How to Leverage Email Marketing for Your Shopify Store?

Quick Answer

Email marketing is one of the highest ROI channels for a Shopify store. It drives repeat sales through welcome series, abandoned cart recovery, and personalised campaigns. Start with Shopify Email (free up to 10,000 emails a month) for simplicity. Then move to Klaviyo once you need advanced segmentation, usually around 10,000 to 15,000 dollars in monthly revenue. Set up your core flows, track open rate, CTR, and revenue per email, and refine with A/B testing. The full guide is below.

Rule of thumb: start with Shopify Email. Then move to Klaviyo once your monthly revenue hits $10,000 to $15,000 and you need more advanced automation and segmentation.

Get to the Apps

Log in to your Shopify Admin Dashboard, then click Apps in the left sidebar.

Install the Shopify Email App

Search for “Shopify Email” in the Shopify App Store. Click Add app, then Install app. It syncs on its own, with no extra setup needed.

Write an Email Campaign

Go to Marketing > Campaigns > Create campaign. Pick a template, then add your subject line, preview text, and recipients (all customers, or a segmented list). You can customize it further with product embeds, dynamic content, and your brand colors.

Set Up Your Automation Emails

Next, open Marketing > Automations > Create automation. Choose a trigger, such as “Abandoned checkout,” “Customer created,” or “Order paid.” Then set your sequence, for example a 1-hour reminder plus a 24-hour discount offer, and test it before you turn it on.

Implement Double Opt-In Email Sign-Up

This builds high-quality lists, cuts spam complaints, and keeps you GDPR/CAN-SPAM compliant, since it works through a confirmation email. When someone signs up for your mailing list, they’re giving you permission to contact them. Unlike single opt-in, double opt-in adds one extra confirmation step, so you know for sure you have their permission. As a result, it also blocks fake sign-ups and helps you stay within anti-spam rules such as GDPR.

Here’s how it plays out: a visitor fills out a sign-up form on your landing page, then gets an email asking them to confirm. Once they confirm, they officially become a subscriber.

Avoid Using a No-Reply Email Address

Instead, use an address you can actually receive replies on, such as hello@yourstore.com. This alone can boost engagement and improve your sender reputation. Keep an eye on that inbox, and reply on time. As your business grows, set up filters for auto-responses, and forward real subscriber replies to your support team. In turn, personalized emails encourage feedback, which gives you useful insight and can improve your delivery rates too.

Send a Welcome Series

Set this to send right after opt in. Welcome emails average over 86% open rates, which makes them a great chance to build an early connection. Include your brand story, a discount, and your best sellers.

Introduce yourself and your business. Share a bit of your company’s story, and consider a personal touch, like a team photo or a handwritten signature. Also highlight your best content, since new subscribers likely missed your older posts. And if you promised a discount for signing up, deliver it here, with the code and a few product picks.

Segment and Personalise

Split your sends by purchase history, browsing behaviour, and location. Then trigger timely flows for abandoned carts, post-purchase tips, birthdays, and win-backs. For example, addressing subscribers by name, and using platforms that pull in tailored details, helps build a stronger connection.

• Website Browsing Emails: Send personalized emails based on browsing history (with cookie consent), for example a reminder about items a visitor clicked but didn’t buy.
• Abandoned Cart Emails: When someone adds items to their cart but doesn’t check out, an automated email can nudge them to finish.
• Birthday Offer Emails: Collect birthdays at sign-up, then send a celebratory offer code on the day.
• Product Purchase Education Emails: After a purchase, send tips on how to get the most from the product.

1. Keep your lists clean, and unsubscribe inactive subscribers every quarter.
2. Use mobile-friendly templates, since over 60% of opens happen on mobile.
3. Add user-generated content and reviews.
4. Test send times, for example the best day of the week and mid-week mornings.
5. Follow privacy laws, and make it easy to unsubscribe.

Need Help Setting Up Email Marketing for Your Shopify Store?

From automation flows and abandoned cart recovery to advanced segmentation and campaign optimization, our Shopify experts can help you build a powerful email marketing system that drives repeat sales.

Talk to Our Shopify Experts

The bottom line: use the best platform for your current stage. Lean on the basics, welcome sequences, abandoned cart flows, and personalized campaigns, and keep checking your metrics to improve your numbers over time.

What is Shopify Email Marketing and how do I use it?

Shopify Email Marketing sends personalized, automated, and segmented emails directly from your Shopify account to your customers and subscribers. It syncs your store’s data, like purchase history, browsing activity, and cart info, with an email platform, so you can send the right email to the right person at the right time. That can mean one-off broadcasts, or automated, sequenced emails.

Is Shopify Email free to use?

Every Shopify plan includes Shopify Email, and you can send 10,000 emails a month for free. After that, it costs $1 per 1,000 emails, so it’s one of the cheapest ways to get started. There’s no separate monthly fee, just this pay-as-you-go rate.

What automated emails are essential for every Shopify store?

At minimum, set up a welcome series for new subscribers, an abandoned cart sequence (ideally 2 to 3 emails), a post-purchase thank-you with product tips, a win-back for lapsed customers, and a browse abandonment email. These five flows alone can generate real revenue with no ongoing manual work.

How can email marketing help Shopify stores with customer retention?

Email keeps your brand top of mind between shopping trips. Personalized product picks, loyalty deals, replenishment reminders, and useful content all give customers real reasons to return. In fact, even a 5% lift in retention can boost profits by 25 to 95%, which makes retention-driven flows one of the most profitable tactics for any store.

Klaviyo vs Shopify Email, what is the difference?

Shopify Email is a simple, no-cost tool built right into Shopify. Klaviyo, on the other hand, is a dedicated email and SMS platform for eCommerce, with advanced segmentation, predictive analytics, AI recommendations, and multi-step automated workflows. For stores doing $10,000 to $15,000 a month or more, Klaviyo usually pays off because of how deep the personalization goes.

How frequently should I email my Shopify customers?

This varies, but a good starting point is 2 to 4 broadcast emails a month, plus automated behavioral triggers. Watch your unsubscribe rate (keep it below 0.5%) and your open rate; if both look healthy, you’re probably sending the right amount. Too little, and you’re forgotten. Too much, and people tune out. So always prioritize relevance over volume.

On which email marketing metrics should I focus for a Shopify store?

Focus on open rate (20%-30%), CTR (2%-5%), conversion rate (1%-3%), revenue per email, and your abandoned cart recovery and unsubscribe rates. Also track customer lifetime value and repeat purchase rate as broader signs of real loyalty. These are the numbers to feed into your A/B testing, day to day.

Is it possible to recover abandoned carts on Shopify through email marketing?

Yes, and it’s one of the most powerful automations you can set up. On average, 70% of shopping carts get abandoned online. A good 2 to 3 email sequence, sent at 1 hour, 24 hours, and 72 hours after abandonment, can recover 5 to 15% of those lost sales. Add social proof, a clear CTA, and even a small discount in that last email for better results.