How to Write Christmas Emails That Foreign-Trade Clients Reply To: Templates and Pitfalls

For people in foreign trade, Christmas is more than a holiday. It is a natural window to gently move orders forward and strengthen customer relationships: prospects who have not ordered yet may be easier to re-engage during the season, and long-silent customers can sometimes be brought back into the conversation. But a poorly written holiday email can feel like a mass blast, impersonal and even annoying.

This guide explains how to write a natural Christmas email, gives opening lines and short greetings you can use directly, and highlights a few easy-to-miss pitfalls.

1. Before writing, decide what the Christmas email should achieve

Before you start, decide which of these goals best matches the email:

• Relationship building only：The customer is still considering and it is not the right time to push. Focus on greetings and goodwill so the relationship stays warm for later.
• Gentle follow-up：The customer has shown interest but has not ordered. Use the holiday topic to naturally ask whether there are plans after the break, without hard-selling.
• Reactivation：For customers you have not contacted for a long time, use the holiday as a reason to reconnect and remind them of your previous relationship.

Different goals call for different tones and endings. Opening with a discount or “order now” can easily make a holiday greeting feel transactional.

2. Natural and professional opening lines you can use directly

Here are two common English openings that sound warm without being exaggerated. You can use them as written or adjust them slightly:

• "Thank you for your continued support and partnership. We look forward to working with you in the years to come." Thank the customer for their continued support and partnership, while showing that you value future cooperation.
• "We appreciate working with you and hope that the holidays and the coming year will bring you happiness and success." Express appreciation for the relationship and wish the customer happiness and success during the holidays and the coming year.

Both lines show appreciation while also signaling a desire for long-term cooperation. They feel warmer than a bare “Merry Christmas.”

3. A complete template you can adapt

Here is a clear template structure that you can edit directly:

Dear [Name],

We are very glad to have worked with you, and we learned a lot during our cooperation. We'd like to send our best regards to you and your family. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.（greeting）

We appreciate working with you and hope that the holidays and the coming year will bring you happiness and success. We look forward to continuing our partnership in the new year.（thanks + expectation of continued cooperation next year）

It is in this spirit that we say thank you and send our warmest wishes for Christmas and the New Year.（closing thanks + holiday wishes）

When using the template, replace the customer name and add specific details from your cooperation, such as something memorable from a previous project. This makes the email feel written for that customer rather than sent to a list.

4. Short card greetings for cards or email closings

• "Merry Christmas! Looking forward to a successful year!"
• "May this season bring you the gifts of peace, hope and joy."
• "Happy Holidays and warm wishes for the new year!"
• "May the good cheer last throughout the year."

If you are only sending a card or want to keep the message short, these lines are simple and appropriate.

5. The easiest pitfall to miss: not everyone celebrates the same holidays

One of the easiest ways to get a Christmas email wrong is to assume every customer celebrates Christmas:

• Religious and cultural differences：Christmas is a religious holiday and is not observed by every country or customer. For many customers in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and other markets, a Christmas card may not be appropriate. Sending one blindly can make you look unfamiliar with the customer.
• Holiday schedules vary widely：Even in countries that celebrate Christmas, time off differs. Europe and North America often have holidays from late December into early January, while Russia, South Africa, and other markets follow their own schedules. Check the customer’s local calendar before sending so the email does not arrive after they have already left for vacation—or during a period that is not a holiday at all.

Instead of sending the same “Merry Christmas” card to everyone, choose a holiday message that fits each market or show in the email that you understand the customer’s working rhythm. That sense of understanding often matters more than the greeting itself.

In one sentence

Christmas emails can be a useful way for foreign-trade teams to follow up and maintain relationships, but only when they are appropriate. Decide whether the goal is relationship building, gentle follow-up, or reactivation; use natural openings and short greetings; personalize the template with real customer details; and, most importantly, do not assume Christmas is universal. Understanding cultural differences and local holiday schedules is usually more effective than sending the same template card to a hundred contacts.