What is Transactional Email and how to use it?

You may be surprised to learn that you have used transactional emails many times, either when you were doing online shopping, or when your customers purchased something from your e-commerce website. They contain important information, connected with the purchase, password and other account activity. What is a transactional email and how to use it?

When are Transactional Emails Used?

A transactional email, as the name suggests, is closely connected to the transactions made in an e-commerce shop. Users usually wait for the email, and don’t treat it as spam, because it contains important information. Transactional emails include welcome emails, invitations, password reset emails, payment invoices, order confirmations, etc., in short all post-purchase information.

In some cases, transactional emails can have marketing purposes, such as when they are sent if you have left some items in your shopping cart. Yet, they’re far from bulk emails sent in a massive way to get the customers to buy something from the shop. Transactional emails are personalized and sent one at a time, which is the most obvious difference.

How are Transactional Emails Used?

We may enumerate some basic functions and situations in which a transactional email is sent. Receits and confirmations transactional email with a receipt and confirmation of purchase, is sent right after the transaction. Such an email may contain an attachment like a PDF, or an e-book, being the confirmation of the purchase. A confirmation transactional email will also be sent to new users, who have just registered to the page.

Explicit requests transactional emails are sent on the request of the shop user. The request may be the result of a forgotten password, or be the next step after registration of
a new user, who needs a temporary password. It’s important to use an email provider that sends emails immediately.

Account-related alerts transactional emails are caused by the changes to the users’ account. They remind customers of an overdue invoice, payment processing problems, or other billing alerts. Such transactional emails may also be connected with log-in attempts, changes to passwords, or a trial expiration reminder.

Behavioral triggers have a marketing character, and aim at increasing customers loyalty. In such emails, the basic tools of the application are presented, or a customer with a break of activity is reminded to return to the store. It happens with an abandoned cart, or a longer inactivity. Transactional emails contain a trigger, such as an extra discount or special offer, to assist customers with their shopping. 

Another form of transactional emails may inform the users about account activity, such as comment notifications, shipping updates or event reminders. Referral emails allow customers to send personalized invitations to their friends, to register to the page and start shopping.

Thanks to trustworthy transactional emails providers, such as EmailLabs, and their dedicated IP, your emails will be delivered directly to the customers inbox, never to a spam tab.