What’s the Best Time to Send Marketing Emails for eCommerce?

In eCommerce, email remains one of the most reliable and profitable retention channels but here’s the challenge: it’s not just what you send, it’s when you send it. Send too early and you’re buried by noon. Send too late and your message risks being ignored entirely.

The question every scaling brand asks: What’s the best time to send marketing emails?

The truth: there is no single best time for everyone. The “perfect send time” depends on your audience, your product category, and how your customers behave. What works for a skincare brand might flop for a fashion brand. Fast-scaling DTC brands uncover their best send times through testing, segmentation, and behavioral insights.

Why Timing Matters in Email Marketing

The average consumer receives more than 100 emails per day. Standing out in that flood requires timing that puts your message where it matters most: the top of the inbox when customers are most engaged.

The impact is significant:

• Open rates: Emails at the right time are far more likely to be seen and read.

• Click-through rates: Customers act when they’re in the right mindset.

• Revenue per send: Good timing can be the difference between an ignored campaign and a profitable one.

But remember: these results vary. A “perfect” 9 AM send for one brand could be the dead zone for another.

The Research on Best Send Times

Industry-wide research points to three common windows that often perform well:

• Late mornings (9 AM – 11 AM): Engagement spikes as people settle into their day.

• Afternoons (1 PM – 3 PM): A secondary peak when shoppers browse casually.

• Evenings (7 PM – 9 PM): Strong for lifestyle and consumer products as people unwind.

Weekdays often outperform weekends, especially Tuesday through Thursday, but some verticals such as fashion or home goods can see stronger weekend engagement.

These benchmarks are starting points, not rules. The best send time for your brand will depend on your audience’s habits, and the only way to know is through your own testing.

Framework: How Scaling Brands Identify the Right Send Times

Top performers do not rely on “universal” rules. They build a process to discover the right timing for their own customers.

1. A/B Testing Across Send Times

• Test identical campaigns at different times.

• Track open rates, CTR, and revenue per recipient.

• Run tests for several weeks to spot consistent winners.

2. Segment by Customer Behavior

• Study when different groups open and click.

• Night owls and early risers often show distinct patterns.

• Smart send-time features in platforms like Klaviyo can automate this.

3. Align with Buying Behavior

• Replenishment products: Reminders near the end of a usage cycle perform best.

• Luxury or lifestyle products: Evening sends often align with browsing habits.
  

4. Adjust for Time Zones

• Splitting lists by region ensures customers see emails at the right local time.

• This simple shift can significantly improve engagement rates.
  

The key insight: every audience responds differently, so each step above helps you uncover the “best time” for your specific brand.

Advanced Timing Tactics

Fast-scaling brands go beyond basic testing. They apply advanced tactics to maximize timing impact.

• Behavioral triggers: Abandoned cart and browse abandonment emails perform best when delivered within 1–2 hours of activity.

• Lifecycle flows: Welcome emails should hit within minutes of signup to capture fresh intent.

• Seasonal adjustments: During holidays or sales, when inbox competition peaks, sending in off-hours such as early mornings or late evenings can cut through.

• Send time optimization tools: Many ESPs use machine learning to predict the best time for each subscriber, often outperforming static rules.
  

Again, these are tools, not shortcuts. Their value lies in how well they adapt to your audience’s unique behaviors.

Vertical-Specific Examples

Timing shifts drastically across industries:

• Fashion & Lifestyle: Evenings and weekends drive high browsing and conversion.

• Health & Wellness: Early mornings align with daily routines.

• Food & Beverage: Midday or evenings tie into mealtime decision-making.

• Electronics: Mid-afternoon suits research-driven purchases.
  

What works in one vertical often fails in another. That is why testing within your own audience is non-negotiable.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Sending at the same time every campaign: This trains audiences to ignore predictable sends.

• Focusing only on open rates: High opens do not matter if clicks and revenue are stronger at other times.

• Ignoring flow performance: Automated flows such as post-purchase or replenishment hold critical clues about customer behavior.

Insights from Wertec’s Retention Benchmarks

Working with 250+ DTC brands has revealed one consistent truth: there is no universal send time.

• Brands that test across cohorts and time zones consistently outperform those relying on generic benchmarks.

• Aligning send times with customer lifecycle stages such as onboarding, replenishment, or churn risk drives stronger revenue lifts than static timing rules.

• For several brands, simply optimizing send times across flows improved retention KPIs by 10–15% without changing copy or creative.
  

These insights shape the Retention Operating System (WROS) developed at Wertec. WROS integrates behavioral data, lifecycle mapping, and send-time optimization to maximize CLV and reduce churn, tailored to each brand’s unique audience.

Final Takeaway

There is not a universal “best time” to send marketing emails for eCommerce. Instead, timing is discovered by combining data, customer behavior, and lifecycle context.

Key takeaways:

• Benchmarks suggest late mornings, afternoons, and evenings, but treat them as hypotheses.
  

• Midweek sending often works well, but vertical differences are huge.
  

• Behavioral triggers, lifecycle flows, and time zone adjustments often reveal stronger signals.
  

• Testing within your own customer base is the only way to uncover your best time.
  

In crowded inboxes, timing can be a competitive advantage. For scaling brands, the right send-time strategy can directly improve CLV, RPR, and overall retention performance.

For brands that want to move beyond guesswork, Wertec’s retention frameworks provide a systematic way to uncover the best send times for their unique audience, ensuring every campaign lands when it matters most.