Catalogue style email

A catalogue email is a broad sweep of products across multiple categories, designed to invite browsing rather than drive one specific action. It works like a printed brochure or a store homepage delivered directly to your contact's inbox. For e-commerce and retail senders, it's one of the most effective formats for driving consistent engagement from your active audience.

Prerequisites

• You have a segment of active, engaged contacts who regularly open your emails. Catalogue emails are image-heavy, they work best with contacts who load images.
• Your product images are optimised: individual files under 2MB, compressed before uploading.
• Every product image has descriptive alt text set in the message editor.
• You're using a multi-column message template that supports a grid layout.

When this approach works well

Catalogue emails work because they give regular customers a convenient shortcut back to your shop. Someone who already knows and trusts your brand doesn't need to be persuaded to consider buying from you, they just need easy access to see what's available. A well-structured catalogue email puts your full range in front of them without requiring them to navigate to your website first.

They're also effective for introducing contacts to product categories they haven't explored yet. Lead with the products most relevant to a contact's known interests in the first row, then use the rows below to expose them to other categories. Even if the first row doesn't catch their eye, something further down might.

What to keep in mind

Your audience

Send to your active, engaged segment, contacts who regularly open your emails. Catalogue emails are image-heavy and the browsing experience depends on images loading. Sending to a cold or disengaged segment wastes the format and drives up your bounce and unsubscribe rates.

Alt texts

Not all email clients load images by default. If images are blocked, alt text is all the contact sees. Make sure every image has descriptive alt text, "Summer linen dress, beige, from €49" communicates something; an empty box communicates nothing.

Image file sizes

Keep individual image files under 2MB and compress images before uploading. Large images slow down loading times, especially on mobile connections, and a slow-loading email often gets closed before it's finished rendering.

Making it more targeted with dynamic content

Dynamic content lets you show different product rows to different segments within the same message, without creating separate campaigns. Customers who've shown interest in accessories see a different first row than customers who've only bought clothing. The result feels personalised while keeping your campaign management simple.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Sending a catalogue email to your entire list instead of your active segment. Contacts who rarely open your emails won't engage with an image-heavy format, and you risk increasing your bounce and unsubscribe rates.
• Using too many rows or product categories. A well-curated selection of 8–12 products across 3–4 rows is more effective than an exhaustive dump of everything you sell. Give contacts something to discover, not a wall of options.
• Missing or vague alt text on images. In email clients that block images by default, alt text is your content. Write it as if the image won't load.
• Not linking images. Every product image should be a clickable link. Contacts who see an interesting image and can't click it have a poor experience.
• Using large uncompressed images. This is one of the most common causes of slow-loading emails. Compress images before uploading.

Next steps

• Set up interest-based link tracking on your catalogue links to start building behavioural data with every send.
• Add dynamic content blocks to show different products to different audience segments.
• After sending, check the link map in your campaign report to see which product rows drove the most engagement. Use that data to inform the layout of your next catalogue email.

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