Best Email Marketing for Shopify Stores

Admin
Feb 8
4 min read

Updated: 4 hours ago

If you're running a Shopify store, email marketing is one of the highest-ROI channels you have. Abandoned cart recovery alone can bring back 10-30% of lost sales. Post-purchase flows turn one-time buyers into repeat customers. And segmented campaigns based on purchase history can double your revenue per email.

But most Shopify store owners use the wrong tools. Shopify Email is too basic. Klaviyo is overpriced. And generic email platforms don't understand e-commerce workflows.

The two tools that actually work for Shopify stores are ActiveCampaign and MailerLite. Here's why, and which one to choose.

What Shopify Stores Actually Need

E-commerce email marketing is different from standard newsletters. You need specific features:

Abandoned cart recovery. Someone adds a product to their cart and leaves. An automated sequence reminds them and offers a small incentive (free shipping, 10% off). This alone can recover 15-30% of abandoned carts.

Post-purchase sequences. After someone buys, they get a thank-you email, a product care guide, and a follow-up asking for a review. A week later, they get recommendations for related products. This increases repeat purchase rates by 20-40%.

Segmentation by purchase behavior. Someone who bought running shoes gets emails about running gear, not yoga mats. Someone who hasn't purchased in 90 days gets a win-back offer. Generic blasts don't work in e-commerce.

Product recommendations. Dynamic emails that show products based on what someone viewed or purchased. This drives repeat purchases without manual work.

Shopify integration. The tool needs to pull customer data, order history, and product catalogs directly from Shopify. If you're manually syncing data, you're wasting time and missing opportunities.

ActiveCampaign for Shopify

ActiveCampaign is the best email marketing tool for Shopify stores that want serious automation. The Shopify integration is native (not a third-party plugin). Customer data, order history, and product catalogs sync automatically.

Here's what makes it work for e-commerce:

Abandoned cart automation. Someone adds a product and doesn't check out.

ActiveCampaign detects this and triggers a sequence (reminder after 1 hour, incentive after 24 hours, final nudge after 48 hours). The emails include the exact products in their cart with images and pricing.

Post-purchase flows. After a purchase, the customer enters a sequence (thank you, product tips, review request, cross-sell). All automatic. No manual triggers.

Segmentation by purchase behavior. ActiveCampaign tracks what people buy, how much they spend, and how often they purchase. You can segment by product category, order value, purchase frequency, or any combination. Send targeted campaigns that actually match what people want.

Product recommendations. Dynamic content blocks pull product recommendations based on browsing or purchase history. Someone who bought a camera gets emails about lenses and tripods. No manual work required.

Win-back campaigns. ActiveCampaign identifies customers who haven't purchased in X days and triggers a win-back sequence (special offer, new arrivals, personalized recommendations). This brings back 10-20% of lapsed customers.

Pricing starts at $29/month for up to 1,000 contacts. As your store grows, pricing scales with your contact count. Most Shopify stores with 5,000+ contacts pay $50-150/month.

Best for:

Shopify stores doing $10K+ per month in revenue that want to maximize repeat purchases and recover abandoned carts. If email marketing drives a meaningful portion of your revenue, ActiveCampaign pays for itself immediately.

→ Go to ActiveCampaign

MailerLite for Shopify

MailerLite is the budget-friendly option for Shopify stores. It doesn't have every feature ActiveCampaign has, but it covers the essentials and costs 50-70% less.

The Shopify integration is solid. Customer data syncs automatically. You can set up abandoned cart recovery, post-purchase sequences, and segmented campaigns. The automation builder is clean and easy to use.

Here's what it does well:

Abandoned cart recovery. Someone abandons their cart, MailerLite triggers a sequence. The emails include cart contents with product images and a link back to checkout. Works exactly like ActiveCampaign, just with a simpler setup.

Post-purchase emails. After a purchase, customers enter an automated thank-you and follow-up sequence. You can request reviews, offer related products, or send care instructions.

Segmentation. MailerLite segments by purchase behavior (what they bought, when they bought, how much they spent). It's not as granular as ActiveCampaign, but it covers the basics.

What MailerLite doesn't have: Dynamic product recommendations (you'd need to manually add product links), advanced win-back flows based on purchase frequency, and deep behavioral tracking. If those features matter, you need ActiveCampaign.

Pricing is significantly cheaper. Free up to 500 contacts. Paid plans start at $10/month. Most Shopify stores with 5,000 contacts pay $30-50/month (vs $100-150/month for ActiveCampaign).

Best for:

New Shopify stores or stores doing under $10K/month in revenue. If you're just starting out and need abandoned cart recovery and basic automation without spending $100+/month, MailerLite is the right pick.

→ Go to MailerLite

Why Not Klaviyo?

Klaviyo is the most popular email tool for Shopify stores. But it's overpriced for what you get.

Klaviyo charges based on contacts, and the pricing jumps fast. At 5,000 contacts, you're paying $150-200/month. ActiveCampaign costs $100-150/month for the same list size and has comparable features. MailerLite costs $30-50/month.

Klaviyo's advantage is deeper e-commerce analytics and SMS. If you need those specific features, it might be worth it. But most Shopify stores don't. They need abandoned cart recovery, post-purchase flows, and segmentation. ActiveCampaign and MailerLite do that for less money.

The Bottom Line

If you're running a Shopify store and doing real revenue ($10K+/month), use ActiveCampaign. The automation pays for itself in recovered carts and repeat purchases.

If you're just starting out or doing under $10K/month, use MailerLite. It covers the essentials (abandoned carts, post-purchase flows, segmentation) at a fraction of the cost.

Both tools integrate natively with Shopify. Both handle e-commerce workflows better than generic email platforms. And both will drive more revenue than you're getting from Shopify Email or no email marketing at all.