Order confirmations are the most-opened emails any business sends. The customer has just paid you and wants proof — so they open, and they read properly rather than skimming. Almost nobody treats them accordingly.
Most order confirmations are whatever the ecommerce platform shipped with: a receipt, unstyled, unsigned, ending nowhere. Below are five templates that do the receipt job properly and then use the attention responsibly.
The two jobs, in order
An order confirmation must first reassure: the payment worked, this is what you bought, this is when it arrives, this is who to contact. Anxiety is the dominant emotion in the sixty seconds after paying a business online, especially a new one.
Only once that is done can it do the second job — setting up the next interaction. Get the order wrong and put a cross-sell above the order details, and you have converted a moment of trust into a moment of doubt.
There is also a legal reason to keep the order first, covered further down.
Template 1 — The standard order confirmation
Subject: Order #{{order_number}} confirmed — thanks, {{first_name}}
Preheader: Arriving {{delivery_estimate}}. Here are the details.
Hi {{first_name}},
Your order is confirmed and we’re getting it ready.
ORDER #{{order_number}} • {{order_date}}
[Image] {{product_name}}
{{variant}} × {{quantity}}
{{line_total}}
Subtotal {{subtotal}}
Shipping {{shipping}}
Tax {{tax}}
------------------------------
Total paid {{total}}
Paid with {{payment_method_last4}}
DELIVERING TO
{{shipping_name}}
{{shipping_address}}
Estimated delivery: {{delivery_estimate}}
We’ll email tracking as soon as it ships.
[ View your order → ]
Need to change something? Reply within {{change_window}} and we can
usually still amend it.
— The {{company}} team
{{support_email}} • {{support_hours}}
{{company_legal_name}}, {{postal_address}}
Why this works
- The order number is in the subject line. This email gets searched for weeks later. Putting the number where search will find it is a small kindness that saves support tickets.
- The delivery estimate is in the preheader. It is the second question every customer has, answered before they open.
- The payment method and last four digits confirm which card was charged — the single most common “did that work?” anxiety.
- The amendment window is stated. Telling someone they have two hours to fix an address prevents the support ticket and the return.
- A reply-to that works. Order confirmations sent from noreply@ are a leading cause of customers going to a chargeback rather than a conversation.
Template 2 — Confirmation with a considered next step
Once the receipt is complete, a single well-chosen next step is legitimate. Note it sits below everything transactional.
Subject: Order #{{order_number}} confirmed
Preheader: Arriving {{delivery_estimate}}. Plus how to get the most from it.
{{...full order details exactly as Template 1...}}
---
WHILE YOU WAIT
Most people ask us the same three things about {{product_name}}:
• {{Question}} — {{short answer}}
• {{Question}} — {{short answer}}
• {{Question}} — {{short answer}}
[ Read the full setup guide → ]
— The {{company}} team
Why this works
- It is useful, not promotional. Pre-empting setup questions reduces support load and returns, and it earns the right to be in a transactional email.
- It sits under a divider, after the receipt. Structure signals priority.
- One link, one purpose. A block of “you may also like” products here converts poorly and dilutes the reassurance the email exists to give.
Template 3 — The shipping notification
The second-most-opened email you send, and usually the most wasted — because the customer is already excited and looking for exactly this.
Subject: Your order is on its way — track it here
Preheader: {{carrier}} • arriving {{delivery_estimate}}
Hi {{first_name}},
Order #{{order_number}} shipped today.
[ Track your delivery → ]
Carrier {{carrier}}
Tracking number {{tracking_number}}
Expected {{delivery_estimate}}
WHAT’S IN THE BOX
{{product_name}} × {{quantity}}
Delivering to {{shipping_city}}, {{shipping_postcode}}.
If it hasn’t arrived by {{delivery_estimate_plus_2}}, reply to this
email and we’ll chase it — you won’t need to contact the carrier
yourself.
— {{company}}
Why this works
- Tracking is the button, above everything else. It is the only reason this email gets opened.
- The tracking number appears as text as well as a link, because a meaningful share of customers paste it into the carrier’s own site.
- The “if it hasn’t arrived” line removes the worst part of ecommerce — being told to take it up with the courier. Promising to chase it is cheap and disproportionately memorable.
Template 4 — The digital or subscription receipt
For SaaS, digital products and subscriptions, where there is no parcel and the anxiety is about access and billing.
Subject: Your {{plan_name}} receipt — {{amount}}
Preheader: Paid {{date}}. Next charge {{next_billing_date}}.
Hi {{first_name}},
Thanks — your payment went through.
Plan {{plan_name}}
Amount {{amount}} {{currency}}
Paid {{date}}
Method {{payment_method_last4}}
Invoice #{{invoice_number}}
Next charge {{next_billing_date}}
[ Download invoice (PDF) → ]
Your account is active. Start here:
[ Open {{product}} → ]
Managing billing, changing plan or cancelling is all in
[account settings] — no need to email us, though you can.
— {{company}}
{{company_legal_name}} • {{vat_or_tax_id}} • {{postal_address}}
Why this works
- The next charge date is stated up front. Surprise renewals are the largest single cause of subscription chargebacks and angry cancellations. Saying it every time removes the surprise.
- A downloadable invoice with a number and tax ID is what a business customer needs for expenses. Making them request it wastes both parties’ time.
- Self-service cancellation is signposted. Hiding it does not reduce churn; it converts churn into chargebacks and bad reviews.
Template 5 — The post-delivery follow-up
Sent three to seven days after delivery. Technically marketing rather than transactional, so consent rules apply — see the section below.
Subject: How’s the {{product_name}}?
Preheader: If something’s wrong, we’d rather know than not.
Hi {{first_name}},
Your {{product_name}} arrived about a week ago. Two things:
If something isn’t right — wrong size, damaged, not what you
expected — reply to this email. Returns are free for
{{return_window}} and we won’t make it awkward.
If it’s good, a short review genuinely helps other people decide:
[ Leave a review → ]
That’s all. Thanks for shopping with us.
— {{sender_first_name}}, {{company}}
Why this works
- The complaint route comes before the review ask. Asking for a review from an unhappy customer produces a public one-star. Offering to fix it first intercepts that.
- “We won’t make it awkward” addresses the real fear about returns, which is the process rather than the money.
- It asks for one thing. Review requests bundled with a discount and a referral ask get none of the three.
The legal bit: transactional vs marketing
Transactional emails sit outside most marketing rules. Under CAN-SPAM, a message whose primary purpose is transactional is exempt from the opt-out and advertising-disclosure requirements — though header information must still be accurate. Similar carve-outs exist in most jurisdictions.
The exemption depends on primary purpose. Load an order confirmation with promotional content and it can be reclassified as marketing, at which point it needs consent and an unsubscribe link like anything else. That is the real reason to keep the receipt above the fold and any extras below a divider — not just design tidiness.
A practical line: if the email would still make sense with the promotional block deleted, it is transactional. If deleting it leaves nothing, it is marketing. More in transactional vs marketing email and CAN-SPAM explained.
Deliverability: keep these streams separate
Transactional email should be as close to guaranteed as email gets. Two things protect that:
- Separate the sending streams. If marketing and transactional share a reputation, a bad campaign can delay password resets and receipts. Most serious senders use a distinct subdomain or IP pool for transactional.
- Authenticate both. SPF, DKIM and DMARC on every sending domain — see SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained.
For the broader picture, see the transactional email guide and SMTP vs email API.
Frequently asked questions
Do order confirmations need an unsubscribe link?
Not if they are genuinely transactional — CAN-SPAM exempts messages whose primary purpose is completing a transaction. Add enough promotional content and that exemption goes away. Including an unsubscribe link anyway does no harm.
Can I include product recommendations?
Yes, carefully. Keep them below the transactional content, keep them relevant to what was bought, and keep them small enough that the email’s primary purpose is unambiguous.
What is the ideal delay for a post-purchase follow-up?
Three to seven days after delivery, not after purchase. Asking someone to review a product still in transit is the most common version of this mistake.
Should transactional email use a different sending domain?
A subdomain is good practice at volume — for example mail.example.com for marketing and receipts.example.com for transactional. It isolates reputation so a marketing problem cannot delay a password reset.
Marketing and transactional on one bill
Most stacks pay a marketing platform and a separate transactional provider — two vendors, two invoices, two reputations to manage. Bluey Email includes the API and SMTP relay on every plan, including the free tier, so receipts, OTPs and password resets come from the same place as your campaigns without a second subscription.
Start free — 500 emails a month, no card required. See also the ecommerce email flows every store needs.
Part of our email template library. See also: welcome email and abandoned cart email.