Can email automation help your e-commerce store?

In 2020 the world crashed and turned into email marketing for more significant revenues. The email marketing system Smaily saw an increase of roughly 100 million more emails in 2020 sent in e-commerce businesses, and that is a lot.

The world is becoming more like a giant digital hub with the new normal being a cozy home office, and we need fantastic e-commerce synchronization and email automation tools.

Since SyncSpider has us covered with the first part, what would be the best practices to automate your email marketing game for e-commerce? Let’s take a deeper look.

World at your fingertips

With more and more systems created for hustle-free life, people are spending more time in their inboxes, which means that you could bring the world to their fingertips with some good automation techniques.

Greetings, new friend!

Welcome emails are likely the first thing you see in your email when filling the blanks in a web form. It has become an inseparable part of the e-commerce shopping experience. Since this is the first interaction you make with your customer, it has to be spot-on.

This email welcome from D’armati has included strong community-building words like family, important, grow and indicates clearly that you are appreciated as a part of their business.

According to NY Times, with e-commerce welcome emails, you have around 27 seconds to make a first impression. So it is more than vital that you make a personal touch with your email. Personalize the subject line, keep it helpful and modify your call-to-action to be just right. More tips on how to successfully onboard a customer can be found HERE.

You can also create your welcome email series as a sequence of emails guiding your client to their first purchase or choosing their preferences. With this, you build credibility and trust and make them more likely to open your emails again and select your products or services.

Here are some pointers to create a solid welcome series campaign:

• Offer a gift: A discount, a free trial, or something to keep on checking your emails and keep on subscribing to you. This will increase the chances of your emails getting opened again.

• Create an autoresponder: When someone subscribes to your services or buys a product, make sure to create an autoresponder because your brand will be on the top of their mind at that moment. Seize the moment!

• Use CTA-s: Include call-to-action buttons inside your emails guiding your subscribers to follow you on socials or check out your blog. This will also help them to be more familiar with your brand.

Set reminders for abandoned cart

With our attention span ever shortening and decisions changing within seconds, it is easy to click away, get distracted or start doubting your purchases. Abandoned cart reminder is a good way to freshen up our memories and gently remind us of all the possibilities we might be missing out on.

Email automation software like Smaily is perfect to ensure that your autoresponders are sent out within your preferred time. Abandoned cart automatization is a priceless tool to use in your email automation system.

Email subject lines are equally as crucial as the reminders themselves, and here is an excellent example with a FOMO-inspired subject line from Man Crates:

Your Man Crates Cart is Expiring – Save 10% Before it Does!

To boost up your conversions with abandoned cart reminders, you can:

• Offer a discount for the items in the cart or a deal with shipping fees

• Use a good subject line, asking a question, or igniting FOMO

• Remind users that supplies are low and their items are in the shop for only a limited time

• Add a positive and authentic user review either of the items or of your business to validate your business

Follow up with post-purchase emails

People crave ways to ease discomfort and build up anticipation of something new. This is where post-purchase emails come into play. Picture this – you have just purchased something you really really wanted, you have gotten the rush of adrenaline and dopamine in your body, and then an email pops into your account saying that it could be so much better with some fabulous new and complementary items to suit your purchase.

Selling works with stories and emotions. This is why post-purchase emails work so well. They remind us that this company cares and that we have an opportunity to make our lives so much better than before.

This is an example from a skincare company Noie, which is sending detailed descriptions as a part of follow-up emails describing what to expect and later in the emails offering ways to use existing Noie products and try new ones as well.

Creative and beneficial follow-up emails

• Display a few products at the bottom of the email similar to ones purchased or products that are a good match

• Thank the customer for purchase and give extra information about the use of the product or even product FAQ

• Ask for a review and leave correct links or buttons to do so

Sell, re-sell and upsell

After establishing a relationship with your customer via automated email sequences, create multiple ways to buy the products they love. This is a more beautiful way instead of saying to upsell. Using words as your powerhouse, you can craft offers that speak to your customer directly.

For example, when a person spends a certain amount, they may get a discount or a gift from you. Or, if they purchase a service, they might get premium support.

This kind of automation is easy to make in an email automation service, especially when appropriately integrated using Syncspider.

This example from Deliveroo uses extras as an excellent way to upsell.

And ProFlowers uses excellent copy to sell at the checkout.

Useful information and updates

Subscribers like to be informed via emails if their desired products are back in the store, stay informed about the promotions and sales, and receive new information about new and exciting products.

Usually, people care about the information that is useful for them, so if you have a wide range of products, you may want to consider synchronizing their purchase history with your email automation. Hence, they get relevant information for them.

Wrap up

Automated email sequences can take off a load of work from your shoulders, allowing you to focus on growing your e-commerce business.

With email list segmentation and adding triggers in the automation progress, you can be sure that the messages that your customers receive are highly targeted and will drive them towards purchase.

So be sure to create an awesome welcome sequence for your email list, send them offers after purchases, and give out useful information. When you think about it – your steps will make their lives a lot more enjoyable, because the offers will come at their fingertips and they can save time.

Maris Saar is a copywriter for the email marketing and automation company Smaily. Smaily, an email marketing leader in Estonia and on the shortlist in the Baltics and Scandinavia, has been on the market for the past 15 years. Smaily’s mission is to offer simple and visually beautiful tools for newsletters.