What is transactional email marketing? It’s the next way to elevate your Shopify store

If you're running a Shopify store, chances are you're already sending transactional emails—but are you marketing through them?

Many brands overlook this channel, leaving serious revenue, engagement, and customer satisfaction on the table. In this article, we’ll break down:

• What transactional emails are
  

• How they differ from marketing emails
  

• Why transactional email marketing matters
  

• How Shopify brands can use this channel to drive real results
  

Let’s dive in.

What are transactional emails?

Transactional emails are the messages automatically triggered by a customer’s action. Think:

• Order confirmations
  

• Shipping notifications
  

• Delivery updates
  

• Password resets
  

• Account creations
  

They're functional by design—they exist to give customers important, timely information. It’s why they get opened at insane rates. On average, transactional emails have open rates over 80%, blowing typical marketing emails out of the water. 

How are transactional emails different from marketing emails?

Most ecommerce brands invest heavily in marketing emails—yet transactional emails are often sent through ESP defaults or ignored altogether. That’s a missed opportunity.

Why transactional email marketing matters

Here's the thing: these emails don’t just deliver information—they deliver attention.

They’re already being opened. Why not make them work harder?

1. Higher engagement = more conversions

Transactional emails are opened multiple times per order. Use that attention to:

• Recommend complementary products
  

• Promote new collections or drops
  

• Share how-to content or setup guides
  

• Encourage referrals or reviews

Hundreds of Shopify brands are using this strategy to ensure that their transactional interactions aren’t just informational, but engaging and revenue-driving. Check out this library with examples of transactional emails, transactional SMS, and branded order tracking pages. Here’s one example of a brand’s transactional email series that tells a story with each notification AND directs customers to a branded order tracking page:

2. Improve customer experience

Customers want to know where their order is. You can use these emails to provide clear updates and reinforce your brand tone, visuals, and trust.

Great transactional emails reduce WISMO (“Where is my order?”) tickets and increase satisfaction—without needing to expand your support team.

3. Drive more revenue post-purchase

Your post-purchase flow is one of the most important parts of your customer journey. By embedding product suggestions, loyalty incentives, or upsells in transactional emails, you meet customers when they’re most excited—waiting for their package to arrive.

We’ve seen brands increase repeat purchases by 15-20% just by upgrading their transactional emails.

Best practices for Shopify brands

If you’re on Shopify, the good news is that optimizing your transactional emails is easier than ever. Here’s what high-performing brands are doing:

✅ Brand every email

Use your brand colors, fonts, tone of voice, and product imagery. These emails should feel as on-brand as your homepage. Most of the time you can accomplish this with assets already uploaded to your Shopify storefront.

✅ Centralize your experience

Link to a branded order tracking page with recommended products or FAQs—don’t send people to a carrier’s bare-bones site.

✅ Automate thoughtfully

There are tools that integrate directly with Shopify to help automate and brand your entire post-purchase communication flow—without code.

✅ Segment by event type

Not all transactional emails are equal. For example, a “Delivered” email is the only place a review request should be surfaced, whereas an “Order Confirmed” email could upsell last-minute add-ons.

Tools for better transactional email marketing on Shopify

Shopify brands have several platforms available to manage and upgrade their transactional email experience. Each of these tools has a native Shopify integration, but some of their key features may vary: 

Transactional email marketing is no longer optional—it’s a secret weapon for Shopify brands looking to:

• Build customer trust
  

• Reduce support overhead
  

• Increase repeat purchases
  

• Make every touchpoint feel on-brand
  

If you’re not treating your transactional emails like a core part of your retention strategy, you’re leaving results on the table. The best part? You’re already sending them. You just need to unlock their full potential.

This post was written by our friend Mariah Parsons at Malomo.