There’s no denying that Email marketing plays a pivotal role in the success of any business.

Especially when it comes to e-commerce.

It serves as a powerful tool to inspire purchase behaviour, keep customers informed about significant updates, and maintain strong engagement with loyal brand enthusiasts.

Below, we explore some of the most common types of emails that every e-commerce business should be using in their email marketing strategy, that you can start using today to maximise your sales and customer retention.

1. Welcome Emails – Your Gateway to Success

Your subscribers are 50% more likely to open a welcome email than any other kind of email, so an email welcome series is a great way for you to capitalise on “sign-up momentum.”

So whatever you want people to do—whatever action you want them to take—it will be easiest to get during your welcome email series.

Use this opportunity to share your brand story, showcase your products, or even offer an exclusive discount or incentive to encourage their engagement and future purchases.

2. High-Value Customers – Treat Your VIPs with Care

It’s important to know who your loyal or high-value customers are- With that information, you can send a targeted email with special discounts or early access offers just to them.

Segmentation makes it easier to personalise emails and reward loyal customers.

Just create a segment of customers who have purchased your highest-value products and then offer them exclusive VIP offers to keep them coming back for more – like special discounts or sneak previews.

By segmenting your email list by longtime subscribers or the greatest money spent, you can provide an exclusive experience that makes them feel valued by your brand.

3. Product Review Emails – Harness the Power of Social Proof

Positive reviews can build trust and influence other potential customers so after a purchase, encourage customers to share their thoughts and experiences.

You can also send out specific survey emails, this can help you gain insight and understand what your customers need.

4. Abandoned Cart Emails – Win Back Lost Opportunities

Online shoppers, no matter how much they’re interested in your products, are easily distracted while shopping online and can abandon their cart in the middle.

Win back these customers easily with an abandoned cart series. These emails aim to remind customers about the items in their shopping cart and nudge them toward completing the transaction.

Leverage your abandoned cart emails even more by recommending other similar items and sharing reviews to persuade buyers that you’re the brand they need.

Remind them of the products they left behind and encourage them to return by offering incentives such as discounts or free shipping.

5. Upsell and Cross-Sell Emails – Boost Order Values

Use your customer data to send personalised upsell and cross-sell emails. These emails can significantly increase the average order value and customer loyalty.

Upsell: This is a great way to increase your customers’ overall purchase value. Mcdonald’s and their “would you like fries with that ?” strategy are a perfect example

Cross-selling is recommending complementary products or upgrades based on their previous purchases or browsing behaviour. Examine your data, create a segment, and recommend a product to people who would likely be interested because they purchased something similar recently.

6. Referral Emails – Turn Customers into Advocates

Referral emails are great for encouraging customers to share your products with their network, getting themselves and possibly their referees a discount in the process.

7. Date-Based Emails – Celebrate Your Customers

These emails get triggered based on the subscriber’s specific birthday or anniversary from when they first subscribed to your list. They’re highly personalised, helpful in signifying important milestones for your email list in general, and great for making your subscribers feel valued.

For example, you could create an automated Happy Birthday email to be sent on the customer’s birthday with a discount on your products or services.

8. Purchase Frequency Emails – Tailor-Made for Your Customers

By analysing how often your customers make purchases you can then segment them and ultimately send them tailor-made emails. Suggested segments could include lapsed customers, inactive customers, and frequent customers.

Frequent customers could benefit from reward or loyalty programmes, lapsed customers could have targeted promotional emails to encourage them to purchase more.

A re-engagement campaign is ideal for an inactive customer, We recommend sending a few re-engagement campaigns every six months to the following segments…

• People who haven’t purchased in the last 6 months.
• People who haven’t opened an email in the last 6 months.
• People who haven’t clicked on an email in the last 6 months.

9. Promotional Emails – Drive Sales with Irresistible Offers

Inform your audience about specific promotions through well-crafted promotional emails. Whether it’s seasonal promotions, subscriber-only offers, or sales events, these emails can generate excitement and boost sales.
You can send the same sort of emails to promote holiday offers or even just run periodic promotions and boost sales.

E-commerce Best Practices – Your Path to Email Marketing Success

E-commerce email marketing can be a powerful tool to engage with customers, increase sales, and build brand loyalty. Here are some best practices to make the most of your e-commerce email marketing campaigns:

Build a Quality Email List: Focus on growing an organic and engaged email list. Offer incentives like discounts or exclusive content to encourage website visitors to subscribe to your emails. Keep your email list clean by getting rid of zombies and sending out a reactivation campaign to those who have been unengaged after 6 months.

Here’s what to do with cleaned contacts in Mailchimp 

Segmentation: Divide your email list into segments based on customer behaviour, preferences, or demographics. Segmented emails allow you to send more targeted and personalised content, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Mailchimp offers a handful of pre-built e-commerce segments that you can use to improve your sales.

Segmentation tips: 

Use Personalisation: Personalisation helps you send “just in time” emails that provide subscribers with a custom experience. Use customer data to personalise emails with their names, past purchase history, or product recommendations based on their preferences.
The best thing about personalised emails? they have higher open and click-through rates.

Mobile Optimisation: Ensure that your emails are optimised for mobile devices. A large number of your subscribers will be opening emails on their smartphones, so make sure the content, images, and CTA buttons are easily accessible on small screens.

Compelling Subject Lines: Write clear, concise, and attention-grabbing subject lines. Avoid spammy language or deceptive tactics. A compelling subject line increases the chances of your emails being opened.
Learn more about writing compelling subject lines

Quality Content: Provide valuable and relevant content in your emails. Whether it’s informative articles, product recommendations, or exclusive offers, make sure the content is valuable to your subscribers.
How to craft compelling copy that converts 

Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Every email should have a clear and prominent CTA. Whether it’s to shop now, learn more, or claim an offer, make sure the CTA stands out and leads the reader to take the desired action. Your CTA text should be short and concise, while your CTA button should stand out from the rest of your email and be visible to a reader.

A/B Testing:A/B testing helps you identify what resonates best with your audience and optimise your email performance.
Experiment with different elements of your emails, such as subject lines, CTA buttons, or content layouts

Read more about A/B testing here

Timing and Frequency: Pay attention to the timing and frequency of your emails. Avoid bombarding your subscribers with too many emails, as it can lead to unsubscribes or lower engagement. Find the right balance based on your audience’s preferences.

Automate Transactional Emails: Optimise transactional emails like order confirmations and shipping notifications. Even better Automate these based on particular triggers. These emails are an opportunity to provide additional information, upsell or cross-sell, and reinforce your brand’s image.
Email automations in Mailchimp you can use for your business now 

By incorporating these emails and following these best practices, you can create effective e-commerce email marketing campaigns that resonate with your audience, drive conversions, and boost customer loyalty.

Remember, these examples are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many possibilities and you might find other email campaigns to create along your journey that better suits your business and customer needs.