Email is one of the few marketing channels a store actually owns: there is no algorithm deciding who sees a message, and the return is consistently high. Surveys back this up — HubSpot has reported that 59% of consumers say marketing emails influence their purchasing decisions. For Shopify merchants, the built-in tool for this is Shopify Email (now part of Shopify Messaging), which lets a store create, send, and track campaigns directly from the admin. This guide covers how it works, how to set it up, what it costs, and when a dedicated app makes more sense.

What Shopify Email is and how it works

Shopify Email is a built-in feature that handles the full email workflow inside the Shopify admin — no separate platform required. From the admin a merchant can build a branded email, choose which customer segment receives it, schedule it, and send. Drafts save automatically while editing, and after a send Shopify reports open rates, click-through rates, and sales attributed to the email.

It supports the email types most stores rely on: transactional messages like order confirmations and shipping updates, promotional emails like discounts, and lifecycle emails like welcome series and abandoned-cart reminders. Because it pulls directly from store data, templates can auto-populate products, logo, and brand colors.

Setting up email marketing on Shopify

Three steps cover most of the setup:

Build the list: add a clear sign-up form to the storefront, and collect addresses at checkout or in person. Only email people who have given permission — buying lists damages deliverability and sender reputation.
Customize templates: Shopify Email's branded templates auto-include store assets and follow email best practices, with sections that can be added, edited, or removed to fit the brand.
Segment the audience: divide the list by signals like purchase history, location, or engagement so each group gets relevant messages. Segmented, personalized emails consistently outperform a single send to everyone.

Types of campaigns to send

A balanced program mixes several email types across the customer journey:

Welcome emails for new subscribers — often the highest-engagement message a store sends.
Promotional offers for discounts and time-limited deals, useful around sales events.
Product recommendations based on past purchases or browsing.
Abandoned-cart reminders that nudge shoppers who added items but didn't check out.
Newsletters for new products, announcements, and useful content.

Much of this can run on automation. Welcome series, post-purchase follow-ups, and cart reminders can be set once and triggered automatically, keeping communication consistent without manual sending.

Measuring performance

Three metrics matter most. Open rate shows how many recipients opened the email and reflects how compelling the subject line is. Click-through rate shows how many clicked a link and reflects how well the content lands. Conversion rate tracks how many completed a desired action, such as a purchase. The practical way to improve all three is A/B testing — sending two versions that differ in one element (subject line, call to action, or layout) and keeping the winner. The goal is not to obsess over every number but to track the few that map to business goals and act on them.

Shopify Email pricing

Shopify Email is included on every Shopify plan (Basic through Plus), and pricing is based on volume sent per month:

Free for the first 10,000 emails per month.
$1 per 1,000 emails above 10,000.
$0.65 per 1,000 above 300,000.
$0.55 per 1,000 above 750,000.

Most emails, including automations, count toward the monthly total; abandoned-checkout automation emails are the exception and don't count. For the large majority of small and mid-sized stores, the free 10,000 monthly emails cover normal sending. The current rates are listed in the Shopify Help Center.

Shopify Email vs a dedicated app

Shopify Email is a strong starting point — convenient, cheap, and native. As a store scales, a dedicated app such as Klaviyo or Omnisend often becomes the better fit. The usual reasons to move are advanced automation that goes beyond the basics, deeper segmentation based on detailed customer behavior, multi-channel messaging that adds SMS and push, and more sophisticated A/B testing. Those tools cost more — typically a monthly fee that scales with list size — so the trade-off is added capability against added cost. Many stores start on Shopify Email and migrate once email becomes a meaningful share of revenue.

Staying compliant

Email marketing has legal guardrails worth respecting. The core rule is to send only to people who opted in; a double opt-in (a confirmation email after sign-up) makes consent explicit and keeps lists clean. Regulations such as CAN-SPAM in the US and GDPR in the EU require clear identification, a working unsubscribe option, and respect for stated preferences. Shopify handles some of this automatically — it removes anyone who unsubscribes or marks a message as spam, and suppresses addresses that hard-bounce. A smaller, engaged, permission-based list outperforms a larger uninterested one and protects deliverability.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shopify Email free?

It includes 10,000 free emails per month on every Shopify plan. Beyond that, pricing is pay-as-you-go starting at $1 per 1,000 emails, with lower rates at high volume.

Does Shopify have built-in email marketing?

Yes. Shopify Email, part of Shopify Messaging, lets merchants create, send, and track campaigns directly from the Shopify admin without a third-party tool.

Klaviyo or Shopify Email — which is better?

Shopify Email is the simpler, lower-cost starting point and is enough for many stores. Klaviyo offers deeper automation, segmentation, and multi-channel features that suit larger or more advanced programs. The right choice depends on how central email is to the business and how complex the automations need to be.

How many emails can a store send for free?

Up to 10,000 per month with Shopify Email. Abandoned-checkout automation emails are not counted toward that limit.

Next steps

Email marketing rewards consistency: a well-built list, a few reliable automations, and steady measurement compound over time. First Pier is an ecommerce agency in Portland, Maine that builds and optimizes Shopify storefronts and the email programs that grow their revenue. For help setting up or scaling email on Shopify, get in touch.