Want to implement email automation on your WooCommerce store? Great, then. It is one of the best marketing channels to boost sales. I have curated the best email automation tools you can use on your WooCommerce store.
In general, there are two types of email marketing tools for WooCommerce: the one released as a SaaS and as a plugin. The list below includes both.
Email automation itself is usually available as a paid feature in most email marketing tools. There are also generous email marketing tools that offer email automation as a free feature, however.
In case you are still not familiar with email automation yet, let’s get to know it first.
Shortcuts ⤵️
- What is email automation?
- What can email automation do?
- Free email automation tools
- Paid email automation tools
- Summary 📝
What is Email Automation?
Email automation is the mechanism where an email (or a series of emails) is sent automatically based on a certain trigger. The trigger can be based on an interaction from users or a certain condition on the server or application.
A simple example of email automation is when you get a verification email when you are registering an account on a certain platform.
Email automation usually includes personalization. Such as name, organization, etc.
WooCommerce already has an email automation feature, but only for transactional purposes. For instance, when you are buying something from a certain online store, you will receive emails like order details, payment confirmation, and so on.
WooCommerce has no email automation for promotional purposes. You need to use a third-party email automation tool to send promotional emails like personalized product recommendations, a birthday offer, timed promo code, and so on.
What Can Email Automation Do for WooCommerce?
Well, this depends on the email automation tool you use. But mostly, an email automation tool that supports integration with WooCommerce allows you to:
- Remind customers over abandoned carts
- Ask for a review after product purchase
- Send product recommendations similar to the purchased ones
- Send birthday email
- Send personalized coupons
Once again. Those emails are sent automatically to customers. Once everything has been set, you can do other things to grow your store. Creating content, analyzing campaigns, etc.
With email automation, the chance of losing potential customers is lower because you can build and nurture communication with them via email without a manual touch.
Free Email Automation Tools for WooCommerce
1. MailerLite
MailerLite is a perfect solution if you are looking for a free email automation tool for your WooCommerce store. The platform generously offers its automation feature for free.
You can even use all of the trigger types it supports. The only limitation is the number of emails you can send, which depends on the plan you are on.
If you are on the free plan, you are limited to 12,000 emails per month.
MailerLite offers an official plugin designed specifically to integrate your store with it.
Or, you can also integrate your WooCommerce store via API key if you are not interested in installing another plugin on your site.
After integrating your WooCommerce store with MailerLite, you will be able to create email automations to:
- Send reminders over an abandoned carts
- Send an email after a customer buying a product (any product)
- Send an email after a customer buying a specific product
- Send an email after a customer buying a product from a specific category
- Send a birthday email
- Send an email on a specific date
Apart from email automation, MailerLite also comes with other useful features like popup builder and landing page builder (with integration support with Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics).
Key Features of MailerLite:
- Migration (from Mailchimp)
- Clean, easy-to-use email editor
- Visual email automation builder
- Automation templates
- Email personalization
- A/B testing
- Stats
Pros and Cons of MailerLite:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Super affordable | Requires a professional email account (email on a custom domain) |
| Offers an official plugin for easier integration | Doesn’t allow email footer removal |
| Clean, uncluttered interface | |
| Easy-to-use automation builder | |
| Supports multiple automation triggers | |
| Solid A/B testing |
2. MailPoet
MailPoet is arguably the best email marketing plugin for WordPress. Not only can you use it to send newsletters, but you can also use MailPoet to send automated campaigns to boost sales on your WooCommerce store.
Unlike similar plugins which commonly rely on the built-in email delivery function of WordPress (which is not reliable), MailPoet comes with a custom email delivery service. Or, if you already have a subscription on Mailgun and similar services, you can also use it.
MailPoet has an automation feature which you can use for free although not all triggers can be used for free.
Fortunately, the email automation to send email reminders over abandoned carts can be used for free. This is the most basic email automation.
Also, the free version allows you to automatically send an email after a customer purchases a product in a specific category or product with a specific tag.
MailPoet itself is a product owned by Automattic, the company that also owns WooCommerce.
Key Features of MailPoet:
- Custom email delivery service
- Visual email automation builder
- Email personalization
- A/B testing
- Stats
Pros and Cons of MailPoet:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Native WordPress editor for email templates creation | Fewer elements in the email editor |
| No integration setup required | Limited monthly emails on free version |
| Easy-to-use automation builder | |
| Comes with an email delivery service | |
| Doesn’t require a professional email account |
3. Omnisend
Omnisend is an email marketing platform designed specifically to help online store owners boost their sales. It supports integration with popular e-commerce platforms, including WooCommerce.
Omnisend is a freemium product, but all of its core features are accessible whether you are on the free version or on the paid version. Including its automation feature. You can even use all of the trigger types available in the automation.
However, the free version is limited to only 500 emails per month, way fewer than MailerLite.
Same as MailerLite, Omnisend also offers an official plugin to make it easy for you to integrate your WooCommerce store with your Omnisend account.
Key Features of Omnisend:
- Migration (from Klaviyo and Mailchimp)
- Easy-to-use email editor
- Visual email automation builder
- Automation templates
- Email personalization
- A/B testing
- Stats
Pros and Cons of Omnisend:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Offers a migration feature (from Klaviyo and Mailchimp) | Email is extremely limited on the free version |
| Useful plugin for easier integration | Requires a professional email account |
| Easy-to-use automation builder | |
| Supports multiple automation triggers | |
| Access to all features on the free version |
4. Sender.net
Sender.net is an email marketing tool that comes with an automation feature in which you can use it without needing to upgrade your plan to the paid version.
The free version even allows you to send up to 15,000 emails per month. More than other platforms above. Also, you can have up to 2,500 contacts on your account.
The only restriction you are probably not into is inability to remove Sender.net branding. If you are okay with this, then Sender.net is a great solution to get started with email automation.
Same as other platforms above, the automation feature of Sender.net also allows you to automatically send emails to your customers over abandoned carts, personalized product recommendations, product review requests, and so on.
Furthermore, Sender.net also offers an official plugin to eliminate the need of integrating your online store manually via API key.
Key Features of Sender.net:
- Easy-to-use email editor
- Visual email automation builder
- Ready-to-use templates
- Personalization
- A/B testing
- Stats
Pros and Cons of Sender.net:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Offers migration feature (from Mailchimp and GetResponse) | Requires a professional email account |
| Simple, clean interface | Can’t remove branding on free version |
| Super useful stats | |
| Generous free version | |
| Advanced subscribers filtering |
5. Klaviyo
Klaviyo is a direct competitor of Omnisend. It is also an email marketing platform that is designed specifically for e-commerce.
WooCommerce is one of e-commerce platforms that Klaviyo supports, other than popular platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, OpenCart, etc. It also offers an official plugin to make it easy for you to connect your WooCommerce store with your Klaviyo account.
Automation is one of the featured features from Klaviyo and you can use it for free. Before you start to build an automation workflow, you need to connect your WooCommerce store first. After connecting, you will be able to set a trigger on your workflow.
Klaviyo offers some editable ready-to-use automation workflow templates designed for e-commerce. You have full control over the design of your emails thanks to its drag-and-drop email editor.
Although you can use Klaviyo’s automation for free, you can only send a maximum of 500 emails per month.
Key Features of Klaviyo:
- Drag-and-drop email editor
- Visual automation builder
- Ready-to-use automation templates
- Personalization
- A/B testing
- Stats
Pros and Cons of Klaviyo:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Useful plugin for easier integration | Requires extra steps to edit automation template |
| Useful stats | Limited monthly emails on the free version |
| Supports multiple automation triggers | |
| Advanced email editor |
Paid Email Automation Tools for WooCommerce
6. AutomateWoo
AutomateWoo is another product from Automattic. Unlike MailPoet which is designed to be a full-fledged email marketing plugin, AutomateWoo is designed specifically to work with WooCommerce.
In other words, you can’t use it without WooCommerce.
With AutomateWoo, you can create email templates and they will be sent automatically to your customers based on their respective triggers.
For instance, you can automatically send emails after a customer bought a specific product, when they added a product to the shopping cart but didn’t make the payment, and so on.
To make the emails feel more personal, you can also add personalization to your emails.
Unlike MailPoet and other tools above, AutomateWoo doesn’t have an email delivery feature. Instead, it utilizes the email delivery service you use on your site. If you use the default email delivery feature of WordPress, AutomateWoo will use it to send emails.
Similarly, if you use a third-party email delivery service (Mailgun, SenGrid, etc.), then AutomateWoo will use it too.
Key Features of AutomateWoo:
- Personalization
- Reporting
- Advanced rules
- Ability to add timed coupon
- Ability to send card expiry notification
Pros and Cons of AutomateWoo:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No complex integration setup | Lack of design option |
| Native WordPress experience | No visual automation builder |
| Useful rules to send more targeted campaigns | Requires yearly subscription |
| Useful timed discount |
7. FluentCRM
FluentCRM is a feature-rich CRM plugin for WordPress. It also has an automation feature that supports integration with WooCommerce.
You can use the automation feature of FluentCRM whether you are on the free version or on the paid version.
However, some triggers can only be used if you are on the paid version. And, unfortunately, all WooCommerce-related triggers are only accessible on the paid version.
After installing the paid version of FluentCRM, you will be able to access WooCommerce triggers and create the automation workflow. The WooCommerce triggers that FluentCRM supports are:
- New order
- Order completed
- Order refunded
- Order status changed
FluentCRM offers a visual automation builder to make it easy for you to build the automation workflow. FluentCRM itself uses the native WordPress editor (Gutenberg) as the email editor.
Same as AutomateWoo, FluentCRM has no email delivery feature. It uses the email delivery feature on your website.
Key Features of FluentCRM:
- Personalization
- Visual automation builder
- Reporting
- Conditional content block
- Native WordPress editor
Pros and Cons of FluentCRM:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No complex integration setup | Requires installing more plugins to unlock some features |
| Native WordPress experience | No A/B testing |
| Useful reporting | Requires yearly subscription |
| Useful visual automation builder |
8. Mailchimp
I am pretty sure that you already know about this one. Mailchimp is arguably the most popular email marketing platform on the internet although the quality is still debatable. There are some competitors that may have a better product than Mailchimp.
Regardless, Mailchimp comes with a solid enough email automation feature that you can integrate with your WooCommerce store to boost sales. This feature is only available on the paid version.
With Mailchimp, you can automatically send emails to customers or potential customers based on certain triggers.
For instance, you can automatically send emails to those who have added products to the shopping cart without making a payment.
Or, you can send a thank you message for those who have bought your product for the first time.
You can even send emails to those who viewed a certain product, as long as they are logged in.
An official plugin is available to allow you to connect your WooCommerce store with Mailchimp without manually entering the API key.
Key Features of Mailchimp:
- Ready-to-use automation templates
- Visual automation builder
- Drag-and-drop email editor
- Personalization
- A/B testing
- Stats
Pros and Cons of Mailchimp
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Useful plugin for easier integration | Pricey |
| Supports more trigger types | Interface is not clean enough |
| Solid A/B testing | |
| Extra email marketing features to grow your online store | |
| Doesn’t require a professional email account |
9. Drip
Drip is another email marketing platform designed for WooCommerce although you can also use it to run a newsletter. Drip doesn’t offer a free version, but you can try it for free for 14 days without needing to provide your credit card info.
During the trial period, you can only send 100 emails.
Drip also has a solid integration with WooCommerce where you can build email automation with a trigger like shopping cart update, product cancellation, product view (for logged in users), product refund, and so on.
In total, there are about 11 trigger types that Drip supports for WooCommerce.
Drip offers ready-to-use editable automation workflow templates to ease your job. Also, there is an official plugin so that you don’t need to manually connect your WooCommerce store.
Key Features of Drip:
- Automation templates
- Visual automation builder
- Drag-and-drop email editor
- Personalization
- A/B testing
- Stats
Pros and Cons of Drip:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Useful plugin for easier integration | A bit pricey |
| Offers free trial without credit card | Limited emails on trial |
| Clean, simple interface | |
| Useful analytics feature |
10. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a fully paid email marketing platform like Drip which also offers a 14-day trial — without needing to provide your credit card.
Although not designed specifically for WooCommerce or other e-commerce platforms, ActiveCampaign is usable enough to help you boost sales on your online store. Its automation feature allows you to set automated emails which will be sent based on a certain trigger, just like other platforms above.
Apart from automation, ActiveCampaign also comes with other useful features to grow your business, including CRM and form builder which is super useful to collect leads.
Does ActiveCampaign offer an official plugin? Yes, it does.
Instead of one, ActiveCampaign offers two official plugins. For WooCommerce, you can use the ActiveCampaign for WooCommerce plugin. This plugin will integrate your online store with your ActiveCampaign account.
Key Features of ActiveCampaign:
- Automation templates
- Visual automation builder
- Drag-and-drop email editor
- Personalization
- A/B testing
- CRM functionality
- Stats
Pros and Cons of ActiveCampaign:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Useful plugin for easier integration | A bit pricey |
| Offers free trial without credit card | Some features are only accessible on the higher plans |
| Useful extra features | |
| Useful CRM |
11. Moosend
Moosend is an affordable email marketing tool. You can use it to run a newsletter or email automation.
If you have an online store built with WooCommerce, Moosend can also be a great tool to boost sales thanks to its useful automation. But first, you need to integrate your WooCommerce store with your account. To do this, you can install an official plugin that Moosend offers.
Moosend is less popular than other tools above, but it is definitely worth trying. Particularly if you are looking for an affordable email marketing platform.
You can use Moosend starting from $9 per month. There is no monthly email limit you have to deal with. Before subscribing to a paid plan, Moosend allows you to try its platform for free for 30 days.
The Moosend email automation for WooCommerce feature allows you to set automated emails for abandoned carts, purchase confirmation, lead scoring and so on.
Key Features of Moosend:
- Visual automation builder
- Drag-and-drop email editor
- Personalization
- Reporting
Pros and Cons of Moosend:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Affordable | Lack of A/B testing capability |
| Useful plugin for easier integration | No automation templates |
| Clean interface | |
| Longer trial without credit cart |
Summary
Implementing email automation is a great idea to boost sales of your online store. If your online store is built with WooCommerce, you have many options of email automation tools you can use.
That’s because WooCommerce is one of the most popular online store platforms so that most email marketing platforms support integration with it for their automation feature.
By integrating your WooCommerce store with an email automation tool, you will be able to send automated emails based on a certain trigger and condition.
Some email marketing tools allow you to use their automation feature for free, some require you to upgrade to the paid version.
Free email automation tools for WooCommerce:
- MailerLite
- MailPoet
- Omnisend
- Sender.net
- Klaviyo
Paid email automation tools for WooCommerce:
- AutomateWoo
- FluentCRM
- Mailchimp
- Drip
- ActiveCampaign
- Moosend
If you have a limited budget, you can start with a free version and upgrade to the paid version as you need to send more monthly emails.
Just make sure that the trigger type you need the most is available before you use a paid email automation tool.
