If you run an ecommerce business, you already know email marketing plays a huge role in driving sales. Recent data suggest that most teams see a return of between $10 and $50 for every $1 spent on email, with many clustered around a $36:1 ratio.
Striking the right frequency for ecommerce email marketing can be hard to nail down, though. Send too few emails, and your brand risks getting lost in a crowded inbox. Send too many, and you could trigger unsubscribes, or worse, land in the spam folder.
Adding further confusion, tech industry shifts (like Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection) have made traditional email performance metrics (e.g., open rates) obsolete.
Since email best practices are always subject to change, how are busy ecommerce stores to keep pace with moving goalposts?
How Often Should You Send Emails to Your Subscribers?
Let me preface with this: Every subscriber list is different. Some groups might be receptive to daily messages, while others won’t want to hear from you more than once a week.
Finding the ideal email marketing frequency for your list will keep your brand top-of-mind while driving repeat sales. However, this process takes some trial and error.
Start by noting your baseline subscriber count. If that number starts to fall or you see a spike in spam complaints, pull back and tighten targeting to your most engaged contacts first.
Tip: Gmail now expects bulk email senders to keep user-reported spam under 0.3% and to follow modern rules like authentication and easy one-click unsubscribe.
If you suspect you can dial up the message frequency, ramp up gradually. If you email your list once per quarter, you probably shouldn't start blasting two messages a day out of the blue.
Look at your own inbox. How many times a day does a single business email you?
To discover what email marketing frequency would encourage ecommerce sales without destroying customer trust, we set out to test: How often is too often?
Here are some changes that worked with one ecommerce client — and the ROI of each effort.
Bumping the Promo Email Frequency
Before we started working with this client, they were sending one promotional email a quarter. The promotions typically offered 10-20% off, resulting in a modest increase in traffic and revenue. In one quarter, the email channel accounted for 1.30% of revenue.
After taking on this client, we started testing one promotion a month. The email list would receive four emails during the promotion, which ran for about a week.
Increasing the email marketing frequency from once/quarter to once/month wasn't an overwhelming amount, but the uptick paid off. Although the promotions were slightly more attractive (25-30% off), the client saw a 2100% increase in the email channel alone. And email now contributes 15% of their overall revenue.
Capitalizing on High-Traffic Days
Looking to improve, we knew Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday (the rare days consumers actively scan their inboxes) would be great times to experiment.
To capitalize on this opportunity, we planned to send one email a day for eight days straight — from November 21 to November 28. Crazy, right?!
Because our client only sells a few items that rarely change, the idea of eight consecutive emails actually seemed insane when we pitched the idea. So much so, we almost didn't send an email on Cyber Monday. But boy, are we glad we did.
Here are the promo details:
- The Thanksgiving promotion ran from November 21-24 with a 20% discount.
- Black Friday ran from November 25-27 with a 25% discount.
- Cyber Monday ran with a secret promotional email, which the website revealed to be 30% off.
The list got an email a day, and the messages also offered deeper and deeper discounts.
The result: 155% increase in email revenue from the previous year's November promotion. Black Friday dominated in terms of revenue, but the super secret Cyber Monday sale had better open and click-through rates, ranking second in revenue.
The best news of all? While sending one email a day improved sales, the unsubscribe rate stayed the same. This meant our list was not against seeing my beautiful emails more often!
The Ideal Email Marketing Frequency
The fact remains: there is no one-size-fits-all email marketing strategy.
Drawing our conclusions in the client scenario above involved serious A/B testing (comparing Version A vs. Version B to see which wins).
Which days have the best conversion rate? Which email format gets the higher click-through rate? Which promotion do my subscribers respond to most?
These are all great ideas for A/B testing your own emails. Once you have the data, your emails will stand a fighting chance against all the spam flooding your audience's inboxes.
Get more tips and tools to start A/B testing like a pro.
We pushed the envelope, but did so carefully and strategically. It wasn't a far stretch to increase the email marketing frequency for promotions from every other day to every day.
How Your Marketing Team Finds the Best Email Frequency
Marketers have several tricks for honing in on an audience’s preferences without overstepping.
Audience Behavior
Marketers watch what gets clicks, purchases, and replies. They group (or “segment”) by buyer type and engagement, then match cadence to each group.
Active buyers who engage with emails frequently can, and should, receive the most messages.
Setting Expectations
Good list management starts with transparent rules and expectations. Email marketers often say how frequently subscribers can expect emails in the welcome series.
Consider building a preference center to let your list “opt down” without unsubscribing. Allowing recipients to customize their communications improves the user experience.
In short, clear expectations cut complaints.
Balancing Consistency and Flexibility
Most teams keep a steady baseline, often weekly or biweekly. During peak seasons, they may email daily to engaged segments.
They cap daily touches, avoid email-and-SMS duplicates, then return to baseline and review results.
Testing and Measuring
Consistent evaluation and optimization are key to any marketing strategy, and email is no different. Make sure to track meaningful performance indicators that connect directly to your business growth goals.
Your team may use past sends to forecast outcomes and fine-tune the plan each month.
How to Work with Your Team to Get It Right
- Ask for the “why.” Why this schedule? What past results, customer behavior, or goals support it?
- Look at engagement over time. Review clicks, purchases, revenue per email, unsubscribes, and spam reports by week or month.
- Set a test window. Agree on a short trial (e.g., 4–6 weeks) and clear pass/fail rules before making it permanent.
- Plan for busy seasons. Decide how to handle launches and holidays: who gets extra sends, caps on daily touches, and what to do if complaints arise.
- Connect cadence to strategy. Tie frequency to your content calendar, promos, inventory, and SMS plan using one simple, shared roadmap.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should you send email marketing content?
Most ecommerce brands see success emailing 1–3 times per week. The right frequency depends on your audience, product type, and goals. Start with a consistent schedule, then adjust based on engagement and unsubscribe rates.
Can emailing too often hurt my brand?
Yes. Overloading inboxes can frustrate subscribers, leading to higher unsubscribe rates or spam complaints. Watch your metrics closely. If open rates drop and unsubscribes increase, you may need to scale back or offer subscribers the option to opt for fewer emails or customize the types of emails they receive from you.
What happens if I don’t email enough?
Emailing too infrequently can cause your brand to fade from memory. Customers may forget who you are, which can lower engagement and increase spam complaints when you finally do send a message. Consistency helps build trust.
Should I send the same number of emails to all subscribers?
Not necessarily. Segmenting your list allows you to match frequency to customer behavior. For example, highly engaged shoppers might enjoy frequent updates, while newer or less active subscribers may respond better to fewer, more personalized messages.
Does frequency change during holidays or big sales?
Absolutely. During peak shopping seasons like Black Friday or the holidays, customers expect more frequent promotions. Sending daily emails, or even multiple per day for short flash sales, can work well, as long as you set that expectation clearly.
Master Your Email Marketing
Email is a highly lucrative digital marketing channel that boasts an impressive ROI. So get out there and start testing to discover what email marketing frequency resonates with your audience.
If you want to get more out of your ecommerce email marketing efforts, connect with us to start building a personalized plan with a Human.
