Customers open transactional emails. Every time. Order confirmations achieve open rates of 70 to 80 per cent, roughly twice the rate of any promotional email you will ever send. Yet most Shopify merchants treat these emails as pure admin, sending the default Shopify notifications without any thought for revenue, brand experience, or relationship building.

That is a significant missed opportunity. Transactional emails are the most-read touchpoints in your entire customer communication programme. Using them intelligently can drive measurable incremental revenue without increasing your sending costs.

What Transactional Emails Does Shopify Send by Default?

Shopify sends a fixed set of transactional notifications out of the box. These are triggered automatically by order and fulfilment events:

Email	Trigger	Purpose
Order confirmation	Order placed	Confirms purchase details
Order edited	Order manually changed by merchant	Notifies customer of changes
Shipping confirmation	Fulfilment created	Provides tracking link
Out for delivery	Carrier API integration	Notifies delivery is imminent
Delivered	Carrier confirms delivery	Confirms delivery
Refund notification	Refund processed	Confirms refund amount
Abandoned checkout	Shopify's native recovery	Basic cart recovery (limited)

These emails go out from Shopify's own email infrastructure using a generic template. You can customise the HTML and text of Shopify notification emails in Settings, Notifications in your Shopify admin. However, the customisation options are limited: you can edit the HTML template, but you cannot A/B test, segment by customer type, or add conditional logic.

For basic customisation, Shopify notification editing is fine. To treat transactional emails as a revenue channel, you need Klaviyo.

What Are the Limitations of Shopify's Native Notification Emails?

Shopify notification emails are functional but restricted. The key limitations:

No A/B testing: You cannot test different subject lines or content variations.
No segmentation: Every customer receives the same email regardless of purchase history, product category, or customer value tier.
Limited personalisation: You can insert order data dynamically but cannot access Klaviyo's predictive analytics or lifetime value data.
No cross-sell or upsell blocks: Adding dynamic product recommendations requires custom Liquid code that updates manually.
Basic analytics: You can see delivery rates but not the deep engagement and revenue attribution data Klaviyo provides.
No flow branching: You cannot create "if purchased product X then show recommendation Y" logic.

For stores generating over £10,000 per month, the revenue potential in transactional emails justifies upgrading to Klaviyo's transactional email sending. Klaviyo's flows can replicate all of Shopify's standard transactional emails while adding the full capabilities of the Klaviyo platform.

How Do You Upgrade to Klaviyo for Transactional Emails?

Klaviyo can handle transactional emails via its Flows feature using Shopify order events as triggers. Here is how to migrate the most valuable transactional emails:

Order Confirmation Flow: Create a Klaviyo flow triggered by the "Placed Order" metric. Set a 0-minute delay and send the order confirmation email. In Klaviyo's email editor, use the Order dynamic block to pull in order details (items, quantities, prices, shipping address) automatically.

Shipping Confirmation Flow: Triggered by "Fulfilled Order" metric. This fires when you mark an order as fulfilled in Shopify. Include the tracking number and link (available via Klaviyo's event data).

To avoid customers receiving duplicate emails (one from Shopify, one from Klaviyo), disable the corresponding Shopify notification emails in Settings, Notifications. Scroll to the relevant notification and untick the email checkbox, or set the email to inactive.

Important: Do not disable Shopify notification emails until you have fully tested your Klaviyo equivalents and confirmed they are sending correctly for every order scenario. Test with real orders from multiple payment methods and fulfilment types before switching over.

What Should Your Order Confirmation Email Include?

The order confirmation email has your highest-ever open rate. Use it for more than just admin:

Essential order details (non-negotiable): Order number, itemised product list with images, quantities and prices, delivery address, estimated delivery date, and a link to track the order or contact support.

Upsell block: Show two to three complementary products based on what was purchased. This does not need to be aggressive. A simple "You might also like" block with product images and a link generates measurable incremental revenue. Klaviyo's dynamic product block can pull in recommendations automatically.

Review request timing: Do not ask for a review in the order confirmation email. The customer has not received the product yet. Set up a separate post-purchase review request email for 7 to 14 days after delivery. Including a review request in the order confirmation looks automated and premature.

Social follow: Include a subtle social CTA in the email footer. One line: "Follow us on Instagram for new arrivals and inspiration." Do not make this the focus of the email, but it is a low-friction way to grow your social following at a moment when the customer is feeling positive about the purchase.

Customer support contact: Make it obvious how to reach you if there is a problem. A visible support email or phone number in the order confirmation reduces support ticket volume because customers feel reassured rather than anxious.

How Do You Optimise Shipping Confirmation Emails?

Shipping confirmation emails achieve open rates of 60 to 75 per cent, only slightly below order confirmations. Customers are anticipating delivery and actively looking for tracking information.

Beyond the tracking link, use the shipping confirmation to:

Set delivery expectations clearly: "Your order will arrive in 2 to 3 working days. You will receive a delivery notification from [carrier] when it is out for delivery."

Introduce a secondary product: Since the customer is excited about their incoming order, this is a natural moment to show a complementary product. Keep it brief and non-intrusive. One product block at the bottom of the email is sufficient.

Request a social share: "Excited about your order? Share it with us using #[YourBrandHashtag]." User-generated content requests placed at this moment, when purchase satisfaction is high, convert well.

How Do You Handle Delivery Delay Communication?

Delivery delays are unavoidable. How you communicate them determines whether a customer complains publicly or understands and waits patiently.

If you know an order will be delayed, send a proactive email before the customer reaches out. The message should:

Acknowledge the delay plainly, without excessive corporate apology language
Give a revised delivery estimate
Offer a specific resolution: extended return window, partial discount on next order, or direct contact with support
Make it easy to cancel if the customer needs the item urgently

Klaviyo can trigger a delay notification flow when a fulfilment takes longer than a defined threshold. Set this up if your delivery times vary and you regularly have orders that run late.

What Do Transactional Email Benchmarks Look Like?

Transactional Email Type	Average Open Rate	Average Click Rate
Order confirmation	70 to 80 per cent	15 to 20 per cent
Shipping confirmation	60 to 75 per cent	20 to 30 per cent
Delivery confirmation	55 to 70 per cent	10 to 15 per cent
Refund notification	65 to 75 per cent	5 to 10 per cent

These benchmarks come from Klaviyo and Omnisend ecommerce data. The high click rates on shipping confirmations reflect customers actively clicking tracking links, not marketing content. However, even a 2 per cent click rate on a product recommendation block in a shipping confirmation email, at scale, represents meaningful incremental revenue.

Key Actions to Take Now

Audit your current Shopify order confirmation and shipping confirmation emails in Settings, Notifications. Note what is missing: upsell blocks, social CTAs, clear support contact.
If you are on Klaviyo, build a Placed Order flow to replace Shopify's order confirmation. Test it thoroughly before disabling Shopify's native email.
Add a complementary product recommendation block to your order confirmation and shipping confirmation emails. Even two products is enough to generate incremental revenue.
Write a delivery delay email template and have it ready to send manually or set up as a flow trigger based on fulfilment age.
Move your review request out of the order confirmation entirely. Create a separate post-delivery review request email triggered 7 to 10 days after the fulfillment date.
Check your transactional email open rates against the benchmarks in this post. If your order confirmation is below 60 per cent, check your email deliverability and sender domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
Enable a social follow CTA in the footer of your order confirmation and shipping confirmation emails.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Klaviyo to send transactional emails without paying extra? Klaviyo includes transactional email sending within its standard plans. You do not need a separate transactional email service. The email volume from transactional sends counts against your plan's monthly email limit, but for most stores the volume is manageable within the standard tier.

Should I disable Shopify's notification emails if I use Klaviyo? Yes, but only after thoroughly testing your Klaviyo flows. Disable each Shopify notification email one at a time as you build and verify its Klaviyo equivalent. If both are active simultaneously, customers receive duplicate emails.

What is the best timing for a post-purchase review request? Seven to fourteen days after the estimated delivery date. Sending a review request before the customer has had time to use the product is premature. For products that take longer to evaluate (skincare, supplements), extend the window to 21 to 28 days.

Do transactional emails require GDPR opt-in? No. Transactional emails are sent on the basis of contractual necessity: the customer has made a purchase and is entitled to receive order and delivery information. They do not require marketing consent. However, any promotional content included within a transactional email (such as a product recommendation block) sits in a grey area, and adding a clear unsubscribe link is best practice regardless.

Shopify Transactional Emails: How to Turn Order Confirmations Into Revenue