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Email marketing and eCommerce businesses are two peas in a pod. But if you are not sending the right types of emails, your efforts are in vain. There are numerous email types for eCommerce that can help you skyrocket conversion and become the number 1 online store!
While there are countless other marketing channels and tactics that can help you grow your eCommerce business, email marketing will always be one of the best. So, let’s take a deep dive into the top 10 email types for eCommerce.
Table of Contents
10 Email types for eCommerce businesses:- Welcome emails
- Abandoned cart emails
- Order confirmation emails
- Promotional emails
- Cross-selling and upselling emails
- Referral emails
- Post-purchase emails
- Re-engagement emails
- Loyalty programs emails
- New product emails
10 Email Types for eCommerce Businesses
Email campaigns work wonders for all businesses, but eCommerce in specific, can benefit greatly from email marketing. In fact, the eCommerce industry has the highest email marketing ROI of 45:1. Keep in mind that other industries like software have software and technology have an email marketing ROI of 36:1.
Needless to say, each one of the email types for eCommerce varies in ROI, click-through rate (CTR), open rate, deliverability, bounce rate, and conversion rate.
1- Welcome Emails
Welcome campaigns are one of the most important email types for eCommerce as they set the tone for the whole relationship you will have with the customer. Also, they work on managing the customers’ expectations from the very beginning, which can help you eliminate many future problems.
It is important to send a welcome email immediately after the customer opts into your email list or subscribes to anything on your online store. In a welcome email, you should include:
- A thank you for choosing us and a welcome onboard
- Some social proof that showcases your true value as a brand
- A brief about your eCommerce business and its values
- Your top sellers or some personalized product recommendations (if you already managed to gather data on the customer at that point)
2- Abandoned cart emails
Every eCommerce business gets countless website visitors that put products into their baskets and then leave. That’s why abandoned cart campaigns are one of the most important email types for eCommerce that works on lead nurturing.
Just like welcome emails, abandoned cart emails should be sent within minutes of a customer leaving your online store. The best abandoned cart emails include:
- The products the customer left behind
- A persuasive section (could be in the form of UGC, a discount, or just some enticing words)
- Visuals that grab the attention of the customer
3- Order confirmation emails
is it too repetitive to tell you that order confirmation campaigns are also one of the most important email types for eCommerce businesses? Even if it is, we are saying it!
Order confirmation emails have the highest open rate because customers actually want to read those ones. This type of email has to include all the order confirmation details, such as:
- Payment methods
- Delivery date
- Delivery address
As a bonus, you can add some recommendations (complementary products) and live order tracking.
4- Promotional emails
Promotional emails go hand in hand with the eCommerce industry, as they mainly focus on increasing sales (the end goal of any eCommerce business). You can send promotional content through two methods; purely promotional emails that work on pushing your products or turning any email into a promotional email.
The first type can be sent in the form of engaging emails that include personalized recommendations and some coupons or bundles to give customers that extra nudge to convert. Bear in mind that customers get tons of these emails every day, so your promotional emails have to be unique and attention-grabbing!
On the other hand, if you want to turn any of the other email types for eCommerce into promotional emails, you just need to include some product recommendations and a strong CTA. Most importantly, don’t send too many promotional emails; no one likes a nagging nancy!
5- Cross-selling and upselling emails
Cross-selling and upselling emails can be categorized under order confirmation and promotional emails, but due to their importance, we will discuss them separately.
You got a customer that you already ordered from your brand, so the amount of persuasion you need to get them to convert is minimal. That’s the perfect time to hit them with an email that pushes them to make more purchases. To send the perfect cross-selling email or upselling email, you need to:
- Choose the right timing (they can be a part of your order confirmation campaigns, post-purchase emails, or you can simply send them as monthly emails).
- Recommend the right products (in cross-selling, these are complementary products, and in upselling, these are products that offer an upgraded version of their past purchases).
- Be clear about the products’ features and prices.
6- Referral emails
Growing your eCommerce business means reaching new customers, and there is no easier way than referral programs. To keep it simple a referral program is a way to incentivize word of mouth and user-generated content.
It usually includes a unique code or a link given to each customer that can be later used by their friends, family, or social media followers to make a purchase. Then you reward the original customer with a discount or a free product.
With all this in mind, it’s easy to see why referral emails are one of the vital email types for eCommerce. An ideal referral email should
- Be in a friendly tone.
- Include a detailed guide on how they can use your referral program
- Highlight the benefits customers will get
7- Post-purchase emails
You must have heard that it can cost your eCommerce business up to 25x more to acquire a customer than to retain an existing one. And that’s why you should never skip the post-purchase emails! A post-purchase email campaign has to build enthusiasm and include the following:
- A thank you part (or a separate email) where you show gratitude
- Survey or any other way to let customers tell you how they feel about your products
- Personalized product recommendations based on their previous purchases
Keep in mind, that an order confirmation email is considered a part of a post-purchase email campaign. So you start the campaign right after the customer makes an order and follow that with other emails when they receive it.
8- Re-engagement emails
Even though every eCommerce business tends to lose customers, you still have to do something about it! A re-engagement email campaign can be sent after a customer stops ordering by around 6 months.
You should send 3-4 emails, but no more than that, as you don’t want to be marked as spam. To send a strong re-engagement campaign that pulls back customers, you should:
- Offer an incentive to get their attention
- Add a human touch and show sadness about losing them
- Focus on the value your products offer
- Ask if you can do something to get them back
- Highlight any new products available on your online store
9- Loyalty program emails
Sending loyalty program emails is a great way to create hype and get existing customers to order. It also helps this is one of the easiest email campaigns; you only need to include:
- The customer’s progress on the loyalty program (for example “2 more purchases and you are up for a gift”).
- A strong CTA
Yes, that’s it! Loyalty programs are already enticing enough that you don’t need complicated emails. Just keep it short and sweet.
10- New product emails
Last but surely not least, new product emails are a great way to notify customers about your launches and create hype over your products. These emails are best sent a couple of days before the products are available on your online store. Also, it's important for your new product emails to:
- Create a sense of urgency
- Include all the details about the new product (features, prices, release date)
- Have visuals (images or videos)
Final Thoughts
In the end, it’s important to note that any email campaign you send should include catchy subject lines, strong CTAs, and represent your brand’s image and values. Whether you are planning on sending a couple of email types or all of them, you can uplevel your game by automation your email campaigns.
Marketing operating systems like ConvertedIn can help you automate your marketing campaign, include personalized product recommendations, and even integrate emails with SMS. Book a demo now to learn more!
