10 automated emails you should use in your eCommerce store

Managing email campaigns can take up a lot of your time.

You need to encourage people to sign up for your emails. You need to create high-quality content that makes customers want to buy. You have to decide how to segment and personalise your content to get the best results.

Using automation, where you send pre-scheduled emails to customers when they complete a specific action, can save you valuable hours and help you nurture customers across all stages of the sales funnel.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at ten different types of automated emails you can send to existing and prospective customers alike.

Article topics

1. A welcome email
2. A Thank-you email
3. An abandoned cart email
4. A birthday celebration email
5. A review request email
6. A ‘back in stock’ email
7. A ‘win back’ email
8. A browse abandonment email
9. A reorder email
10. A sunset flow email
11. Automated email: Frequently asked questions

1. A welcome email

What it is: A welcome email is an automated email that you send to people when they sign up to your email mailing list.

Why it’s important: Your welcome email is likely to be the first impression customers have of your eCommerce store. You can use it to tell them more about your business, your brand, and your values.

Welcome emails have four times the open rate and five times the click-through rate of standard emails, so they’re fantastic for relaying key information.

Top tip: As well as sending just one welcome email to customers, you can send a series of emails to customers, known as a ‘welcome email flow’.

This is ideal if you want to share several different messages with customers, without cramming everything into one email.

For example, you can use your first email to welcome customers on board, your second email to showcase your values, and your third email to promote your products.

2. A Thank-you email

What it is: A thank-you email is an automated email that you send to customers after they place an order.

You can use it to confirm which products they bought, tell them about the delivery and returns process, and show your appreciation for their purchase.

Why it’s important: You can use your thank-you email to provide helpful information about when customers can expect their delivery, for example, by providing a link to a tracking app.

This means customers don’t have to contact you for more details, saving your business time and resources.

Top tip: Send your thank-you email immediately after a customer makes a purchase. This provides proof that the order has gone through, providing them with peace of mind.

3. An abandoned cart email

What it is: A cart abandonment email is an automated email which reminds customers that they have a product (or products) in their shopping basket.

Why it’s important: The average cart abandonment rate is 70%. Customers may just be browsing, hanging on until payday, or may have been ready to check out and got distracted.

Sending a cart abandonment email encourages customers to come back to your site and complete their purchase.

Top tip: One way to encourage customers to pick up their abandoned carts is to offer an incentive, like a discount voucher or free delivery.

Use this strategy sparingly though, otherwise you may find customers put products in their cart and wait for a freebie to land in their inbox!

4. A birthday celebration email

What it is: A birthday celebration email is an automated email that provides customers with a treat or a discount on their birthday.

You can gather this information by asking customers for their date of birth when they sign up for your mailing list.

Why it’s important: This highly personalised email shows customers that you value their business and helps you build a positive, long-lasting relationship.

According to Experian, birthday emails have a 53% higher open rate and 481% higher transaction rate than other promotional emails!

Top tip: You’re not restricted to just sending birthday emails.

You can send people discount emails on their wedding anniversary, the anniversary of when they moved into their home, or their pet’s ‘gotcha’ day!

5. A review request email

What it is: A review request email is an automated email that asks a customer to provide feedback about a product they recently purchased.

Why it’s important: Customers are reliant on ratings and reviews when researching a product, with 93% of shoppers reading at least one online review before making a purchase.

Providing a steady flow of reviews helps prospective customers make an informed choice and shows you are a reliable, trustworthy business.

You can also use the feedback you receive to steer the products you stock and improve your processes.

Top tip: Timing is critical when sending this type of email. You don’t want to send it too soon, just in case a customer hasn’t had time to use a product. However, you don’t want to send it too late, as they may not be able to provide accurate feedback.

Take the type of product you sell into consideration, and carry out testing to discover that all-important sweet spot.

6. A ‘back in stock’ email

What it is: A ‘back in stock’ email is an automated email which tells customers that a product that was sold out is now available to buy again.

You can implement this type of automation email by adding a short form to sold-out product pages, asking interested customers for their email address.

Why it’s important: Companies lose about 3% of their profits each year because of out-of-stock products.

Using ‘back in stock’ emails means customers are more likely to come back to your online store, keeping them happy and reducing the chances of them buying from a competitor.

Top tip: Keep your email short and simple for the best results. Use a direct subject line, and include a photo of the product in the body of the email to spark instant recall.

7. A ‘win back’ email

What it is: A ‘win back’ email is an automated email which is sent to existing customers who haven’t placed an order for a while.

Why it’s important: It’s much easier to sell to existing customers than it is to try and appeal to brand-new customers. A ‘win back’ email reminds customers that you are still around, and shows them what you’ve been up to since they last made a purchase.

Top tip: It’s vital to personalise all the emails you send, but especially so for ‘win back’ emails. Refer to each customer by name, and use their order history to recommend the products they’re most likely to buy.

8. A browse abandonment email

What it is: A browse (or product) abandonment email is an automated email which is sent to customers who have viewed a product page on your website without taking action.

This is a variation on the cart abandonment email. Rather than targeting customers who have put products in their shopping cart, you’re targeting customers who have visited a specific product page.

Why it’s important: Sometimes customers need a gentle nudge to buy a product. A browse abandonment email reminds them of the particular item they were checking out. This type of email can be an effective alternative to expensive paid retargeting ads.

Top tip: Think about your triggers for this type of email – the conditions you need customers to fulfil before you send a message. For example:

• The length of time a customer spends on a page
• The number of times a customer visits a page in a set amount of time
• Whether they hover or click on any specific page elements, like a product photo or product description

You may also want to consider frequency capping your emails, so you don’t send customers several messages all at once.

9. A reorder email

What it is: A reorder email is an automated email which is sent to customers who have purchased a specific product, encouraging them to place another order.

Why it’s important: Customers want to be able to place orders quickly, with as little friction as possible.

A well-timed reorder email means they can arrange a new delivery in one click, leading to increased profits for your business.

Top tip: Different products will have different reorder frequencies, and it’s essential to take this into account when setting up your automated emails. If you send your emails too early or too late, you may frustrate your customers.

Alternatively, you can give customers the choice and ask them when they’d like you to contact them with a reminder.

10. A sunset flow email

What it is: A sunset flow email is an automated email which is sent to customers who have signed up for your email campaigns but have never (or rarely) engaged with them. By ‘engaged’, we mean opening them, reading them, or clicking on the links.

If customers continue not to engage, you can unsubscribe them or send them emails less frequently.

This type of email is slightly different to a ‘win back’ email, which we covered earlier in the article.

With a ‘win back’ email, you’re targeting customers who haven’t made a purchase in a while. With a sunset flow email, you’re targeting inactive subscribers who don’t respond to the emails you send.

Why it’s important: Good email hygiene, where you closely manage your email marketing list and remove inactive addresses, can increase engagement and reduce the risk of your emails landing in the spam folder.

A good sunset flow email encourages unengaged but still interested customers to start engaging, and filters out uninterested customers.

Top tip: Some customers may still want to hear from you, but not as often.

Providing the option of less frequent emails (for example, monthly rather than weekly) means customers can still engage with your content on their terms.

Automated email: Frequently asked questions

What is an automated email?

An automated email is a pre-written email that is sent automatically to customers when they take certain actions or specific conditions are met.

Compare and contrast with a manual or non-automated email, which is written and sent by a person.

What are the benefits of automated emails?

The main benefit of automated emails is that they save time – you don’t have to create and send emails manually.

You can also send the right emails to the right customers at the right time, increasing the chances of them visiting your eCommerce store and converting.

Automated emails generate 320% more revenue than non-automated emails.

How can I create an automated email?

Many email marketing platforms, like Mailchimp and Klaviyo, offer automated email functionality.

These platforms provide pre-made templates you can activate across your email marketing campaigns. You can also build your own bespoke templates that will trigger when certain conditions are met.

How can I ensure people open my automated emails?

• Think about what you want to achieve with each automated email you send. For example, do you want customers to visit your website, buy a specific product, or recommend you to a friend?
• Create a highly-targeted, intriguing email subject line that encourages your customer to keep reading
• Use a strong, prominent call-to-action (CTA)
• Consider your email timing. You don’t want to bombard customers with too many automated emails, or send them a message when it’s not relevant
• Use A/B testing to see which elements of your email resonate with customers the most
• Monitor the open, click-through, and conversion rates of your automated emails, and make amendments as needed

Find out more about designing the perfect marketing email.

Xigen: The eCommerce agency dedicated to quality email campaigns

Automated emails may seem complicated, but they’re really easy to set up and use. All you need is a good email marketing platform and a solid plan of action!

If you’re not sure where to start with automated emails, we’re the email marketing experts.

Our skilled team will design automated templates that showcase your brand identity and values, help you collect email addresses on your website, and optimise your campaigns to maximise your revenue.

Contact us today, and take the first step towards transforming how you use email as a business.