What is a transactional email?

Transactional email

A transactional email is an automated message sent to one person in response to an action they've taken. Password resets, order confirmations, shipping updates, account alerts: these are the emails your customers expect to receive, often within seconds of triggering them.

Unlike marketing emails that promote products to many people at once, transactional emails deliver information specific to a single recipient. They complete a transaction or provide details the customer explicitly requested. That's why they don't require an unsubscribe link and aren't governed by the same consent rules as promotional campaigns.

Why transactional emails matter

Your customers are actively waiting for these messages. They've just placed an order, requested a password reset, or signed up for an account. They're refreshing their inbox.

When that email arrives instantly and contains exactly what they need, you've delivered on a promise. When it's delayed or missing, you've created friction at the worst possible moment, right when someone is trying to complete a transaction with your business.

Transactional emails also see dramatically higher engagement than marketing emails. Industry benchmarks suggest transactional emails achieve open rates between 40% and 85%, compared to 20–25% for promotional campaigns. Your customers want to open these messages, which makes them valuable touchpoints for reinforcing your brand.

Transactional vs. marketing emails

The distinction matters for compliance, deliverability, and customer experience.

Transactional emails are triggered by user action, contain information unique to that recipient, and facilitate an agreed-upon transaction. They're sent one at a time and don't require opt-in consent.

Marketing emails promote products or services, go to many recipients simultaneously, and require explicit permission plus an easy way to unsubscribe.

The line can blur. An order confirmation is clearly transactional, but if you fill half that email with product recommendations and promotional offers, inbox providers may treat it as marketing, and your deliverability could suffer.

Google recommends separating transactional and marketing emails. As Gmail's guidelines state: "If you send both promotional mail and transactional mail relating to your organization, we recommend separating mail by purpose as much as possible." In practice, this means using different sending domains, subdomains, or IP addresses. When your password reset emails share infrastructure with your promotional blasts, the lower engagement on marketing messages can drag down delivery rates for the critical transactional ones.

Common types of transactional emails

Account and login emails

These help customers access and manage their accounts:

• Welcome emails after signup
• Password reset links
• Two-factor authentication codes
• New login alerts
• Account verification requests

A password reset email should arrive within seconds. Include clear branding so recipients recognize the sender, state when the link expires, and keep the copy minimal. This isn't the moment for lengthy explanations.

Order and payment emails

These confirm financial transactions:

• Order confirmations with itemized details
• Payment receipts and invoices
• Subscription renewal notices
• Failed payment alerts
• Refund confirmations

Your order confirmation should include the order number, items purchased, shipping address, and estimated delivery date. Customers will reference this email if anything goes wrong, so make the details easy to find.

Shipping and delivery emails

These track physical products:

• Shipping confirmations with tracking links
• Delivery status updates
• Delivery confirmation notices

Include the carrier name, tracking number, and expected arrival date. When customers can track their package themselves, they're less likely to contact your support team asking where it is.

Event-triggered notifications

These respond to activity within your product:

• Comment or mention alerts
• Calendar reminders
• Social notifications
• Usage summaries and reports

These emails often function like push notifications delivered to an inbox. They keep users engaged with your product without requiring them to constantly check the app.

Best practices for transactional emails

Send immediately

Transactional emails lose value with every second of delay. A password reset that arrives five minutes late feels broken. An order confirmation that takes an hour creates anxiety. Use infrastructure designed for speed, not batch processing.

Keep the primary purpose clear

The subject line should tell recipients exactly why they're getting this email. "Your order has shipped" works. "Exciting news about your recent activity!" does not.

Put the most important information, such as the order number, tracking link, or reset button, near the top. If someone is scanning on mobile, they should find what they need without scrolling.

Stay on brand without overdoing it

Transactional emails are touchpoints, not billboards. Include your logo and maintain your visual identity, but resist the urge to pack in promotional content. A small "customers also bought" section at the bottom of an order confirmation is reasonable. Filling half the email with sale announcements crosses into marketing territory.

Separate your sending infrastructure

Use different domains or subdomains for transactional and marketing emails. This protects your transactional deliverability from being affected by lower engagement on promotional campaigns. If your marketing emails occasionally trigger spam complaints, you don't want that reputation bleeding into your password resets.

Make support easy to find

Include a clear path to customer service in every transactional email. When something goes wrong with an order or account, the transactional email is often where customers start looking for help.

Ready to ensure your transactional emails reach the inbox every time? Explore ActiveCampaign's transactional email capabilities and see how reliable delivery supports better customer experiences.

FAQs

Do transactional emails need an unsubscribe link? No. Because they facilitate transactions the customer initiated, they're exempt from unsubscribe requirements. However, including a link to manage notification preferences is good practice.

Can I include promotional content in transactional emails? In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act allows some promotional content if the "primary purpose" remains transactional. The FTC evaluates this based on several factors: whether the subject line reads as promotional, whether transactional content appears at the beginning of the message, and the overall proportion of commercial to transactional content. A common guideline is to keep promotional content to roughly 20% or less of the message, but what matters legally is that a reasonable recipient would view the email as transactional, not commercial. In Europe and Canada, regulations are stricter—GDPR and CASL require explicit consent for promotional content, so adding marketing material to transactional emails may require separate consent or risk reclassifying the entire message as commercial.

Why do my transactional emails land in spam? Common causes include shared infrastructure with low-engagement marketing emails, missing authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), or content that looks promotional despite being transactional. Separating your transactional sending from marketing sends often resolves this.

What's a good open rate for transactional emails? Industry data suggests transactional emails typically see open rates between 40% and 85%, depending on the type. Password resets and shipping confirmations tend toward the higher end because customers are actively waiting for them. These figures are significantly higher than marketing email benchmarks, which typically fall in the 20–25% range.