11 Tips for Automating Your eCommerce Marketing |
Marketing automation can take a huge load off your plate. |
You can sell more, engage your audience, and turn one-time buyers into repeat customers – without lifting a finger. |
But here's the catch: automation only works if you do it right. |
Here are 11 best practices for automating your eCommerce marketing like a pro. |
1. Map your lead flow |
Before automating anything, understand how leads move through your sales funnel. Where do they come from? What steps do they take before making a purchase? |
🛠 What to do: |
Identify your biggest lead sources. Find out where your traffic is coming from (e.g. ads, organic search, social media etc.). Track how leads interact with your site. Do they browse, abandon carts, or sign up for emails? Set up automated sequences. that make sense, such as welcome emails for new visitors or reminders for cart abandoners.
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Without a clear lead flow, you'll automate randomly instead of strategically. The goal is to meet leads where they are and guide them to conversion. |
2. Use segmentation to personalize your emails |
Not every customer is the same – so why send everyone the same email? |
Segmentation helps you tailor messages based on customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history. This makes your emails more relevant and engaging. |
🎯 How to segment effectively: |
Use behavior-based targeting. Group customers by past purchases, browsing history, or abandoned carts. Send interest-driven emails. Pet store? Send cat product promotions to cat owners, dog offers to dog lovers. Use tagging to automatically segment new customers as they join your list.
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Personalization = better open rates, more clicks, and higher revenue. |
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3. Upsell and cross-sell to increase order value |
Encourage customers to buy more by recommending relevant products, such as complementary add-ons (cross-sells) or premium upgrades (upsells). |
💡 Easy upsell and cross-sell automation ideas: |
Post-purchase product suggestions. "You got a camera – need a memory card?" Limited-time upsells. Offer a premium version at a discount right after checkout. Create AI-driven recommendations based on purchase history.
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Smart recommendations = bigger carts and higher profits. |
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4. Recover abandoned carts automatically |
Did you know over 75% of online shopping carts get abandoned? That's a huge chunk of potential revenue left on the table. |
Sending automated emails can help bring customers back. |
🔄 How to win them back: |
Send an automated reminder email within 24 hours. "Hey, you left something behind!" or "Still thinking about this? It's waiting for you!" Show, don't tell. Add high-quality images of the exact products they abandoned to help them visualize what they're missing out on. Use scarcity or urgency. This is a psychological tactic to encourage purchase by tapping into FOMO (e.g. "Your cart expires in 24 hours!") Offer an incentive. Include a small discount or free shipping to encourage purchase.
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Abandoned cart emails can recover up to 30% of lost sales – don't skip them! |
Here's how 7 For All Mankind does their abandoned cart emails. Simple, clean, and with an offer that's hard to refuse. |
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5. Automate your promotions & special offers |
Running a sale? Don't rely on social posts alone to spread the word. Automate your promotional emails to make sure customers never miss a deal. |
⚡ How to do promo automations: |
Schedule flash sale emails in advance so you're always ready. Trigger personalized discounts, like birthday coupons or VIP deals for repeat buyers.
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More strategic promotions = more conversions without extra work. |
6. Use omnichannel marketing to stay top-of-mind |
Customers interact with brands across multiple touchpoints – email, SMS, social media, even WhatsApp. Automating an omnichannel strategy helps you show up wherever they are. |
📱How to do it right: |
Sync email & SMS. Send order confirmations, promotions, and abandoned cart reminders via both channels. Retarget customers on social media who visited your site but didn't buy.
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Reaching your audience on multiple channels helps you deliver more targeted engagement and drive higher conversions. |
7. Educate customers with automated sequences |
Customers don't always know how to get the most out of your products. By automating educational content, you can increase retention and reduce support requests. |
📚 What to send: |
How-to guides or tutorials. Send them right after purchase to help customers use their new products. Value-packed content series. "5 ways to style your new dress" or "How to maintain your espresso machine." FAQs to reduce customer support tickets.
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Educated customers use products more, return less, and stay loyal longer. Here's how ILIA Beauty sends some quick product info to new customers via email. |
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8. Reward VIP customers with exclusive offers |
Loyal customers deserve extra love. Create an automated system that rewards repeat buyers to keep them engaged and spending. |
🏆 How to build a loyalty system: |
Tag high-value customers (e.g., those who've spent $500+) and send VIP-only deals. Offer early access to sales or exclusive discounts. Set up a loyalty tier system. The more they spend, the better the rewards.
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Remember: keeping existing customers happy is way cheaper than acquiring new ones. |
9. Clean your contact list to improve deliverability |
Over time, email lists get cluttered with inactive subscribers. Keeping unengaged contacts only hurts your email performance and deliverability. |
🧹 How to keep your list fresh: |
Automate re-engagement campaigns. "We miss you! Here's 15% off to shop again." Remove inactive subscribers after a set time period (e.g., no opens in 6 months).
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A cleaner list = better (and more accurate) open rates and lower email costs. |
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10. Automate repetitive tasks & streamline operations |
Automation isn't just about marketing emails. It can also streamline backend tasks to save you time and reduce human error. |
⚙️ Where to automate beyond marketing emails: |
Integrate with inventory systems to avoid promoting out-of-stock products. Automate order updates & tracking emails to cut down on customer service requests. Use chatbots to instantly answer common questions around the clock.
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Automating routine tasks gives you more time to focus on strategy and growth. |
11. Create a seamless post-purchase experience |
A sale shouldn't be the end of the customer relationship. Automate follow-ups to drive repeat purchases and brand loyalty. |
🔄 Post-purchase automation must-haves: |
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Happy customers drive more referrals and lifetime value – so keep them engaged! Check out Evergreen's post-purchase review request email for inspiration. |
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Final Thoughts: Automate Smarter, Sell More |
With the automation tips above, you'll build a system that works in the background to: |
✅ Recover lost sales |
✅ Increase customer lifetime value |
✅ Help you work less while selling more |
Automate the right way and watch your eCommerce store run like a well-oiled machine. 🚀 |
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