Today, Shopify announced the global launch of its email marketing tool Shopify Email.
The Ottawa-based e-commerce company originally showcased the email tool last November, marking it the first time Shopify had expanded into the email marketing space. On Tuesday, Shopify Email became available to all Shopify merchants around the world.
“COVID-19 has forced many retailers to re-think their marketing strategies and get creative with how to reach their customers.”
When Shopify Email was announced it puts the company in direct competition with former partner Mailchimp, after the two companies had a public falling out in 2019.
Shopify Email is designed for commerce and allows merchants to send branded emails directly from the Shopify Marketing admin. The tool offers ready-made templates that automatically pull logos, products, images, descriptions, prices, and more from Shopify merchant stores.
The email tool is part of a broader strategy to make digital marketing easier from within Shopify’s platform. In 2018, Shopify consolidated a number of services into the overhead of Shopify Marketing.
As part of Shopify’s efforts to support its customers during the current global pandemic, it is making Shopify Email free until October 1. Afterwards, the first 2,500 emails sent per month will be free and merchants will have to pay $1 USD for every 1,000 emails they send.
“COVID-19 has forced many retailers to re-think their marketing strategies and get creative with how to reach their customers,” said Satish Kanwar, VP of product at Shopify. “We want to do everything we can to help these businesses thrive. As consumers spend more time online than ever before, email marketing becomes critical in preserving and building customer relationships.”
Shopify Email will be available in more than 20 languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese.
Offering the email marketing tool for free comes as Shopify has taken a number of other steps to support its customers, many of which are small businesses, during COVID-19. In addition to extending its free trial and offering to help merchants with pickups and delivered, Shopify has added $200 million to Shopify Capital, its fund which supports its merchants with small loans.