The average ecommerce email open rate sits around 20 to 25%. If yours is lower, you are leaving sales on the table. Email remains the highest-ROI marketing channel for online stores — averaging around £36 return for every £1 spent — but only when people actually open your messages. Here are 12 tactics to improve your numbers this week.
1. Write Subject Lines That Create Curiosity or Urgency
Your subject line is 80% of the reason someone opens an email. The two emotions that drive opens most reliably are curiosity (“we almost didn’t send this”) and urgency (“only 3 hours left”). Avoid generic lines like “Our latest newsletter” — nobody cares. Test 2 to 3 subject lines per campaign using A/B tests in Klaviyo or Mailchimp.
2. Use the Preview Text Properly
The preview text (the grey text shown after the subject line in most inboxes) is your second subject line. Most brands leave this blank or let it default to “View email in browser” — a wasted opportunity. Use it to extend your subject line’s message or add a second hook that makes opening irresistible.
3. Send From a Real Person, Not a Brand Name
“Priya from OneOnic” gets opened more than “OneOnic” because it feels personal. People open emails from people they recognise. Test changing your sender name to include a first name and see if open rates improve — this single change commonly lifts opens by 10 to 20%.
4. Clean Your Email List Regularly
Sending to unengaged subscribers destroys your sender reputation and tanks deliverability. Every 90 days, run a re-engagement campaign to inactive subscribers (no opens in 90 days). Those who do not re-engage should be removed. A smaller, engaged list outperforms a large, unresponsive one every time.
5. Segment Your List and Send Relevant Content
Sending the same email to your entire list is the fastest way to damage open rates. Segment by purchase history, location, product interest, or engagement level. An email about “new arrivals in men’s ethnic wear” sent only to men who have bought ethnic wear gets opened at 40%+. The same email sent to your whole list gets 15%.
6. Test Send Times for Your Audience
There is no universal best time to send. For Indian ecommerce audiences, Tuesday through Thursday between 10am and 12pm generally performs well. But test your own list — run A/B tests with send times 4 hours apart and let your data tell you when your subscribers are most active.
7. Use Numbers and Specificity in Subject Lines
“5 mistakes you are making on your Shopify store” gets opened more than “Common Shopify mistakes.” Numbers make promises feel concrete and scannable. Include specific numbers, percentages, or time frames in your subject lines and preview text wherever it is natural.
8. Avoid Spam Trigger Words
Words like “FREE,” “GUARANTEED,” “ACT NOW,” excessive exclamation marks, and ALL CAPS subject lines trigger spam filters and also feel cheap to modern buyers. Write subject lines that sound like a real person wrote them for a specific recipient rather than a bulk marketing message.
9. Send a Welcome Series That Hooks Subscribers
Your welcome email typically achieves 50 to 80% open rates — the highest of any automated email. Use this first impression to tell your brand story, show your best products, and set expectations for what kind of emails you will send. A strong welcome series conditions subscribers to open future emails from you.
10. Make Unsubscribing Easy
This sounds counterintuitive, but easy unsubscribes keep your list healthy. When someone cannot find the unsubscribe link, they mark you as spam instead — which damages deliverability for every subscriber. A clean unsubscribe is far better than a spam complaint.
11. Use Emojis Strategically in Subject Lines
A single relevant emoji at the start or end of a subject line can lift open rates by 5 to 15% — but only when it is relevant and used sparingly. “🆕 Last day of our sale” works. Four emojis across a subject line looks desperate. Test one emoji variation against a plain subject line to find what your audience responds to.
12. Track and Improve Consistently
Open rate improvement is never a one-time fix — it is an ongoing practice. Review your top 5 best-performing subject lines every month and identify patterns. Are questions performing better than statements? Are shorter subjects outperforming long ones? Let your own data guide your next 10 campaigns.
A well-built Shopify store with strong email flows built in converts far better than one without. See the Shopify stores OneOnic has built and talk to us about integrating email marketing into your store from day one.
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