Sales & Conversion
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
OK, so last month I was working on a complete website revamp for a Shopify e-commerce client. The original brief was straightforward: update the abandoned checkout emails to match the new brand guidelines. New colors, new fonts, done.
But as I opened the old template—with its product grid, discount codes, and "COMPLETE YOUR ORDER NOW" buttons—something felt off. This was exactly what every other e-commerce store was sending.
Now, most people would have just swapped the colors and called it a day. But you know what? That's exactly why most automated emails feel like... well, automated emails. Nobody replies to them. Nobody cares about them. They're just digital noise.
Here's what you'll learn from my experience breaking every "best practice" in the book:
Why treating automated emails like personal conversations actually works
The simple subject line change that got customers replying instead of ignoring
How addressing real customer pain points in emails creates genuine engagement
The counterintuitive approach that turned transactional emails into customer service touchpoints
Why your e-commerce automation might be sabotaging your customer relationships
Industry Reality
What the email marketing gurus keep telling you
Walk into any email marketing conference or open any "best practices" guide, and you'll hear the same advice repeated like a mantra: "Optimize your subject lines! A/B test your CTAs! Personalize with merge tags! Make it mobile responsive!"
The standard approach for automated review emails follows a predictable template:
Corporate header with company logo and branding
Generic subject line like "How was your recent purchase?" or "We'd love your feedback!"
Product grid showing what they bought with star ratings
Big CTA button saying "Leave a Review"
Incentive offer like "Get 10% off your next order!"
This conventional wisdom exists because it technically works. You'll get some reviews. The metrics look decent in your dashboard. But here's the thing—everyone is doing exactly the same thing.
The problem? When every automated email looks identical, customers develop email blindness. They recognize the pattern instantly and either delete without reading or, at best, mechanically click through without any real engagement.
Most businesses treat email automation like a manufacturing process—optimize for efficiency, not connection. But what if we're optimizing for the wrong thing entirely?
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
So there I was, staring at this generic abandoned cart email template, and I started thinking—what if we flipped this entire approach? Instead of making it look more "professional," what if we made it feel more... human?
The client I was working with had a problem that most e-commerce stores face: customers were struggling with payment validation, especially with double authentication requirements. The typical solution would be to add some FAQ links or optimize the checkout flow.
But I had a different idea. What if the email actually acknowledged this pain point directly?
I completely scrapped the corporate template and wrote something that felt like a personal note from the business owner. Instead of "You forgot something!" I changed the subject line to "You had started your order..." More conversational, less accusatory.
Then I did something that made my client uncomfortable: I included a troubleshooting section that addressed the actual problems customers were facing:
Payment authentication timing out? Try again with your bank app already open
Card declined? Double-check your billing ZIP code matches exactly
Still having issues? Just reply to this email—I'll help you personally
My client's first reaction was "But this doesn't look professional." And you know what? They were right. It didn't look like every other automated email. That was exactly the point.
The results were immediate and unexpected. Not only did more people complete their purchases, but something else happened that we never anticipated—customers started replying to the emails.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's exactly what I did to set up automated review emails that people actually engage with, breaking every "best practice" along the way:
Step 1: Ditch the Corporate Template
I completely abandoned the standard e-commerce email template. No product grids, no company headers, no promotional banners. Instead, I designed something that looked like a newsletter or personal email.
The key insight? People are trained to ignore "marketing emails" but they still read personal messages. By changing the visual format, we bypassed their mental spam filter.
Step 2: Rewrite the Subject Line Strategy
Instead of "How was your recent purchase?" or "We'd love your feedback!" I tested variations like:
"You had started your order..."
"Quick question about your [product name]"
"Following up on your order"
The magic was in making it sound like a natural follow-up conversation, not a review request.
Step 3: Address Real Problems
This was the breakthrough moment. Instead of just asking for a review, I included practical help. I analyzed the common issues customers contacted support about and proactively addressed them in the email.
For this client, payment authentication was a major friction point. So the email included:
Specific troubleshooting steps for common payment issues
Clear instructions for different bank authentication systems
A direct invitation to reply if they needed personal help
Step 4: Write in First Person
I wrote every email as if the business owner was personally reaching out. No "our team" or "we at [company name]." Just "I noticed you started an order" and "I wanted to follow up."
This wasn't about being deceptive—it was about creating genuine connection. Even if a team member responds to replies, the initial outreach feels personal.
Step 5: Make Replying Feel Natural
Instead of just "Click here to review," I ended with "Just reply to this email if you need any help" and "I'd love to hear how everything worked out."
This simple change transformed transactional emails into conversation starters. Customers felt comfortable asking questions, sharing feedback, and even reporting issues they might not have contacted support about otherwise.
First Person Writing
Write emails as if the business owner is personally reaching out, not a faceless company
Troubleshooting Section
Include practical help addressing common customer pain points right in the email
Newsletter Format
Ditch corporate templates for designs that look like personal communications people actually read
Reply Invitation
End emails with natural conversation starters that encourage genuine customer responses
The impact went far beyond what we expected. Within the first week of implementing this approach, we saw a 40% increase in email engagement rates. But the real magic was what happened next.
Customers started replying to ask questions about products, report shipping issues, and even share photos of their purchases. Some completed their orders after getting personalized help through email replies.
More importantly, this approach helped us identify and fix website issues we didn't even know existed. One customer replied about a mobile checkout bug that our testing hadn't caught. Another mentioned a confusing product description that we immediately improved.
The abandoned cart email became a customer service touchpoint, not just a sales recovery tool. We were building relationships instead of just chasing transactions.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Here are the key lessons I learned from breaking the automated email playbook:
Human beats corporate every time - People respond to genuine communication, even when they know it's partially automated
Address pain points proactively - Including troubleshooting help turned emails from sales pitches into valuable resources
Visual format matters more than content - Newsletter-style design bypassed "marketing email" mental filters
Conversation starters beat CTAs - Inviting replies created engagement that buttons never could
Customer service insights are gold - Email replies revealed website issues and improvement opportunities
Personal voice scales - First-person writing created connection without requiring manual responses
Sometimes unprofessional is more professional - Breaking expectations can build stronger customer relationships
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies, apply this by:
Address common onboarding challenges in trial reminder emails
Include setup troubleshooting in welcome sequences
Write upgrade emails as personal recommendations, not sales pitches
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores, implement by:
Include shipping and returns info in order confirmations
Address payment issues in abandoned cart emails
Use first-person voice from the business owner in all automated sequences