How to Start a Newsletter That Actually Grows Your Shopify Store

Getting a newsletter off the ground for your Shopify store is simpler than you might think. All it really takes is picking an email platform, popping a sign-up form on your site, and creating an automated welcome email.

With that simple setup, you've built a direct line to your customers. It's how you turn one-time shoppers into loyal fans, all without being at the mercy of social media's ever-changing algorithms.

Why a Newsletter Is Your Store's Secret Weapon for Sales

Let’s get real. You’re not here to add another item to your to-do list. You're looking for a reliable way to grow your revenue and build a community around your brand. A newsletter is that tool.

Forget the generic marketing fluff. We're going to break down exactly why email marketing consistently blows other channels out of the water when it comes to driving actual sales.

Think of your newsletter as a private conversation with your best customers. A social media post gets lost in the noise, but an email lands right in their inbox. This is your chance to drive repeat business and build genuine loyalty—on a channel you actually own.

Driving Real, Measurable Growth

For Shopify store owners juggling a million tasks, a newsletter is the single most effective, high-ROI channel you can invest in. The numbers speak for themselves.

We've seen it time and time again: consumers who buy products through email spend a whopping 138% more than those who don't get email offers. The results get even crazier when you start segmenting your audience—marketers have reported revenue increases as high as 760%.

The right setup is key, and that's what this guide is all about. You can find more details on these powerful email marketing statistics.

Email isn't just about sending discounts. It's about building a community, owning your audience, and creating a predictable revenue stream that you control.

The Bottom-Line Value for Your Shopify Store

So, what does all this actually mean for your store? The benefits are tangible and solve the core challenges every e-commerce brand faces.

Just a quick look at the numbers shows why a newsletter is non-negotiable for serious Shopify stores.

Email Newsletter Impact on Shopify Sales

Metric	Impact	What This Means for You
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)	Increases Significantly	More repeat purchases from the same customer over time.
Average Order Value (AOV)	Boosts Purchase Size	Easier to upsell, cross-sell, and bundle products.
Cart Abandonment Rate	Decreases by 10-30%	Automated emails bring shoppers back to complete their purchase.
Direct Revenue	Creates a Predictable Stream	Sales generated directly from email campaigns you control.

Essentially, you build stronger customer relationships while making more money. It’s a win-win.

Key Benefits Broken Down

Let's dig into a few of the biggest wins you'll see.

• Boost Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Staying in touch after a purchase is how you earn the next one. A newsletter keeps you top-of-mind, turning a single transaction into a long-term relationship.

• Increase Average Order Value (AOV): Your email list is the perfect place to showcase product bundles, suggest relevant add-ons, or promote your best-sellers to an already-interested audience.

• Slash Cart Abandonment: With automated emails, you can catch those almost-sales before they disappear. A simple reminder about what they left in their cart can recover a surprising amount of lost revenue—something tools like Email Wiz can set up for you in minutes.

Building an Engaged Subscriber List from Day One

Let's be honest: the success of your newsletter boils down to one thing—the quality of your list. A small list of 500 die-hard fans who actually open your emails will run circles around a bloated list of 5,000 people who couldn't care less. So, our first job is to build a high-quality list from the very start, filled with people who are genuinely excited to hear from you.

Forget the generic advice you've seen everywhere. We're going to get into the specific, ethical strategies that I've seen work time and time again for Shopify stores. The goal isn't just to hoard email addresses; it's to attract real, potential customers who are counting down the days until your next drop, sale, or big announcement.

Optimize Your Shopify Store for Signups

Your own website is hands-down the best list-building tool you have. Every single visitor is a potential subscriber, but you have to make joining your list a no-brainer. This means putting clear, compelling calls-to-action in all the right places.

• Homepage Pop-Up: Don't just ask for an email. Give them something good in return. A 10% discount on their first order is a classic for a reason—it flat-out works. Make the offer the star of the show: "Get 10% Off Your First Order."

• Website Footer: This is prime real estate. People instinctively look here for contact info and newsletter signups. Keep the copy simple and benefit-driven: "Join our newsletter for exclusive deals and new product alerts."

• Checkout Process: This is a goldmine. Shopify lets you add an opt-in checkbox right at checkout. You’re catching people right after they’ve decided to buy from you, making them your most valuable subscribers.

The key to all of this is the offer. It has to be valuable right now. A vague promise of "updates" just doesn't cut it anymore. Your customers are always thinking, "What's in it for me?" Answer that question loud and clear.

Create a Simple, Valuable Lead Magnet

A lead magnet is just a fancy term for a freebie you offer in exchange for an email. But it doesn't need to be some 50-page ebook that took you weeks to write. For Shopify stores, simple and practical is always better.

What do your customers actually need help with? If you sell skincare, a simple, downloadable PDF like "The 5-Minute Morning Routine for Glowing Skin" is perfect. If you sell coffee, a guide on "How to Brew the Perfect Pour-Over at Home" will pull in exactly the right crowd.

This approach does two things beautifully. It positions you as an expert in your niche and, more importantly, it attracts subscribers who are already interested in what you sell, making them far more likely to become paying customers. For a deeper look, check out our guide on building email lists to grow your Shopify audience.

Pro Tip: Whatever you do, never buy an email list. It’s the fastest way to kill your sender reputation, get your emails flagged as spam, and run into legal trouble with privacy laws like GDPR. Building your list organically is the only way to ensure every single person on it wants to be there.

Ensure Compliance from the Start

Speaking of permission, email compliance isn't optional. It’s a must. Regulations like GDPR in Europe and the CAN-SPAM Act in the U.S. have strict rules about how you collect and handle email addresses.

Here’s a quick-and-dirty checklist to stay on the right side of the law:

1. Get Explicit Consent: Use a checkbox (that is not pre-checked) to have users confirm they want your marketing emails.

2. Use Double Opt-In: This is a best practice where you send a confirmation email asking new subscribers to click a link to verify their address. It proves they're serious and keeps your list clean from bots and typos.

3. Make Unsubscribing Easy: Every marketing email you send must have a clear, one-click way to opt out. Hiding that link is a big no-no and will only get you marked as spam.

Tools like Email Wiz are designed with this stuff in mind, automatically adding unsubscribe links and managing consent records. By getting this right from day one, you’re not just protecting your business—you’re building trust with your audience. And that trust is the real foundation of a newsletter that drives revenue.

Crafting Newsletters People Actually Want to Read

That blinking cursor on a blank email template can be seriously intimidating. You know you need to send something, but what? The goal isn't just to send another email; it's to create something your subscribers will actually look forward to opening.

The good news is you don't need to be a creative genius. It’s about having a solid framework for planning content that connects. This is where you graduate from simply selling products to building a genuine community.

Go Beyond the "Buy Now" Button

If every single email you send is a sales pitch, people will tune out. Fast. The most successful Shopify brands I've seen treat their newsletter less like a digital flyer and more like a brand magazine.

Think about your content strategy in three key buckets:

• Promotional Content: This is your bread and butter—the stuff that drives revenue. Think new product drops, flash sales, special discount codes, and seasonal campaigns. These are designed for immediate action.

• Educational Content: This is where you offer real, tangible value that goes beyond your products. A coffee brand might share a guide on brewing the perfect cold brew. A skincare store could offer a tutorial on building a 5-minute morning routine. You’re solving your customer’s problems.

• Community-Building Content: Pull back the curtain and show the human side of your brand. Share your founder's story, introduce the team, or feature user-generated photos from your happy customers. This builds trust and makes your brand feel relatable.

By mixing these three content types, you prevent subscriber burnout and make your emails feel like a gift, not just an ad.

Design Without the Drama

You’ve got great content—now it needs to look the part. Your newsletter’s design should feel like a natural extension of your Shopify store, creating a cohesive and professional experience that your customers instantly recognize.

But let’s be real, most store owners aren’t graphic designers. This is where a tool like Email Wiz can be a total game-changer. With a single click, it analyzes your store's branding—your logo, colors, fonts—and instantly generates a whole suite of on-brand email templates. It saves you hours of fiddling with design tools and ensures you look polished every single time.

Good design isn’t just about looking pretty; it directly impacts your results. Newsletters have an average click-through rate of 3.84%, but that number jumps to 4.84% for image-heavy emails, while text-only versions lag at 1.64%. When your visuals are compelling and on-brand, people are simply more likely to click. You can see more data on these email marketing trends on Litmus.com.

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of design best practices, our guide on how to create email templates that convert is a great place to start.

The Pre-Send Checklist for Every Campaign

Before that email goes out to thousands of people, take a minute to run through a quick but crucial pre-flight check. This simple habit can be the difference between a campaign that soars and one that flops.

It all comes down to optimizing the three things that determine if your email even gets a chance.

1. A Subject Line That Demands to Be OpenedYour subject line is fighting for attention in a very crowded inbox. Make it count.

• Keep it brief and scannable. Aim for under 50 characters so it doesn't get cut off on mobile phones.

• Spark curiosity or urgency. Phrases like "Last Call: 20% Off Ends Tonight" or "Psst... A little something for you" are proven to work.

• Get personal. Using the subscriber's first name is a simple trick that can give your open rates a nice little boost.

2. Preview Text That Delivers on the PromiseThis is that little snippet of text you see right next to the subject line. Don't waste this prime real estate! It should build on your subject line and give another compelling reason to click.

• Bad Example: "Having trouble viewing this email? Click here."

• Good Example: "Your weekend just got better. Shop our new arrivals before they're gone."

3. A Powerful Call-to-Action (CTA)Every email needs a goal, and your CTA is the button that gets people there. Make it obvious and irresistible.

• Use action-packed language. Ditch boring phrases like "Learn More." Instead, try "Shop The New Collection" or "Claim My Discount."

• Make it pop. Your CTA button should use a high-contrast color that stands out from the rest of the email. No one should have to hunt for it.

• Stay focused. Too many competing CTAs in one email just creates confusion. Give your reader one clear, primary action to take.

When you nail these fundamentals, you’re no longer just "sending emails." You're crafting experiences that build your brand and drive real, measurable revenue for your Shopify store.

Setting Up Your Automated Sales Machine

A great newsletter strategy should work for you around the clock, even when you’re not online. While one-off campaigns for sales and new product drops are important, the real magic happens with automation. This is how you turn your newsletter from just another task on your to-do list into a hands-off machine that nurtures new subscribers and wins back sales while you sleep.

Let’s dive into the two most profitable automated email series you can possibly set up: the welcome flow and the abandoned cart flow. Think of these less as "nice-to-haves" and more as essential tools for getting the most value out of every single person who signs up.

The Welcome Flow: Nailing Your First Impression

The moment someone subscribes is golden. They’ve literally just raised their hand and told you they’re interested in what you have to offer. A welcome series is your chance to capitalize on that peak excitement and turn a curious browser into a paying customer.

The goal here goes way beyond just sending a 10% off coupon. It's your opportunity to tell your brand's story, set the right expectations for your newsletter, and gently guide them toward making that first purchase.

Email 1: The Instant Welcome (Send Immediately)

• Your Goal: Deliver the incentive you promised and make them feel good about their decision to join.

• What to Include: Start with a warm thank you. Put that discount code front and center—don't make them hunt for it! Keep the rest short, sweet, and focused on your brand's core mission.

Email 2: The Brand Story (Send 1-2 Days Later)

• Your Goal: Start building a real connection that isn't just about the transaction.

• What to Include: This is where you can share your founder's story, explain what makes your products different, or showcase a few best-sellers with glowing customer reviews.

Email 3: The Gentle Nudge (Send 3-4 Days Later)

• Your Goal: Remind them about their discount and address any last-minute hesitation.

• What to Include: A simple, friendly reminder that their welcome offer is about to expire is often all it takes. Highlighting your easy return policy or friendly customer service here can also help build the trust they need to click "buy."

The Abandoned Cart Flow: Your Revenue Recovery Engine

Did you know that nearly 70% of online shopping carts never make it through checkout? That’s a massive amount of potential revenue just sitting there. An abandoned cart flow acts as your automated safety net, designed specifically to bring those high-intent customers back to finish what they started.

From my experience, this series almost always delivers the highest return on investment of any automation you can set up. You're talking to people who were this close to buying, and you just need to give them a little push. For brands looking to really dial this in, exploring advanced CRM and automation development solutions can help integrate everything seamlessly.

A solid abandoned cart sequence can claw back anywhere from 3% to 14% of otherwise lost sales. For a store doing even modest numbers, that can easily add up to thousands of dollars in extra revenue every year.

Here’s a simple, proven three-email structure that just works:

Email 1: The Simple Reminder (Send 1-4 Hours Later)

This first email is just a gentle tap on the shoulder. The customer might have simply gotten distracted.

• What to Include: Keep it friendly and low-pressure. Show them exactly what they left behind. A subject line like "Did you forget something?" or "Your cart is waiting for you" works perfectly.

Email 2: The Urgency Boost (Send 24 Hours Later)

Now it's time to introduce a little bit of urgency or handle common roadblocks.

• What to Include: Mention that popular items are selling out quickly, or consider offering a small discount (10% off) to make the decision easier. This is also the perfect spot to add customer reviews for the specific products in their cart.

Email 3: The Final Offer (Send 48-72 Hours Later)

This is your last shot to win them back. You need to create a compelling, can't-miss reason for them to act now.

• What to Include: Send a final reminder that their cart is about to expire. Pair this with your best offer—maybe free shipping or a slightly bigger discount. Make your call-to-action impossible to miss: "Complete Your Order Now."

Activating Your Automations with One Click

I know this might sound like a lot of technical setup, but it really doesn't have to be. Modern Shopify apps like Email Wiz were built from the ground up to make this process incredibly simple. The platform can actually pre-configure these exact flows for you, automatically pulling in your store’s branding and product info.

Often, it’s a simple one-click setup to get both your welcome series and your cart recovery emails live, so you can start converting subscribers and recapturing revenue right away.

If you want to see this in action, check out our detailed guide on how to build your first marketing automation workflow.

Time to Send: Your First Newsletter and Reading the Results

You’ve done the groundwork: the list is growing, you’ve got killer content, and your automated emails are humming along. Now for the exciting part—hitting "send" on your first real newsletter. This is where you establish a rhythm and, more importantly, start learning what your audience actually cares about by looking at the data.

Think of your first send not as a finish line, but as the start of a conversation. The goal here is to build a sustainable system that drives long-term growth, and that starts with understanding how people react.

Finding Your Sending Rhythm

When it comes to email, consistency is everything. A predictable schedule gets your audience used to hearing from you, and they’ll even start to look forward to it. So, how often should you be emailing them?

Honestly, there’s no magic number. It all comes down to your brand and what you can realistically manage.

• Weekly: This is a great tempo for stores with frequent product drops, regular sales, or a steady stream of blog content. It keeps your brand top-of-mind.

• Bi-Weekly (Every Two Weeks): This is the sweet spot for many. It gives you enough breathing room to create high-quality content without overwhelming your subscribers (or yourself).

• Monthly: This can work well for brands with a slower product cycle or those who want each newsletter to feel like a big, curated event. If you go this route, just make sure every email is packed with value.

Whatever cadence you pick, stick to it. It's far better to send one fantastic email every two weeks than a rushed, sloppy one every single Friday.

Expert Tip: Don't just guess when to send. Dig into your analytics to see when your subscribers are actually online and opening emails. Many platforms, including Email Wiz, have send-time optimization features that can do this for you, automatically delivering the email at the perfect moment for each individual person.

Focus on Metrics That Actually Move the Needle

Once you start sending, you'll see a flood of data. It’s easy to get distracted by vanity metrics, but for a Shopify store, only a handful of numbers truly impact your bottom line.

Here’s what you should be laser-focused on in your dashboard:

1. Open Rate: The percentage of people who opened your email. This tells you flat-out if your subject line and preview text are doing their job in a crowded inbox.

2. Click-Through Rate (CTR): Of the people who opened it, what percentage clicked a link? This is your best measure of how compelling your content, images, and calls-to-action are.

3. Conversion Rate: The percentage of people who made a purchase after clicking. This is the ultimate test—did the email actually drive a sale?

4. Revenue Per Email: The total sales directly tied to a single campaign. This connects your email efforts straight to your bank account.

Keeping an eye on these core metrics is non-negotiable. The data doesn't lie: email is an absolute powerhouse for sales, boasting a 4.24% purchase conversion rate that leaves search traffic (2.49%) and social media (0.59%) in the dust. For any Shopify store, these numbers prove that a great newsletter is one of your most direct paths to more revenue. You can find more stats on email marketing's powerful ROI to see just how effective it is.

Using Data to Make Smarter Decisions

Metrics aren't just for looking at in a report; they're for taking action. Every campaign is a chance to learn something that makes the next one even better. This is how you build a newsletter that continually improves over time.

The best way to start is with A/B testing, also known as split testing. You simply create two slightly different versions of an email, send them to small, separate groups of your audience, and see which one performs better. The winner gets sent to the rest of your list.

It's easy to test things like:

• Subject Lines: Pit a straightforward subject line ("Our New Spring Collection is Here") against one that builds a little curiosity ("Your new favorite outfit is waiting...").

• Calls-to-Action (CTAs): Does "Shop Now" work better than "Explore the Collection"? What about changing the button color? Test it!

• Offers: See what truly motivates your customers. Does a 15% discount convert better than a free shipping offer?

By constantly testing and tweaking, you stop guessing what your audience wants and start knowing what they respond to. This simple, iterative process is the secret to turning your newsletter from just another email into a powerful, revenue-driving machine for your store.

Got Questions About Your Shopify Newsletter? We’ve Got Answers.

Jumping into email marketing can feel like you're trying to solve a puzzle with a million pieces. As a Shopify owner, you’re already wearing a dozen different hats, so let’s cut through the noise. Here are some straightforward answers to the questions I hear most often from store owners just like you.

How Often Should I Actually Send My Newsletter?

This is the classic "how long is a piece of string?" question. The real answer? It all comes down to your ability to consistently provide value. A weekly email packed with fluff will send people scrambling for the unsubscribe button faster than a fantastic monthly one.

So, where should you start? For most Shopify stores, a balanced approach works best:

• Bi-weekly (every two weeks): This is the sweet spot for many. It gives you plenty of time to pull together quality content without overwhelming your subscribers or, just as importantly, burning yourself out.

• Weekly: This is a great rhythm to aim for, especially if you have frequent product drops, ongoing promotions, or a steady stream of content. Staying top-of-mind is powerful.

No matter what you choose, consistency is your secret weapon. People learn to expect your emails, and a predictable schedule builds a ton of trust and even a little anticipation. Forget what everyone else is doing; find a pace that works for you and lock it in.

Think of your newsletter as a marathon, not a sprint. One high-impact email every two weeks is infinitely better than four rushed, low-value emails a month. Quality always, always wins.

What’s the Real Difference Between a Campaign and an Automation?

Getting this right is what separates a basic email list from a revenue-generating machine. Once you grasp this concept, you can build a system that practically runs itself.

• Campaigns (or Broadcasts): Think of these as your one-off sends. They’re the emails you build and schedule manually for a specific moment in time—like a Black Friday announcement, a new product launch, or your latest blog post roundup.

• Automations (or Flows): This is where the magic happens. These are pre-built emails (or a series of them) that get sent automatically when a customer takes a specific action. That welcome series a new subscriber gets? That’s an automation. The abandoned cart email that saves a sale? Also an automation. You set them up once, and they work for you 24/7.

A truly effective email strategy needs both. Campaigns keep your brand fresh and timely, while automations are the workhorses that nurture customers at every critical step of their journey.

How Do I Know If My Newsletter Is Actually Working?

It's so easy to get buried in data and lose sight of what matters. To avoid "analysis paralysis," just focus on the metrics that tie directly back to your Shopify store’s bottom line.

Forget vanity stats like your total subscriber count. Instead, obsess over these four:

1. Open Rate: Are your subject lines actually getting people to click in a crowded inbox? If this number is low, your first impression is falling flat.

2. Click-Through Rate (CTR): Of the people who opened your email, did they care enough to click a link? This tells you if your content and calls-to-action are hitting the mark.

3. Conversion Rate: The big one. What percentage of the people who clicked actually bought something? This connects your email directly to sales.

4. Revenue Per Email: How much cash did that one campaign bring in? Modern email platforms built for Shopify will show you this exact number, leaving no room for guesswork.

As you dial in your marketing, it's also smart to ensure your core setup is solid. Comparing the best ecommerce platforms for small business can offer perspective, especially for Shopify owners who want to make sure they're using every tool at their disposal.

Do I Really Need a Huge List to Make Money?

Nope. Not at all. This is probably the biggest myth that holds store owners back.

Let me be clear: a small, engaged list of 500 true fans will run circles around a list of 10,000 disengaged subscribers any day of the week.

Your goal isn't to collect email addresses; it's to build a community. Focus on attracting the right people—the ones who are genuinely excited about what you're selling. Give them value, treat them like insiders, and they'll become the loyal, repeat customers who truly grow your business.

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Ready to launch your newsletter without the guesswork? Email Wiz sets up your entire Shopify email channel in 30 seconds. From automated welcome flows to AI-powered weekly newsletters, we handle the hard parts so you can focus on growing your store.

Start Driving Revenue with Email Wiz Today