While many overlook it, email marketing is one of the most powerful tools in eCommerce. When used right, it can capture hearts, boost sales, and turn one-time shoppers into loyal customers. But how do you know if your emails are really working?
That's where data comes in.
By digging into the numbers, you can see what resonates with your audience, finetune your messaging, and get results. In this guide, we'll show you how to make sense of eCommerce email metrics and use it to drive real growth for your eCommerce business.
Email marketing metrics to track
eCommerce email metrics will tell you the effectiveness of your subject lines, content, and calls to action. Are your emails capturing attention, driving clicks, and ultimately leading to sales? Regularly monitoring and optimising these metrics is crucial for refining your marketing strategy.
Open rates
The open rate represents the percentage of recipients who open your email. It’s an important first indicator of whether your subject line, sender name, and preview text are compelling enough to get recipients to engage.
If you send out 1000 emails and 200 open it, your open rate is 20%. And that’s actually the average for open rates.
Why it matters
Low open rates could signal issues with your email’s subject line or timing. By testing different subject lines, personalisation, and sending times, you can optimise your chances of getting noticed in your subscribers’ inboxes.
Click-through rate (CTR)
What percentage of recipients clicked on a link within your email? The click-through rate gives you a clear indication of the level of engagement. Let’s say you send out 1,000 emails, 100 people open the email, and 10 people go on to click a link within it.
To find your click rate, divide the total clicks by the number of emails sent, then multiply by 100 to get a percentage:
Click rate: (10 clicks ÷ 1,000 emails sent) x 100 = 1%
For your click-through rate, divide the total clicks by the number of opened emails and multiply by 100:
Click-through rate: (10 clicks ÷ 100 opens) x 100 = 10%
These calculations help show how well your email engages those who receive and open it, giving insights into both overall reach and effectiveness. To give you an idea of norms, the average click-through rate is between 2% and 5% for eCommerce emails, according to Campaign Monitor. But this also depends on your industry. The average click-through rate for retail is 0.7%. On the other side of the coin, education clocks in with a 4.4% CTR.
Why it matters
A low CTR tells you that your content lacks relevance with your audience, or that your call-to-action (CTA) isn’t compelling enough. Experiment with different CTAs, email designs, and offers to improve this metric.
Conversion rate
This is the money metric. Your email's conversion rate is the ultimate measure of success. It tells you how many people who clicked on your email actually took the desired action. Average email conversion rates typically fall between 2% and 5%, according to Shopify.
Personalised emails generate six times higher transaction rates than non-personalised emails. So if you want to boost your conversion rate, and of course you do, personalise your emails. To get started, check out our blog, How to achieve email personalisation at scale.
Why it matters
A high conversion rate means your emails are converting clicks into sales. Improving eCommerce email conversions also involves creating a seamless customer journey from email to checkout. Use clear calls-to-action, optimise your website for conversions, and give recipients a smooth checkout process.
Bounce rate
Bounce rate tracks the percentage of emails that failed to deliver to your recipients. This can be due to invalid email addresses, full inboxes, or other delivery issues. An average 2% of emails sent don’t arrive at their destination. Bounce rates are split into soft and hard bounce rates.
Soft bounces indicate temporary problems, such as the annoying full inbox or your file is too large. Hard bounces are permanent – you’ve been blocked or the email address might not even exist.
Why it matters
It’s a sign that you need to clean your email list and segment subscribers based on engagement. This will boost your open rates and help you avoid a reputation for spam.
We suggest you download our ebook, Advanced email marketing tactics for eCommerce.
Unsubscribe rate
This is the percentage of subscribers who opt out of your email list. It's calculated by dividing the number of unsubscribes by the total number of emails delivered. You want to keep your unsubscribe rate below 0.5%, as this tells you that your subscribers are engaged with your content. Unsubscribing is a fact of life so you’ll never avoid it, but you can keep it low.
Why it matters
High unsubscribe rates are typically down to one of these sins:
- Recipients don’t know your brand
- Irrelevant email content
- Unsolicited promotional email
- Sending too many emails
- Opted in to take advantage of a special offer
Monitor feedback, and make sure that you align your content with your customers’ interests and needs.
Customer segmentation: the key to eCommerce email marketing
One of the most powerful ways to improve your email marketing is through customer segmentation. Dividing your audience into smaller, more targeted groups lets you reach them with highly personalised content that resonates with each segment.
Remember what we said about the importance of personalising emails? This involves more than using recipients’ names.
Common segmentation strategies:
Behavioural segmentation
- Past purchases: send tailored recommendations based on their previous orders.
- Browsing history: offer products similar to what they've viewed.
- Cart abandonment: remind them of items left in their cart with a special offer.
Demographic segmentation
- Age: tailor content to specific age groups.
- Location: offer region-specific deals or promotions.
- Gender: customise product recommendations or marketing messages.
Engagement-based segmentation
- Active subscribers: reward loyal customers with exclusive offers or early access.
- Inactive subscribers: re-engage them with personalised content or special promotions.
- Highly engaged subscribers: offer exclusive insights, early access to new products, or personalised recommendations.
This is how you increase conversions. You’ll find help with email segmentation strategies in our blog, Advanced audience segmentation tactics to drive eCommerce growth.
Email marketing data analysis: using the right tools
To understand and optimise your email campaigns, it's crucial to use good email marketing tools for eCommerce. Here are a few that can help you gather actionable insights, and their key features.