Email is a powerful tool. But to get the most value out of email marketing, your campaigns must leverage the wide array of email types—all of which serve different purposes along the customer journey. Learn more about the different types of emails you can send your subscribers and how to write an impactful message each time.
10 types of emails for ecommerce
- Welcome emails
- Newsletter emails
- Milestone emails
- Feedback request emails
- Promotional emails
- Abandoned cart emails
- Marketing emails
- Upcoming events emails
- Educational emails
- Transactional emails
Email lets you connect with your audience whether you’re providing insights into your brand or information about their latest order. Here are the most impactful types of emails you can start sending your subscribers today:
1. Welcome emails
The welcome email is usually the first form of correspondence you send new subscribers. It’s an opportunity to introduce your product and services, thank your recipient for subscribing, offer a discount, lay out benefits to subscribing, and set expectations for future emails. Aim to make your customers feel appreciated, write a compelling subject line to grab their attention, and add a clear call to action to increase engagement.
To get subscribers you can send welcome emails in the first place, use a pop-up function on the main landing page of your website to prompt new visitors to join your email list. Additionally, prompt customers to enter their email in an account-creation step at checkout.
Jenni Kayne, a clothing and home décor brand, encourages users to sign up to its email list by offering 15% off the first purchase if they enter an email address. It also can send targeted emails right from the start by prompting visitors to respond to a short questionnaire to share their preferences, tailoring each welcome email to the specific interests of each subscriber.
2. Newsletter emails
Newsletter emails are an effective way to provide your subscribers with regular updatesabout the current state of your brand, industry news, blog posts, and plans for the near future. To create an engaging newsletter, include a short, snappy subject line, speak about upcoming products and how they’ll make a difference for your customers, and share useful blog posts. While you’ll often send these on a consistent schedule, it may be more effective to skip a week when you don’t have enough content.
A great example of a weekly newsletter is the Scrapbook Chronicles curated by Hiut Denim, a custom denim and apparel company. Hiut Denim’s weekly email highlights specialty clothing and tech trends while sprinkling in mentions of its products. By speaking about the larger industry and the interesting trends that arise, Hiut is sharing news with its like-minded audience—all while maintaining regular communication.
3. Milestone emails
The milestone email is a way to celebrate your customers. For example, wish them a happy birthday or thank them for being a loyal customer for a specific amount of time. You can also use these emails to recap the growth of your business on its anniversary or announce that you met a goal, like reaching a certain number of followers on social media. Take the time to thank your subscribers for the role they played in your success.
Tentree, an apparel brand with a focus on sustainability, uses milestone emails to show its progress in planting trees, contributing to the coral growth in reefs, and supporting the monarch butterfly population in the US. Every year, Tentree sets its goals, and as customers purchase products, it donates part of the profits to fund each effort. By sharing progress on these initiatives, audiences feel involved and invested in the brand’s efforts.
4. Feedback request emails
Feedback can provide valuable information on customer experience, product quality, and delivery efficiency. Feedback not only helps you improve your offerings and service, but it can capture new customers; 42% of US consumers say reviews are very helpful when deciding to purchase a product.
Send a survey email after a purchase, allowing your customers to tell you about the interaction with your brand through a review, star rating, or testimonial. Be direct and keep your questionnaire short. Consider offering incentives—like entry into a lottery—to encourage participation.
Bruvi, a design-forward coffee brand, shows how to use review emails to your advantage. After a customer makes a purchase, they are prompted with an email that asks them to share their experience. Bruvi includes a referral code that shoppers can send to friends and family for a discount.
5. Promotional emails
A promotional email is about your products or services. To make it compelling to your reader, highlight flash sales, new products, and holiday specials. Since this is one of the most common types of marketing emails, help yours stand out by giving readers a reason to connect or click. For example, explain how a product can help them be more efficient in their lives or share a limited-time offer.
Consider email frequency with purely promotional content. Daily emails have the potential to feel overwhelming, so let subscriber behavior guide how often you send them to your audience.
Gymshark, an athletic apparel company, is no stranger to promotional emails. It will send emails each time it releases a new collection or launches a flash sale. It also provides a time frame that the promotion will be live to incentivize purchases.
6. Abandoned cart emails
Sending an abandoned cart email can help you capture those seemingly lost sales. You can send automated emails to each visitor as a friendly reminder to purchase the items left at checkout. Include an image of the product, an FAQ section that may answer any lingering questions they have, a direct line to a customer service representative if they have concerns, and a discount to help seal the deal.
Allbirds, a footwear company, has abandoned cart subject lines that read, “Don’t Get Cold Feet,” showcasing on-brand copy and humor with a play on words relevant to its market. Keeping your messaging lighthearted and personable can be a surefire way to convert sales without pressuring customers.
7. Marketing emails
Marketing emails aim to highlight your brand as a whole. There is a wide range of marketing emails, such as drip campaigns (an email campaign series sent over time to a user after they take a specific action), re-engagement emails to persuade a customer to interact with your emails once again, and announcement emails. To increase your chances of engaging your audience, segment your subscribers to serve them the most useful content.
For example, to someone who regularly opens your emails, you can send a message that encourages them to interact with you on a social media platform, too. Take the cosmetic brand Glossier, which sends targeted content like short-form videos of an influencer using its products on TikTok, routing visitors to a platform where it’s active.
8. Upcoming events emails
Leverage your list of email subscribers to ensure both in-person and virtual activities see more visitors. While many of your members may not be local, you can still create a buzz in your area, generating word-of-mouth referrals to check out your event. Plus, these emails are easily shareable, allowing your subscribers to forward event details to their community.
Bathu, a sustainable sneaker company in South Africa, is rapidly growing throughout Africa, with brick-and-mortar shops being a main focus. Many of its emails aim to inform subscribers of new store openings and opening day launches. This increases visibility in new areas and aims to drive more traffic to these in-person storefronts.
9. Educational emails
Educational emails can be useful if you have complex products, an origin story that is integral to your brand ethos, or a service that has many steps. Create valuable content, like diagrams or videos, to break down the core features of your products.
Tapcart, a SaaS (software as a service) company that creates design-forward ecommerce apps, uses educational emails to explain complex pricing tiers and software features—especially when companies are reaching out for a quote. In its industry, it is necessary to clearly define expectations and functionality, and the educational email format allows Tapcart to inform its customers.
10. Transactional emails
A transactional email typically provides a receipt and delivery information for a recent purchase. Transactional emails ensure your customers know that you processed their order and when they can expect their package. Add contact information and encourage them to reach out with any questions to help foster a strong relationship with your audience.
Types of emails FAQ
How many types of emails are there?
There are several types of emails, but the most common include: welcome, newsletter, milestone, feedback request, promotional, abandoned cart, marketing, event reminder, educational, and transactional emails.
Are emails an effective way to engage with customers?
Emails are a great way to engage with your audience. You can build positive relationships, enhance customer loyalty, and send customers to a great blog post with regular emails. Be sure to set expectations around cadence and volume to not fill each subscriber’s inbox with unnecessary emails. For example, transaction emails happen every time someone makes a purchase, but you might only send a milestone email a couple of times a year.
What is the most common type of email?
Transactional emails are the most common type of email. They are often sent automatically after a customer places an order, confirming the purchase went through successfully and providing essential information like total price, delivery estimate, and contact information in case buyers have questions.
