Email Deliverability

Understanding Email Deliverability

Email deliverability is distinct from delivery rate. Delivery rate measures whether an email reached the mail server; deliverability measures whether it reached the inbox. An email can be "delivered" to the spam folder — it reached the server but not the inbox. For marketing purposes, an email in spam is nearly as useless as one that bounced.

Inbox placement is determined by a complex combination of factors. Sender reputation (based on your sending domain and IP address history), email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC records), content quality (spammy language, excessive images, misleading subject lines), list quality (bounce rates, spam complaint rates), and recipient engagement (open rates, click rates, reply rates) all influence whether your email reaches the inbox.

For Shopify merchants, deliverability directly impacts revenue. If your abandoned cart emails, promotional campaigns, and post-purchase flows land in spam, you lose one of your most profitable marketing channels. Common deliverability killers include importing purchased email lists, failing to clean your list of inactive subscribers, sending to disengaged segments, using misleading subject lines, and inconsistent sending volumes.

Improving deliverability requires ongoing maintenance. Implement proper email authentication, regularly remove inactive subscribers (those who have not opened or clicked in 90-180 days), use double opt-in for new signups, monitor your sender reputation through tools like Google Postmaster, and send relevant, targeted content that recipients actually want to open. High engagement signals to mail providers that your emails are wanted.