7 Email Metrics Every eCommerce Retention Marketer Needs to Master |
Want to know if your email marketing strategy is actually working? |
Skip the overwhelming analytics. These 7 powerhouse metrics will show you exactly how your email campaigns are performing and reveal where you can level up your results. |
Ready to dive in? Let's go |
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1. Open Rate |
Your open rate gives you a glimpse of how many subscribers are popping open your emails to see what's inside. Ready to calculate it? Here's the formula: |
Open Rate = (Total Opens / Total Emails Delivered) x 100 |
A healthy open rate means your subject lines are doing their job of grabbing attention. If your open rates are falling flat, you might be dealing with: |
Boring or generic subject lines Poor sender name recognition Bad timing (hello, 3 AM emails!) Declining list engagement
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For example, if 4,000 people open your email out of 10,000 delivered, that's a 40% open rate. This is pretty solid for eCommerce where the average hovers around 34-36%. |
Still, if your opens are trending down, it's time to spice up those subject lines.
Heads-Up on Open Rates: Open rates just aren't the MVP of email metrics anymore. Thanks to Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) update in September 2021, their Mail app automatically preloads email content—tracking pixels included—even if the recipient doesn't actually open the email.
Translation? Inflated open rates that don't tell the full story. Since Apple Mail accounts for a hefty chunk of email opens (about 52% as of 2021), this update seriously skews the data. |
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2. Click-Through Rate |
Your click-through rate (CTR) shows the percentage of subscribers who can't resist clicking those enticing links or buttons in your email. Here's how to crunch the numbers: |
Click-Through Rate (CTR) = (Total Clicks / Total Emails Delivered) x 100 |
A high CTR means your email is driving action, whether that's visiting a product page or heading back to an abandoned cart. |
On the other hand, a low CTR could indicate: |
An unappealing product selection Confusing email design or copy Vague or unclear calls-to-action
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For example, let's say you send 10,000 emails and 100 people click on the links inside. This means your CTR is 1%. That's a pretty low rate compared to the industry average of 2.5%. You might want to tweak your email content, design or CTA placement. |
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3. Conversion Rate |
Your conversion rate reveals the percentage of email recipients who go beyond just clicking a link—they actually take action, like making a purchase. Here's how to calculate the conversion rate: |
Conversion Rate = (Number of Conversions / Total Emails Delivered) x 100 |
A strong conversion rate means your entire email funnel is working – from open to click to purchase. Low conversion rates might point to: |
A complicated checkout process Trust issues or missing social proof Pricing that doesn't match audience expectations
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Let's say 250 people buy from your email campaign of 5,000 recipients. That's a 5% conversion rate. While this might seem tiny, the average eCommerce email conversion rate is around 2-3%, so you're actually beating the benchmark. |
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4. Deliverability Rate |
Your deliverability rate tells you how many of your emails actually make it to inbox paradise instead of spam folder purgatory. Here's how to measure it: |
Deliverability Rate = (Emails Delivered / Total Emails Sent) x 100 |
High deliverability means email providers trust you as a sender. Poor deliverability often stems from: |
Spammy words in subject lines or content High bounce rates from old email lists Too many spam complaints Poor sender reputation or domain issues
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For instance, if you send 10,000 emails but only 7,500 get delivered, your deliverability rate is 75%. While this might sound decent, top performers hit 90%+. |
If you're below 80%, it's time to clean your list and polish those email practices – because even the world's best campaign is worthless if it lands in the spam folder. |
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5. Unsubscribe Rate |
Your unsubscribe rate reveals how many subscribers are jumping ship from your email list. Here's the formula: |
Unsubscribe Rate = (Total Unsubscribes / Total Emails Delivered) x 100 |
A low unsubscribe rate means you're keeping your audience happy and engaged with your content and sending frequency. |
A high unsubscribe rate might point to issues like: |
Sending too many emails (spam much?) Irrelevant content or product suggestions Poor timing of campaigns (e.g. pinging at midnight) Misleading subject lines (where's my freebie??)
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For instance, if 50 people unsubscribe from your list of 5,000 subscribers, that's a 1% unsubscribe rate – double the healthy threshold of 0.5%. Time to rethink your email strategy. |
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6. Revenue Per Open |
Revenue per open (RPO) tells you exactly how much money each opened email brings in. Calculate it like this: |
Revenue Per Open = (Total Email Revenue / Total Opens) |
A healthy RPO shows your opened emails are turning into actual sales, not just window shopping. A disappointing RPO might suggest: |
Your offers aren't compelling enough Your products aren't positioned well There's a disconnect between email promises and landing pages Your pricing isn't hitting the mark
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For example, if your email campaign generates $1,000 from 500 opens, your RPO is $2. If your previous campaigns averaged $5 RPO, you need to look at what's changed. |
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7. Mobile Engagement |
Mobile engagement tracks how your subscribers interact with your emails on their phones and tablets. Here's how you measure this important metric: |
Mobile Engagement = (Mobile Opens / Total Opens) x 100 |
High mobile engagement means your emails look and work great on small screens. This might sound trivial, but consider this: over 60% of eCommerce emails are opened on mobile devices. |
If your emails don't look good on phones, you're missing out on a lot of potential sales. Specifically, low mobile engagement could mean: |
Your emails aren't mobile-responsive CTAs are too small for thumbs Images take too long to load Text is hard to read on small screens
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So, if 700 out of your 1,000 total opens happen on mobile devices, that's 70% mobile engagement. If your mobile conversion rate is significantly lower than desktop, your mobile experience needs work. |
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Tracking these seven email metrics is like having a cheat code for email marketing success. |
By diving into each one and fine-tuning your strategy, you can spark more engagement, drive more clicks and sales, and watch your eCommerce store thrive! |
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