How REI does email marketing
E-commerce & Retail23 campaigns · www.rei.com · RSS
Top-brand gear, clothing—and outdoor adventures! Plus rentals, classes, events, expert advice and more. Visit REI Co-op online and in-store.
REI sends about 2 campaigns a week, most often on Friday and Saturday around 11am and 11pm US Eastern. Its median subject line runs 50 characters, and 22% carry an emoji.
An early read: 23 campaigns over 78 days, sent Jul 7 to Sep 24, 2026. Treat these as first signs; they firm up past 30 campaigns and six weeks of mail. Each figure is set against the typical E-commerce & Retail brand: the median of 24 E-commerce & Retail brands in the archive with at least 12 campaigns.
- Campaigns a week
- 2.0 38% less than typical (3.2)
- Median subject length
- 50chars 56% more than typical (32 chars)
- Median words
- 405 2.8 times typical (146)
- Discount in the subject
- 39% 19 points above typical (20%)
- Copyable promo code
- 39% 39 points above typical (0%)
Latest REI emails
All 23 campaignsWhen REI sends
Friday and Saturday are the busiest days, within two points or one email of each other (up to 24% of sends). 11am and 11pm are the most common hours, within one email of each other (up to 29% of sends). Across 21 scheduled campaigns; welcome, cart and order emails are left out because they go out when a subscriber acts. Times are US Eastern.
Day of week
Show days as a tableHide the days table
| Day | Campaigns | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 3 | 14% |
| Tuesday | 2 | 10% |
| Wednesday | 3 | 14% |
| Thursday | 2 | 10% |
| Friday | 5 | 24% |
| Saturday | 4 | 19% |
| Sunday | 2 | 10% |
Hour of day (US Eastern)
Show hours as a tableHide the hours table
| Hour (US Eastern) | Campaigns | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 12am | 3 | 14% |
| 1am | 0 | 0% |
| 2am | 0 | 0% |
| 3am | 0 | 0% |
| 4am | 0 | 0% |
| 5am | 1 | 5% |
| 6am | 0 | 0% |
| 7am | 1 | 5% |
| 8am | 0 | 0% |
| 9am | 0 | 0% |
| 10am | 0 | 0% |
| 11am | 6 | 29% |
| 12pm | 1 | 5% |
| 1pm | 1 | 5% |
| 2pm | 0 | 0% |
| 3pm | 0 | 0% |
| 4pm | 0 | 0% |
| 5pm | 0 | 0% |
| 6pm | 0 | 0% |
| 7pm | 0 | 0% |
| 8pm | 2 | 10% |
| 9pm | 0 | 0% |
| 10pm | 0 | 0% |
| 11pm | 6 | 29% |
REI subject lines
The median runs 50 characters across 8 words, against 32 for the typical E-commerce & Retail brand. The words REI reaches for most: “off”, “selected” and “outlet”.
- “Up to 50% off just-reduced gear & clothing at REI Outlet” 56 chars · Sep 23
- “This REI Outlet coupon is waiting, use before 9/21” 50 chars · Sep 19
- “Discounted gear for even less—now up to 50% off selected styles” 63 chars · Sep 18
- “Starts now: REI Outlet coupon 👉⏳ (Ends 9/21)” 44 chars · Sep 17
- “We need your help! Vote for how to spend $1M on trails” 54 chars · Sep 9
What REI sends
Mostly Promotions & Sales, at 78% of campaigns. Welcome, cart and order emails were set off by our own signup, so they do not count toward that.
The stack behind the sends
REI sends with Iterable and publishes a DMARC reject policy.
Sends with
Iterable
Domain authentication
Mail failing authentication is rejected outright, the strictest setting.
The median REI campaign carries 15 images.
Compare REI with Backcountry and Ridge
See how Backcountry and Ridge send, same industry and measured the same way. Or compare with every E-commerce & Retail brand and the whole archive.
How this is measured
Every figure comes from real REI emails captured in Inbox Archive, not from a survey or a vendor report. Medians and the campaign mix appear once a brand has 12 campaigns archived, and the day and time charts once 12 of them are scheduled sends. “Typical E-commerce & Retail brand” is the median across the 24 E-commerce & Retail brands that clear the same bar, each counted once however much it sends. Campaign types are sorted automatically. Discounts are read from subject lines, and a copyable code counts only when one appears in the email, so offers applied at checkout are missed.