The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing for Shopify 2025

The effectiveness of email marketing for Shopify is often questioned, yet recent 2024 data reaffirms its status as a vital and highly impactful marketing tool. Email continues to deliver substantial ROI, consistently ranking among the top three channels for generating returns across businesses of various sizes. The role of so-called “first-party data” has gained prominence, in part due to Meta’s hectic operations.

89% of businesses present in the online space consider email marketing as their primary sales channel after PPC and social media. Additionally, it is the most potent tool for customer retention and loyalty-building, capable of producing a 3600% return on investment. Of course, this is true when it’s ‘done right’.

Before diving into the nitty-gritty of email marketing for your Shopify store, it’s important to understand the power and potential of this marketing channel. Here are some compelling email marketing statistics for ecommerce businesses:

•  According to a study by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing has an average return on investment (ROI) of $42 for every $1 spent. This makes it one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies available to online retailers.

• Email is the preferred communication channel for 73% of millennials, who are a key demographic for many Shopify stores. By effectively leveraging email, you can reach and engage this important audience.

• Automated email campaigns, such as welcome series and abandoned cart reminders, can generate up to 320% more revenue than non-automated emails. Automation allows you to create personalized, timely, and highly effective email experiences for your customers.

• Segmented email campaigns can result in a 760% increase in revenue compared to non-segmented campaigns. By tailoring your messages to specific customer groups, you can dramatically improve the relevance and impact of your email marketing for Shopify.

Automating your email marketing efforts can save you time, improve consistency, and enhance the customer experience. Here are some ways to leverage email automation for your Shopify store:

• WELCOME flow: Create a series of automated emails to welcome new subscribers, introduce your brand, and provide an incentive for their first purchase, such as a discount code.

In this example, you can see that the first and third emails in the welcome flow generated revenue from a 3k email list for a skincare client.

• ABANDONMENT CART flow: Set up automated emails to re-engage customers who have added items to their cart but haven’t completed the purchase. These emails can provide a gentle nudge, offer a discount, or highlight the benefits of completing the transaction.

• ABANDONMENT CHECKOUT flow: Similar to abandoned cart reminders, these emails are triggered when a customer starts the checkout process but leaves before completing their purchase. This flow can remind them of the items left behind, emphasize limited stock availability, or offer additional incentives like free shipping to encourage them to complete the transaction.

• POST-PURCHASE follow-up flow: Automate a series of emails to follow up with customers after they make a purchase, such as order confirmation, shipping updates, and product recommendations based on their purchase history.

• CUSTOMER WIN-BACK flow: Identify and re-engage customers who haven’t made a purchase in a while with automated win-back campaigns. These can include special offers, personalized product recommendations, or invitations to re-engage with your brand.

• REPLENISHMENT flow: Automate reminders for customers to reorder products they’ve purchased in the past. This is especially effective for consumables like skincare products or supplements. For example, if a customer bought a 30-day supply of vitamins, you could send a reminder email around day 25 with a one-click reorder option.

• RE-ENGAGEMENT flow: Target inactive subscribers who haven’t opened or interacted with your emails in a while. This flow can include a series of emails designed to catch their attention, such as exclusive offers, updates on new products, or even a survey to understand their preferences better. If they remain inactive, you can offer them the option to stay on the list or unsubscribe.

• JOINED THE FAMILY flow: This flow welcomes new customers or subscribers to your brand community. It can include a thank you message, a brief history of your brand, customer success stories, and an invitation to follow your social media channels or join a loyalty program.

• BIRTHDAY flow: Celebrate your customers’ birthdays with a special email that includes a discount or a gift. This flow is highly personalized and can significantly boost customer loyalty and engagement by making customers feel valued on their special day.

• REFERRAL flow: Encourage your customers to refer friends and family to your brand by automating a referral program. This flow can include a reward for both the referrer and the referred, such as discounts or store credit, and a simple process for sharing referral links through email or social media.

Continuously monitoring and optimizing your email marketing performance is essential for driving better results in email marketing for Shopify stores. Here are some key metrics to track and strategies for optimization:

• Open rates: Monitor your email open rates to gauge the effectiveness of your subject lines and preheader text. Test different subject line styles, personalization, and urgency to improve open rates.

• Click-through rates (CTRs): Analyze your CTRs to understand which content and calls-to-action are resonating with your audience. Experiment with different content formats, placement of CTAs, and personalization to boost engagement. 

• Unsubscribe rates: Keep an eye on your unsubscribe rates, as high rates may indicate that your content is not meeting your subscribers’ expectations. Regularly review your email cadence, content, and segmentation to ensure you’re providing value and avoiding list fatigue.

• Conversion rates: Track the percentage of email recipients who take the desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a service. Optimize your email content, landing pages, and checkout process to improve conversion rates.

• Revenue Per Recipient (RPR): Analyze RPR across different segments to identify high-value audiences. Tailor content and offers specifically for these segments to maximize revenue.

• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) from Email Campaigns: Segment your audience based on predicted CLV and tailor your messaging accordingly. For high-CLV segments, focus on loyalty and upsell strategies, while for lower-CLV segments, optimize acquisition and retention efforts.

• Deliverability and Inbox Placement: Monitor sender reputation, bounce rates, and feedback loops. Implement best practices for email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and regularly clean your email list to maintain high deliverability.

• Conversion Velocity: Measures the speed at which email recipients convert after interacting with an email. This can be particularly useful for time-sensitive campaigns or product launches, where rapid conversions are critical.

• Test Text-based Emails: While Klaviyo offers a high standard for customizing emails, experience shows that emails containing only text have an open rate 21% higher and a click-through rate 17% higher than emails containing visual elements. This is because such text-based emails feel more personal, so users don’t immediately label them as sales messages.

• Use Videos: In addition to text-based emails, emails containing videos can increase the open rate by 19% and the click-through rate by 68%. It’s worth placing customer reviews, user guides, or expert interview videos as GIFs or with a play button in emails. A study by HubSpot found that including the word “video” in an email subject line increased open rates by 6% and CTRs by 65%. This small addition can make a significant difference in how your emails perform.

• Check the Mobile View: It’s important to note that 81% of emails are opened on mobile devices. As mentioned above, Klaviyo offers this feature. Moreover, completely different design settings can be applied for desktop and mobile views. During email sending, it’s also worth checking how the content appears in night mode.

• Focus on the Subject Line: 47% of users decide whether to open an email based on the subject. The ideal subject line consists of 6-10 words and includes a verb that prompts action and is based on the principle of scarcity.

• Provide Value, but Also Sell: It’s advisable to start the email content not with selling but with a related story or educational content. Products can be linked to this, providing an opportunity to buy, as the user has become emotionally engaged and open-minded by this point. The call-to-action, the button text at this juncture, should be crystal clear.

The key tool for lifestyle brand building is email. Based on experience, well-functioning lifestyle brands can generate 30-40% of their revenue from well-set email marketing sequences and campaign emails. Thus: it’s worth focusing more on this.

In conclusion, email marketing is a powerful tool that can help Shopify store owners engage with their customers, drive sales, and grow their businesses. By leveraging the strategies and best practices outlined in this guide, you can create effective email campaigns that captivate your audience and deliver impressive results in email marketing for Shopify.