Small business guide to the best email marketing software for e-commerce
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TL;DR: Email marketing is a powerhouse for small businesses, but it’s crucial to choose a platform that’ll support your brilliant marketing efforts. With the right tools, your e-commerce brand can create meaningful connections with subscribers, becoming more engaging and relevant.
Not all email marketing software is created equal.
While they’re all handy for sending out email marketing campaigns, different platforms are best suited for different use cases. While numerous email service providers work well for entrepreneurs and small businesses, there are specific must-have tools and features e-commerce businesses should look out for.
That’s why we’re breaking down the best email marketing software for e-commerce brands, including each platform’s key features and what they’re great for.
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In a rush? Here’s a breakdown of our top 9 choices for e-commerce email marketing software
Software | Best for | Free? | Paid plans starting price* |
Flodesk | Top-notch design and a flat rate plan | Free Forms plan and 30-day free trial | $35/month for unlimited subscribers and email sends |
Klaviyo | Great all-around e-commerce email marketing software | Up to 250 subscribers and 500 monthly email sends | $20/month for 500 subscribers and 5,000 email sends |
Mailchimp | Setting up a commerce website or online store | Up to 500 subscribers and 1,000 daily email sends | $13/month for 500 subscribers and 5,000 email sends |
Brevo | A combined email marketing platform and CRM tool | Unlimited subscribers and 300 daily email sends | $25/month for unlimited subscribers and 20,000 email sends |
Omnisend | Quality customer support and great value | Up to 250 subscribers and 500 monthly email sends | $16/month for 500 subscribers and 6,000 email sends |
Constant Contact | A great mobile app and event management features | 14-day free trial | $12/month for 500 subscribers and 5,000 email sends |
ActiveCampaign | Omnichannel marketing | 14-day free trial | $29/month for 1,000 subscribers and 10,000 email sends |
AWeber | Shoppable emails, landing pages, and helpful customer service | Up to 500 subscribers and 3,000 monthly email sends | $12.50/month for 500 subscribers and unlimited email sends |
Privy | Lead generation tools | Free plan with up to 100 subscribers | $30/month for 1,500 subscribers and unlimited email sends |
The top 9 email marketing software for e-commerce brands
Let’s dive right into nine of the best e-commerce email marketing software providers.
1. Flodesk
Flodesk is one of the fastest-growing email marketing platforms. It’s especially popular with design-obsessed entrepreneurs and small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) looking to send stunning, on-brand emails. Members can grow their lists through beautifully designed forms, send the right message at the right time with email automation, and continually refine their strategies with powerful analytics.
Key features
- An intuitive drag-and-drop email builder that’s easy to use
- A huge selection of the world’s most beautiful email, landing page, opt-in form, and sales page templates—designed for everything from welcoming new subscribers to launching products and driving sales
- Create stunning graphics within the platform—no need for third-party apps like Canva
- Ready-to-use workflows like sales sequences and freebie deliveries
- Powerful audience segmentation features that let you send out highly personalized content
- A Link in bio, Full Page Form, Inline Form, and Popup Form builder
- Direct integration with Shopify and other top apps
- Powerful insights and analytics
- Fantastic learning resources, including blog posts and Flodesk University
- A supportive Flodesk Insiders Facebook community to help you get help and grow alongside other entrepreneurs
Pricing
You can start free and access everything Flodesk has to offer for 30-days, no credit card required. After that, you can upgrade to a paid plan or continue using Flodesk’s free plan.
We like to keep it simple. Rather than complicated tiers or charging more as your subscriber list grows, Flodesk offers flat-rate pricing:
- Email: $35/month (unlimited subscribers and unlimited emails)
- Add e-commerce: $24/month
With the e-commerce feature, you can create and sell online, get paid, and deliver products instantly—all in one place—with Flodesk Checkout. That means unlimited sales pages, payment processing, checkout flows, discount codes, and online payments.
Best for
Anyone who wants to create excellent designs without the need for cumbersome tools or code—all at an affordable flat rate plan that doesn’t increase as your subscriber list grows.
2. Klaviyo
Founded in 2012, Klaviyo is a popular marketing automation software. They’re especially well-known for their SMS marketing capabilities.
Key features
- Email marketing and SMS marketing capabilities that can be used together or separately
- E-commerce automations, including welcome series campaigns, abandoned cart emails, browse abandonment messages, and post-purchase emails
- Powerful segmentation based on customer engagement, behavior, and other properties
- Library of templates for everything from automations to emails to SMS
- An opt-in form builder
- Over 300 integrations, including popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Salesforce, and WooCommerce
- Real-time subscriber profiles and predictive customer data for behavior forecasting
- Custom reporting, revenue attribution reporting, and peer benchmarks
Pricing
Klaviyo has a free plan for both email marketing and SMS. It includes up to 250 subscribers, 500 monthly emails, and 150 SMS/MMS sends.
Beyond the free plan, you only pay for what you need. The cost depends on whether you plan on sending SMSs or emails (or both) and how many you want to send. For instance:
- Email: $20/month (500 subscribers and 5,000 monthly emails)
- Email and SMS: $35/month (500 subscribers, 5,000 monthly emails, and 1,250 monthly SMS/MMS credits)
Best for
Klaviyo is a great all-around choice for e-commerce platforms as they have intentionally designed their features with e-commerce brands in mind.
Their platform is also ideal if you’re interested in SMS or MMS marketing.
Pro tip: Read up on Klaviyo’s alternatives to see how they stack up against competitors—it may help you decide which platform to use.
3. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a well-established name in the email marketing world. The platform’s combination of user-friendliness and powerful features has helped them withstand the test of time.
Key features
- A free website and landing page builder that lets you create an e-commerce store
- The ability to set up a custom domain for emails, websites, and landing pages
- Complex automations based on website engagement and purchase activity
- Advanced audience segmentation
- Great personalization features
- Easy to connect an existing ecommerce store if you already have one
- Over 300 powerful integrations, including Stripe, Shopify, Squarespace Commerce, Quickbooks, and Zendesk
- Opt-in form and landing page builders
- Digital advertising features so you can set up social media ads on Facebook and Instagram
- Built-in reporting and analytics
Pricing
Mailchimp has a free marketing plan that includes a maximum of 500 subscribers and 1,000 monthly email sends.
From there, the platform has three tiers of paid plans, which increase in price as your number of subscribers grows:
- Essentials: $13/month (500 subscribers and 5,000 monthly emails)
- Standard: $20/month (500 subscribers and 6,000 monthly emails)
- Premium: $350/month (10,000 subscribers and 150,000 monthly emails)
Mailchimp also offers website plans for you to build and customize your online store, while carrying out commerce activities. There is a limited free plan for businesses who need a basic website with a Mailchimp-branded domain or a paid plan for those looking to customize their website:
- Core: $10/month
Best for
Those who want to create an e-commerce website or online store quickly and easily. If you already have an online store set up, Mailchimp is still a great email marketing solution with features specifically designed for e-commerce platforms.
Compare thetop Mailchimp alternatives for an in-depth look at how the platform stacks up against its competitors.
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Flodesk empowers you to create stunning signup forms, landing pages, and emails that elevate your brand and drive your business forward.
4. Brevo
Brevo (previously known as Sendinblue) is a fantastic all-around digital marketing platform with features for email marketing, SMS marketing, WhatsApp campaigns, live chat, customer relationship management (CRM), and everything in between.
Key features
- The ability to send both transactional and email marketing messages
- Ecommerce-specific marketing automations like abandoned cart emails
- Customer relationship management (CRM) tool capabilities
- Conversion tracking tools
- Advanced personalization features
- Powerful subscriber segmentation and retargeting
- Sign-up form and landing page builders
- Automated messaging sequences, including welcome series and abandoned cart emails
- Facebook ads tailored to your audience
- Custom-built integrations with top e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and PrestaShop
Pricing
Brevo has a popular free plan that includes unlimited subscribers and up to 300 email sends per day. After that, they have three paid plans to choose from:
- Starter: $25/month (unlimited subscribers and 20,000 monthly emails)
- Business: $65/month (unlimited subscribers and 20,000 monthly emails)
- BrevoPlus: Custom plans by request
Brevo’s plans give you access to added features as you scale up between each tier. For example, the Starter plan only offers basic reporting and analytics. And to access marketing automations, you’ll need the Business plan.
Not sure if this is the email marketing solution for you? Explore these Brevo alternatives to compare which platform is the best fit for your business needs.
Best for
People who want a top e-commerce email marketing tool and a CRM within one platform.
Brevo is also a great option for those who want a paid plan based on email sends rather than subscriber count.
5. Omnisend
Omnisend aims to provide e-commerce businesses with a digital marketing platform that’s straightforward, affordable, and packed with powerful features.
Key features
- Multi-channel marketing capabilities with email, SMS, web push notifications, and Facebook/Google retargeting sync
- Shoppable email templates built specifically with e-commerce brands in mind
- Dynamic discount codes like cart percentage discounts, fixed amount discounts, and free shipping to add to marketing emails
- Pre-built workflows and marketing automations like cart recovery and customer reactivation
- In-depth customer data and analytics relating to customer lifecycle stages, message engagement, and on-site behavior
- Conversion tools like popups, opt-in forms, landing pages, and wheels-of-fortune, sign-up forms, landing pages, and wheels-of-fortune
- A sales dashboard providing real-time insights into the revenue generated by each campaign, channel, and automated workflow—helping you identify your best-selling offers
- More than 130 integrations, including Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce
Pricing
Omnisend has a free plan that includes up to 250 subscribers, 500 monthly email sends, and 60 SMS messages.
After that, they’ve got two paid plans to choose from:
- Standard: $16/month (500 subscribers and 6,000 monthly emails)
- Pro: $59/month (2,500 subscribers and unlimited monthly emails)
Best for
Any e-commerce business looking for a budget-friendly email marketing provider and great customer support.
6. Constant Contact
Constant Contact dates back to 1995, when the founder set out to create a simple online marketing platform for small businesses. Their software has since evolved into a comprehensive email marketing service with unique features.
Key features
- AI content generator
- Customer list management features like tags, segmentation, and custom fields
- An opt-in form builder and a landing page builder
- Create and run Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads
- Social posting functionalities
- Niche event management features like polls, surveys, and RSVPs
- Library of professionally designed email templates
- Order custom-branded email templates through the platform
- Thorough reports and analytics on engagement, campaign comparison, click-tracking, and mobile open rates
- Built-in integrations like Eventbrite, BigCommerce, and Quickbooks
Pricing
Constant Contact doesn’t have a free plan. However, you can get to know their software through a 14-day free trial.
Once you’re ready to upgrade, there are three options:
- Lite: $12/month (500 subscribers and 5,000 monthly emails)
- Standard: $35/month (500 subscribers and 6,000 monthly emails)
- Premium: $80/month (500 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails)
All paid plans go up in price as your subscriber count increases.
Looking forConstant Contact alternatives? Check out our platform comparison.
Best for
Anyone who wants an intuitive email marketing service with a great mobile app for on-the-go work. It’s also an ideal option if you plan events and are interested in their event management features, which few email marketing tools have.
7. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign calls themselves a customer experience automation platform. They specialize in customer engagement and omnichannel marketing, with tools for email marketing, SMS, chat, and social media.
Key features
- Various email types like broadcast, triggered, targeted, autorespond, and scheduled
- Over 600 pre-built automations, some of which are designed for e-commerce and retail
- Automatic audience segmentation
- Built-in sales automation CRM
- Subscriber management and scoring
- A great mobile app for both iOS and Android
- Some of the best deliverability rates in the industry
- Responsive email templates for everything from customer service to reviews, feedback, and abandoned carts
- Integrates with popular e-commerce web apps like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento
Pricing
ActiveCampaign doesn’t have a free plan, only a 14-day free trial. Otherwise, there are four different paid plans:
- Lite: $29/month (1,000 subscribers and 10,000 monthly emails)
- Plus: $49/month (1,000 subscribers and 10,000 monthly emails)
- Professional: $149/month (2,500 subscribers and 30,000 monthly emails)
- Enterprise: By request
Like Brevo, ActiveCampaign gives users access to more features on its higher-tier plans. In other words: more subscribers and great functionality come with a higher price tag.
Best for
Anyone interested in the best of the best when it comes to omnichannel marketing—at a higher cost. ActiveCampaign does it all with email, SMS, messaging, chat, social media, web personalization, and WhatsApp.
8. Aweber
AWeber is another email marketing platform that’s been around for a long time. Today, they’re an all-in-one marketing solution that’s popular for many different use cases, including e-commerce and retail.
Key features
- Email content creation automation with an AI writing assistant
- E-commerce-specific email templates you can use as-is or customize
- Sell products and services within your emails and on landing pages
- Advanced segmentation capabilities based on data, like tags, clicks, purchases, visits, and locations
- Automated workflows and targeted emails like abandoned cart and post-purchase upsell
- Popular e-commerce integrations like PayPal, Shopify, WooCommerce, and Etsy
- Lots of learning resources like a knowledge base, video tutorials, and a podcast
Pricing
AWeber has a forever-free plan. It includes up to 500 subscribers, 3,000 monthly email sends, and many of the features small e-commerce business owners need to get started.
To access the platform’s full range of features, you’ll have to upgrade and start paying for one of their three plans:
- Lite: $12.50/month (500 subscribers and unlimited monthly emails)
- Plus: $20/month (500 subscribers and unlimited monthly emails)
- Unlimited: $899/month (fixed price)
Best for
Those who want to set up shoppable emails and landing pages with their email marketing service. AWeber is also a great platform for businesses that require high-level customer service. They’ve got some of the best in the industry, particularly for the Unlimited plan.
9. Privy
Privy is another popular e-commerce marketing platform that combines email marketing with SMS and useful conversion tools. Its email marketing features and automation capabilities are specifically geared toward driving growth and enhancing the customer experience for smaller businesses.
Key features
- Email marketing, conversion, and SMS marketing capabilities
- Intuitive and user-friendly tools for capturing subscriber information, nurturing relationships, and driving sales through incentive popups, flyout banners, and spin-to-win wheels
- Drag-and-drop editor to customize email templates
- Automated sales and conversion emails like abandoned cart, customer win-back, and purchase follow-ups
- Shopify product catalog integration
- Ability to deliver personalized email campaigns based on segments, custom tags, email engagement, and shopping or browser behavior
- A holistic analytics dashboard
- A wide range of popular e-commerce integrations like Shopify, Wix, Attentive, BigCommerce, and Klaviyo
- Over 60 SMS marketing templates
Pricing
Privy has a free plan that accommodates up to 100 subscribers. If you have more subscribers, you can choose from two paid plans:
- Starter: $30/month (1,500 subscribers and unlimited monthly emails)
- Growth: $45/month (2,000 email subscribers, 75 textable individuals, and unlimited monthly emails)
Best for
Small businesses looking to grow their email subscriber list and boost e-commerce sales through unique lead generation techniques and incentives.
The benefits of email marketing for ecommerce businesses
Without a doubt, email is one of the most important parts of any brand’s e-commerce marketing strategy. Here are just a few reasons why:
- It has high return-on-investment (ROI): In the digital marketing world, emails give businesses a lot of bang for their buck. On average, they bring in $38 for every $1 spent.
- You own your list: If you rely too much on building your audience on social media, you risk losing them overnight to algorithm or platform changes. Remember the great Instagram and Facebook outage of 2021? Don’t fall victim to the pitfalls of social media. Build a subscriber list you own with email marketing software instead.
- You can get highly personal and targeted: Advanced personalization continues to be a prominent email marketing trend, with more and more small businesses customizing their messages. The best email marketing services provide features to help you deliver the most relevant content to your subscribers, effortlessly.
- Unlock powerful insights: Email marketing campaigns help you capture specific, actionable e-commerce marketing metrics, such as open rates, click-through rates, spam rates, and conversion rates. With the right tool, you can uncover whether your emails are resonating with your audience or missing the mark.
- Build a better brand experience: Marketing emails that are consistently branded create a richer overall experience, build trust, and help foster customer loyalty.
Keeping these benefits in mind can help you choose the best email marketing software for e-commerce for your needs.
Create high-converting sales flows with Flodesk
From beautiful emails to powerful sales pages, Flodesk has everything you need to build a thriving e-commerce business.
Choosing the best ecommerce email marketing software for you
Email marketing strategies are the bread and butter of small business growth. They help you communicate with your customers, promote products, share offers, build loyalty, drive sales, and gather feedback—just to name a few.
Because e-commerce marketing takes on different meanings from one brand to the next, it can be tricky to find the right provider. You need a powerful yet user-friendly platform that delivers on features and helps you reach your goals.
At Flodesk, we’re on a mission to make small business owners more successful. That’s why we offer:
- Stunning, customizable email templates for every goal, guaranteed to stand out in any inbox
- Flat rate plans that don’t increase in price as you grow, no matter how big your subscriber list gets
- E-commerce marketing tools like ready-to-use email and sales page templates, opt-in forms, automations, and powerful analytics
Start free and see why beginners and experts alike love using Flodesk as their e-commerce email platform—no strings attached.
FAQs about email marketing software for ecommerce
How do I choose an email marketing software for ecommerce?
There are tons of email marketing platforms out there, all vying for your attention. But, not all of them are ideal for e-commerce businesses. The best solutions have features that are specifically designed with the e-commerce and retail industries in mind.
Before you begin your search, note down your subscriber count (or the number you’re aiming for), your budget, and the key features you simply must have. This will help you narrow down your options and choose which free trials to sign up for.
Some of the best e-commerce email marketing tools to explore include:
- Flodesk
- Klaviyo
- Mailchimp
- Brevo
- Omnisend
- Constant Contact
- ActiveCampaign
- AWeber
- Privy
How can email marketing increase sales?
Email marketing can boost sales for e-commerce businesses in various ways. When done right, email can:
- Communicate information to a large number of people: Emails are one of the best ways to share news and promotions with your customers. People often miss announcements on social media and may not visit your website regularly, but they always receive emails in their inbox. When you connect directly with more people, you have countless more opportunities to get eyes on your product.
- Drive traffic to your website: Use buttons, linked photos, or e-commerce blocks in your emails to get more eyeballs on specific products on your website. This streamlines customers’ buying experience and helps drive more purchases in your online shop.
- Showcase your products and services in new, interesting ways: Viewing traditional e-commerce photos on online stores doesn’t always foster the most inspiring customer browsing experience. Email campaigns give you a space to provide context and feature products from different perspectives, such as video or social proof.
Which type of email is useful for ecommerce?
There are countless types of targeted e-commerce emails, all of which have their place in the marketing funnel. The most useful email at any given point will depend on your campaign objectives and where your subscribers are in their customer journey.
Here are some of the most popular kinds of e-commerce emails:
- Welcome series
- Subscription confirmations
- Freebies, discount codes, and lead magnet delivery emails
- Sale announcements or other promotional messages
- Cart abandonment and cart recovery emails
- Subscriber re-engagement emails
- Product launches
- Pre-order emails
- Order confirmations or shipping notifications
- Feedback requests or survey emails
- Educational content
- Holiday-specific messages
- Thank you emails
