Key takeaways
- Email marketing involves sending targeted, promotional messages to subscribers to increase brand awareness, strengthen customer relationships, and drive sales.
- At the heart of email marketing are email sequences, a series of automated emails sent to specific segments based on behaviors and triggers.
- Email sequences guide customers through every stage of the buyer journey.
- Implement five essential email sequences: welcome, nurturing, abandoned cart, upsell and cross-sell, and re-engagement.
We tell our clients at ePlaybooks that the success of your email marketing campaign relies heavily on understanding your customer journey.
In this guide, we cover the basics of ecommerce email marketing, the five email sequences every ecommerce brand needs, how to set them up, which metrics to track, and proven strategies to get more from every send.
Email marketing: The basics
Email marketing involves sending promotional messages to targeted email list subscribers to increase brand awareness, build relationships, and boost sales. For ecommerce brands, it is a way to promote your products to both new and existing customers. At its core, email marketing is about building customer relationships that turn subscribers into buyers, and buyers into repeat customers.
There are several types of ecommerce emails. Here are three main types to include in your strategy:
Promotional emails
Think of product launch emails, discount emails, and limited-time offers. Promotional emails aim to sell to existing customers and convert leads into customers.
Transactional emails
These emails notify customers about their transactions, such as order confirmations and shipping updates. They build trust by keeping customers informed.
Re-engagement emails
These emails target customers who haven’t bought from you in a while. You can send coupons and other incentives to encourage them to buy from you again.
Benefits of email marketing for ecommerce
It drives traffic to your website and landing pages
Your ecommerce business relies on healthy traffic, and email is a powerful way to send people to your website and landing pages. When subscribers get valuable emails and enticing offers, they click through to take advantage of them. For example, an email promoting a 40% discount on selected clothing items is sure to pique your subscribers’ interest and drive more traffic to your store.
It is personal
Customers increasingly expect personalized shopping experiences. Using customer data, you can send highly targeted emails based on browsing behavior, past purchases, or location. For instance, if a customer abandons their cart, an automated reminder can bring them back to complete the purchase. When customers feel understood and valued, they are more likely to shop with you again.
It is cost-effective
Compared with paid ads or influencer campaigns, email is one of the most cost-effective channels, because you are reaching people who already opted in to hear from you. It helps you capture and nurture leads, and it boosts customer retention, which reduces what you spend acquiring new customers.
It builds brand awareness and trust
Regular, value-driven communication positions your brand as reliable and trustworthy. By sharing helpful tips, product updates, or behind-the-scenes content, you keep your audience engaged beyond promotions and keep your brand top of mind when customers are ready to buy.
What is an email sequence?
Email sequences are a series of automated emails sent to segmented audiences based on criteria over time. They guide customers through awareness, interest, desire, and action.
Instead of sending every subscriber the same email, a sequence is triggered by what each shopper does, such as signing up, leaving items in a cart, or making a purchase. Once you set a sequence up, it runs automatically in the background.
5 types of email sequences for your ecommerce brand
Here are the essential email sequences every ecommerce brand should have to drive engagement, build loyalty, and boost sales.
Welcome email sequence
The welcome sequence is your first impression. It introduces your brand and products to new subscribers right after they sign up. Use it to share your brand story, offer a first-order discount, and highlight some of your best products.
One to three emails is a good starting point. The first email thanks and welcomes the subscriber. The second and third can focus on how your products add value and invite subscribers to connect with you on other channels, such as social media.
Nurturing email sequence
Nurturing emails show subscribers how to use your products and why your product is exactly what they need to solve their problems. Think buying guides, how-to content, customer stories, and reviews that move a subscriber closer to a first purchase.
Abandoned cart email sequence
Shoppers often add products to their cart and leave without buying. An abandoned cart sequence sends reminders to recover those lost sales. Show the products left in the cart, use a catchy subject line and a strong call to action, and consider adding a discount or free shipping offer in a later email if the first reminder doesn’t convert.
Upsell and cross-sell email sequence
After a purchase, upsell and cross-sell emails recommend upgrades or related products to increase your average order value and bring customers back. Base recommendations on what the customer bought, and time them around when they are likely to need a refill, an accessory, or a complementary item.
Re-engagement email sequence
Re-engagement emails target customers and subscribers who haven’t opened your emails or bought from your store in a while. Remind them what they are missing, share new arrivals, or offer an incentive to come back. If someone still doesn’t engage, consider removing them from your list to protect your deliverability.
How to set up email sequences to improve ROI
Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up email sequences that improve your return on investment.
Set clear goals
Start with clear, measurable goals, such as increasing your repeat purchase rate or recovering more abandoned carts. Your goals decide which sequences you build first and which metrics you watch.
Choose the right email marketing platform
Choose an email marketing platform built for ecommerce, such as Klaviyo, Mailchimp, or Omnisend. Look for a native integration with your store platform so purchase and browsing data flows in automatically. Klaviyo, for example, offers prebuilt flows for welcome series, browse and cart abandonment, back in stock alerts, post-purchase follow-ups, and winback, and can combine email and SMS in one flow.
Grow and segment your list
Gather emails by offering value in exchange for an email address, such as a coupon, a newsletter, or early access to launches, using popups and signup forms on your site. Then segment your audience based on behavior, purchase history, or demographics so each sequence reaches the right people.
Understand your customer journey
Outline your key customer touchpoints from signup to first purchase, post-purchase, inactivity, and repeat purchase. Each touchpoint is a trigger for one of your sequences.
Build the essential email sequences
Next, build the five essential sequences: welcome, nurturing, abandoned cart, upsell and cross-sell, and re-engagement. Create any landing pages your emails link to before you switch the sequences on.
Track, test, and optimize
Treat your email marketing as an ongoing experiment. A/B test subject lines, send times, and incentives, monitor the metrics below for each sequence, and adjust what isn’t working.
Which email marketing metrics should you track?
Track these metrics for every sequence and campaign to see what is working:
| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Open rate | The share of recipients who open your email. It reflects how compelling your subject lines and sender name are. Some email apps preload images, which can inflate opens, so don’t rely on this metric alone. |
| Click-through rate | How many subscribers clicked a link in your email, a direct sign of engagement with your content. |
| Conversion rate | The percentage of recipients who completed your desired action, such as making a purchase or downloading a resource, after clicking through. |
| Bounce rate | Whether emails were delivered. Soft bounces are temporary issues (for example, a full inbox or a message that is too large). Hard bounces are permanent failures, such as invalid or non-existent addresses. |
| Unsubscribe rate | How many recipients opted out after a message. A high rate may mean your content isn’t meeting expectations or you are targeting the wrong audience. |
| Revenue generated | How much revenue each campaign or sequence brings in, which links your email program directly to ROI. |
5 email sequence best practices
Set a clear goal
Give every sequence, and every email within it, one job, such as getting a first purchase or a review. A clear goal makes it easier to write the email and to measure whether it worked.
Pay attention to your subject lines
Your subject line decides whether your email gets opened. Keep it short, specific, and relevant to the trigger, and test different versions to see what your audience responds to.
Add valuable content
Not every email should be a sales pitch. Mix helpful tips, product education, and inspiration with your offers so subscribers look forward to hearing from you. A common guideline is the 80/20 rule: about 80% value and 20% promotion.
Include a call to action
Your subscribers should know exactly what to do next. A call to action is usually a button or link, and it should be clear, easy to spot, and focused on one goal. Too many action points can confuse readers. Use A/B testing to find the call to action your subscribers respond to best.
Keep mobile in mind
Many shoppers read email on their phones, and even slight friction can make them click away. Use short subject lines, clean single-column layouts, and buttons that are easy to tap, and preview every email on mobile before you send it.
More strategies to nail your ecommerce email marketing
Once your core sequences are running, these strategies can help you get even more from email.
Personalize with segmentation
Plenty of other brands are emailing your subscribers too. Personalization helps you stand out. You can personalize your emails in three main ways:
- Demographic: using factors like age, gender, and income to tailor recommendations.
- Contextual: based on where the customer is in their journey, for example shoppers who are considering a purchase.
- Behavioral: using purchase history or website behavior.
Use one or more of these to create emails that resonate with your audience.
Send promotional emails occasionally
When you launch a new product or run a sale, build a campaign around it. Segment subscribers by purchase behavior, especially around holiday seasons. But find the sweet spot: too many promotional emails make your brand look salesy and drive unsubscribes.
Reward repeat buyers
Repeat buyers and loyal subscribers are key to your growth, and they spread the word to friends and family. Reward them with exclusive offers, early access, or extra after-sales support so they feel valued, not just discounted.
Send back-in-stock and wishlist emails
Running out of stock can work in your favor. Add a wishlist or "notify me" button to your store so you know who is interested in a product, then email those customers as soon as it is back in stock to recover sales you would otherwise lose.
A/B test your emails
A/B testing compares two or more versions of an element to see which performs better. Test subject lines, calls to action, images, layouts, send times, and offers, then roll out the winning version.
Keep growing your email list
Subscribers can unsubscribe at any time, so keep adding new ones. Use newsletter popups, discounts, and giveaways, and always offer something valuable in exchange for an email address.
Final thoughts
Whether you’re new to ecommerce or a seasoned seller, email marketing is a channel you shouldn’t ignore. Set clear goals, choose the right platform, build your core sequences, and keep testing to improve every send.
If you need a reliable partner to nurture your ecommerce presence, you can contact us at ePlaybooks.
