Email marketing for a Shopify store works best in two parts. First, a small set of automatic emails that respond to what customers do, such as joining your list, leaving a basket or placing an order. Second, regular campaigns that tell people what is new. Start with the automatic emails, because they run without you. This guide explains each part, in the order we would set them up.
What email can and cannot do
Email is a way to talk to people who have already shown interest in you. It is not a way to find strangers. It tends to suit shops with repeat customers, products people run out of or collect, and good reasons to get in touch, such as new stock.
It will not rescue a store with a weak product page or a confusing checkout. If people leave before buying, work on that first. See conversion funnel optimisation for where to begin.
Build the list properly
- Ask clearly. Say what people will get and how often. A sign-up form that promises something specific works better than “Join our newsletter”.
- Get consent right. In the UK, marketing emails need a lawful basis, and most shops rely on clear consent. The ‘soft opt-in’ lets you email people who bought from you, or were in the middle of buying, about similar products, as long as they were offered a way to opt out when they gave their email and in every email since.
- Make leaving easy. An unsubscribe link in every email keeps you honest and protects your sender reputation.
- Keep it clean. Remove people who have not opened anything for a long time. A smaller, interested list is easier to work with than a large, silent one.
The automatic emails to set up first
These send themselves when a customer does something. Most stores need these before anything else:
- Welcome email. Introduce the shop, say what to expect and point to your best-known products.
- Abandoned basket emails. A reminder for people who left items behind. Keep the tone helpful, not pushy.
- Order confirmation and shipping emails. People open these more than almost anything else you send, so make them clear and on-brand.
- After-purchase email. Care instructions, how to use the product, or a request for a review, a little while after delivery.
- Win-back email. A gentle message to customers who have not bought for a long time.
Klaviyo and most email platforms pick up Shopify’s events, such as started checkouts and orders, through their own integration. Shopify’s own email tool has ready-made automations too, such as abandoned checkout and welcome emails, with fewer options.
Our email automation service covers building and testing these flows.
Campaigns: what to send and how often
Campaigns are the one-off emails: new arrivals, seasonal events, restocks, offers. They work when each one has a single, clear reason to exist.
- One main message per email. Pick one thing you want people to do.
- Use a clear subject line. Say what is inside. Avoid tricks you could not stand behind.
- Send when you have something to say. There is no universal right frequency. It depends on your range, your customers and how much you have to tell them.
- Test one thing at a time, such as subject lines or send times, and give each test long enough to mean something.
Our email campaigns service helps plan and run a calendar that fits your shop.
Design that gets read
Most emails are opened on a phone. Keep the layout to a single column, use one clear button, write alternative text for images, and check the email still makes sense with images turned off. Consistent colours and wording also help people recognise you at a glance. See email design for layouts that match your brand.
Measuring whether it works
Open rates are an unreliable guide on their own. Apple Mail and some other apps load emails in the background for privacy, which records opens that never happened.
Look at these together instead:
- Revenue from email, compared with what you spend on software and time.
- Clicks to the right page, not just to the home page.
- Unsubscribes and complaints, which tell you when you have sent too much or the wrong thing.
- Whether your analytics and email platform agree. They count in different ways, so some difference is normal. Use tagged links so email visits are recorded properly. See GA4 setup and audits.
Judge results over weeks and months, and compare like with like.
From experience
We often see campaigns sent without checking how they look in light and dark mode. An email that looks broken chips away at trust, which matters a great deal before someone buys. It is one example of the detail we check when we work on your campaigns.
Go deeper
- Abandoned basket emails: what to send and when
- How often should an online shop email its customers?
- Email design for online shops: layout, dark mode and accessibility
Where to get help
If you would like an expert to look at what you send now and what you could automate, our email campaigns service starts with a review of your list, your emails and your results.
Related services that often go with it:
- Email automation, for the emails that send themselves.
- Email design, for layouts that match your brand and read well on a phone.
- GA4 setup and audits, so email visits and sales are recorded properly.
