Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to convert visitors into buyers and keep them engaged. Email can have a huge impact on your conversion rates. According to data from prominent email marketing services like Klaviyo, what can boost conversions even more is using ecommerce email marketing automation.
There are different types of email flows that can boost the performance of your ecommerce business and increase sales if done right. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the most important automations, along with examples and advice on how to set them up effectively.
Top Email Flows For Ecommerce
Answering the question “What is an email flow for ecommerce?”, we can define it as a sequence of emails sent to a segmented group of customers that you can automate based on certain criteria.
While having the same end goal: to generate sales, they can achieve that goal in a variety of ways. It can range from reminding the customer of abandoned items in their shopping cart to recommending products that complement what they’ve already bought. The key is to identify the right flow for each customer and the right moment for each message.
Here are some of the best email flows to use for ecommerce brands.
Welcome Email Flow
Main Goal: Fostering brand awareness.
Performance Statistics:
- 80% Average pen rates;
- 26% Average CTR;
- 28.70% Average CTOR (Source: Mailmodo).
A welcome email flow is the sequence of emails that a new subscriber receives right after signing up for your newsletter or via an opt-in.
It’s a great way to:
- Introduce your brand;
- Offer incentives;
- Drive traffic back to your site;
- Engage someone who has just signed up for your email list, but might not be ready to make a purchase just yet.
A welcome email flow is a crucial tool for turning new leads into customers, since it increases the urge to buy among subscribers as they are exposed to more interesting material over time.
In general, this email marketing flow for ecommerce steadily builds the comfort level of new leads with the notion of making a purchase from you.
Post-Purchase Email Flow
Main Goal: Improving retention and encouraging the next purchase.
Performance Statistics:
- a 217% higher open rate than traditional emails;
- 6.4% CTR (Source: Convertcart).
A post-purchase flow is sent to new customers after they make a purchase with you. The goal is to thank them for their purchase and help them get all set up with your products.
This flow can include additional information about their purchase, such as:
- Where they can find tracking information;
- How they can return or exchange items;
- What other products might be of interest to them based on their recent purchase.
This top ecommerce email flow is also a great opportunity to let them know you’re there if they need help with anything related to their recent order. These follow-up emails can also highlight some of your other products to encourage repeat purchases.
Abandoned Cart Email Flow
Main Goal: Convince shoppers to complete purchase
Performance Statistics:
- Average abandoned cart flow RPR: $3.65 (37.74% higher than the welcome flow);
- Average open rate: 50.5%;
- Average placed order (conversion) rate: 3.33% (Source: Klaviyo).
The abandoned cart email flow triggers whenever a visitor places items into their shopping cart and starts the checkout process, but doesn’t complete it.
Reminding clients why they came to your website and making it simple for them to continue their purchase without having to look for the products again are the two main objectives of an abandoned cart email sequence. This ecommerce email marketing flow can start a few hours or soon after a visitor leaves the site.
For example, if someone leaves your site within 5 minutes and doesn’t take action on the first abandoned cart email, you could send them another one 24 hours later. If they still haven’t taken any action, you could send another email 48 hours later.
Sunset Flow
Main goal: Re-engaging clients
Performance Statistics:
- Open Rates of 52.49%;
- 5.83% CTR;
- Conversion Rates of 1.82%;
- Revenue per Recipient: $1.91 (Source: Klaviyo).
Sunset flow is one of the best ecommerce email flows sent out with the intention of reengaging subscribers who have not been active for a predetermined amount of time, like ninety days. Sending targeted emails to dormant contacts is how this automation re-engages them. The sunset flow’s main goal is to get subscribers to open, click on, and reply to emails rather than to make sales. It focuses on reviving interest and interaction with your emails and is also referred to as re-engagement automation.
Email Automation Examples for Ecommerce
Of course, we won’t leave you without a comprehensive illustration in the form of email automation examples to help you find inspiration for your ecommerce email flow. Take a look at some brilliant email samples from different ecommerce brands that we found to show you how it’s done.
Welcome Email from Chipotle
This welcome email from Chipotle is everything a welcome email should be: it’s concise, it’s catchy, and it makes you want to order a delicious burrito.
It has all the essential components, like expressing gratitude to subscribers for subscribing, outlining expectations for upcoming emails, and offering an alluring call to action. By acknowledging their interest and providing a clear next step, the email engages new subscribers in an effective manner. This strategy promotes instant communication and helps create a good first impression.
Post-Purchase Email Flow from Food52
Here you can see an excellent email example of an effective post-purchase email flow by an ecommerce brand, Food52.
It is easy to read and comprehend, and it contains relevant details regarding the customer’s purchase, like the tracking number, a fast link to the order summary, and a contact invitation. To encourage clients to suggest the brand and make recurring purchases, the email also includes a referral link. This tactic encourages brand loyalty and raises customer satisfaction.
Abandoned Cart Email from Pulp & Press
This abandoned cart email flow example by ecommerce brand, Pulp & Press, has a catchy headline that gently reminds the subscriber about their abandoned purchase.
By promoting the product as a “fan favorite,” it entices the buyer to finish their purchase. Pulp & Press also takes use of this chance to advertise more goods that the client could find appealing. This strategy successfully persuades the client to come back and investigate further options.
Sunset Email Automation Example for Ecommerce Glow Recipe
Glow Recipe’s ecommerce flow email example is straightforward, focusing on delivering information about a special offer. This sunset email offers disengaged clients a 15% discount to re-engage them and encourage purchases. To enhance effectiveness, they add a sense of urgency, ensuring the discount doesn’t remain available indefinitely. This approach aims to quickly motivate inactive subscribers to take action.
Benefits of Ecommerce Email Automation
Advantages of ecommerce email flows are hard to overestimate since these automations one of the best ways to keep your customers coming back. Effective email flows can help you deal with many challenges and issues that ecommerce brands face on a daily basis.
- Educate consumers about your brand, products, or services by giving them useful information to improve their comprehension and relationship, including usage guides, product tutorials, or behind-the-scenes tales.
- Re-engage with inactive customers. Send them customized emails to renew their interest and promote future communication. Setting up a sunset email automation for ecommerce brands is a perfect way of reminding clients of value proposition, providing special incentives, or requesting feedback.
- Cross-sell and upsell products, based on past purchases, by promoting premium versions, introducing new arrivals, or suggesting complimentary items in post-purchase email flows for ecommerce.
- Promote events (like sales, deals, or launches). To increase attendance and participation, set up promotional ecommerce email flows that will send out teaser emails and frequent reminders to build anticipation, offer exclusive early access or discounts.
- Build stronger relationships with your customers by setting up ecommerce email automation to welcome new subscribers with customized emails right away, or show your post-purchase gratitude with exclusive deals, loyalty points, etc.
Our Tips for Email Marketing Flows
The best ecommerce email flows are highly personalized and part of a larger strategy that drives email growth, engagement, and revenue. Creating a successful workflow that integrates with the rest of your marketing efforts can be challenging.
Here are five quick tips from our experts to help you get started:
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- Decide which actions you want your subscribers to take when they receive your emails.
- Develop a plan before writing your whole email sequence.
- Segment your list to target specific audiences and increase engagement by sending relevant messages to the people who are most likely to read them.
- Add personal touches to your email campaigns, such as names and locations, to create meaningful messages that engage subscribers more effectively than generic content.
- Create email flows tailored to the customers on each stage of their customer journey with your brand.
Set Up Ecommerce Email Flows with Flowium
We hope that this guide gives you a deeper understanding of the top email flows for ecommerce and how to implement them correctly for the success of your email marketing strategy. If you have any further questions or need professional assistance, you can always contact Flowium. Our experts have many years of experience on their record in setting up successful automated email flows for ecommerce businesses in all sectors. We know the peculiarities of working on campaigns and strategies for online retailers thanks to the vast number of ecommerce email marketing project in our portfolio. While being certified Klaviyo experts, we also have a comprehensive expertise in other ESP, so our team can provide consultation and help regardless of your email service. Therefore, you can fully trust our company with the task of organizing the best ecommerce email flow for your brand.
