What is a shipping confirmation email?

Shipping confirmation emails are simple notifications that you get after making an online purchase, informing you that your order has been shipped, with an estimated time of arrival. 

These kinds of emails (along with order confirmation emails) are the most valuable messages in consumers’ inbox, and the ones with the highest open rates (64% of clients strongly consider these emails worth opening) because they are glad to see that their order is on the way. So the positive association is the main reason people open and read them, having significantly higher open, click, and conversion rates than bulk mailings.

According to some studies, they have the highest click rates, so they are also an opportunity to add value to the transaction and build customer loyalty. 

What’s the difference between Order and Shipping confirmation emails?

We already talked about what a shipping email is, so let’s find out what the Order confirmation email is all about.

An order confirmation email is a transactional email informing customers that you have received and/or processed their order.

So, let’s make it clear.

• Firstly, customers receive an email where you inform them that their order is being prepared.
• Secondly, you send them an email (hours, or a day or two later) telling that their order is being shipped.

Tips for creating the best confirmation email

How do you create an effective shipping confirmation email? Check these tips out to improve the copy and the design of your emails:

Writing tips

Begin with the shipping notification and a Thank You message

When your customers open the email, there should be no doubt why you sent it. Put the words “Your order has shipped” (or similar) at the very top. If you start with good news, they will be more receptive of reading the whole message.

Write a simple “Thank you for your order.” You want them to know that you are grateful and you want them to feel welcomed, just like when someone buys from a real store.

Provide Order Details

Your customers want to know if they placed the order for the right product(s) and whether or not they made any errors writing down their shipment address.

Some of the important customer-centric details that should be at the forefront when drafting a copy of your order confirmation email are:

Personalize them

These kinds of confirmation emails are, as we know, auto-responses. They are sent automatically when a consumer makes an order. But they should not feel robotic. It’s better if you add a personal touch to them, create a transactional email that’s unique to your brand, so the client makes an emotional connection with it. 

In short, have a distinct brand voice. Don’t be boring, make your customer smile. Imagine that you are the one receiving it. Would you open it?

Also, using words such as “we” and “you” makes the message seem more conversational.

Make Product Recommendations (Cross selling)

As we said before, these types of emails have the highest open rate. So take advantage of this for additional transactions, and try offering your customer recommendations of related products. 

Recommendations account for up to 31% of eCommerce website revenues, so encourage another transaction on your emails and you’ll see the results. Plus, it also increases the number of return customers, conversion and order value.

One good example of this tactic is Amazon. If you have ever made a purchase on their site, check the shipping email they sent you and you’ll see that they always recommend 2-3 similarly-themed products. 

Provide support resources

Just in case customers want to contact your support team (for example, if they notice that there was a mistake in their order) you should include an easily accessible method. Have a space where you provide your email address and phone number.

It can be very frustrating for them, if it’s too difficult to find a contact to ask a question. This could determine if they buy from your online store again or not. 

Promote Your Loyalty Program

Are you thinking about giving your customers the VIP treatment? Well, then confirmation emails are one of the best places to make it happen.

Why don’t you reward them for buying from your store with a discount, or coupon for a future purchase in your confirmation email? This way, they are receiving two things that like most: the message that their order in on its way and a future discount. Not bad!

You can also decide to raise your discount and make it a limited-time offer. This again creates a sense of urgency and can increase conversion when it matters most.

Design Tips

Include tracking links

Tracking information is the one of the most important components of a shipping confirmation email, allowing the customer to watch the progress of their purchase arrival in real-time. Above all else, clients want to know where their order is and when they can expect it to arrive.

Make it big, colorful, and clickable, like a CTA button.

Optimize for mobile devices

Just in the last four years, smartphone usage has increased by 394%. 

What does this mean? 

It means that every single communication that you want to send to your customers has to be mobile-friendly. Therefore, I recommend you to use a responsive email template and a mobile-ready landing page.

Encourage Customers to Follow You on Social Media

What about having email subscribers and social followers? 

Encourage them to follow you on your social media accounts, so you have more opportunities to give your marketing message.

Plus, it’s as easy as pointing them to all your social icons inside your email.

Use color to organize content

Color is a powerful tool to help organize content. If there’s a lot of information in the email, color can make it feel orderly and clear. In addition, it has been shown that people remember communications that have color better than those that are in black and white.

Use subtle interjections of color in headers and/or in the background to separate, organize, and improve readability of the copy. Here some tips:

• Make it readable: three colors are enough.
• If you don’t want to choose a color for every new campaign, choose and use the company’s corporate colors.
• Check if your email is easy-to-read: some colors just don’t work well together.
• Use a main contrast color for CTA to make it stand out.

Get creative with graphics

There can be a lot of things to visualize with graphic design in your emails, for example the route that the package is going to take. Have a look at this confirmation email from Etsy. They use a colorful and cheerful illustration, and it shows exactly where the order will originate and where it will be delivered.

Consider how on-brand illustration can contribute to how you communicate your shipping details. Graphics like this can provide a nice touch and make your email stand out.

Highlight the estimated delivery date

What’s the purpose of shipping confirmation emails? That’s right, making customers know exactly when their product is going to arrive, by showing them the estimated arrival time.

Call attention to this date by making it visible and putting it in a noticeable position in your email. You could also say it twice, in the subject line and the message body. Start with a “Congratulations! Your order has shipped. You can expect it in your mailbox by 2023”, and then repeat it within the email body.

Examples

Before you start optimizing your own emails, check out these great examples for inspiration.

Example 1 – Chewy

Why we like it: 

• They include a simple GIF. That works very well because it grabs your attention from the beginning. 
• The rest of the email is also very nicely organized; it has a clean design.
• The tracking-link button is very visible.
• It includes a summary of what products were bought, with a picture of each.
• The contact information is very visible.

Example 2 – Apple

Why we like it:

• It has a clear headline. 
• Includes tracking link and delivery date.
• It shows a photo of the product that they bought.
• Includes reminders of the product’s specifications.
• This example also includes some frequently asked questions that can be helpful for the customer.
• It offers some related products at the bottom of the email (upselling).

Example 3 – Zulily

Why we like it:

• It starts off with a “here it comes!” message, appealing to the customer with enthusiasm.
• It has a clear ‘track my package’ call to action button.
• It also has another CTA to the tracking below.
• Includes pictures of the products.
• They invite the customer to follow them on social media.
• It includes an email address, phone number and business hours.

Example 4 – Fitbit

Why we like it:

• It shows its brand personality, and the use of colors is really nice.
• They start with a jocular message (“are you smiling? You’re totally smiling.”) that makes you smile even more!
• They don’t use a tracking link button, but the tracking number is clear and clickable.
• Includes a photo and information of the product.
• Includes support link.

Example 5 – Adore Me

Why we like it:

• They make it conversational using pronouns such as “you” and “us”.
• Recommendations are also made personal: “Your future closet is calling.”
• They give shipment details and also a link to check order details.
•  It provides an estimated delivery date.
• The CTA for the tracking information is very visible.

Templates

Here are some templates that you can use for your future emails and the link to download them. Always remember to use your brand colors and personality when creating one.

Template 1

This one is divided by blocks of information, so that it is more organized. It also includes the icons of social networks that your ecommerce might have. Download it here.

Template 2

In case you are looking for a more playful example because you run an online toy store or children’s clothing store, have a look at this one. You can download it here.

Template 3

If you want to create a simple email, with striking CTA tracking information, try this one. Get it here.

Template 4

Do you want an example that contains a good illustration? Check this one out here.

I hope that these tips and examples have been useful for you to know how to create the perfect email and and you are able to apply it to your online business!