We\u2019ll touch on the following topics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I. What Is Transactional Email?<\/a> To begin with, let\u2019s look at some of the email marketing stats:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why do notification emails receive so much attention? They are triggered by some action (or inaction!<\/em>) of the customers themselves. It\u2019s natural for customers to expect a reaction from you in response to their behavior \u2014 an email, a call, whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t miss out on this tremendous opportunity to drive sales. <\/p>\n\n\n<\/a> Transactional emails<\/a> are automated emails sent to an individual user by an eCommerce site based on that user\u2019s site activity.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike commercial emails, usually sent by a brand to multiple recipients in bulk, transactional emails are triggered by user behavior and sent programmatically to one user at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually, these emails are sent through SMTP relay or API integration. Adding this functionality to your eCommerce website is rather easy and fast. Still, it requires a developer to set up a system that will send coded email templates to specific types of recipients based on a particular action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here at X-Cart, we use Mandrill\u2019s SMTP and API integrations for sending transactional notifications to our existing customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additional Resources: <\/strong> It\u2019s likely that some trigger-based emails are already embedded in your eCommerce shopping cart software and are sent to your users automatically. Your existing transnational emails may be as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other triggered emails that you may want to set up could be thank you messages, unsubscribe notifications, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n<\/a> If you haven\u2019t set up your transactional notifications yet, there are at least two options to choose from:<\/p>\n\n\n You can use Google\u2019s free SMTP server<\/a> to send up to 500 product notification emails a day or you can pay for G Suite to send up to 2,000 emails. Just make sure your email marketing copy is well-examined by a professional proofreader. Don\u2019t let the developer do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This method may be the most affordable, but honestly, sending transactional notifications manually looks somewhat shady to most mail clients. Try and send too many emails a day, and email service providers will block your email account as spam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With most email senders that scan emails for viruses and malware, this won\u2019t be an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n Another way to set up trigger-based emails is through designated transactional email services like Sendinblue<\/a>, Amazon SES<\/a>, Mandrill<\/a>, and others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no need to be tech-savvy to do it. To integrate any of these tools with your eCommerce store, you can find its add-on in the X-Cart App Store<\/a> and install it in a few clicks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sending emails through a third-party service can significantly save time and improve your email marketing performance. Plus, you\u2019ll be able to see whether your emails are delivered to users\u2019 inboxes or to their spam boxes. You\u2019re aiming for the first one. ?<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a> In this chapter, you\u2019ll discover some of the most popular transactional email services that you can use for your eCommerce business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Out of hundreds of eCommerce email marketing tools that exist, Amazon Simple Service, Mandrill, Sendinblue, SendGrid, and Mailjet<\/strong> are proved to be the most reliable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These tools are geared towards sending perfect transactional emails, so you can rest assured that your messages won\u2019t be left unnoticed in a spam folder.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a> Much has changed since the year 2006 when Amazon was launched. From a small online book store, Amazon has grown into a giant marketplace capturing more than 70 percent<\/a> of online transactions and offering a myriad of different services, such as Amazon S3, Amazon EC2, Amazon SES, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) is a very simple transactional email service that only charges you for the messages you send. However, SES lacks crucial features such as email automation, design tools, and landing pages. At a bare minimum, most email services offer analytics to track the real-time performance of your email marketing campaigns, but not Amazon SES. You\u2019ll have to code and design everything on your own \u2014 from the first to the very last <\/p>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go with this email marketing tool if all you need is to get emails into users\u2019 inboxes, and nothing more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, SES email marketing software\u2019s one saving grace is its price<\/a>. You\u2019ll have to pay $0.10 per 1,000 emails you send; $0.12 for each GB of attachments you send; $0 for the first 1,000 emails you receive; and $0.10 for every 1,000 emails you receive. This pricing scheme is exceptionally cost-effective, even for freelancers and startups.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a> Mandrill is a dead-simple transactional email service from the makers of Mailchimp. Initially a project to integrate Mailchimp with Amazon SES features, Mandrill was then launched as a separate add-on \u2014 great-looking but quite expensive for small-budget companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandrill\u2019s pricing policy has driven away a \u0441ertain portion of their repeat customers<\/a>, even those who once considered it a useful tool for sending transactional emails. Also, the add-on requires a paid monthly MailChimp account<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n \n Mailchimp Integration<\/a> with X-Cart will help you create targeted email campaigns and sell more with powerful automation. \n Mandrill Integration<\/a> with X-Cart will get your transactional emails set up and running \u2014 without contracts and hidden fees. Mandrill will allow you to run split and A\/B tests, receive inbound messages and choose from several predefined and professional email templates. Mandrill also lets you create specific rules for when to send these emails, and schedules email marketing campaigns at the optimal time, to make sure your emails will actually be delivered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandrill accounts support personalized SPF & DKIM records and send your emails from a private IP address or IP pool. What\u2019s more, Mandrill has a great API that works with a variety of eCommerce platforms and its user-friendly interface makes the setup process really simple. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To top it all off, Mandrill has an amazing support team, providing customers with quick and reliable assistance for even the most technical problems. And if you don\u2019t feel like picking up the phone, Mandrill\u2019s FAQs can help.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a> Sendinblue is surely one of the best email marketing tools for startups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you do not need sophisticated marketing automation functionality yet, but still have to send triggered notification emails to your customers, go for Sendinblue.<\/p>\n\n\n \n Sendinblue<\/a> integration works with X-Cart through Segment. This email marketing tool will help you improve your deliverability and provide you with complete analytics. It has a range of powerful reporting tools built-in: a click-map, geo-tracking, Google Analytics integration, and order tracking that will help you collect user data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sendinblue is geared for sending classic email newsletters, but the email template options are not as versatile as with GetResponse or Aweber; there are only ten design elements to choose from. Furthermore, this app is not in any way better than Mandrill. Plus, it lacks important analytics features such as A\/B testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sendinblue\u2019s pricing is quite moderate. For as much as $25 a month, you will be able to send up to 40,000 emails. It\u2019s the cheapest solution, and unlike email services like SendGrid, the pricing schedule starts affordable and stays affordable as you scale up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, this email marketing software is available in 6 languages \u2014 English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, and French. And there\u2019s a unique option you might like \u2014 SMS, which gives you one more way to get in touch with your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sendinblue allows you to easily integrate and automate your favorite apps, like X-Cart, Salesforce, PayPal, and more, using Zapier.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a> SendGrid is a cloud-based email delivery platform that is perfect for both small startups and high-volume senders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Why do big companies like Airbnb, Foursquare, and Uber choose SendGrid for email marketing? It has a reputation for an email service with good deliverability rates, unmatched email analytics, and flawless API integration.<\/p>\n\n\n \n SendGrid<\/a> app for X-Cart is here to support all your transactional email requirements. Plus, by choosing SendGrid, you get two services in one \u2014 a transactional email service and an email marketing software. In addition to sending fully functional transactional emails, SendGrid has all the bells and whistles that every best eCommerce software should have access to for marketing emails, as well. For example, you are free to manage your contact lists, collect email addresses, build segments, schedule campaigns, and run A\/B tests. Furthermore, eye-catching design and a handy drag-and-drop email editor allows you to create emails that match your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a lot of video tutorials and guides to help you along the way. Plus, SendGrid\u2019s customer success<\/a> team is ready to assist day and night, 24\/7.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a> Just like SendGrid, Mailjet conveniently combines the best features of both transactional and marketing email sending services. There are a least two great features to this email software:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n Mailjet<\/a> addon for X-Cart makes it easy to create beautiful transactional emails for your eCommerce store.\u00a0 The simple user interface makes Mailjet easier to navigate than its competitors. The drag-and-drop functionality saves lots of time creating email campaigns, and advanced contact information management enables you to target marketing campaigns to the right audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re looking for a feature-rich and cost-effective transactional & email marketing platform, Mailjet is right for you.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a> Whether you decided to create triggered emails from scratch, or rewrite the default ones a tad, it\u2019s high time for you to get creative with your campaigns. Below are a few tips that may come in handy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Avoiding the following mistakes should also help you turn your transactional emails into opportunities and take your eCommerce business to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n Never do that. Your developers may know the difference between SMTP and API, but no one can create emails better than a professional copywriter. <\/p>\n\n\n If a certain part of your subscribers are dissatisfied with the way you run your eCommerce business (long delivery times, excessive promotional content, etc.), you should address their concerns as soon as possible for better retention. <\/p>\n\n\n Transactional emails should contain useful information only \u2014 no more, no less. Otherwise, your email will justifiably be criticized as being \u2018tl;dr<\/a>\u2019 or, even worse, sent to spam. No one likes to be distracted for every little thing.<\/p>\n\n\n You need both a good domain reputation and a good IP reputation to effectively deliver your transactional emails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s say you\u2019ve moved your eCommerce website to a brand new IP address and started sending bulk emails to your email list. ISP won\u2019t like it because it does not associate your IP address with a good reputation yet. It cannot tell at once whether you are a spammy sender or not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are a few tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
II. Types of Transactional Emails<\/a>
III. How to Set up Transactional Emails for Your Ecommerce Store<\/a>
IV. Transactional Email Service Providers<\/a>
V. Transactional Email Tips<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n I. What Is Transactional Email? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Marketing Email vs. Transactional Email: What’s the Difference?<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n<\/a>\n II. Types of Transactional Emails You May Already Send but Might Want to Improve <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n III. How to Set up Transactional Emails for Your Ecommerce Store <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n Ask Your Developer to Configure Transactional Emails Manually <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n Use a Third-Party Tool to Set up Transactional Emails <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n IV. Best Transactional Email Service Providers <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n 1. Amazon Simple Email Service (SES)<\/a> <\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"Amazon](\"https:\/\/www.x-cart.com\/img\/12554\/aws-p500.jpg)
<\/picture> <\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n \n\n\n\n 2. Mailchimp Transactional Email Tool<\/a> By Mandrill <\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"Mandrill](\"https:\/\/www.x-cart.com\/img\/25190\/mandrill-p500.jpg)
<\/picture> <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n \n\n\n![\"Mailchimp](\"https:\/\/www.x-cart.com\/img\/25747\/mailchimp_module_icon_252_252-t200x200.webp){kind=icon}
<\/picture> <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Price:<\/strong> Free <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"Mandrill](\"https:\/\/www.x-cart.com\/img\/26223\/maindrill_module_icon_252_252-t200x200.webp){kind=icon}
<\/picture> <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Price:<\/strong> Free <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n 3. Sendinblue Transactional Email Service<\/a> <\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"Sendinblue](\"https:\/\/www.x-cart.com\/img\/12556\/sendinblue-p500.jpg)
<\/picture> <\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n \n\n\n![\"Sendinblue](\"https:\/\/www.x-cart.com\/img\/26275\/sendinblue_module_icon_252_252.webp){kind=icon}
<\/picture> <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Price: <\/strong>Free <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n 4. SendGrid For Sending Transactional Emails With Confidence<\/a> <\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"Sendgrid](\"https:\/\/www.x-cart.com\/img\/12557\/sendgrid-p500.jpg)
<\/picture> <\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n \n\n\n![\"SendGrid](\"https:\/\/www.x-cart.com\/img\/26274\/sendgrid_module_icon_252_252.webp){kind=icon}
<\/picture> <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Price:<\/strong> Free <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n 5. Mailjet Reliable Transactional Email Services<\/a> <\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"Mailjet](\"https:\/\/www.x-cart.com\/img\/12559\/mailjet-1-p500.jpg)
<\/picture> <\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n \n\n\n\n
![\"Mailjet](\"https:\/\/www.x-cart.com\/img\/26207\/mailjet_module_icon_252_252.webp){kind=icon}
<\/picture> <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
Price:<\/strong> Free <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n V. Transactional Email Marketing Tips For Boosting Ecommerce Sales <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n You Let Your Developer Do the Copywriting for Your Transactional Emails <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n Your Subscribers Broke up With You (And You Let Them Go) <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n Your Transactional Emails Are Too Large, Too Small, or Image-Only <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n You Are Inconsistent <\/h3>\n\n\n\n