Retailers track key metrics obsessively: footfall, sales, returns, margins. Marketers do the same, poring over open rates and conversions. But these headline stats only tell us one side of the story.
Unsubscribe rates often get overlooked, especially when sales are steady and other metrics look healthy. But ignoring them could mean missing early signs of customer dissatisfaction. Each opt-out is a message. And if you take the time to listen, those messages can help you deliver more meaningful, profitable communications.
People dropping off from your email or SMS list is not a sign of failure; it’s feedback. These unsubscribes can expose whether messaging is missing the mark, frequency is overwhelming, or the brand promise isn’t matching the customer experience. And in retail, where loyalty is fragile and customer choice is increasingly vast, those insights are priceless.
Let’s unpack what unsubscribes are really saying and how retailers can use that to sharpen their strategy.
When customers walk away, they’re saying something matters
It’s tempting to write off unsubscribes as just part of the job—the marketing version of window shoppers who never make it to the till. But unlike those who simply stop engaging, unsubscribers are making a clear decision. And in retail, decisions matter.
A customer who hits ‘unsubscribe’ is telling you they no longer want to hear what you have to say. There are many reasons as to why. Perhaps they’re receiving too many emails in too short a time. Maybe the SMS campaign lacked relevance or timeliness. Or perhaps the offers feel repetitive or your brand voice is starting to sound hollow.
According to a recent Intuit Mailchimp report, the top reasons Australians unsubscribe include repetitive or unimaginative content (49%), claims of brand purpose that don’t feel credible (43%), and emails that don’t display well on mobile (43%). These aren’t just technical complaints: they reflect a gap between what customers expect and what they’re experiencing. And that’s a branding issue.
Remember, every unsubscribers once raised their hand to receive your emails. They believed your brand would share something worth hearing. If they’ve opted out, that trust was eroded, and finding out how and why can help prevent it happening again.
If they’ve stopped listening, you’ve already lost the sale
Unsubscribes often follow a period of silent disengagement. The customer hasn’t yet opted out, but they’ve mentally checked out. And in retail, that’s a lost sale waiting to happen.
This quiet disconnect hurts more than just your revenue. It distorts your campaign metrics and weakens your sender reputation with inbox providers, which can make it harder for even your most loyal customers to see your messages. The problem is, unlike unsubscribes, inactivity doesn’t trigger an alert. You need to monitor it over time: look for patterns in open and click behaviour, track who’s slipping through the cracks, and act before they disappear completely.
You can often win these customers back. A well-timed “we miss you” message, a chance to update preferences, or a shift to less frequent sends can re-establish the connection. Sometimes all it takes is acknowledging that you’ve noticed the silence and offering something more aligned with what they actually want. Relevance fosters retention, and retention drives revenue.
They’re revealing patterns your wins won’t reveal
It’s natural to double down on what works. The hero image that gets the most clicks. The subject line that drives urgency. The discount that converts. But it can be just as valuable to dig into what didn’t.
When a campaign triggers a spike in opt-outs, don’t just look at the offer. Look at the full experience. Was the tone too pushy? Was the promise in the subject line fulfilled in the content? Did you email too soon after the last campaign? Or did you send something that felt like it was meant for someone else entirely?
Patterns in unsubscribe behaviour can help you refine everything, from segmentation and timing to product focus and brand voice. You might discover, for example, that one-time customers from a seasonal campaign don’t respond to your regular emails in the same way your long-time regulars do. Or that new sign-ups from a referral promo prefer softer welcome messaging before being sold to.
In other words, unsubscribes don’t just tell you what didn’t land; they tell you who you’re really talking to and what they want.
Pay attention and they’ll show you how to improve
It’s easy to celebrate clicks and conversions. They’re the stars of the show, and rightly so. But if you only focus on the wins, you’ll miss the insights that come from the losses.
Unsubscribes tell you what to fix next, and paying attention to these signals can help retailers develop a necessary edge as competition for consumer dollars heats up. Treat unsubscribes as a road map to course-correct, personalise more effectively, and protect your most valuable asset: customer trust.
While they may not shout, unsubscribes often say something. And the smartest retailers are the ones who take the time to listen and act.
Anthony Capano is Regional Director, APAC, at Intuit Mailchimp.