When brands talk about “the best e-commerce newsletters,” they usually think about design. Beautiful layouts. Slick graphics. Colour-blocked sections that look great in a portfolio.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: None of that matters if your email doesn’t land in the inbox.

At WFMA, we review dozens of e-commerce accounts every quarter, from small Shopify stores to large e-commerce players, and the pattern is always the same: brands over-optimise design and under-optimise deliverability. The result? Great emails that no one ever sees.

This guide breaks down what actually makes an e-commerce newsletter effective: design that supports deliverability.

1. Text–Image Balance In Your Email Template Is Non-Negotiable

If your newsletter is one giant image, Outlook will hate it and Gmail will ignore it.

The sweet spot for inbox-friendly design is:

• 60% live text
• 40% visual content

Live text helps email clients “read” and understand your content, which directly boosts inbox placement. It also ensures that your email is readable even when images are blocked.

Rule of thumb: If you can’t select the text with your cursor, you’re hurting deliverability.

2. Keep File Sizes Small

File-heavy emails are a fast track to the Promotions tab. Or worse, spam.

Aim for:

• Under 100 KB total email weight
• Compressed images
• Minimal GIFs
• No heavy background graphics

Your email should load instantly on a 4G mobile connection. If it doesn’t, engagement drops, and so does your sender reputation.

3. Mobile-First Email Layouts Win

More than half of e-commerce newsletters are opened on mobile. This changes everything: layout, CTAs, spacing, buttons.

Best practices include:

• Single-column structure
• 44px minimum button height
• Generous spacing for readability
• Clear hierarchy with one primary CTA

If your design is “desktop-perfect,” it’s probably wrong.

4. Brand Consistency Builds Trust Signals

Customers trust what they recognise, and inbox algorithms do too.

Keep:

• Logo placement consistent
• Same colour palette as your website
• Footer identical in every send
• Unsubscribe and company address clearly visible

These micro-signals compound over time, strengthening deliverability.

5. Accessibility Drives Engagement (and Engagement Drives Deliverability)

The best-performing e-commerce newsletters are the easiest to read.

Email accessibility guidelines:

• Minimum 14–16px body text
• Strong colour contrast
• Alt text for all images
• Short paragraphs, not text blocks

Accessible emails generate higher engagement. Higher engagement boosts reputation. Reputation keeps you in the inbox.

6. Clean Sending Infrastructure Is Half the Work

Behind every “best e-commerce newsletter” is a clean, correctly authenticated domain.

For inbox placement, you need:

• SPF, DKIM, DMARC authentication
• A dedicated sending subdomain (e.g., mail.brand.com)
• A warmed-up sending reputation
• Consistent sending volume
• No hopping between ESPs

Design can’t fix a bad domain reputation. Only infrastructure can.

7. Segmentation Makes a Newsletter a Newsletter

If you send everything to everyone, your engagement drops, and so does your deliverability.

Segment by:

• Behaviour (viewed, added to cart, purchased)
• Recency of engagement
• Geography (EU, UK, US timing matters)
• Product interests
• Customer lifecycle stage

The best newsletters feel personalised even when automated.

8. What is The Best E-commerce Email Newsletter? Simplicity Usually Outperforms Creativity

Over-designed newsletters look great in presentations, but simplicity consistently wins in revenue.

The strongest e-commerce newsletters:

• Have one message
• Use one main CTA
• Guide the reader
• Look like the brand, not a design experiment

Your audience doesn’t care about your layout as much as they care about clarity.

Final Thought

The best e-commerce newsletters are built with one priority: inbox placement first, design second. WFMA helps e-commerce brands build email systems that do both: look good and land where they’re supposed to. If you want your newsletters to stop going to promotions and start driving revenue, we can help.