How to Increase Email Revenue for Your Shopify Store

Your email revenue has plateaued, but you're not sure why. This guide diagnoses the real reasons email revenue stalls and shows you how to unlock the next level of growth through systematic campaigns.

The Plateau Problem

Your email channel should be growing. You've set up flows, you're collecting emails, you've got subscribers. But revenue has flattened. Month over month, the numbers look the same.

This isn't unusual. It's actually the default outcome for most Shopify stores that rely on automation alone.

Here's what's happening: your flows have captured most of the reactive revenue available to you. Welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase—these are working, but they've hit their ceiling.

The way out is proactive revenue: campaigns.

Why Email Revenue Plateaus

Reason 1: Over-reliance on flows

Flows are essential, but they're limited by trigger volume:

  • Welcome series only fires when someone subscribes
  • Abandoned cart only fires when someone abandons
  • Browse abandonment only fires when someone browses

If your site traffic is flat, your flow revenue is flat. Flows don't create demand—they capture existing demand.

Reason 2: Inconsistent campaigns

Most brands under-send campaigns. They might send one or two per month—when they remember, when they have time, when there's an obvious reason to send (like a sale).

Inconsistent sending leads to:

  • List decay (subscribers forget who you are)
  • Missed revenue opportunities
  • Deliverability issues (ISPs want consistent volume)

Reason 3: No planning system

Without a system, every campaign requires starting from scratch:

  • "What should we send?"
  • "Who should we send to?"
  • "What should we say?"

This friction is the #1 reason campaigns don't get sent. The mental overhead of deciding what to send kills momentum.

The Revenue Growth Formula

Email revenue is simple math:

Email Revenue = Sends × Deliverability × Opens × Clicks × Conversion × AOV

Most stores focus on optimizing the back end of this equation (conversion, AOV). But the biggest lever is often the front: Sends.

If you're sending 4 campaigns per month, doubling that to 8 campaigns can nearly double your email revenue—assuming similar engagement rates.

This is the most underutilized growth lever in email marketing.

Breaking Through the Plateau

Strategy 1: Increase campaign frequency

If you're sending less than 8 campaigns per month, start there. You have room to send more.

The fear is always "won't I annoy my subscribers?" The data says no. Engaged subscribers want to hear from brands they like. Unengaged subscribers weren't going to buy anyway.

Watch your unsubscribe rate. If it stays under 0.2% per campaign, you're fine.

Strategy 2: Build a campaign planning system

A campaign planning system removes the friction that prevents consistent sending:

  1. Calendar: Know exactly when you're sending
  2. Categories: Know what types of content you're sending
  3. Templates: Have starting points for each category
  4. Data triggers: Use your Shopify data to inform content

Strategy 3: Diversify beyond promotions

If all your campaigns are sales and discounts, you're training your list to wait for sales. Build a content mix:

  • 40% product-focused (non-promotional)
  • 20% promotional
  • 20% educational
  • 20% brand/social proof

The Systems Approach

Notice a pattern? Every solution involves systems.

The problem isn't that you don't know email marketing. The problem is that email marketing at scale requires systems that most small teams don't have time to build.

You have two options:

  1. Build the system manually: Calendar + templates + discipline
  2. Use a tool: Let software handle the planning and drafting

Eltie exists because we saw too many Shopify brands stuck at the plateau, knowing they should send more campaigns but unable to execute consistently.

Getting Started

Start here:

  1. Measure your baseline: How many campaigns did you send last month? What was your email revenue?
  2. Set a goal: What would 2x your current send frequency look like?
  3. Plan next month: Put campaigns on a calendar with dates and content types.
  4. Execute: Send them. Don't let "perfect" delay "done."
  5. Measure and adjust: After a month, check revenue. Adjust frequency and content mix.