The 5 Essential Emails Every eCommerce Store Needs Immediately
Did you know that people prefer to communicate with businesses through emails more than any other form of communication?
We know, it sounds crazy. But according to this study from MarketingSherpa, 72% of US consumers prefer to communicate via email.
That’s more than text, phone calls, and social media combined.
There is an enormous opportunity in your email list. While there are many ways you can leverage email marketing, for now, we’re going to start with the five foundational email campaigns that every eCommerce business should have.
Before you get started…
Invest in email automation software, such as MailChimp, Drip, GetResponse or similar. These tools ensure your auto-response emails are sent out at optimized times in a hands-off drip series. (Some even have premade templates for frequently used emails, such as newsletters and abandoned cart reminders.)
The Welcome Email
Your welcome email is your first official point of contact with your potential customer. Whether they subscribed to your newsletter, made a first-time purchase, or signed up to get a promo code, this is your chance to make a great first impression.
The welcome email will largely determine whether your new customer opens your subsequent emails, so take the time to get it right.
No pressure, right?
Here are some tips to ensuring a successful welcome email
- Follow-through on your promises. If your new contact offered their email address in exchange for a coupon code, make sure that your system is set up to automatically send them that code in their welcome email.
- Avoid the hard sell (unless that’s what they signed up for.) The welcome email is about introducing them to your brand and helping them get to know you. They may want to dive right into a shopping spree, but put your focus on building your relationship with your customer first.
The Essential Elements of a Welcome Email:
Every good welcome email will do the following:
- Welcome and introduce subscribers to your brand
- Set expectations about when/how/why you’ll be contacting them. (Newsletters, sale and promotion notifications, annual birthday gifts, etc.)
- Add your social icons
- Include several CTA’s for cross-channel engagement, such as a link to a new article, a suggestion that they follow you on social media, and a way for them to start shopping.
- Add your customer service contact information
Extras and Opportunities:
Don’t be afraid to get creative. Consider adding additional information like the following for maximum impact.
- Your member perks. (Free shipping, easy returns, how to earn points, etc.)
- Information on how to access and use their account
- Send them some product preview
- Additional educational information, such as a couple of links to your best blog posts or an eBook download
- A cool intro or brand video
Expert Tip: Set up the autoresponder email to send immediately after the new member subscribes, while you’re still top-of-mind.
The Abandoned Cart Email
Research shows that an average of 70% of eCommerce shopping carts are abandoned. Seven out of ten customers that hit your site will not follow through with their purchase. E-Commerce business owners lose out on approximately $4 trillion annually due to cart abandonment.
But you aren’t doomed to have all of these customers slip through your fingers. Business Insider estimates that eCommerce businesses can recover an average of 63% of their lost revenue simply by creating a cart abandonment reminder campaign.
The Essential Elements of an Abandoned Cart Email Series
Ideally, you would create a short automated email series. Schedule these to issue over the course of a few days and follow the basic parameters below.
If you don’t have time to create a complete series, at the very least add one automated abandoned cart email. This email can include a mix of the elements listed below as appropriate for your business. Just ensure that it is clear, to the point, and includes an obvious call-to-action to complete the purchase.
Essential Elements for Email 1:
- Curiosity piquing subject line, like “Did you forget something?”
- Clear message and a picture of the items they abandoned
- Clear call-to-action for them to complete the purchase
- Send within 24 hours of abandonment
Essential Elements for Email 2:
- Curiosity piquing subject line with a hint of urgency, such as “We’re selling out fast!”
- Authentic user review to reiterate this decision will be a good one for them
- Clear message and a picture of the items they abandoned
- Clear call-to-action for them to complete the purchase
- Send within 2–3 days of abandonment
Essential Elements for Email 3:
- Compelling email title that compounds urgency or interest
- Discount or promo code to sweeten the deal
- Clear message and a picture of the items they abandoned
- Clear call-to-action for them to complete the purchase
- Send within 3–4 days of abandonment
Expert Tip: Savvy shoppers have caught on that businesses will often send out discounts and promo codes when a cart is abandoned, so they’ll halt their purchase deliberately in hopes of snagging that discount. To combat this, add discounts later in your email series to help protect your profit margins.
The Shipping Confirmation Email
If you’ve built on Shopify, your Order Confirmation emails (or emailed receipts) send automatically.
But after the automatic order confirmation email, you have another opportunity to re-engage your customer through the shipping confirmation email. These emails are a goldmine of opportunity.
Think about it. Your customer already wants and expects that email, which makes it a perfect place for some strategic marketing. Encourage your customers to return to your store by offering a coupon code or showing them other products they may like. Or, direct them to your blog or encourage them to follow you on social. Discover what avenue produces the best experience (and happiest customers) and do that.
The Essential Elements of Shipping Confirmation Email:
- Transaction number
- Name and photo of the purchased products
- Shipping details and link to track the package
- Expected arrival date
- Contact information for customer support
- Social icons and links
- A clear Call-To-Action
Extras and Opportunities:
- Build anticipation for their product delivery through creative content
- Related product suggestions
- Return policy and/or product guarantee
- Discount code or VIP access to an upcoming sale
The Post-Sale Follow Up Email
The follow-up email is surprisingly uncommon, and consumers are used to being ‘dumped’ after the purchase is completed. Stand out by asking if they like what they got, and remind them that you’re there to help if they need anything.
But don’t stop there. Ask for a review! Approximately 25% of your consumers state that they always look at customer reviews before making a purchase, and an additional 40% say they use them often. Up to 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation from a friend. So, don’t be shy; ask!
The Essential Elements of a Post-Sale Email
- Check in on their experience with your product and your brand
- Ask for a review (and make it easy to leave one)
- Offer your contact information
- Proactively offer customer support in case the customer isn’t pleased with their purchase or failed to receive it
- Don’t forget to say thank you
- Send within 3–5 days of the purchase
Extras and Opportunities
- Include tips on the product, such as product care, additional uses, or an FAQ section so they can enjoy their purchase to the fullest
- Display a few ‘additional inspiration’ products that would pair well with the product they recently purchased
- Include a link to a survey to ask for more detailed feedback
The Re-engagement Email
It’s not uncommon to have some subscribers that have lost interest in you. Perhaps they’ve never made a purchase after subscribing, and maybe they haven’t opened your email in a while.
If you have many inactive subscribers — they don’t open or click your emails — your emails will more likely hit the promotions tab, or worse, the spam folder. Tailor an email (or better yet, a series) to re-engage your apathetic consumer.
The Essential Elements of a Re-engagement Email
- Acknowledge that you haven’t heard from them in a while
- Remind them that they matter to you by offering them an exclusive deal or discount
- Tempt them by including personalized recommendations based on previous browsing behavior or purchases
- Give them a clear call-to-action — “You never used that new user promo code we sent you. Get shopping, girl!”
- Offer your customer service contact information — they may be unhappy with a prior purchase or have questions that you can answer to remove the blockers preventing interaction or a purchase
Extras and Opportunities
- Give them the opportunity to unsubscribe or modify the kind of emails they’d like to receive
- Share exciting new features or products
- Surprise them with a joke or something entertaining to spark their interest or make them laugh
- Ask for feedback on why users aren’t interested anymore
- Tell them that it’s their last email (best done as the final email of a series)
Expert Tip: It can be hard to figure out how to strike the right tone with your re-engagement series. Check out this list of ideas and examples for more inspiration.
Additional eCommerce Emails You Really Want to Get After
The five emails above are just your absolute basics. But there are plenty more opportunities to be had with that mailing list you’ve got. Next stage email creation for your marketing team should include:
- Sales and promos
- Updates and News
- Educational content in a regular newsletter
- Referral request
- The upsell and cross-sell email
- Subscription renewal (if relevant)
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And if you haven’t already, get started on those emails. The sooner the better.
Love,
