What to put in a shop newsletter when there's nothing new

It's the last week of the month. You promised yourself a newsletter every month. There's no sale on, nothing new has arrived, and the screen says "Hi everyone" and has said it for twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, out on the shop floor, you were interesting all week. You told a man which candle to buy for his mother-in-law. You explained why the linen costs more than the cotton. You talked someone out of the big teapot because she lives alone. None of that was news, and all of it was worth hearing.

That's the answer to the blank screen. Stop looking for an announcement and write down what customers asked you this week. Each question is a newsletter. Send one of them, with one product and one link, and you're done in half an hour. Below are nine kinds to pick from, and a layout you can reuse every month.

The counter test

Keep a scrap of paper by the till for a week. Every time a customer asks a question that isn't "where's the loo", write it down. If you sell online only, read back through a week of emails and messages.

You'll end the week with a list like this:

• Will this survive the dishwasher?
• What do I buy someone who has everything?
• Is the large too big for a flat?
• Why is this one twice the price?

One person asked each of those out loud. A good few on your list were wondering the same and didn't ask. Answer it in an email and you've written something they'll read to the end.

Nine things to send when nothing is new

1. The question of the month. Take one from your list and answer it properly. Subject line: "Will it survive the dishwasher?"

2. Why this one costs more. Pick your dearest item and explain where the money goes. Who makes it, how long it takes, what the cheap version leaves out. People pay more happily once they know.

3. What we'd buy with £20. You or your staff, a budget, and an honest pick. Change the budget next time.

4. The thing that isn't selling, and why we still love it. Every shop has one. Saying so is disarming, and it's often gone by Friday.

5. How to look after it. Re-wax the jacket, season the pan, wash the wool. Send this to people who already bought and you'll get replies saying thank you.

6. A customer's idea. Somebody used your jam jars as tea light holders, or bought the dog bed for a cat. Ask them first, then pass it on. Don't invent one.

7. Behind the counter. A delivery arriving, the stockroom before Christmas, the supplier you drove two hours to meet. One photo and three sentences.

8. What's coming, before it comes. You don't need stock on the shelf to talk about what you've ordered. "The winter blankets land in three weeks. Reply if you want one put aside" tells you how many to expect to sell.

9. One for the calendar. Not Black Friday. The first frost, the week the clocks change, exam season, the village fete. Something your customers are living through, tied to one thing you sell.

A layout you can reuse every month

The newsletters people dread writing try to cover everything. Write this one:

• One story. A few short paragraphs from the list above.
• One product. The thing the story is about, with a price and a link.
• One ask. Reply, visit, or buy. Pick one.

Here's how short it can be. The shop and the reply are made up for the example.

Subject: Is the big teapot too big?

Probably, if it's only you. We get asked this most weeks. The large holds six cups and it's lovely on a full table. For one or two people the tea goes cold before you finish it, and the small one pours better. The small is £24 and comes in the same four colours. It's here: [link] If you've got the large and love it, reply and tell me I'm wrong. Jo

That's about seventy words. It took one question from the counter, and it sells a teapot without sounding like an advert.

What usually goes wrong

The subject line is "October newsletter". That's a filing label. Use the question itself.

Six things in one email. Each extra item makes the other five less likely to be read. Save them. You've now got next month's sorted.

You only write when there's a discount. Then your list learns that an email from you means money off, and waits for it.

You skip a month because it wasn't good enough. A short, plain email sent beats a brilliant one that stays in drafts. Monthly is plenty for most small shops. Pick a day and keep to it.

Who to send it to

Only people who asked to hear from you. If your list is thin, we've written about how to collect customer emails in a physical shop, legally. And once someone has bought, the emails that follow an order are a different job, covered in seven emails that bring a customer back for a second order.

Where Workden fits

You can write all of this in any email tool, or in your normal mailbox if the list is small.

What's hard to see from there is which kind of newsletter does any good. In Workden you build the email by dragging blocks, send it to the people who asked for it, and see what it earned. So after three months you know whether "why this one costs more" brought in more orders than "what we'd buy with £20", and you write more of the one that works. A click also shows on that customer's page, next to what they've bought, so the next time they're in touch you know what caught their eye.

It's £10.99 a month for your whole team, newsletters included, with a 14 day free trial.

Questions shop owners ask

How often should a small shop send a newsletter?

Once a month is a good place to start, and it's a pace you can keep up. Go to fortnightly only if you find you have more to say than fits.

How long should it be?

Short enough to read standing up. One story, one product, one ask. If it runs past a couple of hundred words, you've probably got two newsletters.

Sources

Checked 12 October 2026.

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