsitecontrol

For a sale with one shared end date, use a Broadcast. This lets you choose an audience and schedule a campaign around the promotion's deadline.

1. Customize the template

Choose a premade promotional layout or a layout from Design ideas as the starting point for your email. Update the branding, text, coupon details, and button destination in the email editor.

If you include a Countdown, use the same deadline as the actual offer. Adding a countdown to an email does not change the expiration settings of the discount in your store.

Replace the sample subject and preview text. Check that the email, landing page, and checkout all describe the same offer.

2. Choose who needs the reminder

In Broadcasts, define the recipients using a segment or audience conditions. Start with subscribers for whom the promotion is relevant, such as the audience of the original announcement or people interested in the featured category.

For Shopify stores, purchase-based conditions can help refine the audience. If the purpose is to prompt a first purchase during the promotion, consider excluding customers who have already bought during that period. If repeat purchases are welcome, choose a different audience deliberately.

Avoid using “didn't open the announcement” as the only reason someone should receive another email. The offer should still be relevant to them.

3. Schedule around the deadline

Choose a sending time that leaves readers enough time to act. A morning reminder for an evening deadline may be more useful than an email sent minutes before checkout closes.

Getsitecontrol offers several broadcast sending modes. Check the full sending window, not just the scheduled start time. A mode that spreads delivery over many hours can be a poor fit for an offer expiring shortly afterward.

For a time-sensitive campaign to an engaged audience on a warmed sending domain, Burst is the mode designed for immediate sending. Leave a margin before the deadline rather than treating the start of sending as a guarantee that every email is already in an inbox.

4. Test the offer end to end

Send yourself a test email. Check it on mobile, click the main button, and verify the code or automatic discount with an eligible order.

Read the email without relying on the countdown image: is the deadline still clear? Check the time zone, product eligibility, and minimum spend. If another reminder is scheduled elsewhere, review the combined campaign so the same subscribers aren't overwhelmed.

Align four different clocks

A last chance campaign has several time settings. They should describe one coherent offer, but changing one does not automatically change the others.

For a public sale ending Sunday at 11:59 PM ET, use a fixed countdown rather than a recipient-relative evergreen timer. Evergreen timing suits an individual offer only when its actual discount terms follow the same individual schedule.

State the deadline in ordinary text. The email must remain understandable if images are blocked or a subscriber opens it after the sale. On the site, schedule the promotional widget around the same offer and keep the linked page useful after expiry.

Build an audience that matches the reminder

For a reminder to people interested in a collection, combine your relevant contact segment or tag with the original campaign's interaction conditions. A click can indicate interest; it does not establish whether the person bought.

Shopify stores can refine the audience with purchase-related conditions. Be precise about the exclusion: “placed an order since the sale began” is broader than “bought this featured product.” Choose the rule that matches the purpose of your reminder and inspect a few contact histories before sending.

A follow-up campaign for non-clickers serves a different audience from a message to people who clicked but did not buy. Do not label both “still considering the offer” without checking what the underlying conditions actually mean. A useful segmentation plan should be explainable in one sentence before you build it.

Make the discount usable from the email

For a shared promotion, display the correct code with the Coupon element and link directly to eligible products. Shopify email actions also include Apply discount, which can make the route to the offer easier. Test the resulting destination and confirm that the discount applies under the stated conditions.

A unique single-use code can suit an individual incentive, but it does not automatically make a public sale more relevant. Choose between shared and unique codes based on the campaign's redemption rules rather than appearance.

For product content, a selected collection can show the exact sale range. A general on-sale product feed may include items outside the specific promotion described in your copy. Check that “20% off this collection” does not sit above a grid of products with different discounts.

If the reminder contains several links, use the email editor's link checker and configure campaign UTM parameters consistently. Then test the primary button yourself; a syntactically valid URL can still lead to the wrong collection.

Keep the reminder useful after the sale ends

Some subscribers will open the message after the deadline. Keep the linked page available and explain that the promotion has ended, with a sensible route back to the store.

If the sale is extended, explain the extension in any further communication. Repeatedly describing an unchanged offer as a “last chance” makes future deadlines harder to trust.

For the initial announcement and the wider promotion, see our flash sale email examples. This reminder can be the closing message in that campaign: a clear offer, an accurate deadline, and one useful link.