What Are Shopify Email Notifications?
Shopify automatically sends emails whenever key events happen in a store — for example when a customer places an order, updates their account, recovers an abandoned checkout, or receives a shipping update. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0} These notifications are transactional, not newsletters, but every single buyer sees them, which makes them an underrated branding and revenue opportunity.
Instead of leaving Shopify’s default emails as they are, you can edit the templates to match your brand, add helpful information, or even use them to encourage repeat purchases.
Why Customize Shopify Email Notifications?
Customers now expect a consistent experience across your store, social media, ads, and email. When your notification emails use your fonts, colours, tone of voice, and content style, they feel like a natural extension of your brand instead of a generic system message. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
Customizing these emails lets you:
- Reinforce trust with clean, on-brand design.
- Explain next steps clearly (returns, tracking, account access, downloads, etc.).
- Add how-to content for complex products so customers succeed faster.
- Use upsells, cross-sells, and discount codes in a subtle, service-first way.
Because these messages go to people who’ve already bought or shown strong intent, even small improvements can have a big impact on lifetime value.
Start Your Shopify Free Trial TodayWhere to Edit Shopify Email Templates
All notification emails live in your Shopify admin under Settings > Notifications. Here you’ll find templates for order confirmation, shipping updates, abandoned checkout, customer accounts, and more (Shopify currently offers 16+ customer notifications by default). :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
From this area you can:
- Change basic branding (logo, colours, header style, etc.).
- Edit the HTML and CSS of each individual template.
- Use Liquid variables to output dynamic data like customer name, order details, and product information. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}
For Box BRANDS readers who build or manage Shopify stores, mastering these templates is a quick way to add obvious value for clients, without needing to build a full app.
Advanced Customization #1: Product-Specific Content with Liquid
One powerful trick is to show different content based on what the customer bought. You can do this with
simple Liquid if conditions that check line items in the order. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}
For example, imagine you sell digital products that need special instructions. In the order confirmation email, you can add a small block of text that only appears when an item’s title contains a certain word.
{% if line.title contains 'Course' %}
<p>Access your course via the link in your account. Save this email for future logins.</p>
{% endif %}
You would place this snippet inside the section that loops over line_items in the email template, usually
right under the product title. Each time a product that matches this rule is included in an order, the
customer sees customised guidance.
Ideas for conditional content:
- Assembly or installation instructions for certain products.
- Care tips for clothing or accessories.
- Links to documentation or tutorials for apps and digital goods.
- Bonus content or messages for VIP or high-ticket items.
Advanced Customization #2: Add Discounts to Abandoned Checkout Emails
Cart and checkout abandonment is a huge issue in ecommerce — studies show that around 70% of online carts are abandoned on average. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5} That’s why Shopify’s abandoned checkout emails are so important: they give you another chance to win the sale.
To make these emails more persuasive, you can automatically apply a discount when the customer clicks the “Complete your purchase” button.
- Create a percentage or fixed-amount discount code in your Shopify admin (e.g.
WELCOME10). :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6} - Open the abandoned checkout notification template in Settings > Notifications.
- Find the code that outputs the checkout URL (usually referenced as
{{ url }}inside the button). - Wrap that URL in a small Liquid snippet that appends
?discount=YOURCODEor&discount=YOURCODEdepending on whether a query string already exists. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}
{% if url contains '?' %}
{{ url | append: '&discount=WELCOME10' }}
{% else %}
{{ url | append: '?discount=WELCOME10' }}
{% endif %}Now, when a shopper clicks the button in their abandoned checkout email, they land back in checkout with their cart pre-loaded and the discount already applied — a strong nudge to finish the order.
Always Preview and Test Your Notification Emails
Once you’ve customised your templates, don’t forget to test them. From the notification settings page, you can:
- Preview the email right in the browser.
- Send a test email to yourself or your client. :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}
- Place a test order and go through the entire flow as a real customer would.
Test on both desktop and mobile, and in more than one email client if possible. Check:
- Does the email look on-brand and easy to read?
- Do all links and buttons work as expected?
- Does any conditional content show correctly for the right products?
A bit of testing upfront means your automated messages can run quietly in the background, converting more customers for you every day.
Launch Your Store & Test These Emails in Shopify