Email marketing is one of the easiest ways to drive steady sales for your Shopify store — but only if you’re tracking the right numbers. It’s not just about how many emails you send; it’s about knowing what’s working and what’s falling flat. From open rates and click-throughs to bounce rates and ROI, each metric tells you something about your customers and how they respond to your messages.
Email marketing can generate $36 for every $1 spent. For Shopify stores, tracking the right metrics is crucial for boosting engagement and driving sales. Here's a quick overview of the 10 key metrics every Shopify merchant should monitor:
These metrics work together to highlight what’s working and where you can improve. Use Shopify tools or third-party platforms to track them, optimize your strategy, and grow your store's revenue.
1. Email Delivery Rate
The email delivery rate measures the percentage of emails that successfully make it to your subscribers' inboxes without bouncing. For Shopify stores, this metric is critical - it lays the groundwork for all your other email marketing stats. If your emails aren’t delivered, open and click-through rates don’t even get a chance to matter.
Email Delivery Rate Formula:
(Number of Emails Delivered ÷ Number of Emails Sent) × 100
For Shopify stores, a delivery rate over 95% is considered strong. Anything below that signals a problem that needs fixing.
What affects delivery rates? Key factors include using proper authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, as well as keeping your email list clean by removing invalid addresses regularly.
Here are a couple of ways to improve your delivery rate:
- Use tools like Google Postmaster to keep an eye on your domain reputation.
- Stick to consistent sending patterns to avoid spam triggers.
Keep in mind that delivery rate isn’t the same as inbox placement rate. Your emails might be delivered but could still end up in spam folders.
Shopify’s built-in tools make it easy to track your delivery rates.
2. Email Open Rate
The open rate shows how many recipients are actually opening your emails. It’s a key measure of how well your subject lines and overall strategy are grabbing attention - and it can directly influence your store's revenue.
How to Calculate Open Rate:
(Number of Emails Opened ÷ Number of Emails Delivered) × 100
For context, e-commerce open rates average around 15.68%, compared to a 21.33% average across all industries. This reflects the intense competition in retail email marketing.
What Affects Open Rates?
- Subject Lines: They should be clear and engaging.
- Sender Name: Use a name that your audience recognizes and trusts.
- Timing: Send emails when your audience is most likely to check their inbox.
- List Segmentation: Tailoring your emails to specific groups increases relevance and engagement.
One thing to note: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection automatically pre-loads email content, which can inflate open rates. To get a clearer picture, combine open rate data with click-through rates.
Tips to Boost Open Rates
- Personalize Your Subject Lines: Add the recipient’s name or other relevant details.
- Optimize for Mobile: Nearly half of emails (46%) are opened on mobile devices.
- Segment Your List: Group customers by behavior, preferences, or demographics.
- Test and Learn: Use A/B testing to refine subject lines and sending times.
3. Click Rate (CTR)
Click-Through Rate (CTR) tracks how many people click on links in your emails after opening them. It's a key indicator of whether your email content encourages action and helps drive traffic to your store.
While open rates show initial interest, CTR measures how well your content gets recipients to take the next step - essential for conversions.
CTR Formula:
(Number of Clicks ÷ Number of Emails Delivered) × 100
For reference, e-commerce CTRs average 2.1%, which is slightly below retail (2.5%) and tech (3.0%) industries.
How to Increase Your CTR
Want to push your CTR past the 2.1% e-commerce average? Try these strategies:
- Improve CTAs: Make buttons stand out with contrasting colors, place them above the fold, and ensure they’re mobile-friendly.
- Personalize Emails: Use Shopify's customer data to suggest products or create custom offers.
- Run A/B Tests: Experiment with button styles, email layouts, and the best times to send emails.
4. Sales Conversion Rate
While CTR gauges interest, the sales conversion rate shows whether that interest leads to actual purchases - arguably the most critical measure of your email campaign's success. Think of it as the "bottom line" metric that reveals if your emails are driving revenue.
To calculate it, use this formula:
(Number of Sales from Email ÷ Number of Email Clicks) × 100
For perspective, the average email marketing conversion rate across industries is 1.33%, while ecommerce stores tend to average slightly higher at 1.74%. High-performing campaigns, however, can hit 5% or more.
5. Email Bounce Rate
Bounce rate shows why some emails fail to reach inboxes, offering insights beyond delivery rate (Metric 1). This metric affects your store's ability to run effective email campaigns as outlined in Metrics 1-4.
There are two types of bounces: hard bounces (permanent issues like invalid email addresses) and soft bounces (temporary problems like full inboxes). Hard bounces are more damaging to your sender reputation.
To calculate bounce rate, use this formula:
(Bounced Emails ÷ Total Sent) × 100.
For e-commerce, aim for a bounce rate below 0.5%, compared to the 0.7% average across industries.
Common Causes of High Bounce Rates
Several factors can lead to elevated bounce rates, including:
- Outdated Email Lists: Subscribers may change email addresses or leave their companies.
- Poor List Acquisition: Using purchased lists or unverified addresses can result in invalid emails.
- Spam-Like Behavior: Sending patterns that resemble spam can increase bounces.
6. Email Unsubscribe Rate
The unsubscribe rate shows how many subscribers opt out of your email list. While bounce rates point to technical delivery issues, unsubscribe rates highlight whether your content resonates with your audience - both are crucial for healthy email deliverability.
To find your unsubscribe rate, use this formula:
(Number of Unsubscribes ÷ Total Emails Delivered) × 100
Industry Standards and Benchmarks
E-commerce businesses typically see an average unsubscribe rate of 0.27%. Fashion tends to be slightly higher at 0.31%, while tech averages around 0.21%. For Shopify stores, an unsubscribe rate below 0.5% is generally acceptable. If your rate consistently exceeds 1%, it’s time to reassess your strategy.
Why Unsubscribe Rates Spike
Several factors can lead to a higher-than-average unsubscribe rate:
- Too Many Emails: Overwhelming subscribers with frequent messages.
- Irrelevant Content: Emails that fail to meet subscriber expectations.
- Weak Segmentation: Sending generic content instead of targeting specific groups.
- Bad Timing: Delivering emails at inconvenient times.
7. Sales Per Email
Sales Per Email measures the revenue generated by each email in your campaign. It ties together delivery rates, opens, and clicks to show how well your email efforts turn into actual sales.
How to Calculate
Sales Per Email = Total Revenue from Campaign / Number of Emails Sent
On average, Shopify stores earn between $0.50 and $1.00 per email, with top-performing campaigns bringing in over $2.00 per email.
Key Factors That Influence Sales Per Email
Relevance: Emails with product recommendations tailored to subscribers' interests are more likely to convert into sales. Personalized content makes a big difference.
List Segmentation: Group your audience based on factors like:
- Purchase history
- Browsing habits
- Customer lifetime value
- Engagement levels
Timing: Sync your email sends with customer behaviors to make your messages more impactful and timely.
Test different mobile-friendly designs and CTAs, and use purchase history data to send tailored offers that connect with your audience.
8. Subscriber Growth Rate
This tells you how fast your email list is growing — and a healthy, growing list means more potential sales.
Quick formula:
(New Subscribers – Unsubscribes) ÷ Starting List Size × 100
Example: Start with 1,000, gain 100, lose 20 = 8% growth.
What’s good?
- 2.5–5% monthly is solid
- 8–10%+ is excellent
How to grow faster:
- Use exit popups
- Offer discounts or early access for sign-ups
- Place signup forms in obvious spots (homepage, product pages, cart, and thank-you pages)
Keep it clean:
- Remove inactive contacts regularly
- Watch how new subscribers engage
- Segment by behavior so emails feel personal
9. Spam Report Rate
Spam report rate shows how often recipients mark your emails as spam. This metric is crucial because it directly affects your Email Delivery Rate (Metric 1) and Email Marketing ROI (Metric 10), tying into your overall campaign performance.
What’s an Acceptable Rate?
Keep your spam report rate under 0.1%. If it goes above this threshold, email service providers might suspend your account to protect their reputation.
How to Track It
Here’s the formula:
(Spam Complaints ÷ Emails Delivered) × 100
For best results, remove subscribers who haven’t engaged in 3-6 months, and ensure your emails are transparent and easy to opt out of.
10. Email Marketing ROI
Email Marketing ROI (Return on Investment) measures how much profit your email campaigns generate compared to the costs involved. It ties together all key metrics - like delivery rates and spam management - with your overall revenue.
How to Calculate It
Here’s the formula: (Revenue Generated - Campaign Cost) / Campaign Cost × 100
For example, if you earn $3,600 from a campaign that costs $100, your ROI would be 3,500%.
What’s Considered a Good ROI?
On average, Shopify stores see an email marketing ROI of 3600%, meaning they earn $36 for every $1 spent.
Key Costs to Track -When calculating ROI, consider platform fees, labor costs, and any discounts offered.
Email Metric Standards
These metrics provide Shopify merchants with clear targets to improve their email campaigns:
Overall Shopify Store Benchmarks
Shopify stores typically perform better than general ecommerce averages. Here’s a breakdown of key metrics:
| Metric | Shopify Average | Good Performance | Excellent Performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery Rate | 98.5% | >99% | >99.5% |
| Open Rate | 22.4% | >25% | >30% |
| Click Rate | 2.9% | >3.5% | >4% |
| Conversion Rate | 1.8% | >2.5% | >3% |
| Bounce Rate | 0.6% | <0.5% | <0.3% |
A quick tip:
Transactional emails (like order confirmations) always outperform promos, with open rates around 45% and conversion rates above 4%.
Don’t forget mobile!
Most people check emails on their phones — so mobile-friendly designs and automated flows usually perform best.
Bottom line:
Keep your list growing by at least 3.5% per month and aim for $0.38 or more in revenue per subscriber. These targets help show if your emails are doing their job or need a tweak.
Conclusion
Keeping an eye on these metrics isn’t just about numbers — it’s about understanding how your audience responds and finding ways to make each email count. Small tweaks can lead to big results, whether that’s cleaner lists, sharper subject lines, or smarter segmentation. Keep testing, keep learning, and your email strategy will only get stronger over time.