Most ecommerce store owners will agree that traditional email platforms just don’t get online retail.
You mostly get basic templates that can’t showcase your products, generic automations that completely ignore customer purchase behavior, and absolutely zero integration with your actual store.
So when I stumbled across Omnisend, I was immediately excited. Could this be the ecommerce email marketing tool I’d been searching for?
In this hands-on review, I’ll share everything you need to know about Omnisend and whether it’s worth it for ecommerce businesses.
Omnisend: Overview and Key Features
Omnisend is an omnichannel marketing platform that combines email, SMS, and push notifications.
It comes with automated workflows designed to recover abandoned carts and boost customer retention.
Key features:
- Intuitive email builder — Create professional emails quickly with drag-and-drop tools, product pickers, and discount codes.
- Automated workflows — Set up cart recovery and welcome emails that run automatically without manual work.
- Customer segmentation — AI groups shoppers by buying habits, frequency, and engagement to help you target better.
- Product recommendations — Show customers items they’re likely to buy based on their browsing and purchase history.
- Platform sync — Connect your Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce store to automatically import products and customer data.
- Revenue tracking — See exactly how much money each campaign brings in so you know what’s working.
Hands-On Experience with Omnisend
In this section, I’ll explain how you can set up and use Omnisend on your ecommerce store,
Setup and Integration
Getting started with Omnisend is simple and quick.
I went to omnisend.com, created an account, and got into their dashboard.
Omnisend asked about my store name, business type, and a few other basics. After that, it asked me to choose my ecommerce platform.
I chose WooCommerce, after which it guided me to install their WordPress plugin.
After installing and activating the plugin, I clicked “Connect your account” and approved the requested permissions.
Setting Up Brand Assets
Once the store was connected, Omnisend prompted me to add brand assets. This step makes sure all your emails and forms match your store’s visual style.
I uploaded my JD Sneakers logo, picked brand colors that matched my store, and selected clean, modern fonts.
It also let me link my YouTube and TikTok accounts, which showed up automatically in the footer of my preview.
Once saved, Omnisend applied everything across my emails and signup forms automatically.
Setting Up a Welcome Automation
After I finished creating the signup form, Omnisend suggested that I welcome new subscribers with an email.
So I went ahead and clicked “Create welcome workflow.”
Since the flow was already set up, it took Omnisend just a few minutes to implement it for my campaign.
Creating Recovery Workflows
After setting up the welcome flow, Omnisend prompted me to turn on abandoned cart and checkout recovery emails.
I only had to click “Start workflows,” and both automations became active right away.
Creating an Email Campaign
Moving on, the app suggested that I set up an email campaign to drive traffic to my store.
I clicked “Create email campaign” and started following the prompts.
The first screen asked for a subject line, sender name, email address, and preheader.
I typed the following:
- Subject line: Welcome to JD Sneakers
- Sender’s name: JD Sneakers
- Preheader: Your 10% off code is inside.
Next, Omnisend took me to its email template gallery where there were a bunch of ready-made designs.
I picked the Deals you can’t miss template as it was simple and bold, with a clear space for my offer.
You can also filter by goals like discounts, product promos, or announcements to find a layout that fits your campaign.
Once I selected the template, an editor launched on the screen. A bold yellow layout with “30% OFF” was already in place, and the left panel had all the content blocks.
On the right, I could tweak the canvas width and button style. I just updated the text, added a CTA, and left the rest untouched.
Before sending, you can also preview the email or send a test to yourself to make sure everything looks right across devices.
Once you’re ready, click Save & choose recipients. This step will take you to the recipient selection screen where you can choose to send the email to every subscriber or pick a template.
In my case, I had 20 contacts and chose All subscribers to keep things simple. But if you’re targeting specific groups, you can filter by segment.
For example, you might choose to send the email only to people who “added product to the cart but didn’t place an order.” Or maybe to “contacts imported today with no orders.”
Choose the audience that makes the most sense for your campaign goal.
Next, Omnisend will show you a final confirmation screen before launch. You’ll see your subject line, sender info, and the number of recipients.
There’s also a toggle for Campaign Booster, which re-sends your email to anyone who didn’t engage the first time.
I left that off for now and clicked the green “Send Now” button.
You can also schedule your campaign for later should you want to send it at a specific time.
Creating Automations
Omnisend also lets you automate the email workflow. This is done through Automations, which is a key feature in this email marketing platform.
To start using it, click on the Automations icon in the left menu, and then click Create workflow.
A new screen will open displaying options like Welcome Series, Abandoned Cart, and Product Review Request.
Choose the one that makes sense for your workflow, then select a trigger to tell Omnisend when to start.
In my case, the flow starts when someone subscribes to marketing using a signup form.
You can also customize who should get the automation and when they should exit (like after placing an order).
Likewise, you can skip people who’ve already been through the flow or just completed another one.
Once the trigger is in place, you can start building the flow.
For the purpose, Omnisend gives you a drag-and-drop editor with elements like:
- Email: send a welcome message, coupon, or reminder
- SMS: follow up via text if you’ve got their number
- Delay: wait a few minutes, hours, or days before the next step
- Tag contact: label contacts automatically for future segmentation
- Split: send different messages based on how someone behaves
- A/B testing: test different versions to see what works better
I started with a 1-minute delay, then added a welcome email offering 10% off to keep it simple.
You can add more steps or tweak the order depending on how long (or detailed) your automation needs to be.
Creating forms
With forms in Omnisend, you can grow your list right from your storefront.
When I clicked Create form, I saw a bunch of templates filtered by goals, themes, and types..
There was even a prompt for the Wheel of Fortune, which looked fun, but I went with the Email & SMS branded Multi-step welcome discount. It matched the offer I set up earlier in my automation.
You can also choose templates based on the experience you want: single-step, multi-step, or even mobile-only.
P.S. Everything from the colors to copy to layout is editable, so it’s easy to match your brand before you publish.
After picking a template, Omnisend took me straight to the form editor. Here, I was able to customize the look and fields.
You can change the headline, update the colors, or add new blocks like a phone number field. I added one under the email input so I could collect SMS subscribers too.
You can also set when and where the form shows up. Under “Targeting,” I told it to hide the form for people who already came from an Omnisend email or SMS (no point showing it again to folks who already signed up).
After I finished editing, I clicked “Update live form.” This prompted Omnisend to push the form live and redirect me to the dashboard.
To view my form’s performance, I checked metrics like how many people filled it. The dashboard has all the metrics, making it easy to see where things stand.
For people signing up, your audience list populates all their information. If you’ve set up automation, they’ll instantly get a welcome message or whatever flow you’ve built. Omnisend also tags them based on how they signed up, which makes segmenting your list easier down the line.
Reports in Omnisend
Omnisend also generates reports to help users track the performance of their campaigns.
You can request reports for sales, campaigns, automation, forms, and even deliverability. Each report shows different metrics that matter to your business.
For example, the Sales report shows how much revenue came from Omnisend compared to your other traffic sources. The Automation report shows which flows are doing well and how much each message is making.
The reports are easy to comprehend, and you can filter them by date, workflow, or channel to see what’s working.
Omnisend Pricing
Omnisend has a free plan that’s perfect when you’re just getting started. You get email campaigns, signup forms, and basic automations for up to 250 contacts.
When you’re ready to grow, the Standard plan starts at $11.20/month for 500 contacts (if you pay 3 months upfront). This unlocks better automation, performance reports, and up to 6,000 emails monthly.
You can switch plans or cancel anytime. They also have a calculator on their site to help you figure out costs based on your contact list size.
Final Verdict
Omnisend makes it easy to go from setup to sending real campaigns in one sitting.
We covered signup forms, welcome emails, automations, and how to track performance. Everything worked together smoothly, with just the right amount of guidance built in.
If you’re running an online store and want to grow your list while staying in control, it’s worth trying.
