Grow your ecommerce store · Email marketing · 2 min read
Boost Your Email Marketing Revenue With Proven Strategies
Short answer
Email revenue grows from four levers: more subscribers, better automated flows, more relevant campaigns through segmentation, and inbox placement. Most stores get the fastest wins by fixing their welcome and abandoned checkout flows and adding browse abandonment and post-purchase flows.
If email feels like it should earn more, it usually can. Here is a systematic way to grow revenue, starting with the changes that pay back fastest.
1. Fix the flows first
Flows send automatically and keep earning. Audit these:
| Flow | Common fixes |
|---|---|
| Welcome | Deliver the offer immediately; add 2–4 follow-ups |
| Abandoned checkout | Send first reminder within hours; add social proof |
| Browse abandonment | Show the viewed product and alternatives |
| Post-purchase | Usage tips, cross-sell, review request |
| Win-back | Personal reminder before discount |
See email automation for ecommerce.
2. Grow the list steadily
- Pop-up with a strong reason to join.
- Checkout opt-in.
- Lead magnets: guides, quizzes, early access.
3. Segment campaigns
Send most campaigns to people who engaged recently. Create segments by purchase history and interests. Relevance increases clicks and reduces unsubscribes.
4. Improve offers and content
- New arrivals and restocks.
- Bundles and gift guides.
- Educational content that leads to products.
- Limited editions and early access.
5. Optimise cadence
Test sending more often to engaged subscribers and less to others. Watch unsubscribe and spam complaint rates closely.
6. Protect deliverability
Authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), keep spam complaints low, honour unsubscribes quickly and remove long-inactive contacts. Google's sender guidelines spell out requirements for bulk senders.
7. Test systematically
Test one variable at a time: subject lines, send times, layouts, offers. Keep a log of what you learned.
8. Measure the right things
Revenue per recipient, placed order rate, list growth and unsubscribe rate. Opens are unreliable because of privacy features.
Diagnosing where revenue is leaking
Look at your email funnel step by step:
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Slow list growth | Weak or hidden sign-up offer | Better incentive, timing, placement |
| Low clicks | Content not relevant | Segment, clearer single call to action |
| Clicks but few orders | Landing page or offer problem | Link to specific products, check mobile pages |
| Rising unsubscribes | Too frequent or off-topic | Reduce frequency for less engaged segments |
| Falling inbox placement | Complaints, inactive contacts | Sunset flow, authentication, better targeting |
Fix the earliest broken step first; improvements downstream cannot make up for a list that is not growing.
Offers that protect margin
Discounts are not the only lever. Alternatives that often perform well:
- Gift with purchase above a spend threshold.
- Free shipping for a limited window.
- Bundles that raise order value.
- Early access for subscribers.
- Limited editions that are genuinely limited.
Building a test log
Keep a simple spreadsheet: date, email, what you tested, result, and what you will do differently. After a few months it becomes your own playbook, more reliable than generic benchmarks because it reflects your customers.
How long improvements take
Flow improvements show results within weeks because they run on every new subscriber or cart. List growth and deliverability improvements take longer, often a couple of months, before the effect on revenue is clear. Plan changes in that order so you see early wins while longer-term fixes take hold.
Quick wins this week
- Turn on or improve abandoned checkout.
- Add a second and third email to your welcome series.
- Create an engaged-90-days segment and send campaigns there.
- Add a review request to post-purchase.
Related: the one email flow every Shopify store needs and ecommerce email marketing strategies.
Frequently asked questions
What share of revenue should come from email?
It varies with business model and how revenue is attributed. Rather than chasing a benchmark, track email revenue per recipient and total store revenue together.
Will sending more emails increase revenue?
Often, up to a point, if you send to engaged segments. Sending more to unengaged subscribers increases complaints and can hurt deliverability.
Are discounts necessary for email revenue?
No. Launches, restocks, content and personalised recommendations drive sales without constant discounts.
Sources and further reading
Platform features, prices and policies change. Check the official help pages linked above before you act on a detail that matters to your store.