Don’t Panic, It’s Dynamic: How AMP Emails Are Changing E-commerce

9 min read

Email is hardly considered a “new” technology. For decades, email has been a steady stalwart of the internet experience. And for decades, email has gone virtually unchanged.

Until now.

February 2019 ushered in a new era for email when Google presented it’s new dynamic email powered by AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) technology.

With AMP, static email content is a thing of the past: emails can update automatically, delivering the most relevant information at every open. And user interactions are getting dynamic too. Zoom pictures, fill out a form, scroll through a photo gallery, and more, all without ever leaving your inbox.

From e-commerce to email marketing, at Ecwid, we recognize the potential. That’s why we collaborated with Google to be the very first e-commerce platform to launch dynamic AMP emails for our merchants.

Dynamic abandoned cart email in Ecwid

And we’re not just talking about better promotional emails either. Soon, buying directly from email will be the new normal. What makes us so confident about it? Read on to find out.

AMP Pages Are Booming

You might have noticed that websites load faster these days. What you’ve probably never asked yourself is why. Enter Accelerated Mobile Pages.

Accelerated Mobile Pages is a website publishing technology that was initially designed by Google to improve the performance of mobile web.

Page speed is a ranking factor for Google’s mobile and desktop indexes, which means it can also affect conversion rates. As Neal Patel states, “if an e-commerce site is making $100,000 per day, a 1-second page delay could potentially cost you $2.5 million in lost sales every year.” So decreasing page load time doesn’t just mean a better experience for your visitors — it also means more sales for your store.

AMP is already implemented on over 5 billion web pages. Microsoft, Twitter, Adobe, and WordPress have all supported AMP, raising the number of domains using AMP to 31 million early last year. So AMP growth isn’t stopping any time soon.

Dynamic Email Content Helps to Increase Conversions

But AMP for email does more than simply speeding up the page.

With AMP, your audience can interact with an email like never before. Leave a comment, browse a product page, add a review, scroll a photo gallery, enter an email address — the email becomes a webpage of its own, complete with all the functionality you’d expect. Open new tabs? Nah. Redirects to a website? Who needs “em? AMP for email saves your audience clicks and time, reducing friction and offering a new seamless e-commerce experience right in their inboxes.

And interactive content isn’t just a playground for your customers. It actually converts. According to one study of 244 marketers from enterprise-level companies of $10 million to $1 billion+ in annual revenue, interactive content generated twice as many conversions as traditional email content.

Brands Are Already Testing AMP Emails

Here at Ecwid, we’re in good company, sharing the AMP email integration with brands like Booking.com, Despegar, Doodle, Freshworks, Nexxt, OYO Rooms, Pinterest, and redBus to test the effectiveness of dynamic email content to keep customers up-to-date and improve experiences by making emails more actionable and relevant. For example, Pinterest is using AMP to make it easier for users to discover new ideas and save them to boards.

Software engineer Fangzheng Tian commented on the update on the company’s blog, Pinterest Engineering:

Typically, when a Pinner receives an email from us, they must click a Pin in the email and then are directed to the Pinterest.com or mobile app, potentially log in, and save to a board. The longer the process, the more likely the user won’t take action. With AMP for Gmail, we saw huge opportunities to improve engagement right from email.

Some other popular email clients have also begun supporting AMP emails, including Yahoo Mail, Outlook.com, and Mail.Ru.

Ecwid Makes Dynamic AMP Emails Accessible for E-commerce

Ecwid is the first e-commerce platform to launch dynamic email for online merchants. Ecwid’s AMP emails display up-to-date order information as the email content updates in real time. For example, with our dynamic abandoned cart emails, customers can click through the product carousel, zoom product images, and open product descriptions right in their email.

Dynamic content in order status emails allows our merchants to display the real-time order status whenever a customer opens the email. If the order is being processed, that email will display the most current processing status. On its way? That same email will dynamically update to let the customer know their purchase has left the building.

Real-time order status email in Ecwid

Another example of improved experience is an easier verification process. A single click right in a dynamic email is all it takes to verify emails and new accounts — no redirecting to third-party services necessary.

All the above considered, dynamic emails promise to improve the shopping experience for customers and make it easier for merchants to manage and promote their stores.

Email Isn’t Going Out of Style

Regardless of the rise of social media, the good ol” email remains customers’ preferred mode of communication with brands.

The number of email users is expected to grow to over 4.2 billion by the end of 2022, and Gmail already boasts a staggering 1.5 billion active users worldwide.

Active Gmail users worldwide from January 2012 to October 2018 (by Statista)

It’s not just about email’s large user base either — the engagement on email is also impressive. According to research, 99% of consumers check their personal email every day. Personalized emails generate six times more transaction rates than non-personalized emails.

Email remains an efficient and cost-effective method for companies to reach consumers where they are every day — their inboxes:

Email generates $44 for every $1 spent.
59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI.
The average order value of an email is three times higher than that of social media.
Marketing emails influence purchase decisions for 59% of respondents.
61% of U.S. consumers prefer to be contacted by brands through email.
65% of U.S. marketers cited dynamic content in email marketing as the most influential strategy.

The chart presented in the report Email Marketing & Marketing Automation Excellence 2017

So, email provides a reliable form of communication between your brand and your clients. And AMP emails take this communication to the next level. This dynamic technology makes brand’s interaction with customers even more effective, making the lives of emails longer and their content more actionable.

Implementing AMP emails doesn’t just mean staying up-to-date, it also creates more opportunities for businesses. And if you’re an Ecwid merchant, you don’t have to lift a finger to get it — dynamic emails are supported on all pricing plans, including our Forever Free plan.