If a user crosses the total order value of $1000, an automated triggered email can send a free shipping coupon for their next 3 orders as a reward.
This free shipping coupon email will be:
- Sent on dates personalized to each customer (when they cross $1000 spending level)
- Different from regular nurturing email typically sent in the context of B2B marketing
- Sent with an objective to reward the customer and promote their loyalty to the eCommerce store
Such an email is called a Triggered Email.
Such emails are triggered by certain events on the user’s profile caused by a specific behavior or timing, hence the name Triggered Emails.
Why are Triggered Email needed for an eCommerce store?
To maintain the loyalty of your customers to your eCommerce store, your emails must be highly personalized i.e. sent to the right person, at the right time.
Automatically triggered emails provide that sweet spot of automated personalized marketing without manual intervention.
Yes, this does sound like a paradox.
The timing of these emails and parts of the email content are based on the user’s own actions; this gives the illusion of personalization.
How to Use Trigger Email for eCommerce? (Trigger Email Examples)
Trigger emails are perfect to ensure an increase in email open rates or to ensure that the right emails reach the right customers at a perfect time.
This section will talk about different ways to use triggered emails for your eCommerce store.
1. Cart Abandonment Emails
It’s no secret – not all eCommerce carts end up in completed purchases.
In fact, 69% of eCommerce shoppers never complete their purchase i.e. they abandon their cart.
Abandoned Cart Reminder emails try to recover some of these sales by reminding the users what they are missing by not completing the purchase.
The reason for abandoning the cart can be many, as illustrated in the graph below:
By turning abandoned cart reminder emails into an email series, we get to address many of these problems.
Here is a 3-email abandoned cart email sequence that Shopify recommends:
- A reminder email – 24 hours after abandonment
- An email to overcome objections and remind benefits – 48 hours after abandonment
- An email offering a discount or free shipping or another incentive – 72 hours after abandonment
2. Curated or Category-based Emails
When the user has bought X number of products from the same category, there’s a good chance that they would buy more products from that category. We can then set up a trigger to send an email reminder of the best-selling products in that category.
To make this email more effective, include purchase stats to add social proof.
3. Upsell Trigger Email
The third type of trigger for these emails can be an upsell-based trigger.
For example, consider an eCommerce store for kitchen products that has a typical collection of products that complete a dinner set. You can set up a trigger when a user purchases an X% of this collection. The email will, naturally, contain all the other products that the user can buy to complete their collection.
To boost conversion chances, add a bulk purchase discount coupon in this email.
4. Referral Reward Email
Do you want to increase the size of your userbase while increasing your overall sales?
With a single referral reward email, you can get both benefits!
Simply set up a trigger on new user registration. Immediately after registration, the new user gets an email offering them a free shipping (or an equivalent) coupon as a reward – IF they recruit their friends to join your eCommerce store.
Why should you prefer this type of marketing?
Because according to an Ogilvy survey, 74% of consumers think word-of-mouth referrals affect their purchasing decision.
While you do have an obvious acquisition cost (to the new user and their new recruits), it’s easily recoverable in the long-term through customer loyalty.
5. Reactivation Email
When a user has not purchased anything from your eCommerce store or has not interacted with your website for a long time, they have disengaged.
To reengage such users, set up a trigger to identify this condition. When the condition becomes true, send them an email to reactivate their interest in your eCommerce store.
In this reactivation email, you could offer them a look at your latest best selling products. You could also offer a discount and/or free shipping discount.
Additionally, periodic offers on occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries can also be an effective means to reactivate disengaged users.
Triggered emails are crucial to long-term customer loyalty for eCommerce stores
Triggered emails, because of their highly personalized nature, are an absolute must for the email marketing strategy of eCommerce stores.
It’s also important to understand simply the context of the trigger does not make them convert. For that, these emails must have a great copy with your brand’s voice and impeccable design.
