With the digitalization of modern business, the world of eCommerce is thriving. Global interconnectivity and the ability to send products worldwide have kicked this industry into overdrive, allowing people from across the globe to buy, sell, and purchase services 24/7.

But, with over 12 million active e-commerce companies worldwide, businesses have never had steeper competition. Organizations need to do everything they can to grab customer attention, forge client relationships, and increase their brand visibility to stand out from the crowd.

Of the various marketing methods that allow eCommerce businesses to thrive, email marketing is repeatedly reported as a leading strategy. With a broad reach and nearly endless room for customization, email marketing allows your eCommerce brand to shine.

In this article, we’ll dive into eCommerce marketing, exploring how email marketing fits into this industry and empowers businesses to perform better. We’ll touch on email marketing strategies, tips, and the core motive behind why eCommerce and email marketing go hand in hand.

Let’s dive right in.

Why Is Email Marketing Vital for eCommerce Businesses?

The digital world is continually expanding. Even in 2023, total participation in the online world is staggering. Across the billions of internet users, over 90% of them have an email account, with this figure rising every year. An email account acts as a gateway to connecting with the internet. 

For decades, an email address has been the primary way to create an account on a platform and sign in. Beyond just creating accounts, the general flexibility of emails when it comes to sending and receiving messages makes them a vital tool for everyone.

With that in mind, it is almost certain that your e-commerce audience will have an email account. Beyond every other marketing content form or stream you select, email is the one that will have the highest rates of participation, making it an invaluable target for your business.

How Do I Get Customer Emails?

Thanks to the plethora of data protection rules and regulations that protect vast areas of the world, you can’t simply harvest customer emails and start sending them information. This is one of the fastest ways to go against compliance regulations and get your company into hot water.

But if we can’t just find and contact people’s emails, how exactly do we build our list of email subscribers? Luckily, one of the most potent elements of running an eCommerce business is having a range of perfect features to offer your customers in return for their email.

For example, “A leading strategy that many eCommerce businesses use is granting someone a 5-10% discount in return for subscribing their email to the company’s mailing list” says Barkev Meserlian, CEO of eCommerce jewelry brand, Barkev’s.  In the grand scheme, that 5-10% is nothing compared to the value you will elicit from someone’s email account.

Alternatively, you can offer other discounts and other tempting deals, like additional coupons or free shipping. eCommerce businesses have ample opportunity to collect customer information from day one, making them an excellent counterpart to email marketing.

These strategies typically only work if you already have a steady pipeline of incoming traffic to your website. If you are just starting out, or do not have decent traffic already, one way to acquire new customers is through partnerships. 

For example, if you run a custom merchandise store, you could tie up with fashion blogs with established traffic and offer them exclusive discounts in return for promoting your site to their subscribers. Paying for an ad spot in their newsletter is an option too if you have the budget.

How Does My eCommerce Business Get the Most from Email Marketing?

Once you’ve started to create a list of emails to use for marketing, it’s time to launch your campaigns. Run your email list through an email verifier before the launch. Unless you've created a segmented campaign, each marketing campaign should go to your mailing list.

Here are a few tips to make your eCommerce email marketing stand out.

Work on Your Copy

One of the areas where eCommerce businesses most commonly need email help is their copywriting. We’ve all read thousands of emails at this point in the game. What sets yours apart?

Especially if your business is using default writing templates from Shopify or ChatGPT, you’re going to be falling into a generic trap that makes your company look like everyone else. When writing emails, try and get to the core of what sets your business apart.

Writing in a specific tone can instantly increase how successful your eCommerce emails are, helping you to connect with your customers.

Use Visual Elements

Your business should always strive to include a whole host of visual content in your emails.

Juan Palacio, CEO of eCommerce flower delivery service, BloomsyBox, notes that, “No one wants to look at a wall of text in their emails. Most of the time, even 1-2 paragraphs will make people click off immediately.

Instead, be sure to use images where you can to convey meaning, helping to reduce word count and allowing people to skim your emails quickly.”

Personalize where possible

Most customers expect a high degree of personalization in our digital age. That means that your business should be able to use their name, accommodate their likes and dislikes, and offer products that align with their interests. Again, eCommerce businesses are phenomenal at this method, as you have a whole host of data from analytics on your store.

By personalizing emails whenever you can, you’ll increase the likelihood of a customer having a positive reaction when your message arrives in their inbox. Nobody wants to feel like just another number. Personalization can help set your emails apart from the crowd. 

Another aspect of personalization that you can easily insert into your emails is an email signature. Email signatures are a form of personalization that comes directly from your business, converting a faceless corporation into something that arrives from a real person.

By using a Gmail signature generator or a generator for whichever email platform you use, you can rapidly create a winning signature that will capture people’s attention and help you add one extra element of personalization to every email. This strategy only takes a few minutes and is one of the most effective ways of increasing the potential of your email marketing.

Final Thoughts

Email marketing and eCommerce companies go hand in hand, complementing each other and facilitating a winning business plan for future expansion. Without a doubt, using your eCommerce store to build an email list and then converting that list into a new stream of clicks and purchases is a phenomenal strategy.

By incorporating the strategies outlined on this list, your business will be able to expand into new areas, cultivate stronger relationships with your customers, and carve out a winning niche amongst your competitors. If there is one singular marketing focus that your eCommerce organization should commit to in 2024, it’s the power of email marketing.