Automated emails — welcome flows, abandoned carts, back-in-stock alerts — are the highest-ROI messages most senders run. These benchmarks come from Omnisend’s 2025 dataset of 470 million automated sends across 27,000+ brands, compared against more than 20 billion one-off campaign emails.
more revenue per email comes from automations than from one-off campaigns ($3.41 vs $0.155 per send). Automations also convert about 19x higher (1.49% vs 0.08%). Welcome emails alone average $6.16 per send.
Automations vs. campaigns
The gap is not about better copy — it is timing. Automations reach people at a moment of intent: just after they subscribe, browse, abandon a cart, or place an order.
| Metric | Campaigns | Automations |
|---|---|---|
| Open rate | 30.41% | 30.21% |
| Click-through rate | 0.74% | 4.66% |
| Click-to-open rate | 2.44% | 11.87% |
| Conversion rate | 0.08% | 1.49% |
| Revenue per email sent | $0.155 | $3.41 |
| Unsubscribe rate | 0.20% | 0.59% |
Performance by automation type
Transactional and restock messages get the highest engagement because recipients are actively waiting for them. Welcome and cart flows deliver the best revenue-to-effort ratio for most senders.
| Automation | Open rate | Conversion rate | Revenue / email |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product back in stock | 58.80% | 6.72% | $9.14 |
| Welcome | 35.53% | 2.11% | $6.16 |
| Abandoned cart | 37.12% | 1.72% | $3.59 |
| Shipping confirmation | 62.67% | 2.19% | $3.08 |
| Order confirmation | 57.91% | 1.61% | $2.88 |
| Order follow-up | 47.70% | 0.93% | $1.75 |
| Cross-sell | 42.09% | 0.87% | $0.95 |
| Customer reactivation | 33.11% | 0.54% | $0.51 |
Chart values are USD revenue per email sent.
Welcome email benchmarks
Welcome emails reach subscribers at peak interest. Omnisend reports a 35.53% open rate, 3.94% CTR, 2.11% conversion rate, and $6.16 revenue per send. GetResponse’s 2024 report cites a much higher welcome open rate (83.63%), but that reflects a different, smaller dataset and measurement window — the direction is the same: welcome messages far outperform routine campaigns.
Frequently asked questions
Do automated emails really outperform campaigns?
Yes. In Omnisend’s 2025 data, automations generated 22x more revenue per email ($3.41 vs $0.155) and converted about 19x higher (1.49% vs 0.08%) than one-off campaigns.
What is a good welcome email open rate?
About 35.5% in Omnisend’s 2025 dataset; GetResponse reports far higher on a smaller sample. Because Apple Mail Privacy Protection inflates opens, focus on the welcome flow’s click and conversion rates (roughly 3.9% CTR and 2.1% conversion).
Which automation generates the most revenue per email?
Product back-in-stock alerts, at $9.14 per email and a 6.72% conversion rate — yet only a small share of brands run them, making it a clear opportunity for stores with items that sell out and return.
Why do automations have a higher unsubscribe rate than campaigns?
Automations (0.59%) reach subscribers early in the relationship, before people know your brand and cadence, versus 0.20% for campaigns. Careful timing and relevance keep it in check.
Which automations should I set up first?
Start with a welcome flow and an abandoned-cart flow — the two highest-impact, easiest-to-launch automations — then add back-in-stock and post-purchase follow-ups.