The short answer: Shopify email marketing is sending automated emails and planned campaigns to your store's subscribers, using what Shopify knows about them. To start, use Shopify Messaging or an email app, switch on six core automations, add a signup form, authenticate your domain and send about one campaign a week.
Key takeaways
- Switch on the welcome and abandoned cart emails first; once they are live, they run by themselves.
- Six core automations (welcome, abandoned cart, browse abandonment, thank-you, review request and win-back) cover most of what a small store needs.
- Shopify Messaging is enough for many new stores: 10,000 free emails a month on paid plans. An app earns its place when you lack time, need deeper tools or send a lot.
- Grow your list with a signup form that gives people a clear reason to join, and only email people who agreed.
- Authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and keep spam complaints low to stay out of spam folders.
- Plan campaigns a few months ahead, and judge results by clicks and revenue, not opens.
What is Shopify email marketing?
Shopify email marketing is email sent to your store's subscribers and customers using what Shopify already knows about them: what they browsed, what they left in their cart, what they bought and when. It comes in two kinds.
- Automations (also called flows) are sent when a shopper does something, such as joining your list or leaving checkout. You set them up once and they keep working.
- Campaigns are one-off or recurring emails you plan and send to a group, such as a new collection, a holiday sale or a weekly roundup.
Both are marketing emails, which means they need the person's consent and an unsubscribe link. They are different from the transactional emails Shopify sends anyway, such as order confirmations and shipping updates, which you manage under Settings and then Notifications.
The reason small stores bother is simple: your list is an audience you own. You don't pay per click to reach it, a platform can't change who sees your message, and the people on it have already shown interest in what you sell. The work is in setting up the automations once and keeping a steady rhythm of campaigns. The rest of this guide covers both.
Does Shopify have email marketing? When Shopify Messaging is enough
Yes. Shopify's own app, Shopify Messaging (formerly Shopify Email), sends email, SMS and WhatsApp messages from your Shopify admin. Its templates pull in your logo, products and prices, and it comes with ready-made automations. Here is what it costs and includes, from Shopify's email pricing page and automation templates:
| What | Shopify Messaging |
|---|---|
| Free emails | 10,000 a month on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans; unused emails don't roll over |
| After the free 10,000 | $1 per 1,000 emails up to 300,000, then $0.65 per 1,000, then $0.55 per 1,000 above 750,000 |
| Abandoned checkout emails | Always free, and not counted in the 10,000 |
| Automation templates | Welcome (with a discount email or a discount series), abandoned checkout, abandoned cart, abandoned product browse, thank-you after first and second purchases, birthday, VIP welcome and more |
| Signup forms | Through the separate Shopify Forms app |
For a full walk-through of what is free and what isn't, read does Shopify have email marketing.
Shopify Messaging is enough when
- You send under 10,000 emails a month. That covers a weekly campaign to about 2,500 subscribers, and abandoned checkout emails are on top for free.
- You have time to plan and write. Shopify gives you the templates and an AI copy assistant, but you decide what to send and when.
- Your automations are standard. Welcome, abandoned checkout and a thank-you email cover the basics, and Shopify has templates for all three.
- You want everything in one admin, with no app to connect or sync.
You will probably want an app when
- Campaigns keep slipping because nobody has time to plan or write them.
- You want deeper flows and segments, such as many branches, predictive data or detailed reports.
- You send often to a list that isn't growing fast. Twice-weekly campaigns to 10,000 people is about 80,000 emails a month, or about $70 on Shopify Messaging, so a price based on contacts can be easier to budget.
- You need a flow Shopify doesn't template, such as a review request. We did not find one in Shopify Messaging's automation list.
Most stores that outgrow it compare Shopify Messaging with Klaviyo first; our Klaviyo vs Shopify Email comparison sets the two side by side, and the Shopify Email alternative page shows how tinyAlbert differs. If you use two tools, run each automation in only one of them, or customers get two of the same email.
How do you grow your email list on Shopify?
Every email you send depends on the size and quality of your list. The most reliable ways to grow it are simple, and you can set up all of them in an afternoon.
- A popup with a clear reason to join, such as a first-order discount, early access to new products or a useful guide. Show it after a visitor has had a moment to look around, make it easy to close, and keep it to one field: the email address.
- An embedded form in your footer or on key pages for people who don't want a popup.
- The marketing checkbox at checkout. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings, then Checkout, and in the Marketing opt-in section choose to show the consent checkbox at checkout, on the sign-in page or both (Shopify Help Center).
- Your own channels. Mention the list on social profiles, packing slips and order confirmation pages, with the same reason to join.
Shopify's own forms come from its Shopify Forms app, and most email apps include their own. Our guide to adding an email popup to Shopify covers timing, offers and what to write, and tinyAlbert's signup forms come pre-written in four versions: Newsletter Subscription, 10% Off Your First Order, Exclusive Deals and Stay in touch. You switch them on once in the Shopify theme editor, with no code.
Consent matters. Only email people who have agreed to hear from you, and make unsubscribing easy. In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act requires a working opt-out in every marketing email and says you must honour opt-outs within 10 business days. In the UK, the ICO's guidance says you need specific consent, with a limited "soft opt-in" for your own past customers. Check the rules where your customers live.
The 6 core Shopify email automations, explained
Automations do most of the heavy lifting for a small store, because they reach people at the moment they are paying attention. These six cover the whole customer journey, from first visit to lapsed customer. Set them up roughly in this order.
| Automation | Triggered when | A sensible starting point | Its job |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Welcome | Someone joins your list | First email straight away, 2 to 3 more over two weeks | Deliver the signup offer and introduce your store |
| 2. Abandoned cart or checkout | A shopper adds to cart or starts checkout but doesn't buy | First reminder a few hours later, up to 2 follow-ups | Bring them back to finish the order |
| 3. Browse abandonment | A subscriber views a product but doesn't add it to the cart | One email the same day or the next | Remind them what caught their eye |
| 4. Thank-you (post-purchase) | An order is placed | Shortly after the order | Thank them and set expectations |
| 5. Review request | An order has been delivered | A week or two after delivery | Collect reviews and suggest what's next |
| 6. Win-back | A customer hasn't bought for a while | Once they pass your usual time between orders | Show what's new and invite them back |
The timings are starting points to test, not rules. A store selling coffee that runs out in a month needs a faster win-back than one selling furniture.
1. Welcome email: make the first impression count
The welcome email arrives seconds after someone chose to hear from you, so it is the email they are most expecting. Use it to do three things: deliver anything you promised on the signup form (such as a discount code), tell people what makes your store different in two or three sentences, and point them to a sensible next step, like your bestsellers. If you send a series, space the emails a couple of days apart and give each one a single job: your story, your bestsellers, your reviews, then a reminder before any code expires. Our welcome email examples include a four-email series you can copy, and the welcome emails page shows how tinyAlbert writes yours, with or without a 10% first-order discount.
2. Abandoned cart email: recover the nearly-sold
Shopify separates two moments. An abandoned checkout is someone who started checkout and left; an abandoned cart is someone who added products but never reached checkout. Most merchants mean the first when they say "abandoned cart email".
- Wait a few hours before the first email, so people who were only interrupted can finish on their own. Klaviyo suggests a first reminder 2 to 4 hours after abandonment.
- Show the actual items left behind, with images and prices, and keep one clear button back to checkout.
- Answer the likely doubt: shipping cost, delivery time or returns.
- Hold any discount for the second or third email, so you don't teach shoppers to abandon carts on purpose.
Shopify Messaging sends abandoned checkout emails for free. If you also use another app for this, switch one of them off so shoppers don't get two reminders. Our step-by-step guide shows how to set up abandoned cart emails on Shopify both ways, our abandoned cart email examples show nine approaches to adapt, and there are abandoned cart subject lines to borrow too. In tinyAlbert, the abandoned cart email pulls the shopper's cart products into the message automatically.
3. Browse abandonment: the gentle nudge
Browse abandonment emails go to subscribers who looked at a product but didn't add it to their cart. They are softer than a cart reminder: the shopper showed interest, not intent. Keep it to one email that shows the product they viewed, a few similar ones and a short line of help, such as a sizing guide or your returns policy. Don't add a discount here. Shopify Messaging has a "Convert abandoned product browse" template; in tinyAlbert, browse abandonment is listed as coming soon.
4. Thank-you email: start the second order
The thank-you email goes out after an order, alongside Shopify's order confirmation, not instead of it. Make it warm and personal: thank the customer, tell them when to expect delivery, and give them something useful, such as how to use or care for the product. Customers who have just bought are the ones most likely to open, so this is also a good place for a soft "you might also like".
5. Review request: turn buyers into proof
Ask for a review once the product has arrived and been used, not the day the order ships. Keep the ask short, link straight to the review form, and say thank you whatever they write. A review request also works as a second post-purchase touch, with related products below the ask. Our guide to post-purchase and review request emails covers timing and wording, and tinyAlbert's post-purchase and win-back emails include a Product Review automation that is already written.
6. Win-back email: bring lapsed customers back
A win-back email goes to customers who haven't ordered in a while. The right wait depends on how often people need what you sell; Shopify's own blog suggests stores whose customers shop once a year set the wait to 365 days. Lead with what's new, remind them why they bought, and, if you use an offer, keep it for the last email in the series. People who still don't respond after a win-back are candidates to stop emailing, which protects your deliverability. See our win-back email examples for wording that works.
Tip: write all six in the same voice. A shopper who gets a playful welcome and then a stiff, formal cart reminder notices the change.
How do you plan an email campaign calendar?
Campaigns are where most stores fall behind, because each one needs an idea, copy, images and a send time. A calendar turns that into a routine.
- Pick a rhythm you can keep. One campaign a week is a common starting point. Consistency matters more than volume.
- Mark the dates that matter to your customers. Retail moments like Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, back to school, Halloween, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, plus your own launches and restocks.
- Plan the build-up, not just the day. A teaser before a big sale, the sale itself, and a last-chance reminder work better than a single send.
- Fill the gaps with useful content. New arrivals, how-to guides, customer favourites and behind-the-scenes stories.
- Plan a few months ahead. Black Friday emails written in late October go out calmer and better than ones written the night before.
Our email marketing calendar for Shopify stores lists every retail moment month by month. For the busiest weeks, follow the Black Friday and Cyber Monday email calendar and the Christmas and New Year email campaign ideas. If you would rather start from a filled-in plan, tinyAlbert's AI campaign calendar plans and writes the campaigns around your store's category and retail moments.
How often should a Shopify store send marketing emails?
There is no single right number, but there is a sensible way to find yours. Start with one campaign a week to your engaged subscribers, add extra sends around big moments such as Black Friday, and watch three signals after each send: clicks, unsubscribes and spam complaints. If clicks hold steady and unsubscribes stay low, you can try sending more. If complaints rise, slow down or narrow who receives each email.
Automations don't count against this rhythm in the same way, because each one goes to a person at a moment they triggered. Just make sure a new subscriber doesn't receive a welcome email, a campaign and a cart reminder on the same afternoon; check whether your app can hold campaigns back from people who are in an active flow. Our guide to how often to send marketing emails goes deeper on frequency by store type.
How do you write emails people actually click?
Good store emails are short, specific and built around one action. Before you write, decide the single thing you want the reader to do: shop a collection, read a guide or use a code. Then:
- Write the subject line and preview text together. The subject earns the open; the preview text, the grey line after it in the inbox, adds the detail. Be specific ("New linen shirts in four colours") rather than clever.
- Lead with the point. The first line and image should say what the email is about without scrolling.
- Use one main button. Extra links are fine, but one action should stand out.
- Design for phones first. Large text, a single column and buttons big enough to tap.
- Show real products and prices, pulled from your store so they are always correct.
- Sound like your store. The same tone on your product pages, your emails and your packaging.
- Send a test to yourself and check it on a phone before every send.
For ideas by campaign type, see our email subject lines for online stores. If you would rather not design from scratch, browse tinyAlbert's email templates.
How should you segment your list?
A segment is a group of subscribers who share something: how recently they bought, how often, what they bought or how engaged they are. Segments let you send fewer, more relevant emails, which helps both sales and deliverability. When you have only a few hundred subscribers, emailing everyone is fine. As your list grows, these segments are worth having:
- Engaged subscribers: people who have clicked recently. Send to them most often.
- New customers: recent first-time buyers, who need reassurance and a reason for a second order.
- Repeat or frequent buyers: your best customers, who deserve early access rather than discounts.
- Lapsed customers: no order for a long time, ready for a win-back.
- Never purchased: subscribers who haven't bought yet, who need trust and bestsellers more than new arrivals.
Shopify's customer segments are rule-based lists that update themselves, and you can send Shopify Messaging campaigns to them. tinyAlbert comes with 28 pre-built segments: 5 for engagement, 12 for deliverability and 11 for the customer lifecycle. In its definitions, a new customer placed their first order in the last 7 days, a frequent buyer has more than 3 orders in the last 30 days, and an inactive customer has no order in the last 180 days. Its visual workflow builder uses Shopify triggers such as checkout started, order placed and order fulfilled, with time delays and conditional splits. See segments and workflows for how they fit together.
How do you make sure your emails reach the inbox?
An email that lands in spam earns nothing. Mailbox providers decide where your email goes based on who you are (authentication) and how recipients react (engagement and complaints).
Authenticate your sending domain
- SPF lists the servers allowed to send email for your domain.
- DKIM adds a digital signature that proves an email wasn't changed on the way.
- DMARC tells mailbox providers what to do when SPF or DKIM checks fail, and sends you reports.
Google's email sender guidelines require SPF or DKIM from everyone who sends to Gmail. Senders of more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail accounts also need SPF, DKIM and DMARC, one-click unsubscribe, and a spam rate in Postmaster Tools below 0.30%, ideally below 0.10%. Yahoo's sender best practices set similar rules, including a spam rate below 0.3%. Our guide to Gmail and Yahoo sender requirements for Shopify stores explains who counts as a bulk sender, and how to set up DKIM, SPF and DMARC for your Shopify store walks through the DNS records.
Your email app may handle part of this for you. Shopify Messaging authenticates all marketing emails and, until you add your own domain, sends from an authenticated shopifyemail.com address. tinyAlbert sends from a managed address with DKIM, SPF and DMARC verified from day one, and you can add your own domain later.
Keep your list healthy
- Remove addresses that bounce, and stop emailing people who haven't engaged in a long time, or send them a win-back first.
- Send to engaged subscribers more often than to dormant ones.
- Watch your complaint rate. A rise is an early warning to slow down and check what you're sending.
- Never buy or rent a list. Those addresses never agreed to hear from you, and they drag down your reputation for everyone else on your list.
Deliverability problems often show up at one provider first, such as Gmail subscribers who stopped opening. tinyAlbert's 12 deliverability segments target exactly that: recovery segments for Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft and iCloud, three inbox-recovery levels across all providers, and five segments that exclude a provider. Read more on the deliverability page.
How do you measure email marketing results?
The goal is sales, so measure the numbers closest to sales first.
- Revenue and orders attributed to email. Check how your app attributes them. Most count an order if it happens within a set number of days after an open or click, and the window differs between apps. tinyAlbert, for example, counts an order placed within 10 days of the latest open or click.
- Click rate. A reliable sign that the email interested people.
- Unsubscribe and spam complaint rates. These tell you when you're sending too much, or the wrong thing.
- Open rate, with caution. Apple's Mail Privacy Protection prevents senders from seeing whether an email was opened, so open rates are less reliable than they used to be.
- List growth. New subscribers minus unsubscribes each month. A list that shrinks will shrink your sales with it.
Compare like with like: one campaign against your recent average, not against industry figures that may count differently. Once a month, look at which automations bring in the most orders, and refresh the weakest one.
What does Shopify email marketing cost?
It can cost nothing, as long as you stay inside Shopify Messaging's free allowance and write everything yourself. Apps charge in two ways: by emails sent, or by contacts on your list. Here is what a weekly campaign (four a month) costs on each model, using Shopify's published email pricing and tinyAlbert's contact tiers:
| List size | Emails a month (4 campaigns) | Shopify Messaging | tinyAlbert (unlimited sends) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 contacts | 2,000 | $0 | $10 a month |
| 2,500 contacts | 10,000 | $0 | $45 a month |
| 10,000 contacts | 40,000 | $30 a month | $162 a month |
Automated emails other than abandoned checkout count towards Shopify's 10,000, so the real number of emails is a little higher. What the table doesn't show is your time: on Shopify Messaging you plan and write each campaign, while tinyAlbert writes them for you. Our breakdown of Shopify email marketing cost compares more apps at more list sizes. Every tinyAlbert tier is on the pricing page.
Which email marketing tool should a Shopify store use?
There are three broad approaches, and the right one depends on how much time you have and how deep you want to go.
| Approach | Examples | Good fit if |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify's own tools | Shopify Messaging, with Campaign Autopilot | You send under 10,000 emails a month and are happy to plan and write campaigns, or to review Autopilot's suggestions |
| A full email platform you run yourself | Klaviyo, Omnisend, Mailchimp | You or a teammate have time to build flows and campaigns, and want deep control, SMS or advanced reports |
| A done-for-you AI app | tinyAlbert | You want campaigns and automations written in your voice for you, ready to review and switch on |
The big platforms have free plans for very small lists. Klaviyo's free plan covers up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month, with paid email plans from $20 a month. Omnisend's Free plan includes all the features of its paid plans, with limits of 250 contacts and 500 emails a month; Standard starts at $16 a month. Mailchimp's Free plan allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, without automation flows.
Our list of the best email marketing apps for Shopify compares eight options with prices, and Omnisend vs Klaviyo helps if you are choosing between the two biggest platforms. To see each one against tinyAlbert, read the Klaviyo alternative, Omnisend alternative and Mailchimp alternative pages, or start from all comparisons. If AI writing is what you're after, our round-up of the best AI email marketing tools for Shopify narrows the field.
Can AI do your Shopify email marketing for you?
More of it than a few years ago. AI is now good at the repetitive parts: planning a calendar around your sales moments, drafting campaigns and automations in a consistent voice, and suggesting subject lines. It still needs you for the facts: prices, offers, dates and promises. Our guide on how to use AI for email marketing on Shopify covers what to automate and what to check, and can AI write your marketing emails? looks at where it works and where it doesn't.
On Shopify you have two main routes:
- Shopify Campaign Autopilot is free in your Shopify admin (you pay the usual channel costs). It recommends and generates email tactics, such as automations and one-time campaigns, alongside ads. Your permissions decide whether each tactic waits for your approval or runs without it, and email tactics need the Shopify Messaging app (Shopify Help Center). Read our Campaign Autopilot review for what it does for email.
- A done-for-you AI email app such as tinyAlbert, which plans, writes and sends your email marketing, with everything visible before it goes live.
How tinyAlbert does it
tinyAlbert is an AI email marketing app for Shopify stores. At setup you answer four questions: the layout (Colourful, Minimalist or Professional), the tone of voice (one of seven), the language (one of ten) and up to 1,000 characters about your store. From that, it writes:
- a calendar of campaigns built around your store's category and retail moments, at about one campaign a week by default (you choose how many and when);
- six automations: Welcome Series, Welcome Series 10% Discount, Abandoned Cart, Thank You For Purchase, Product Review and Win Back Flow;
- four signup forms.
You can preview any email on desktop and mobile, edit it, send a test or regenerate it, and nothing sends until you switch it on. Revenue reporting is linked to your Shopify orders. It costs $3 a month for up to 100 contacts after a 7-day free trial on the Shopify App Store; there is no free plan. See how it works step by step, everything on the features page, or what done-for-you email marketing means in practice. If you are weighing it against hiring help, compare an email marketing agency vs AI.
Whatever you use, review before you send. AI is good at first drafts and consistency. You know your customers, prices and promises, so check offers, dates and product details before anything goes live.
How to use Shopify email marketing: your first 30 days
If you are starting from nothing, this order keeps the work manageable and gets the highest-value emails live first.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Choose your tool, set up your sending domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), add a signup form and the checkout checkbox, and switch on the welcome and abandoned cart emails. |
| Week 2 | Add the thank-you and browse abandonment emails. Send your first campaign to your whole list: a simple introduction or your bestsellers. |
| Week 3 | Map out the next three months of campaigns on a calendar, including the build-up to any big sale, and set up two or three basic segments. |
| Week 4 | Switch on the review request and win-back emails, look at clicks, revenue and unsubscribes from your first sends, and adjust your rhythm. |
After the first month, the routine is light: keep the calendar a few months ahead, check results once a week, and refresh the automations once or twice a year so they still match your products, prices and voice.
Mistakes to avoid
- Running the same automation in two apps, so customers get two welcome or cart emails.
- Discounting every email. Customers learn to wait for the code.
- Sending only when there is a sale. Long silences make your next email feel like spam.
- Setting automations and forgetting them. Old prices, discontinued products and expired codes creep in.
- Judging by opens alone. Clicks and orders tell you far more.
Frequently asked questions
How does Shopify email marketing work?
You collect subscribers through signup forms and the checkout checkbox, then send them two kinds of email from Shopify Messaging or an email app. Automations go out when a shopper does something, such as leaving checkout. Campaigns are planned sends, such as a new collection or a sale. Your Shopify data supplies the products, prices and customer history.
Is Shopify email marketing free?
Partly. Shopify Messaging includes 10,000 free emails a month on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans, then charges $1 per 1,000 emails up to 300,000. Abandoned checkout emails are always free and don't count towards the 10,000. Third-party apps have their own pricing, usually by contacts or by emails sent.
Which email should a new Shopify store set up first?
Start with the welcome email and the abandoned cart email. Both are triggered by shopper behaviour, run on their own once switched on, and reach people at the moment they are most interested. Then add the thank-you, browse abandonment, review request and win-back emails over the next few weeks.
Is Shopify Messaging good enough, or do I need Klaviyo?
For many new stores, Shopify Messaging is enough: it is free up to 10,000 emails a month and includes the main automation templates. Consider Klaviyo or Omnisend when you want deeper flows, detailed segments and reports and have time to run them, or an AI app like tinyAlbert when you want the emails written for you.
How often should a Shopify store send marketing emails?
Pick a rhythm you can keep, such as one campaign a week, and add extra sends around big moments like Black Friday. Send most often to subscribers who click, and watch unsubscribes and spam complaints after each send. If complaints rise, send less often or to a smaller, more engaged group.
Can AI do my Shopify email marketing for me?
Much of it. tinyAlbert plans a calendar of campaigns and writes your core automations in your brand's voice for you to review and switch on. Shopify's free Campaign Autopilot generates email tactics too; your permissions decide whether each one waits for your approval. Either way, check offers, dates and prices before anything sends.
tinyAlbert is an AI email marketing app for Shopify stores, made by tinyCo, the company behind tinyEmail. About tinyAlbert.