The Ultimate Post-Purchase Email Strategy: 7 Must-Send Emails + Best Practices

Do you know that post-purchase emails have a 217% higher open rate than other types of emails?

Yup! You saw that right. It’s one of the most affordable and effective ways to stay connected with your existing customers and encourage them to buy again.

But do you send enough of these emails to your customers? Or maybe you only reach out until the product is delivered and stop from there?

Don’t worry. You can still improve your post-purchase flow, and we’ll help you with that.

In this article, we’ll show seven of the most important emails you should automate after checkout as an ecommerce brand. We’ll also share some examples and best practices to help you build a consistent (and solid) email marketing strategy.

7 Must-Send Emails in 3 Post-Purchase Phases

There are different post-purchase emails you can send, and they depend on where your customers are in their journey. So to make it easier, we grouped them into three phases:

• Phase 1: The Transactional Core
• Phase 2: The Post-Delivery Engagement
• Phase 3: The Loyalty Engine

We suggest you grab a pen and paper (or open a new document) and list the emails you already have and the ones you don’t. This very simple activity will help you take action as soon as possible.

Now, let’s get started.

7 Must-Send Emails Table Summary

Phase	Email Type	When to Send	Main Purpose	Must Include
Phase 1: Transactional Core	1. Order Confirmation	Right after checkout	Confirms payment and order	Order number, product details, shipping address, payment total
	2. Shipping Confirmation	When the carrier picks up the package	Shows the order is shipped	Tracking link, carrier name, estimated delivery date
	3. Delivery Confirmation	When the carrier marks it as delivered	Confirms package arrival	Delivery time and location
Phase 2: Post-Delivery Engagement	4. Review Request	2-13 days after delivery (depends on what you sell)	Collects customer reviews	Personal subject line, incentive offer, easy review process
	5. Product Guide	1-3 days after delivery	Reduces returns through providing guides	Care instructions, setup tips, usage ideas
Phase 3: Loyalty Engine	6. Cross-Sell	14-21 days after delivery	Recommends related products	Personalized suggestions, bundle discount
	7. Loyalty Program	Ongoing after they join	Encourages repeat purchases	Point balance, redemption info, available perks
	8. Replenishment Reminder (Optional)	Based on how fast they use it (30-90 days)	Prompts timely reorders	Previous product, reorder button, subscription option

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Phase 1: The Transactional Core (Reassurance and Delivery)

This “unskippable” phase contains the order, shipping, and delivery confirmation emails. The main goal here is to inform your buyers about when and how they’ll receive their order.

An order confirmation email assures your customers that they successfully ordered the product.

Let’s say one of your customers bought a tennis racket from your store. The confirmation email you send will show them that their order went through and that your team is preparing it for the next step: shipping.

The order confirmation email also serves as digital proof and keeps everything transparent and traceable in case there are any issues in the future.

Remember to include the following when creating a template for your order confirmation email:

• A straightforward subject line like “Your Order [number] is Confirmed.”
• A short thank-you message with what’s going to happen next (i.e., “Thank you for your purchase! We’ll send you another email for your order tracking link).
• Your customer’s full name, address, and contact info.
• The product’s name, quantity, image, and price… so your customers can double-check their order.
• Itemized and total amount, plus the payment info.

You can check out and get some ideas from Roark’s confirmation email:

It’s simple and includes all the important info we mentioned. Plus, it includes a tiny note on where to reach out if there are any issues, and a “View Order Status” button for easier access to the order tracking page.

Like an Uber Eats notification, a shipping confirmation email makes your customers feel giddy and reassured that their order is finally on its way.

Don’t confuse this with an order confirmation email. That one indicates that you received the payment and order request, while this confirmation email shows that the product is already out of your store (and is now with a trusted carrier). It’s also the perfect time to share your branded tracking page link.

Your shipping confirmation email should include the tracking link, product details, shipping address, carrier name, and estimated delivery date.

Here’s an example from Paddywax:

PRO-TIP: Prepare shipment-delay emails to send to your customers in case of delivery issues. You can set a trigger for them to send automatically when there’s no tracking movement for about a day or two. Delays are normal, and they can happen at any time, but you can avoid negative complaints and return requests with proactive communication.

About 73% of customers experience delivery failure. And while there are multiple reasons this happens, like late arrivals, wrong delivery times, or items left in unsecured locations, sending a delivery confirmation email can avoid confusion on your customer’s part.

Imagine that one of your customers (let’s call her Bella) ordered $300 worth of beauty products from your store. She didn’t receive a carrier message, so she wasn’t aware the package had already arrived. If you don’t send any delivery confirmation, the package can be exposed to bad weather and people. You know, we have to be careful with the porch pirates.

It’s also helpful if you’re shipping orders in multiple packages. If your customers know which products have already been delivered and which are still on the way, they won’t reach out to your support team right away and wait a few more days for the other items.

PRO TIP: Send the delivery confirmation as soon as the carrier changes the order status to “delivered.” That way, you can avoid accidents like theft, and your customers can contact you ASAP if there are any issues.

Phase 2: Post-Delivery Engagement (Driving the Next Action)

The next phase is all about keeping the connection with your customers post-delivery. Here, you send emails to collect reviews and guide your customers on how the products work, so you can reduce returns and build more trust in your brand.

“When” you ask for a review matters just as much as “how” you ask for it. One study showed that waiting 13 days to send a review request increases the chances customers will respond, but sending it too early can lower the response rate. You have to find the “balance” and also consider the type of product you’re selling.

Some products (like skincare or supplements) need a few weeks of testing before your customers can form an opinion, while other items (say apparel or pet toys) can be assessed in about 3-5 days.

Since this email benefits you more than your customers, you have to make it enticing to get valuable feedback. Here’s what we suggest:

• Avoid overused subject lines: Don’t go for “Leave us a review” or “Let us know what you think.” Try something specific and a bit more personal, like “How’s your new jacket working out?” or ” Hi [Customer’s name], just a quick question about your order.”
• Offer an incentive: If you want to encourage customers (and up your chances), offer a discount, free shipping on their next purchase, or loyalty points they can use later.
• Automate the process and reward photo reviews: Use a tool that lets you request reviews at the right time based on delivery status and offers an extra bonus to those who add photos (this will reduce work for your team).

One of our clients uses ParcelPanel Order Tracking and Trustoo to automate their review requests. They connected these apps so that when ParcelPanel updates the delivery status in Shopify, Trustoo detects it and sends a review request based on the timing they set up. Then they reward customers with discount codes when they leave reviews with photos.

Your customers often have questions about setup, care, or best practices that your packaging (and product description) doesn’t cover.

Imagine someone bought a high-end espresso machine from your store but didn’t know how to clean it well. They might return it, thinking it’s defective when it just needed basic care.

Now, let’s change the situation. Let’s say one of your customers bought a French press coffee maker, but this time, you sent them a product guide email. You mentioned how to prevent coffee grounds from getting stuck in the filter and how to deep clean it weekly. The chance of them keeping your product (and using it until it wears out naturally) goes up because they now know how to maintain it.

Your product guide emails don’t have to be long. You can either provide a short description or send a link to the full guide. Or… you can send a series of how-to emails over the first two weeks. Product guides aren’t limited to care instructions either. Heck, you can even offer new ways to use your product that they hadn’t thought of.

Here’s a great post-purchase email example from Heyday.

It sends gift guides that segment products by customer type. Each section explains what makes the product work and who it’s best for. And it also offers links where you can view more guides and shop for more of its products.

Phase 3: The Loyalty Engine (Maximizing Value)

In the last phase, we’re going to talk about the emails that will bring you repeat purchases and more loyal customers.

Timing and relevance are important when sending this type of post-purchase email. You need to wait until customers have used what they bought, then suggest products that naturally complement their purchase (don’t just shoot your shot with random items).

We suggest waiting around 14-21 days before you send cross-sell emails. That gives your customers enough time to try your products or run out of them.

Let’s say your main products are bubble tea kits. You have three repeat customers (Anna, Ellie, and Chris) who always buy the same flavors:

• Anna loves the mango green tea kit
• Ellie always checks out strawberry black tea
• Chris orders lychee oolong (five times already)

Offering Anna a tropical fruit bundle might work because she already loves mango flavors. And for Ellie and Chris, you can cross-sell teas with other berry or floral notes instead.

PRO TIP: Bundle your items together at a slight discount. Customers buy more when they see a package deal instead of individual add-ons.

Digitalsilk found that 90% of loyalty programs deliver positive ROI, and the best ones earn 4.8 times what they cost to run. That’s why it’s one of our favorite ways to improve customer loyalty, and you can actually promote it and encourage more repeat purchases through emails.

This email should contain your customer’s current point balance, clear instructions on how to redeem rewards, and a preview of the perks they’re close to earning.

If you want to get some ideas on format, here’s one from J.Crew. We like how it shows the customer’s point total and then lists the benefits available to members. Plus, the product recommendation part also segments items by style or occasion (which makes it easy to choose which item to buy).

The email part is easy if you have good software that can handle the points system and rewards tracking. Channelwill’s Loloyal can do that for you.

This app lets you set up a points program where customers earn rewards for purchases, referrals, social shares, and even birthday celebrations.

You can also create VIP tiers so your best customers get better benefits as they spend more. Plus, the app includes a dedicated rewards dashboard where your customers can check their points and see what they can redeem.

This last email is a bonus one. It’s up to you if you want to add it to your flow, but we have to mention it because it’s one of the easiest (and effective) ways for customer retention.

Replenishment reminders work best for consumable items that people buy on a predictable schedule. That includes the following:

• Pet supplies
• Coffee and beverages
• Skincare and beauty products
• Vitamins and supplements
• Cleaning supplies

You might have to depend on your past data to decide when to send this email. Look at how often your customers reorder the same product. If most of them buy dog food every five weeks, set your reminder to go out around day 30-35. If coffee subscriptions typically last a month, send the reminder at the 3-week mark.

PRO TIP: Add a subscription option in your replenishment email. Offer 10-15% off if customers subscribe to automatic deliveries. It locks in future revenue and removes the “friction” for your customers, as they can set it once and forget about it.

Great! You already know the seven essential post-purchase emails (+1 optional) that should be in your flow. But before we end this article, we also want to share some useful tips to help you “maximize” these emails… for better results.

Best Practices for Optimizing Your Post-Purchase Email Flow

Strategic Timing for the Post-Purchase Flow

Getting the timing right for your post-purchase emails affects whether customers open them or ignore them completely. We worked with a client who sent all their emails too close together.

Their customers got delivery confirmation, review request email, and cross-sell offer all in just one week. Because of that, their open rate dropped to 18% and their unsubscribe rate increased by 9%.

Here’s how to space out your emails properly:

• Check your delivery data first. Pull up your shipping reports from the past 90 days and look at how long orders typically take to arrive. If most packages land in 3-5 days, use that as your baseline for planning everything else.
• Automate your confirmation emails. Order confirmation goes out at checkout, shipping confirmation sends when you create the tracking number, and delivery confirmation triggers when the carrier marks it delivered.
• Space out engagement emails based on product type. Product guides work best 1-3 days after delivery when people are setting things up. Loyalty emails can go out anytime after customers join your program.
• Don’t flood inboxes. Avoid sending multiple emails on the same day… unless they’re order updates.
• Test and adjust your timing. Run A/B tests on send times and watch your open rates to see what works best for your audience.

Have you ever tried sending post-purchase emails manually? While it can work if you have around 10-20 orders a day, it’s not realistic once you start growing.

Besides the time savings, it’s actually more effective. Omnisend mentions in their marketing statistics that automated emails get opened 52% more often than regular emails, and their conversion rate can go over 2,000%.

You need the right triggers to make automation work. Here are the three main types:

• Order status triggers: These send emails when something changes in your system. Order confirmation goes out the moment someone checks out. Delivery confirmation is sent when the carrier marks the package as delivered.
• Time-based triggers: These run on a set schedule after purchase. A product guide goes out 2 days after delivery. A replenishment reminder sends 30 days later for consumable products like coffee or pet food.
• Behavioral triggers: These respond to what customers actually do. If someone opens your product guide three times but doesn’t click anything, it suggests they might need help. You can set up a follow-up email offering support.

Did you know that 43% of people decide to open an email based on the subject line alone? That makes it the second biggest factor in getting your post-purchase emails read.

Your subject line needs to be specific and relevant. “Your order is on the way” works better than “Shipping update” because it tells customers exactly what’s inside. Keep it under 50 characters so mobile users can see the whole thing.

Images and graphics help customers understand information faster than reading through paragraphs. An order summary with product images beats a text-only list of items… and it’s easier to scan. You can also add a simple graphic at the top that shows a package icon heading to the delivery location for visual effect.

Like what Burst did here:

Product images in your cross-sell emails also remind customers what they bought and why they might want something similar.

Let’s say you want to collect customer feedback after delivery. A CTA button that says “Click here” feels vague and unmotivating. But “Take our 2-minute survey” tells them exactly what to do and how long it takes.

The best CTAs combine action words with a clear benefit or show how little effort it takes (this approach works for any post-purchase message you send).

Our next best practice is about sending the right message to the right customer at the right time. Not every customer who buys from you needs the same post-purchase experience.

Sending everyone the same emails means you’re missing opportunities to connect better with different groups. Sender found that stores using segmented campaigns get 30% more email opens and 50% better click-through rates compared to sending the same message to everyone.

Most email platforms let you automate segmentation using customer data you already have. Set up rules based on order value, product category, or purchase history… and your system sorts customers automatically.

Here’s how to apply this to your post-purchase campaigns:

• New customers get a welcome series explaining your brand story and return policy. First-time buyers need more hand-holding than repeat customers.
• High-value orders (over $200) receive white-glove delivery updates and priority support access. These customers expect more attention.
• Product-specific segments get relevant how-to content. Someone who bought running shoes needs different care tips than someone who bought a blender.

Your emails won’t matter if they never reach the inbox. One of our clients spent months perfecting their post-purchase email marketing, only to discover their delivery rate was sitting at 62%. It turns out that they’re sending from an unauthenticated domain because nobody set up the technical requirements properly.

Here’s how to keep your deliverability rates high. Start by authenticating your domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records (your email platform usually has a setup guide for this).

You also need to clean your email list regularly by removing bounced addresses and inactive subscribers.

Watch out for spam trigger words like “free money” or “act now” in your subject lines (they’re red flags for filters ). And monitor your sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster or your ESP’s built-in reports.

Your “from” name and email address should stay consistent across all automated messages, too. Switching between different sender names confuses spam filters and customers.

PRO TIP: Always get explicit consent before adding customers to your post-purchase sequence. A checked box at checkout that says “Yes, send me order updates and product tips” protects you legally and improves engagement.

Conclusion: Making the Post-Purchase Email Your Competitive Edge

Awesome! You’re able to finish reading this article (congrats on that). Now you know how post-purchase emails can improve customer engagement, help them trust your brand more, and increase your store’s future purchases.

The seven emails we covered (plus the replenishment reminder) work together to create an experience that feels personal and reliable. But remember, the emails alone won’t do the job. You need to get the timing right, set up your triggers, and segment your audience based on what they actually bought.

Ready to build your post-purchase email flow? Start with ParcelPanel Order Tracking. Use it to set up your shipping notifications, and let it handle delivery updates automatically. Click here to install the app.