The 7 Email Flows Every Shopify Store Should Have Running
Seven automated email flows that earn money while you sleep — what each one should say, when it should send, and the benchmarks to judge them against.
- Written by
Fahad, CEO & Head of Development- Published
- Reading time
- 2 minutes
Email is the only channel you own. Ad platforms change their rules, organic reach decays, algorithms shift — your list stays yours. For most Shopify stores flows should account for somewhere between 20% and 35% of total email revenue, and they run without anyone touching them.
1. Welcome series (3–5 emails)
Triggered on signup. Your highest-engagement moment — open rates of 40–60% are normal because the person just raised their hand.
- Email 1, immediate: deliver the incentive you promised. Nothing else.
- Email 2, +1 day: the brand story, briefly. Why you exist, what makes the product different.
- Email 3, +3 days: best sellers with social proof.
- Email 4, +5 days: handle the top objection — sizing, shipping, returns, whatever yours is.
- Email 5, +7 days: the incentive expiring, with urgency that is actually real.
2. Abandoned checkout (3 emails)
The highest-revenue flow on almost every store. Send at 1 hour, 24 hours and 48 hours. Lead with the product image and a one-click return to the cart.
3. Abandoned cart and 4. Browse abandonment
Distinct from checkout abandonment and often overlooked. Cart abandonment fires when someone adds to cart but never reaches checkout. Browse abandonment fires when someone views a product two or more times without adding it — lower intent, so keep it to a single soft email.
5. Post-purchase (3–4 emails)
The flow most stores neglect, and the one that builds repeat revenue.
- 01Order confirmation — the highest open rate you will ever get. Set expectations on delivery.
- 02Shipping notification — tracking, plus a light cross-sell.
- 03Delivered + 3 days — how to use or care for it. Pure value, no ask.
- 04Delivered + 10 days — review request. Ask after they have had time to form an opinion.
6. Win-back
Fires when a customer passes roughly 1.5× their normal repurchase interval. Compute that from your own data rather than guessing — a coffee brand's window is three weeks, a mattress brand's is five years.
7. VIP / second-purchase nudge
The jump from one order to two is the hardest and most valuable transition in ecommerce. A customer with two orders is dramatically more likely to reach five. Treat the second purchase as its own campaign.
Benchmarks worth holding yourself to
| Flow | Open rate | Revenue per recipient |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome | 45–60% | $1.50–$4.00 |
| Abandoned checkout | 40–50% | $3.00–$8.00 |
| Abandoned cart | 35–45% | $1.00–$3.00 |
| Browse abandonment | 30–40% | $0.40–$1.20 |
| Post-purchase | 50–65% | $0.50–$2.00 |
| Win-back | 20–30% | $0.30–$1.00 |
If a flow sits well below these, the problem is usually the trigger timing or the segment, not the copy.
Campaigns are what you do this week. Flows are what keeps earning in the weeks you do nothing.
Every Growth and Business store we build comes with email marketing set up and ready to switch on.
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