Post-purchase emails are opened more than almost any other type of commercial email. Your customer just gave you money. They want to know what happens next. That moment of high attention is the most underused opportunity in e-commerce email marketing.
Here’s the sequence every online store should have running automatically.
Email 1: Order confirmation (immediate)
WooCommerce sends this automatically, but the default email does the bare minimum. Make yours better.
Include: a warm, human confirmation, the items ordered with images, expected delivery timeline, a customer service contact, and a ‘what happens next’ summary. If you can add a personal note about how orders are packed or prepared, do it.
Treat this email as your first proper brand touchpoint after the sale.
Email 2: Order dispatched (when you ship)
Sent when you update the order status to ‘Completed’ or ‘Shipped.’ Include the tracking link, expected delivery date, and a reminder of what they ordered. This is a good place to mention your returns policy, before the customer potentially needs it.
Email 3: Follow-up check-in (3 to 5 days after delivery)
This is the email most stores skip. It asks: did everything arrive okay? Are you happy with it? It also creates a natural opening to ask for a Google review or a social share, at the moment when the product is fresh in the customer’s hands.
Email 4: Cross-sell (7 to 14 days later)
Once the customer has had time to experience the product, send a light follow-up showing related or complementary items. Not a hard sell — frame it as ‘Customers who bought X also liked’ or ‘Things that work well with your recent purchase.’
Email 5: Re-engagement (60 to 90 days later, if no further purchase)
If the customer hasn’t bought again within 60 to 90 days, a short re-engagement email can bring them back. A simple ‘we’ve added new stock’ or ‘you might like this’ is often enough. This is also where a small incentive can be worthwhile.
Setting this up in WooCommerce
WooCommerce handles emails 1 and 2 natively. Emails 3 through 5 need an email marketing platform with WooCommerce integration. Klaviyo handles this most powerfully. MailerLite and ActiveCampaign are good alternatives for smaller stores.
Read next
See our guide to email marketing for e-commerce for the full picture, or read our comparison of Mailchimp vs Klaviyo to decide which platform is right for your store.
Need a hand?
We set up email automation for online stores. Have a look at our email marketing services or get in touch.
