Shopify has recently introduced a basic email marketing software built into the Shopify dashboard to simplify your email marketing life.
Visit the Shopify Email website →
Set up And First Thoughts
The store in this setup and review post just became eligible to try Shopify Email.
As a Shopify Expert I am going through Shopify Email for the first time and then recommending to clients if they stay with their current email marketing provider (ESP) or to perhaps give Shopify Email a try.
These are my thoughts just as I click around for the first pre transfer from Mailchimp (current ESP) to Shopify Email and before we send an Email.
Pros
– Simple to set up
– Pay as you go pricing
– Easy to edt emails
– Consolidating services
Cons
– lacks automations
– signup forms (not sure what my options are yet)
– consolidating accounts to a single platform and getting locked in
Who Should Use Shopify Email
If you have a few thousand emails on your list and send occasional emails to your list or if you are just starting your store and are wanting a free and easy service to set ip and get started this is a great solution to implement.
If you are using more advanced email sequences in your email marketing funnels, this is NOT the software for you.
This service is just being rolled out, I look forward to the coming features and using Shopify Email. I will update this post the more I work with Shopify Email and as they make updates to the products and email marketing apps.
Pricing
Currently it is free to use the Shopify email marketing for all plans until October 1, 2020.
After October 1, you will get 2,500 emails free each month and pay $1 for every 1,000 emails you send after that. Only pay for what you use.
I’m not sure if “1000 emails” refers to the number of email contacts or the number of emails sent…
Free is obviously great pricing for ecommerce email marketing software!
This makes starting an ecommerce store and sending emails even easier and more affordable. Especially for new store owners or people who don’t want to go through the technical setup on integrating a third party solution. It will simplify life a little.
This software is still very basic and just being rolled out. It has basic functionality compared to other ecommerce email marketing software and this is very fair pricing that reflects this.
Walk Through [Screen Shots]
After clicking the prompt in the Shopify dashboard to try Shopify Email the first option is:
Step 1 – Templates
The auto filled templates are close to the current Shopify theme style. There are 7 pre made email templates with more templates coming soon.
Step 2 – Customize and Send the Email
Starting at the top of the email, first I needed to import my contacts from Mailchimp to Shopify before sending an email.
In the above screenshot, the email is only using some of Shopify contacts and not the email list from Mailchimp.
In the top menu, you can toggle the preview between desktop and mobile view.
Each section in the email template is clickable. Edit the style and colors in the menu on the right.
Add or edit the design blocks or sections with the blue ‘+’ in the middle of the email.
Shopify Email Dashboard
To access Shopify Emails and create a new email: In the Shopify dashboard go to: Marketing > Campaigns
On this screen (above image) you can see the past email campaigns and send a new email.
Mailchimp vs Shopify Email
- Pricing – Shopify Email is way cheaper because it’s free
- Functionality – Mailchimp has more features like landing pages, automations, forms, multiple lists.
- Set Up – Easier and faster to set up and send the first email using Shopify.
Recommendation and Next Steps
We are going to go ahead and try a Shopify Email on this store.
We send an email to a few thousand members monthly. We rarely use the more advanced automations in Mailchimp and are already using Mailchimp for abandon cart emails.
We think the cost saving makes up for the reduced functionality and that we look forward to seeing how Shopify develops the product. We will then reconsider after using it for a bit.
I will continue to update this post as I test and try Shopify Email.