Ecommerce is booming. Each year, fewer consumers shop in physical stores as the convenience of online shopping continues to fuel rapid growth. This trend shows no signs of slowing down.
With the ecommerce explosion, businesses now have more opportunities than ever to market their brand and drive targeted traffic to their websites through various platforms and strategies.
Such as:
- Social media ads
- User-generated content (UGC)
- Tik Tok
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
- Word of Mouth Marketing
- Referrals
- Organic Social Media
- Search Engine Marketing
- Influencer marketing
- Partnership Marketing
- Short Form Content
- Subscription Based Models.
- Etc.
With countless ways to drive traffic and social media competing for every second of attention, it’s fair to ask: does email marketing still matter? The short answer is yes—now more than ever.
Email marketing consistently delivers one of the highest returns on investment (ROI) in digital marketing, and should be driving at least 30% of total revenue for ecommerce brands. While other strategies like social media ads, paid search, and influencer marketing can be effective, email stands out as the most cost-efficient channel for building relationships, driving conversions, and retaining customers. The table below highlights the average ROI per $1 spent compared to other common digital marketing strategies:
| Digital Marketing Channel | Average ROI per $1 Spent |
|---|---|
| Email Marketing | $36 – $42 |
| Search Engine Optimization (SEO) | $22 – $24 |
| Paid Search (Google Ads) | $2 – $4 |
| Social Media Advertising | $2 – $3 |
| Display Advertising | $1 – $2 |
| Influencer Marketing | $5 – $6 |
The bottom line is that paid ads, SEO, and other marketing strategies on their own can’t guarantee lasting success for e-commerce brands. SEO itself is shifting dramatically with the rise of AI-powered search experiences like Google’s SGE, while PPC costs continue to climb—forcing brands to spend more than ever just to get traffic. But traffic alone doesn’t pay the bills. The real challenge isn’t driving clicks; it’s turning those clicks into loyal, paying customers.
From Browsing to Buying: The Mindset of the Modern Consumer
Not long ago, buying online was often an impulsive decision — see a product, click, and purchase. But the modern consumer behaves very differently. Today, discovery is part of the experience, and browsing has become just as enjoyable as buying. In today’s crowded market, consumers are drowning in options—studies show that over 70% are willing to switch brands for a better deal or experience, making brand loyalty more fragile than ever. Social feeds are the new shopping mall, where shoppers bounce between 5–10 brands before making a decision.
With so many options and rising skepticism around online purchases, trust is no longer built in a single click. It now takes multiple touchpoints across channels — email, social, reviews, UGC and retargeting — before a customer feels confident enough to convert. Ever heard of the Rule of 7? It’s the idea that a customer needs to encounter your brand at least seven times before committing to a purchase.
Furthermore, with online scams on the rise, today’s consumers are far more cautious—they won’t just click onto your site, trust you instantly, and make a purchase. That means most visitors leave without buying, forcing you to spend more on retargeting ads. The result? You often break even on your CAC (Cost of Acquisition) and first-purchase AOV (Average Order Value). In short, there’s little to no profit on the front end. This makes retaining your margins in the backend the #1 most important focus for surviving in this market.
|***If you’re not capturing attention, nurturing it, and turning it into sales, you’re simply burning cash.
Consider the ecommerce funnel:
Within the funnel, paid ads and organic content work best at the Awareness stage, helping you capture attention and drive qualified traffic to your site. But here’s the truth: the real money is made in the next three stages—Consideration, Conversion, and Loyalty, and this is where email and SMS take center stage. You need to earn the sale. Once you’ve paid to bring visitors to your site and they are considering your brand, you don’t want to lose them to a competitor. Email and SMS give you the tools to nurture that interest until they know, like and trust you enough to buy.
And it doesn’t stop there. After they buy, these channels keep your customers engaged and your brand top-of-mind, build a lasting relationship, and turn that first sale into a steady stream of repeat orders, effectively increasing customer lifetime value (LTV). In other words, email and SMS don’t just complete the funnel—they multiply the return on every marketing dollar you spend.
The question is: would you rather keep pouring money into cold traffic… or spend far less to market to people who already know, like, and trust you? The truth is, you can’t scale efficiently—or profitably—if you’re not converting at a high rate on the backend.
Email marketing is the most profitable channel for e-commerce brands—period. You pay for clicks through ads, capture visitor information when they land on your site, and then convert them on the backend with email. It may not be the latest flashy trend, but email remains the most reliable and profitable channel to consistently reach your customers right in their inbox.
⭐ 5 Reasons Email Marketing Dominates
- ✅ Permission-Based – Subscribers signed up because they want to hear from you.
- 🎨 Flexible – Educate, inspire, share stories, or promote offers—all in one channel.
- 📬 Direct – Skip the noise. Land straight in the inbox they check every day.
- 📊 Trackable – Measure opens, clicks, and conversions to sharpen your strategy.
- 💰 Affordable – Low costs + automation = sky-high ROI compared to other channels.
- 🚀 Profitable – Build a scalable, owned audience that compounds over time.
Email marketing is steady and reliable. It doesn’t depend on fleeting trends, changing algorithms, or the luck of going viral. When someone shares their email address, they’re granting you direct access—a personal connection that’s both powerful and lasting. Social platforms may come and go, but your email list is an asset you own. Unlike rented space on social media, every subscriber represents a direct connection you’ve earned.
The 4 Pillars of Profitable Email Marketing
While there are countless email marketing strategies you could experiment with, the reality is that 80% of your success will come from mastering just four core pillars:
- List Growth
- Campaigns
- Automated Flows
- Deliverability
If you focus on doing these well, you’ll build a consistent, scalable, and highly profitable email program.
1. List Growth
The bigger and better your email list, the more revenue you can generate—simple as that.
The four primary list growth methods, ranked by importance, are:
- Popup Forms – The most powerful and scalable list growth tool. Every site visitor sees it, which means improving your popup conversion rate directly increases your revenue potential. Double your conversion rate, and over time, you’ll double your email revenue. They work better than any other method.
- Post-Purchase Opt-ins – Capture happy customers when they’re most engaged.
- Signup Pages – Standalone landing pages built solely for collecting subscribers.
- Signup Embeds – Static forms embedded into your site.
Too many brands overlook popup forms because they seem “annoying”—but ignoring them means leaving money on the table.
2. Campaigns
Campaigns are one-time broadcasts sent to your list. They keep you top of mind with past customers—people who already know, like, and trust you.
Unlike cold traffic, this audience is much cheaper to convert, making campaigns one of your most cost-effective traffic drivers.
Best practices:
- Send 3–4 campaigns per week (An A/B test is essential to determine the ideal number of campaigns to send to your list for maximum results with your brand.).
- Balance content: educational, entertaining, and promotional.
- Lead with value—nurture emails should outnumber hard sells.
If your emails are relevant and well-designed, your subscribers will look forward to them. The goal is habit formation—getting customers in the routine of opening your emails so you’re always the first brand they think of when they’re ready to buy.
3. Automated Flows
Flows are triggered emails sent automatically when someone takes a specific action on your site—like joining your list, abandoning their cart, or making a purchase.
Ideally, they should account for roughly 50% of your email revenue, with campaigns making up the other half.
Why flows are essential:
- Generate revenue on autopilot.
- Convert high-intent visitors.
- Recover lost sales.
- Personalize the customer experience.
- Reduce reliance on campaigns alone.
Once set up, flows work around the clock to nurture leads and move customers through your buying journey.
4. Deliverability
Even the best emails won’t make money if they never reach the inbox. Deliverability is like your email “credit score”—it determines whether your emails land in:
- The Primary tab (best case)
- The Promotions tab (neutral)
- Spam (worst case)
What affects deliverability:
- Technical setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
- Engagement metrics (opens, clicks, complaints)
- Sending patterns (consistency matters—avoid sending huge volumes irregularly)
A strong sending reputation ensures your hard work pays off.
Final Thoughts
Email isn’t just alive—it’s thriving in today’s noisy digital world. And if you want to be profitable, you don’t need to chase every shiny new tactic. Focus on mastering the fundamentals—that’s where the real results come from.
By focusing on list growth, campaigns, automated flows, and deliverability, you’ll have a high-performing email machine that drives consistent, scalable revenue—while keeping your customer acquisition costs in check.
