Despite the rise of new digital channels, marketing professionals continue to stand firmly behind one tried-and-true method: email marketing. According to the latest data from Shopify, 44% of marketers say email is their most effective marketing channel – outperforming social media and paid search, which both stand at just 16%.
That’s a powerful endorsement. It tells us that when marketers want results – real conversions, not just impressions – they still turn to the inbox.
So, what makes email marketing such a heavyweight in the digital marketing ring? Let’s break down the latest email marketing statistics from 2024 and explore what they mean for e-commerce brands looking to stay ahead of the curve.
Email Marketing Revenue Is Booming
Email marketing revenue is projected to reach $9.5 billion in 2025 and nearly double to $18.9 billion by 2028.
This growth signals increased investment and innovation in the space. More tools are being developed, more specialists are being hired, and more brands are building sophisticated automation workflows to scale their success.
E-commerce businesses that delay investing in email risk falling behind.
ROI That Speaks for Itself
A staggering 87% of marketing leaders say email is critical to their company’s success. It’s not just a nice-to-have – it’s essential.
Email allows brands to speak directly to consumers, cutting through the noise and avoiding the ever-changing algorithms of social media. It offers a direct line to the customer, giving brands ownership of their audience – unlike platforms like Facebook or Instagram.
For ecommerce businesses, this type of consistent, direct communication is crucial. Whether announcing a flash sale or nurturing leads through a welcome series, email keeps the conversation going long after the first click.
Email marketing boasts one of the highest ROIs in the industry. On average, businesses earn $36 for every $1 spent – a 36x return that few other marketing methods can match.
In contrast, paid social and search continue to see rising CPCs (cost-per-click). Email offers a way to maximize budgets without sacrificing performance. For example, an abandoned cart series can recover lost sales with minimal effort and cost, making it one of the most effective campaigns across industries.
Deliverability Is the Top Challenge
Despite its benefits, email marketing faces growing challenges – chief among them, deliverability. In fact, 65% of email professionals say getting messages into inboxes – not spam folders – is becoming more difficult.
In 2024, only 86% of emails made it to the inbox. The rest were filtered out or disappeared entirely, making deliverability a crucial KPI. Sender reputation, email authentication, and engagement rates all play a role.
Brands must prioritize clean list management, targeted segmentation, and real-time deliverability monitoring to stay effective.
Why is deliverability getting harder?
Stricter Spam Filters: Gmail, Outlook, and others are tightening their standards. Poor list hygiene or misleading subject lines can easily trigger filters.
User Engagement Signals: Providers now track opens and clicks. Low engagement over time can hurt your sender reputation.
Technical Requirements: Email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is more critical than ever. Without proper setup, even valid emails may be flagged.
That’s why modern marketers must focus not just on content but also on clean list practices, warm-up strategies, and regular deliverability monitoring. Deliverability is no longer just an IT concern – it’s a strategic marketing priority.
Yet today’s inbox algorithms often overlook human nuance. People may skip your email not because they’re disinterested, but because life gets in the way. If they haven’t unsubscribed, they’re still open to hearing from you – just on their own terms.
Unfortunately, mailbox providers don’t always account for this. That disconnect can be frustrating, especially for marketers who play by the rules – respecting consent, offering value, and maintaining healthy lists – yet still struggle to reach inboxes.
So, how can marketers work around this?
👉 First, educate your ESP. Many platforms offer reputation dashboards, support channels, or deliverability consultants – use those touchpoints to share how you’re building trust over time, and ask for feedback on improving your sender score. Don’t be afraid to push back and ask how engagement is measured, or whether other metrics (like low complaint rates or long subscriber lifespan) are being considered.
👉 Second, diversify your signals. If clicks and opens dominate deliverability decisions, find ways to encourage even minimal interaction – like including a “reply and let us know” question, or small polls within newsletters. These show engagement without being pushy.
👉 Third, ask for inbox placement reviews. Major inbox providers like Gmail allow bulk senders to register and verify their identity, implement proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and qualify for better inbox placement – especially if your domain shows consistent, low-risk behavior.
👉 Lastly, advocate for more realistic engagement expectations. Marketers, especially in industries with long buying cycles (like B2B or high-ticket ecommerce), need to be part of the conversation around deliverability standards. Collaborating with your ESP’s product or feedback teams can help influence how future algorithms treat human patterns – like delayed opens or weekend engagement – as valid signals of interest.
After all, email marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. And those quiet subscribers? They might become your biggest customers when the timing is right.
Personalization Is Key to Performance
Personalization is no longer optional – it’s expected. According to the data:
- 80% of marketers say personalization improves performance.
- 90% say that segmented campaigns outperform general ones.
- 68% say dynamic content personalization makes a measurable impact.
Simple tactics like including a subscriber’s name in the subject line or tailoring content based on browsing behavior can significantly increase engagement.
For example, if a customer browsed winter jackets but didn’t purchase, an automated follow-up email showing those jackets (plus a 10% off incentive) can create a personalized experience that drives conversion.
Emails Sent on Mondays
Emails sent on Mondays generate the highest open rates. Possibly because people are fresh off the weekend, ready to refocus, check their inboxes, and start the week organized. It’s a reset moment – a time when your audience might actually be welcoming structure and new ideas.
What this means for marketers: Don’t treat Monday as a drag. Treat it as an opportunity. Craft subject lines that feel energizing or helpful, like a gentle nudge toward a fresh start.
Try this:
Subject line: “Start your week with something new”
CTA: “See what’s changed since Friday”
You’re not just sending an email – you’re entering someone’s Monday mindset. And if you show up with the right energy, they just might make space for you.
Tuesday Emails Have the Highest CTR
If Monday is for opening, Tuesday is for action. By Tuesday, readers have settled into the week and are more willing to engage. This gives you room to present more thoughtful content – tutorials, offers, case studies, or product stories.
Think of it this way: Tuesday is when curiosity takes the wheel. That means your email needs to offer something worth exploring.
Strategy tip: Save your most compelling CTAs for Tuesday. And make sure what you’re linking to delivers on the promise. If the content is useful, timely, or emotionally resonant, people will follow through.
B2C Email Campaigns vs B2B
B2C email campaigns have a higher average click-through rate (1.72%) than B2B campaigns. This stat isn’t just about numbers – it’s about emotion. B2C campaigns often tap into personal wants, needs, and lifestyle goals. B2B campaigns, by contrast, tend to play it safe, focused more on features than feelings.
So what can B2B learn from B2C?
Be more human.
Talk about real problems, not just specs.
Make your emails feel like conversations, not brochures.
Quick example: Instead of “Improve operational efficiency with our platform,” try “Wasting time on repetitive tasks? Here’s how others solved it.”
Because even in B2B, a real person is on the other side of the screen.
Personalized Subject Lines Have a Higher Open Rate
We all want to feel seen. That’s why personalization works – but not just in the way you might think.
Personalization isn’t just about [First Name] tags. It’s about relevance. Are you referencing something I care about? A recent action I took? A seasonal trend?
Ask yourself:
Does this email feel like it was written for me?
If not, why would I open it?
Personalization ideas:
Mention location-based events or weather
Reference recent purchases or browsing behavior
Align the message with the user’s stage in the journey
Personalized emails say, “I noticed,” and that can be more powerful than any discount.
Simplicity Wins
Emails with three or fewer images and around 200 words perform best. People don’t read emails – they scan them. Short, visual, uncluttered emails respect your reader’s time.
But there’s a creative challenge here: how do you say something meaningful with so little?
The answer: Focus. Don’t try to say everything. Say one thing well.
Tip: Use one strong image, a headline that sparks curiosity, a short paragraph, and a clear CTA. If the message can be understood in 5 seconds, you’ve nailed it.
Keep it clean, clear, and respectful of attention spans. That’s not minimalism – it’s modern etiquette.
Segmentation Goes Beyond Demographics
Email segmentation can increase revenue by up to 760%. That’s not a typo. Segmentation makes your emails more relevant – and relevance is everything.
Segmentation goes beyond demographics:
What did this person do recently?
What are they most likely to care about?
Have they purchased before? Abandoned a cart?
Each of these is a story you can build a message around.
Example: Segment: People who browsed but didn’t buy. Message: “Still thinking it over? Here’s what others are saying.”
Good segmentation turns a generic email into a well-timed tap on the shoulder. It’s not just a tactic – it’s a form of respect.
Behavioral Triggers Outperform Generic Campaigns
Marketing emails triggered by user behavior – such as browsing history, past purchases, or cart abandonment – generate 10x more revenue than batch-and-blast campaigns.
Why? Because they’re timely, relevant, and personalized. These messages are based on what the user actually did, rather than what the marketer hopes they’re interested in.
A good ecommerce example is a post-purchase email recommending complementary items. Someone who just bought a camera might appreciate a follow-up email suggesting lenses, tripods, or editing software.
The Rise of AI in Email Campaigns
39% of marketers say AI-driven hyper-personalization will have the biggest impact on automation campaigns.
AI is helping brands go beyond basic first-name personalization. It’s powering subject line optimization, predictive send times, product recommendations, and even emotional tone detection.
Some brands are already using AI to tailor messages based on a subscriber’s likelihood to convert, and it’s making email more like a one-to-one conversation than a one-to-many broadcast.
Email Frequency and Timing: Weekly Wins
Weekly emails remain the sweet spot for many ecommerce brands. They strike the right balance between staying top-of-mind and avoiding inbox fatigue. In fact, newsletters sent once a week achieve the best performance – with an average open rate of 48.31% and a click-through rate (CTR) of 5.71%.
But timing matters just as much. According to the data, 21.2% of all opens happen within the first hour of sending, so optimizing send time is critical. Many marketers find that sending emails in the early morning on weekdays – especially Tuesdays and Thursdays – yields higher engagement. However, the best timing often depends on your audience’s behavior, which is why A/B testing and smart send-time optimization tools are becoming more common.
Mobile Optimization Is Non-Negotiable
With mobile traffic accounting for more than half of all web usage, optimizing email design for mobile is a no-brainer. In 2023, 56% of email marketers said they were prioritizing mobile-friendly layouts.
And for good reason. Mobile users often check emails on the go, during short breaks or while multitasking. If your emails aren’t easy to read and interact with on a phone, they’re likely to be deleted or ignored.
Responsive design, short copy, large buttons, and single-column layouts help ensure your emails look great and function flawlessly on any device.
Customer Retention Is an Underused Goal
While 55% of marketers use emails to drive sales, only 44% focus on lifecycle marketing goals like loyalty and retention.
That’s a missed opportunity. Retention-focused emails – such as re-engagement campaigns, VIP reward messages, or post-purchase follow-ups – can turn one-time buyers into loyal customers.
Consider this: it costs 5x more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. Email is the perfect tool to nurture relationships and create repeat business.
It’s surprising that only 44% of marketers prioritize lifecycle goals like retention and loyalty, while 55% still focus mainly on short-term sales. Why the gap?
In many cases, teams are under pressure to prove immediate results. It’s easier to track a single email blast that brings in revenue today than a loyalty campaign that builds customer lifetime value over months. Retention work often lives in a gray area – fewer immediate metrics, but far more long-term value.
But ignoring retention is costly. Repeat customers are more likely to convert, spend more per purchase, and refer others. Email is one of the few tools perfectly suited for nurturing these ongoing relationships – through rewards, exclusive content, and personalized experiences.
Measuring Success: Beyond Open Rates
Open rates are no longer the gold standard – especially with privacy updates like Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection. Instead, marketers are now prioritizing:
- Conversion rate (26.5%)
- Click-through rate (24%)
Focusing on real engagement and ROI helps marketers better understand what’s working – and what’s not. It’s not just about who opens the email, but who clicks, buys, and stays.
Budget Allocation
Email accounts for just 7.8% of the average marketing budget, even though it consistently delivers higher ROI. So why do many companies still overspend on paid search and social ads?
Part of it comes down to visibility and momentum. Paid ads are flashy and easy to track—they offer instant feedback with metrics like impressions, clicks, and CPCs. They’re also backed by huge platforms with aggressive advertising and optimization tools.
Email, on the other hand, requires more upfront strategy: list building, segmentation, automation, testing. It’s quieter and slower – but ultimately more cost-efficient and brand-safe. Businesses that take the time to invest in email infrastructure often find that it pays off significantly more over time.
Smarter, Simpler, More Strategic
With evolving tools, rising user expectations, and growing revenue potential, email marketing is undergoing a transformation. But one thing is clear – email remains one of the most effective, budget-friendly, and high-impact marketing channels in 2024.
From AI-powered personalization to mobile-first design and triggered automations, brands that invest in email today are setting themselves up for long-term growth.
Whether you’re a small ecommerce startup or a growing retail brand, the path to better ROI, stronger relationships, and sustainable sales is still paved with great emails.
A Word About the Data Source
The insights and statistics in this article are based on Shopify’s 2024 Email Marketing Benchmark Report, which aggregates performance data across ecommerce businesses of varying sizes and industries. Shopify has access to hundreds of thousands of brands and campaigns, making it a trustworthy and statistically meaningful source.
This data reflects current best practices as seen through real-world performance, rather than speculative predictions or narrow case studies.
