Every Christmas, there’s someone on your list you’ve got no idea what to buy for. Then an email lands with “Gifts for Dad” right at the top. You click straight away. That’s why gift guide emails work so well.
A good gift guide does the thinking for your customer at the exact moment they're stuck. And it's one of the easiest Christmas emails to send, even if you don't think your products are "giftable".
I’m Elle, Shopify and Klaviyo expert and your go-to Ecommerce BFF. I help small business owners take the stress out of email, and gift guides are the Christmas email I recommend most often. Here’s how to plan and build yours.
Why gift guides work at Christmas
At Christmas, the person buying from you often isn't your usual customer. Your ideal customer might be the one being bought for, while their partner, sister or mum does the shopping.
Those buyers usually know two things: who they’re buying for and roughly what they want to spend.
And that matters, because 67% of shoppers already have a gift idea in mind before they start searching. They're arriving with a person or a type of gift in their head. Your job is to help them match that idea to your product so they think, "Oh, that's exactly it."
A gift guide email does that in a few seconds.
"But my products aren't really gifts"
I hear this a lot, but nearly everything can be a gift with the right angle.
Think about Boots. Most of the year you pop in for shampoo and toothpaste. Then Christmas comes, the 3 for 2 gift offer goes up, and suddenly you're shopping for everyone else. The products are the same. You’re just buying them with someone else in mind.
Only have a handful of products? Get creative with angles. If your hero product is a planner, that's "the gift for the busy mum", "the gift for the new business owner", and "the stocking filler for your organised friend". Same product, three emails.
The types of gift guide emails you can send
Shop by person
The classic. Gifts for her, for him, for Mum, for Dad, for teachers, for new homeowners, for the person who has everything.
The more specific, the better. “Gifts for the friend who’s always cold” sticks in people’s heads far longer than “gifts for her”. Base your guides on who your customers actually buy for.
Shop by price
63% of UK shoppers set a spending limit for Christmas, so price bands make choosing much easier. When I'm buying stocking fillers for my kids, I'm heading straight to "under £10". When I'm buying a bigger family gift, I'm in a completely different budget.
Create a few price bands that suit your range, such as under £25, under £50 and luxury gifts. You can put them all in one email with a button for each, or send them as separate emails.
Shop by theme or room
If you sell homeware or decorations, think about spaces: the festive living room, the Christmas table, the cosy bedroom. I loved an H&M email that was essentially one styled image of a festive living room with the products underneath. It looked like a magazine page.
Decorations get bought earlier than gifts too (people decorate from late November), so send these first.
Stocking fillers
Small, affordable bits that are easy to add to basket. A perfect mid-November email and again closer to Christmas for last-minute shoppers.
The "forward this to your partner" guide
One of my favourite ideas from a workshop member. Send a gift guide aimed at your customer for themselves, with a subject line that tells them to forward it to whoever buys their presents. It’s playful and gets your products in front of the person doing the buying. It works especially well for higher-priced items.
The small business gift guide
Feature a few of your own products alongside other small brands you love. It feels generous and community-minded, and it often gets shared. Bonus if those brands share it with their audiences too.
How to build a gift guide email in Klaviyo
Keep the design simple. The best gift guide emails I see are the plainest ones.
- Create the collection in Shopify first. Every gift guide needs somewhere to send people. Set up a collection for each guide (Gifts for Her, Under £25) so your button lands on exactly the right products.
- Lead with one strong image. A styled shot, a flat lay or even a coloured background works. A subtle GIF is lovely too. In Klaviyo it uploads just like an image.
- Add a short headline and one or two lines of copy. "Stuck on what to get your sister? We've done the hard bit."
- Add a product block or a few product images with clear buttons.
- Finish with one clear call to action that links to the full collection.
Keep it short, as people are there to click rather than read.
Photos on a budget
You don't need a professional shoot as your website photos, Instagram content and pictures taken on your phone are all fine. If you can get a few shots with gift wrap, ribbon or a festive backdrop, they'll work hard for you on your website too.
How many gift guide emails should you send?
As many as make sense for your range. If you've brainstormed six different gift guide ideas, that's six emails.
Sending a gift guide every week through November is fine, as long as each one is short and focused and you mix in other emails (behind the scenes, little extras, events) between them.
Think about timing too. People often spend more on the big gifts earlier and buy smaller gifts and stocking fillers nearer Christmas. Plan your guides around that.
Gift guide email subject line ideas
Tweak these to fit your voice:
- "Gifts for Mum, sorted"
- "Under £25 and they'll think you spent more"
- "Forward this to whoever buys your presents"
- "The stocking fillers everyone wants"
- "For the person who has everything (we found something)"
Gift guide emails: FAQs
Do I need a gift guide page on my website?
The email itself can be the guide, as long as the buttons link to a Shopify collection or the products.
Should I put more than one guide in an email?
One email with a few price bands works well. Just keep a gift guide and a discount code in separate sends, so each email has one job.
When should I send my first gift guide?
From mid to late October, after your "gift shop is open" email.
Can I include other brands?
Yes. A mix of your products and other small businesses feels warmer and more nurturing.
Ready to send your first gift guide?
Pick the person your customers buy for most often, create the Shopify collection, and send that guide this week. Then add another next week.
For more ideas to mix in between your gift guides, have a read of my 11 Christmas email ideas for small product businesses.
Want a second pair of eyes on your gift guide before it goes out? In Ecomm BFF, members can share their emails and website in Slack and get feedback from me and the community. If that sounds like your kind of thing, come and join us.
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