Essential Guide to Ecommerce Email Marketing that You Should Know

Essential Guide to Ecommerce Email Marketing

Want to grow your e-commerce business without spending tons of money on ads you don’t fully control?

If that sounds like something you’re interested in, this article is for you.

I’m going to show you how to boost your e-commerce sales using one of the most powerful and affordable tools out there — email marketing.

Unlike many marketing platforms, email doesn’t come with high fees or unpredictable results. You have full control over your list, your message, and your results.

In this guide, we’ll walk through everything you need to know about email marketing for online stores and e-commerce businesses.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• ✅ What email marketing means for e-commerce
• ✅ Different types of email campaigns you can use to grow your store
• ✅ Why email marketing is so effective for online sellers
• ✅ 11 best practices to get the most out of your email marketing
• ✅ How to track the money your emails bring in
• ✅ A full 10-step email marketing strategy — from the basics to advanced tips
• ✅ 10 awesome email templates you can learn from or use as inspiration

Ready to learn how email marketing can take your online store to the next level — without breaking the bank?

Let’s get started. 💥

Essential Guide to Ecommerce Email Marketing: Table Of Contents

The Only Guide You Need for Ecommerce Email Marketing 📧

Here’s what you’ll learn inside:

• What exactly is ecommerce email marketing?
• Different types of email campaigns you can use
• Why email marketing is great for online stores
• 11 simple tips to improve your email marketing
• How to see how much money your emails are making
• A step-by-step strategy – from beginner to advanced
• 10 awesome email templates you can use right away
• How to actually grow your online store with email marketing

Want to grow your ecommerce store faster and easier? 🚀

Check out GetResponse’s ecommerce email marketing tools. It’s packed with everything your store needs – ready-made email templates, powerful automation, transactional emails, web push notifications, paid ads, and even live chat support. And the best part? It works perfectly with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, and more.

👉 If you're serious about growing your ecommerce business, this tool is a game changer.

What is email marketing for e-commerce?

What Is E-Commerce Email Marketing? (And Why It Works So Well) 📧🛒

E-commerce email marketing is all about using email to help you make more sales in your online store. It can be as simple as sending out an email to let your subscribers know about a new deal — or more advanced, like sending personalized emails based on what your customers do on your site.

Many online businesses rely on email marketing to grow and keep their customers coming back. It’s one of the most powerful tools to attract new buyers, turn one-time customers into loyal fans, and build stronger relationships with people who already like your brand.

✅ Here are a few smart ways online stores use email marketing to boost sales:

• Announcing new products or special offers
• Sending discount codes on birthdays or holidays
• Reminding people about items they left in their cart
• Recommending related products in your emails
• Confirming orders and sharing shipping updates

One great example is an “abandoned cart” email. This is a message you send when someone adds items to their cart but doesn’t complete the purchase.

👉 For instance, MCM (a fashion brand) sends emails that not only remind customers about what they left in their cart but also suggest other products they might like. That’s a smart way to bring people back and increase sales.

Cart abandonment email from an ecommerce brand, MCM. Source: ReallyGoodEmails

We’ll talk more about why these emails work and how you can send them too — especially if you use a tool like GetResponse to automate everything easily.

If you're just getting started, don’t worry — check out our beginner-friendly guide to email marketing first. It’ll help you learn the basics and get up to speed quickly!

Types of Email Marketing Campaigns for Ecommerce

Every e-commerce business has its own email marketing strategy, but most share three main types of emails. Here's a quick breakdown of each:

1. Promotional Emails

These emails are used to inform your subscribers about special offers, new products, or store updates. They include:

• New product launches
• Regular newsletters
• Exclusive discounts for subscribers
• Content updates
• Seasonal deals
• Special promotions for specific customer groups (like your most loyal customers)
• Important updates like new blog posts or helpful tips

Tip: Promotional emails are usually sent manually as newsletters or broadcast messages.

2. Transactional Emails

These are essential emails sent after a customer takes action on your site. They provide key details about their transactions, such as:

• Subscription confirmations
• Order confirmations
• Shipping updates
• Customer satisfaction surveys

Tip: Transactional emails can be sent directly from your e-commerce platform or through an email automation service like GetResponse. Using an automation platform often gives you more design options, but it may require some technical setup. However, with GetResponse's new Fast Transactional Emails feature, you can set these up easily without coding!

Click here to learn more about GetResponse quick transactional emails!

Lifecycle emails

These emails are triggered automatically based on a customer's behavior and where they are in their buying journey. Common lifecycle emails include:

• Welcome email series
• Win-back email series (to re-engage lost customers)
• Shopping cart abandonment emails
• Browse abandonment emails
• Upselling and cross-selling emails

You don’t need to use all of these in your strategy, but as your store grows, it's important to use a mix of messages that match different stages of your customer’s journey. If you only send promotional emails, your customers will quickly get tired of them, stop opening your emails, and your conversion rate will drop. So, make sure to vary your emails to keep things fresh and engaging.

Tip: You can automate lifecycle emails using marketing tools. If you’re new to automation, you can start with pre-built workflows that make it easy to get started.

Is your store built with Shopify? Find out how GetResponse can help you run Shopify email marketing campaigns more effectively today.

By mixing promotional, transactional, and lifecycle emails, you can keep your customers engaged and increase conversions. If you’re using Shopify, GetResponse can help you run effective email campaigns that boost your results.

Want to see how GetResponse can work with Shopify to improve your email marketing?

Ecommerce email campaigns benefits

Here are six key reasons why email is essential for e-commerce:

• Main Communication Channel: Email is the go-to place for customers to confirm their purchases, making it crucial for keeping transactions smooth and clear.
• Feedback Collection: After each sale, you can easily ask customers to rate their experience through surveys, giving you valuable insights and social proof that can help you win over future buyers.
• Building Customer Relationships: Emails let you stay connected with customers at every stage, from welcoming them to your store to sending thank you notes, birthday emails, and reminders for abandoned carts. You can even bring back customers who haven’t visited in a while.
• Loyalty Programs: Reward your most loyal customers with special deals and offers, all sent through automated emails, encouraging them to keep coming back.
• Growing Your Email List: You can boost your email list by offering exclusive deals to subscribers who recommend your store to others. This helps grow your brand awareness and keeps customers engaged.
• Boost Conversions: The best part? Email campaigns drive conversions better than any other medium, and at a much lower cost.

Email is a powerful tool to drive sales, build connections, and grow your business without breaking the bank!

11 Email Marketing Best Practices for Ecommerce

Want to make sure your online store’s email campaigns are a success? Here are 11 simple tips to improve your e-commerce email marketing strategy.

While we're focusing on online stores, these general email marketing tips apply to everyone!

1. Send Emails at the Right Time

One of the best ways to keep your email list engaged is to send relevant emails at the right moment. Timing is everything.

You can do this by setting up behavior-triggered emails in your marketing automation. This means sending emails when your subscribers take certain actions (like leaving a shopping cart without completing the purchase).

Another option is using send-time optimization tools, like those in GetResponse. These algorithms help send emails based on the recipient’s location or the best times they've previously engaged with your messages.

Both of these methods work wonders and give you great results. In fact, triggered emails tend to perform better than regular newsletters because they are more timely and relevant. So, why not give them a try and watch your open and click rates soar?

How the email engagement rates compare for triggered emails and other message types. Data from the Email Marketing Benchmarks report.

 

If you're wondering whether using Send Time Optimization is tricky, don't worry – it's as easy as clicking a button. Your email marketing platform does the rest for you!

Perfect Timing feature automatically adjusts the send-time of your emails in GetResponse for best results

2. Personalize your email campaigns.

Don’t use generic emails that aren’t personalized. Make sure your messages are tailored to your audience, with content, reasons, and offers that speak directly to their needs and interests.

Personalized email announcing a price drop on the product a user added to their wish list. Source: ReallyGoodEmails

Not sure how to personalize your email content? Here are 5 great ideas that work for any e-commerce business:

• The person’s name
• Their location
• The product they viewed or added to their cart
• The product or category they recently bought from you
• A product they added to their wishlist that’s now back in stock

If you’ve never used personalization in emails, here’s how to add it to your subject line:

Using subscriber name and geolocation to personalize subject line in GetResponse

3. Keep your transactional emails on brand

Transactional emails are one of the most important types of emails you’ll send — they actually get more attention than your welcome message! So, why not make the most of this opportunity to strengthen your brand and keep your customers coming back?

To do this, make sure your transactional emails reflect your brand. Include your logo, and use the same colors and fonts as you do in your other emails.

The challenge is that many e-commerce platforms, like Shopify, either offer very basic email design options or require you to code from scratch. But the good news? With GetResponse, you can easily create transactional emails using our simple drag-and-drop editor!

Editing the order confirmation email template inside the GetResponse Email Creator

This feature is called Quick Transactional Emails. It lets you easily set up cart abandonment emails and order confirmations. For more advanced messages, you can also use our API-based transactional messaging service.

4. Make your content engaging.

To make your brand stand out, it's important to know what kind of content connects with your audience. Are your emails featuring customer reviews or testimonials? Are you sharing your latest blog posts? Or maybe videos showing how to use your products? Take a look at how your content is performing and use that information to connect better with your followers.

Patagonia Engaging email content

Check out the reporting dashboard of your email marketing service and connect it with an analytics tool like Google Analytics. When you combine both, you'll get a clearer picture of your audience, helping you improve their overall experience.

GetResponse’s new Analytics dashboard gives you clear insights into how your campaign is performing!

New Analytics dashboard – detailed view on bounces

5. Always optimize.

Your gut feeling matters, but we often make decisions based on what we know best, even if it's not what's best for us. The same goes for your email campaigns. Use data to run A/B tests and fine-tune your campaigns for long-term success.

The best part about A/B testing is how simple it is to set up, yet it can make a big difference in your sales results. For example, if one email subject line performs 5% better and gets 5% more clicks, think about how much extra revenue that could bring to your business. Now, imagine that impact for every campaign you run – those numbers really add up!

Here’s how to set up an A/B test for your subject line in GetResponse:

Email subject line A/B test setup

6. Ask customers to help you.

When optimizing your email communication, remember the most important part: your customers.

Ask them for feedback to understand what they really want. You can use survey emails or even send a live chat link to connect with them directly. This helps you improve their experience and make your marketing campaigns even better.

Example of a survey email from Timberland

Don't make it hard for your followers to speak up. Replace that generic email address with something more personal. Don't treat it like a marketing gimmick.

Show that you genuinely care about your customers' feedback. Where possible, fix the issues people have pointed out. Doing this will improve your brand's reputation, bring more people to your site, and boost your sales over time.

7. Use social proof to improve your conversion rate.

Once you've followed the previous steps, keep going—turn your customers into your biggest supporters. Customer reviews and feedback are some of the best marketing tools you can have. When you get those reviews, make sure to thank the customers who shared them and let others know how much you appreciate their input.

 Featuring quotes from happy customers in Mahabis email campaigns

Before making an online purchase, people often look for feedback from others. By encouraging your customers to leave reviews, you'll increase the chances of turning future visitors into buyers.

Learn how Selsey, an online furniture store, doubled their conversion rates from cart abandonment emails using customer reviews.

8. Segment your audience

Not all customers are the same – we all know that. But not many marketers change how they communicate in their emails based on who they're targeting. The ones who do, though, tend to get great results.

Take GetResponse's client, Submission Technology, as an example. They actively segment their audience and see click-through rates much higher than the industry average – sometimes as high as 6-7%.

On the other hand, those who don’t segment their audience still do okay, but their results don’t come close to these numbers.

If you want your business to grow, it's worth the effort to understand your audience better. Look for different segments you can target with personalized messaging, which will lead to more sales from your emails.

Here are five customer segments most e-commerce businesses can benefit from:

• High spenders (those who spend a lot per order or have a high lifetime value)
• Loyal customers (those who have purchased multiple times)
• Trendsetters (those who buy new products without discounts)
• One-time buyers (those who only bought once and need a little push to buy again)
• Recent buyers (those who purchased within the last few days)

Should you treat these people the same as subscribers who haven’t bought anything? Definitely not!

So, before you send out your next email, think about it. There are probably subscribers in different stages of the buying process who would be more likely to make a purchase if you personalize your emails for them.

Here’s a great example: Huel segmented their customer base and noticed that some customers hadn’t tried their latest product. Since these customers already trusted the brand, Huel sent them a personalized email campaign based on this one simple fact – that they hadn't bought this new product yet. The result? A more effective, tailored message that resonated with the right audience.

Personalized email campaign targeting existing customers who have not purchased a particular product.

Wondering if setting up segments is hard? Don't worry, it's actually really easy! Here's how you can create a segment for people who bought a specific product from your store:

Using ecommerce data to segment your audience based on the specific product they bought.

You can read more about this topic in our mailing list segmentation guide.

9. Improve your email templates with compelling copy

E-commerce emails often rely on stunning images and fancy designs, but that’s not the whole picture when it comes to successful email campaigns. The words in your email matter just as much, so don’t overlook them!

Start with a strong subject line. Over half of people decide whether to open an email based on it alone, so make it count.

Then, focus on the pre-header, header, and call-to-action buttons. These elements should all support your message and encourage more sales for your online store.

Magic Spoon using compelling copy throughout its message

Want to write newsletters that get opened, read, and clicked? Check out this helpful guide by Joanna Wiebe! It’s full of easy-to-follow tips on email marketing that will help you craft more engaging copy in every part of your message.

10. Aim for all devices

Here’s something you’ve heard before, but it’s worth repeating:

When designing your emails, landing pages, and ad campaigns, make sure they work well on all devices your customers might use. If even one part doesn’t look or function right, you could waste your marketing budget and lose customers' interest.

Pay close attention to things like images, the size and position of your call-to-action buttons, the product page, and the checkout process. Everything should feel smooth and easy for your customers to navigate.

Take a look at this email from Kiva. They’ve done it right:

• The logo is small, so the focus stays on the email content.
• The headline is short, clear, and easy to understand right away.
• The call-to-action (CTA) button is at the top of the screen with enough space around it, making it easy to tap with your thumb. Plus, the CTA copy clearly explains what the button does.
• After the CTA, there’s some helpful text that clears up any questions, making it easier to click without hesitation.

11. Be Smart About Your Email Frequency 📧

It’s tempting to send out just one more email, thinking it’ll only help your business, right? While that can be true, the data tells a different story.

Before you increase how often you send emails, take a moment to check your data and see how changes might affect your results.

The biggest reason people unsubscribe is simply getting too many emails. However, if you’re making more sales from your emails, it might be worth the cost of losing a few subscribers and having to replace them.

Just remember: Don’t let your short-term goals mess up your long-term success.

Now that you know these 10 email marketing best practices, it’s time to dive into tracking how these strategies boost your revenue! 📊💰

How to Track Revenue from Your Ecommerce Email Marketing Campaigns

The simplest way to measure how much money you're making from email marketing is by adding UTM parameters to your emails, setting up goals in a tool like Google Analytics, and then checking your conversion rates and the revenue it shows.

Although this method is easy, it’s not the most accurate. This is because you need to assign a conversion value to each goal manually.

If you sell several different products with their own unique URLs, it's not a big problem. You can set up different goals and give them specific values.

The issue arises when someone buys multiple units of the same product in one session. Google Analytics will count this as one conversion, which means your email campaigns might not get enough credit. This makes your revenue from email marketing only an estimate. But still, tracking this way is better than not tracking at all.

A more precise method to track email revenue in Google Analytics is by using the Enhanced Ecommerce Analytics plugin. This plugin helps you track how users interact with products on your website.

Whether they view a product, click on it, check its details, add it to their cart, start the checkout, complete the purchase, or abandon it. All of this data will be available on your Google Analytics dashboard.

Here's a Google Analytics report showing the transaction data from Google’s demo store. Just a heads-up: since email isn't set up as a separate channel, the transactions are grouped together with the "Direct" channel.

Most importantly, you'll get accurate details about how much your customers are spending on each transaction, with the transaction value automatically sent to GA.

If you connect your online store to GetResponse, you can use this data to create specific customer groups and send them targeted emails.

This includes things like abandoned cart reminders, upsell offers, and product suggestions.

Now, let's dive into this 10-step strategy that will drive more visitors to your store and encourage them to make purchases more often.

Email Marketing Strategy for Ecommerce - Basics to Advanced

Step 1. Start building an email list

Many e-commerce brands begin with little or no email list. But they do have website visitors, social media followers, and existing customers.

To start building your email list, try these tips:

• Add a pop-up form that shows up after visitors land on your website (ideally on every page or at least the most visited ones).
• Place an embedded sign-up form (like in the footer), so visitors can join your list even if they close the pop-up or didn't see it.
• Promote your newsletter on social media, highlighting the benefits and exclusive perks that subscribers get.
• Run a giveaway or contest to encourage people to join your email list.
• Launch a paid ad campaign showcasing your special offers (and ensure the pop-up form shows up on those pages).
• Start a referral marketing campaign where current customers or subscribers can invite others to join your list in exchange for a reward.

Pro Tip: Offering a discount or free shipping is one of the easiest ways to get people to sign up. If you prefer not to offer it right away, you can make the discount available on their second purchase instead.

Here's an example of a pop-up form created with GetResponse that you can use on your site:

Popup form template in GetResponse.

Here’s a great example of a giveaway contest by a GetResponse client, Sabaton. To join the contest, people had to do one main thing—sign up for their newsletter.

Sabaton’s giveaway contest where one of the action’s you can make is to opt in to their email list

👉 Want to learn more? Check out this helpful guide on how to build an email list from scratch.

Step 2: Automatically Welcome Your New Subscribers 🎉

Once people start signing up for your emails, don’t just leave them hanging—greet them with a friendly welcome email!

A welcome email is one of the most powerful messages you can send. According to our research, over 80% of people open it, and more than 20% actually click on it. That’s huge!

A well-crafted welcome email can do a lot for your business. It helps you:

• Start building trust and a good relationship with your subscribers
• Show appreciation for signing up
• Encourage them to visit your website again
• Offer a discount or special deal to inspire that first purchase
• Share useful info like your products, shipping details, return policy, and how to get in touch

But there’s another big bonus: welcome emails help improve your email deliverability. Since these emails go out one by one through automation (instead of blasting everyone on your list), email providers like Gmail and Yahoo see them as high-quality messages. That means your emails are more likely to land in the inbox, not the spam folder.

💡 Pro Tip: Use a simple automation tool to send out your welcome email automatically. It saves you time and makes sure every new subscriber gets the right message at the right time.

Welcome email workflow built with GetResponse Marketing Automation.

You can take your welcome message to the next level by turning it into a full email series. This is super helpful if you sell different kinds of products and don’t send out promotional emails that often.

One great example comes from a GetResponse customer called Landcafe. They created a six-part educational email series for their new subscribers. These emails don’t just share their brand story — they also walk customers through the different types of coffee they offer.

And here’s the best part: this welcome series brings in serious results. More than half (54%) of their total sales come from these onboarding emails!

Check out the visual below to see how their email series is set up:

Landcafe welcome email sequence.

Step 3. Start sending regular promotional emails

Once you've finished the first two steps, it’s time to start sending promo emails to your audience regularly. 📧

You don’t want to flood their inbox, but you do want them to remember your business and keep coming back to your website. A good rule is to send at least one email a month — but if your content is interesting and valuable, try sending one every week or every two weeks.

Most email marketing tools (like GetResponse) already have pre-designed email templates. You just add your own words, images, and brand colors — no design skills needed! 🙌

This makes creating emails quick and easy, and it can really help boost sales from your online store.

Here’s a sample email template inside GetResponse, made just for e-commerce businesses. 🛍️

Email template available in GetResponse.

And here’s a walkthrough video that shows you how you can build an email from scratch using our new Email Maker.

Step 4. Send Reminders to Those Who Didn't Convert

Once you start sending emails regularly, you’ll notice not everyone opens them—and that’s totally normal. People get busy, or their inbox gets full.

The average email open rate is just over 22%, which means around 80% of your list won’t see your email. That’s still good compared to other marketing methods, but if someone didn’t open your first email, it’s worth trying again.

👉 Here’s the trick:
Just change the subject line and keep the same email content. Since they didn’t open it the first time, it’ll be brand new to them!

Now you’re ready to send that same email to the people who didn’t open it before.

If you're using GetResponse, here are 3 easy ways to do this:

1. Use your email report to find and resend the message to people who didn’t open it.

2. Search your contacts for people who received but didn’t open your email, and save them as a new group (segment).

3. Set up automation so GetResponse sends a reminder automatically—like 48 hours after the first email goes out.

🎯 Pro tip: Don’t overdo this!

If someone still isn’t opening your emails after a while, they might not be interested anymore. In that case, it’s better to try a win-back campaign to re-engage them instead of pushing the same message again.

Step 5. Segment your audience and personalize your communication

As your email list grows, it’s important to keep your audience interested and connected. One of the best ways to do this is by splitting your list into smaller groups and sending each group content that fits their specific interests.

When you send the right message to the right people, they’re more likely to take action—and that means more customers and more sales for your business.

Earlier, I shared five customer types you’ll probably want to focus on in your email marketing:

👉 High spenders

👉 Repeat buyers

👉 Trendsetters

👉 One-time shoppers

👉 Recent buyers

But that’s just the beginning. If you run an online store, here are a few more ways to segment your email list:

🔹 Gender

🔹 Location

🔹 Favorite brand or category (based on what they click or buy)

🔹 Product size

🔹 Price sensitivity (only buys during sales)

🔹 Last time they bought something (within 30 days, or 30–90 days ago)

🔹 No purchases yet (just a newsletter subscriber)

Here’s a great example: Submission Technology customizes their email content based on gender, sending one version to men and another to women. Simple, right?

Getting started with email segmentation doesn’t have to be complicated. For instance, you can easily set up a group of people who signed up in the last 30 days but haven’t bought anything yet—and send them a special email to encourage their first purchase.

Step 6. Recover lost sales with abandoned cart emails

Now that you’ve worked hard to get people to your website, don’t let them slip away without finishing their purchase. One of the easiest ways to get back lost sales is by sending a quick email to remind shoppers about the items they left in their cart.

Here’s how it works:

Connect your online store (like Shopify, Magento, or PrestaShop) to your email tool. When someone leaves your site without checking out, it triggers an automatic email. This message gently reminds them what they left behind—and can often bring them back to complete the order.

If you're using GetResponse, there’s an even faster option—especially if you’re on Shopify. Just connect your store, design your email using their drag-and-drop builder, and turn it on. That’s it! GetResponse takes care of the rest using their Fast Transactional Emails feature.

You can also use a pre-made email template to speed things up, so your message is up and running in no time.

💡 Pro Tip: A simple reminder email can turn a missed sale into money in your pocket. Don’t miss this step!

Related: The best marketing automation software for Shopify

GetResponse eCommerce email template available.

Step 7. Reactivate subscribers with winback campaigns

Over time, some of your email subscribers may stop opening your messages. That’s totally normal—but you shouldn’t ignore it.

These inactive people can actually hurt your email performance. They take up space in your email list (which can cost you money), and when they don’t open your emails, internet providers may think your content isn’t valuable. That can cause your emails to land in spam folders—even for your active subscribers.

That’s where win-back campaigns come in. These are special emails you send to re-engage people who’ve gone quiet. Some might still be interested—you just need to catch their attention again. And for the ones who still don’t respond, it may be time to remove them from your list or move them to a separate group that you don’t contact regularly.

Letting go of subscribers can feel tough, but it’s actually a smart move. Cleaning up your list helps improve your email deliverability—and can boost your revenue in the long run.

The good news? Setting up a win-back campaign is super simple.

For example, with a tool like GetResponse, you can create a segment of subscribers who signed up over 60 days ago and have a low engagement score—this tells you they’re probably not interested anymore.

From there, you can create an automated workflow:

✅ Wait 90 days

✅ Check if they’re still inactive

✅ Send them a friendly reminder email

✅ If they still don’t respond, tag them as a "stale customer" and consider removing them later

This process keeps your list healthy and ensures your emails reach the people who really care about your brand. ✨

Step 8. Ask buyers for their feedback

I’ve already talked about why social proof matters and how it can boost your email marketing. Now it’s time to ask your customers for feedback—so you can show real opinions in your marketing and build more trust.

Getting feedback is easy. Just set up a simple workflow that sends an automatic message a little while after someone makes a purchase. You can choose the right timing—maybe a week, two weeks, or even a month—depending on how long it takes for your customer to receive and try your product.

Here’s a ready-to-use workflow you can follow to start collecting feedback from your buyers:

Step 9. Send recommendations based on buyer behavior

I love how Netflix always knows what I want to watch 🎬—they show me movies and shows based on what other people like me enjoyed. And guess what? You can use the same idea to boost your email marketing!

When you connect your store to your email marketing tool, like GetResponse, you can set up a simple workflow that sends personalized product recommendations—just like Netflix does.

With the GetResponse Email Creator, it’s easy to create a message with your top product picks. Then, this workflow will automatically send that email to your customer two weeks after they buy from you.📩

Step 10. Take advantage of transactional emails to build customer loyalty

Don't forget to make the most of transactional emails in your email marketing strategy.

With GetResponse, you have two options for setting them up:

• You can create them easily using the Email Creator and send them with the Quick Transactional Emails feature.
• Or, you can set them up using our transactional email service through API or SMTP for more flexibility.

The second option gives you more control, while the first is quick and requires no coding. Either way, transactional emails are definitely worth sending.

These emails not only confirm that the transaction went smoothly but also give you a chance to connect with your customers and build stronger relationships.

Take this example from MeUndies, an online store selling underwear. Even though it’s just a transactional email, it’s fun and friendly, reflecting the brand’s personality and helping set the stage for a lasting relationship with their customers.

Fun transactional email notifying the recipient that the product has been shipped. Source: ReallyGoodEmails

Now, let's check out some amazing eCommerce email templates that you can use for inspiration!

Read other industry guides:

1. How to promote your Shopify store

2. Hotel email marketing guide

3. Email marketing for non-profits

4. Retail email marketing best practices

10 Amazing Examples of Ecommerce Email Templates

We just talked about how e-commerce brands can use email marketing to guide their customers every step of the way.

Now, let’s check out some of the best email examples—ones that help build strong customer relationships and others that are great for boosting sales.

1. Welcome Email

Check out this welcome email from Adidas! It makes you feel like you’re part of something bigger—a real community. Plus, it gets you excited to go back to their site and shop for your next favorite outfit.

Welcome email containing a discount code – from Adidas.

2. Onboarding campaign

The purpose of a welcome email series is to help new subscribers get to know your brand and everything you offer. Here's a great example from Huckberry, an online store that does this well by mixing their product info with inspiring stories and content.

Onboarding email showing the various product categories available in the shop from Huckberry.

3. Flash sale campaign

Flash sales are a great way to get quick results. They create urgency, push your customers to take action fast, and help bring in money right away. Here's a strong example from Casper that shows exactly how this strategy works:

Flash sale message from Casper.

4. Cart Abandonment Email

Even though these emails aren’t sent often, they go to people who are just about ready to buy from you. And because many shoppers actually expect to get a reminder when they leave something in their cart, these emails usually get high open rates—around 40-50%—and click-through rates over 15%. Here's a great example of an abandoned cart email from American Giant that really nails it.

Cart abandonment email from American Giant offering you an easy way to return to the checkout.

Learn how BeautySleep achieves 25% sales rate with 6-email cart abandonment series.

5. Browse Abandonment Emails

This idea works just like the one we talked about earlier — but with one key difference. Instead of targeting people who added the product to their cart, it focuses on those who showed interest in it, like clicking on it in a previous email. Here's how Timberland puts this strategy to work:

Browse abandonment email featuring the product you saw plus recommendations from Timberland.

6. Product Recommendation Email

Product recommendation emails work really well—even for brand new visitors. Just pick your store’s top-selling items and highlight them in a clean, eye-catching email like this one from MVMT.

Promotional email featuring best selling watches from MVMT.

7. Review emails

Asking for advice from recent buyers? Here's an example of how Target asks their audience to write anything positive or negative about their latest purchase:

Survey email asking users to rate their last purchase Source: ReallyGoodEmails

8. Transactional Email

Here’s a great example of an activation email asking the user to confirm their email address for account creation. What’s important to note is that it matches the company’s branding, just like all their other email campaigns.

Email confirming the setup of a new account in the Huel’s shop.

9. Email Campaign Using User Generated Content

Customer reviews, testimonials, and social media posts can make your email marketing feel more real and powerful. Here's how MeUndies uses Instagram to boost engagement with their marketing messages:

MeUndies using Instagram quotes to make their email communication more authentic.

10. Recommendation Email

Want to turn your customers into loyal brand advocates? Here's how Huel does it in their onboarding process. Just a heads-up: the original email was in Polish, but I’ve translated it to English so you can easily understand the message.

Get a 50 PLN discount when you refer Huel to your friends! Share the love and save on your next order.

Looking for more e-commerce newsletter examples? Check out this easy guide that explains email marketing automation and features over 30 automated email examples perfect for boosting your business!

How are you going to grow your e-commerce business?

Now that you've seen how email can help your e-commerce business grow (even if you’re mainly selling physical products!), let’s get straight to this simple question:

What’s the first step you’re going to take?

If you're planning to follow the strategy I shared earlier, you’ll definitely want a tool to help you hit those big goals.

That’s where GetResponse comes in! I highly recommend giving it a try.

You can use it for FOREVER FREE, and there’s no need to enter your credit card details. Plus, beyond just email marketing, it has plenty of other tools to help your store thrive.

So, what are you waiting for? Connect your online store to GetResponse and kick off your first email marketing campaign today!

Suggested Article: 

Marketing Funnels Beginner’s Guide

Led Magnets Examples and Ideas

Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products and services I trust and believe will add value to you. Thank you for supporting my work!