WooCommerce sends two kinds of email: transactional emails that confirm orders and shipping, and marketing emails that bring customers back to buy again. Pairing WooCommerce’s built-in transactional emails with a dedicated marketing platform or plugin, such as Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Omnisend, or MailPoet, is what turns one-time buyers into repeat customers.
Email marketing consistently delivers one of the highest returns of any digital channel. According to Litmus, businesses see an average return of $36 to $42 for every $1 spent, and retail and ecommerce brands often land at the higher end of that range. For a WooCommerce store, that return comes mainly from three places: order-related emails that build trust, abandoned cart emails that recover lost sales, and targeted campaigns that bring past customers back.
This guide covers the email types your store should have in place, how to choose a platform or plugin, and the best practices that turn sends into revenue.
Types of Emails in WooCommerce
WooCommerce emails fall into two categories: transactional and marketing.
Transactional Emails
Transactional emails are triggered automatically by an action a customer takes, such as placing an order or resetting a password. WooCommerce sends these by default, and they typically have the highest open rates of any email type since customers expect and want them.
| Trigger | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Order confirmation | New order placed | Confirms order details, items, and payment status |
| Processing order | Payment completed | Confirms the order is being prepared |
| Shipping confirmation | Order shipped | Provides tracking information and delivery estimate |
| Completed order | Order marked complete | Confirms successful delivery |
| Order on hold | Order paused | Explains the hold and any required action |
| Cancelled order | Order cancelled | Explains the cancellation and refund process |
| Failed order | Payment or processing failure | Explains what went wrong |
| Refunded order | Refund processed | Confirms refund amount and details |
| Account creation | New account signup | Confirms account and login details |
| Password reset | Reset requested | Sends the reset link |
| Customer note | Note added to order | Shares an update from the store |
Transactional emails aren’t built for promotion, but they’re a natural place for a small amount of relevant content: a cross-sell recommendation on a completed-order email, or a warm welcome message layered onto an account-creation email. The core transactional information should stay the priority; anything promotional should sit below it, not replace it.
Marketing Emails
Marketing emails are opt-in campaigns you send to build relationships and drive sales, rather than emails triggered purely by a transaction.
| Email type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Welcome email | Introduces your brand and offers a first-purchase incentive; welcome emails see roughly 4x the opens and 10x the clicks of a standard campaign |
| Abandoned cart email | Reminds a shopper about items left in their cart; abandoned cart emails convert at roughly 3x the rate of other automated emails |
| Thank you / post-purchase email | Follows up after a completed order with cross-sell or loyalty offers |
| Review or survey email | Requests feedback or a product review after purchase |
| Birthday email | Sends a personalized discount around a customer’s birthday |
| Product recommendation email | Suggests items based on browsing or purchase history |
| Upsell and cross-sell email | Recommends premium versions or complementary products |
| Discount and flash sale email | Announces a coupon, sale, or limited-time offer |
| New launch email | Builds anticipation for an upcoming product |
| Seasonal campaign email | Ties offers to holidays and seasonal shopping windows |
| Re-engagement email | Reaches out to inactive subscribers with an incentive to return |
| Newsletter | Shares new products, company news, or content updates |
| Referral email | Rewards customers for referring new buyers |
Automating Discount Emails
Discount offers are one of the highest-converting email types: most shoppers actively look for a discount before buying, and a well-timed coupon email regularly outperforms a generic promotional send. The email is only half the equation.
The discount logic behind it, such as tiered pricing, bulk discounts, or role-based pricing, needs a plugin that can apply rules automatically at checkout. A dynamic pricing and discount plugin like Discoplugin lets you set those rules once, so the offer your email promises is exactly what the customer sees in their cart.
Choosing the Right Platform for WooCommerce Email Marketing
There are two ways to run WooCommerce email marketing: a standalone email platform connected to your store, or a WordPress plugin built to work inside it.
Standalone platforms handle every part of email marketing, subscriber management, design, automation, and reporting, and connect to WooCommerce through an integration. They tend to offer more advanced segmentation and cross-channel features (SMS, push notifications) than plugins.
WooCommerce-native plugins run inside your WordPress dashboard and are built around store data specifically: abandoned carts, order history, and product recommendations, without needing a separate external account for basic sending.
When comparing options, weigh:
- Ease of use: Plugins are usually simpler since they live in the environment you already manage.
- Automation depth: Look for abandoned cart, welcome series, and post-purchase workflows specifically, not just broadcast sending.
- Segmentation: You need to target by purchase history, browsing behavior, and demographics, not just list membership.
- WooCommerce data sync: Confirm the integration pulls order value, product data, and customer status, not just email addresses.
- Pricing model: Most platforms charge by contact count, which means your bill grows with your list even if you don’t email more often. Check current pricing directly before committing, since providers adjust these tiers often.
Best Standalone Email Marketing Platforms for WooCommerce
Mailchimp
Mailchimp syncs WooCommerce customer and order data automatically and includes ecommerce-specific features like abandoned cart emails and product recommendations.
Key features:
- Ecommerce integrations built for order and customer sync
- Abandoned cart recovery and post-purchase follow-ups
- Templates and reporting geared toward online stores
Pricing: Mailchimp’s free plan currently covers 250 contacts and 500 emails per month. Paid plans start at roughly $13/month (Essentials) and $20/month (Standard, which unlocks multi-step automation), scaling up from there by contact count. Check Mailchimp’s pricing page for your exact tier, since contact-based pricing shifts as lists grow.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo is built around ecommerce data and reporting: customer lifetime value, repeat purchase rate, and revenue attribution by flow.
Key features:
- Deep segmentation based on shopping behavior
- Ecommerce-specific reporting (LTV, revenue per flow)
- Combined email and SMS in one platform
Pricing: A free plan covers up to 250 profiles and 500 monthly email sends. Paid Email plans start at roughly $20/month for 251 to 500 profiles and scale with your active profile count. SMS is billed separately. Confirm current tiers on Klaviyo’s pricing page, since it bills by total active profiles rather than emails sent.
Omnisend
Omnisend bundles email, SMS, and push notifications into ecommerce-focused automation workflows with prebuilt templates.
Key features:
- Prebuilt automations for welcome series, abandoned carts, and win-back campaigns
- Email, SMS, and push notifications in one plan
- Free plan includes core automation, not a stripped demo
Pricing: The free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 emails per month. Standard starts around $16/month, and Pro starts around $59/month with unlimited email sends and bundled SMS credits. Check Omnisend’s pricing page directly, since SMS billing terms have changed more than once in 2026.
GetResponse
GetResponse combines email marketing with landing pages and automation aimed at small and mid-sized stores.
Key features:
- Automation workflows for welcome sequences and order follow-ups
- Built-in landing pages and AI email tools
- Free plan available for smaller lists
Pricing: GetResponse offers a free tier and paid Email Marketing plans starting at roughly $19/month for around 1,000 contacts, with Marketing Automation and Ecommerce Marketing tiers above that. Verify current tier names and pricing before purchasing, since GetResponse has restructured its plans more than once.
Best WooCommerce-Native Email Marketing Plugins
MailPoet
MailPoet runs newsletters, automated emails, and WooCommerce automation directly inside WordPress.
Key features:
- Subscription forms, newsletters, and automated post notifications built into WordPress
- WooCommerce automation: abandoned cart recovery, product recommendations, custom transactional emails
- Built-in sending service for deliverability
Pricing: The free (Starter) plan covers up to 500 subscribers and 5,000 emails per month. Paid plans that remove branding and add automation start from around $10 to $11/month at the lowest subscriber tier and scale with list size. Check MailPoet’s pricing page for your exact list size, since plans are priced per subscriber count.
Omnisend for WooCommerce
The same Omnisend platform above also ships as a dedicated WooCommerce plugin, syncing customer, order, and cart data without leaving your WordPress dashboard.
AutomateWoo
AutomateWoo is a WooCommerce-native automation plugin, now owned by WooCommerce/Automattic, built around workflows: triggers, rules, and actions tied directly to store events.
Key features:
- Abandoned cart recovery and win-back campaigns
- Birthday emails, review requests, and personalized coupons
- Subscription and card-expiry automation
Pricing: Around $99/year for a single site, sold through the official WooCommerce Marketplace. Confirm the current price on WooCommerce.com, as extension pricing on the marketplace changes periodically.
Constant Contact for WooCommerce
Constant Contact connects WooCommerce order and contact data to Constant Contact’s campaign builder, with prebuilt customer segments based on purchase behavior.
Pricing: Constant Contact’s entry-level Lite plan starts at roughly $12/month, with a free trial available (no permanent free plan). Verify current tiers, since Constant Contact prices by contact count and feature tier.
AWeber for WooCommerce
AWeber connects your store’s customer list to AWeber’s automation and template library.
Pricing: AWeber’s entry pricing has shifted over the past year and now varies by plan and list size, roughly in the $12 to $30/month range depending on the tier. Check AWeber’s current pricing page before committing, since published entry prices differ across sources.
Fixing WooCommerce Email Deliverability
If customers aren’t receiving order confirmation or shipping emails, the most common cause is a WordPress server that isn’t configured to send mail reliably. WordPress uses PHP mail by default, and many hosts don’t configure it well.
WP Mail Logging logs every outgoing email, including errors, and lets you resend anything that failed. It’s a diagnostic tool, not a fix for the underlying delivery issue.
WP Mail SMTP reconfigures WordPress to send through a proper SMTP provider instead of PHP mail, which is the actual fix for most non-delivery issues. It includes a setup wizard and supports multiple SMTP providers.
Best Practices for WooCommerce Email Marketing
Segment your list. Segmented campaigns significantly outperform generic sends. Group by purchase history, browsing behavior, or demographics rather than emailing your entire list the same message.
Keep your list clean. Remove inactive and bounced contacts regularly. A clean list improves deliverability and protects your sender reputation.
Personalize beyond the first name. Use purchase history and browsing behavior to recommend specific products, not just a name in the greeting.
Write subject lines that earn the open. Keep them under 50 characters, lead with the benefit, and avoid vague phrasing. Adding a relevant emoji can lift open rates, but only when it fits the message.
Optimize for mobile. Most emails are opened on a phone. Use a single-column layout, large tap targets, and concise copy.
Automate the sequences that matter most. Abandoned cart recovery, welcome series, and post-purchase follow-ups run without daily attention once they’re set up, and they consistently outperform one-off broadcasts.
Track and act on your data. Watch open rate, click-through rate, and conversion rate for each campaign type, and adjust subject lines, timing, or offers based on what the data shows, not assumptions.
Follow email compliance rules. Get clear consent before adding anyone to your list, include an unsubscribe link in every email, and identify your business clearly in the sender information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are transactional emails part of WooCommerce email marketing?
Not primarily. Transactional emails exist to confirm orders, shipping, and account changes. You can add a small amount of relevant content, such as a cross-sell suggestion on a completed-order email, but the transactional information needs to stay clear and prominent. Marketing emails, welcome series, abandoned cart recovery, newsletters, are the ones built specifically to drive additional sales.
How do I get a list of my WooCommerce customer emails?
WooCommerce stores customer emails in your order data, and most marketing plugins and platforms sync this automatically once connected. If you need a manual export, WooCommerce’s built-in export tool (under Analytics or WooCommerce > Status > Tools, depending on version) can generate a CSV of customers. Always follow applicable consent and privacy rules before emailing an exported list for marketing purposes; transactional recipients haven’t necessarily opted into marketing email.
Is there a difference between “email marketing for WordPress” and “email marketing for WooCommerce”?
Yes. A WordPress email tool (like a newsletter plugin) may only handle basic sending and subscriber forms. A WooCommerce-focused tool adds store-specific automation: abandoned cart recovery, order-based triggers, and product recommendations pulled from your store data. If you run a WooCommerce store, prioritize tools that explicitly list WooCommerce integration rather than general WordPress compatibility.
Why isn’t WooCommerce sending order emails automatically?
The most common cause is a hosting environment that doesn’t handle PHP mail correctly. Installing an SMTP plugin like WP Mail SMTP and connecting it to a proper mail provider resolves this in most cases. Use WP Mail Logging alongside it to confirm which emails are failing and why.
Key Takeaways
- WooCommerce emails split into two categories: transactional (order confirmations, shipping updates) and marketing (welcome series, abandoned cart, newsletters).
- Abandoned cart emails convert roughly 3x higher than other automated emails, and welcome emails see roughly 4x the opens of a standard campaign.
- Standalone platforms like Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and GetResponse offer deeper segmentation and reporting; WooCommerce-native plugins like MailPoet and AutomateWoo run inside WordPress with less setup.
- Free plans across most major platforms now cap out around 250 to 500 contacts, so check limits against your actual list size before committing.
- If order emails aren’t arriving, the fix is usually an SMTP plugin, not a marketing platform switch.
- Discount emails perform best when paired with a dynamic pricing or coupon plugin that enforces the offer automatically at checkout.
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