Quick answer: A Shopify brand should choose an email agency that verifies the store integration before building anything, builds the five core flows first, can describe its first month day by day, publishes its prices and shows results from stores like yours. Use the checks below on any agency. At Excelohunt, fixed-price flows start from $209 and managed plans start at $499 a month; see Excelohunt’s pricing.
Key takeaways
- Integration first: if store events do not reach your email platform correctly, every flow built on them is wrong.
- Five flows carry most of the revenue: welcome, cart, browse, post-purchase and win-back.
- Ask for the first-month plan in writing before you sign.
- Published prices and fixed scope make agencies comparable.
- Proof from stores like yours is worth more than any ranking.
Shopify makes it easy to launch a store, and that ease carries over to email: install an app, switch on a few templates, and it feels done. The gap between that and a program that earns a real share of revenue is where an agency should prove its value. Here is how to tell whether one can.
What a Shopify store needs from email
Shopify brands win with email when store data, flows and campaigns work together. In practice that means:
- A verified integration. Sign-ups, product views, carts, checkouts and orders must all reach your email platform with the right details.
- Core flows built around the shopping journey, not just a welcome email.
- Segmentation based on what people bought and browsed, so campaigns reach the people most likely to care.
- A campaign calendar that fits your launches, restocks and seasonal moments.
- Healthy deliverability, so all of the above lands in the inbox.
Check the integration before anything else
The first thing Excelohunt does on a Shopify account is test the plumbing itself. Before writing a word, the team subscribes to the newsletter and adds products to a cart to confirm that each event reaches the email platform with the right data. It takes minutes and prevents weeks of flows built on missing or wrong information.
Ask any agency how it verifies the integration. If the answer is “the app handles it”, that check has not been done. If your store and platform are not yet connected properly, Excelohunt’s fixed-price E-Commerce Store Integration project ($279) or a full Email Platform Setup ($559) covers it, and its Klaviyo setup service explains the approach.
The flows to build first
| Flow | What it does for a Shopify store | Excelohunt fixed price |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome series | Turns new subscribers into first-time buyers | $419 |
| Abandoned cart | Recovers shoppers who left items in the cart | $349 |
| Browse abandonment | Follows up on products a shopper viewed | $279 |
| Post-purchase | Builds the second order and reduces support questions | $349 |
| Win-back | Brings lapsed customers back before they are gone | $279 |
The Core 5 Flows Bundle builds all five together for $1,399 with one design system. Each flow takes about three days end to end, and Excelohunt agrees the designs with you before building them. Excelohunt’s email automation service covers custom flows beyond these five.
How to judge an agency’s Shopify experience
Ask these questions and listen for specifics:
- How do you verify the Shopify integration? You want a hands-on test, not an assumption.
- How do you segment by purchase and browsing behaviour? Look for real examples.
- How do you plan around launches and restocks? The calendar should follow your merchandising.
- What results have you had for stores like mine? Ask for case studies with numbers.
- How often do you review live flows? Excelohunt reviews its clients’ live flows at least every two weeks, checking performance, targeting and trigger logic.
- Who owns the account and the data? You should, with access you can remove at any time.
What onboarding should look like
A good agency can describe the first month in detail. Here is Excelohunt’s:
- By day 3: the strategy, built from the audit and your goals.
- By day 7: the content calendar and the first email design for your approval.
- From week 2: campaigns go live.
- Week 3: findings on your existing flows and the fixes Excelohunt recommends.
- Every month: a report and a strategy meeting.
What it costs
Excelohunt’s fixed-price projects start from $209 and are bought online in its shop without a sales call. Its managed campaign plans run from $499 a month (Starter, 2 campaigns) to $2,999 a month (Enterprise, 20+ campaigns), month to month. Custom and multi-market work is quoted after a free audit. Brands the Excelohunt team confirms as eligible are covered by its 3x ROI guarantee. Full details are on Excelohunt’s pricing page.
Results from ecommerce stores
- Unique Party Shop turned a dormant Klaviyo account into 14% of store revenue, with an abandoned cart flow converting at double the industry average.
- 8 Other Reasons took email and SMS from about 12% to 81% of store revenue in one season.
- Crossfly went from a deliverability score of 19 to 96 and grew email to a peak of 66% of store revenue across four markets.
Mistakes Shopify brands make when hiring
- Hiring for design alone. Beautiful templates without segmentation and timing rarely move revenue.
- Skipping the integration check. Flows built on broken data underperform quietly for months.
- Starting with campaigns instead of flows. Flows earn on every visit; campaigns depend on every send.
- Signing long contracts. Month to month keeps everyone accountable.
If you are weighing an agency against building a team, Excelohunt’s guide to in-house vs agency email marketing covers the trade-offs, and you can also hire a vetted Klaviyo expert through Excelohunt to work inside your team.
Frequently asked questions
What should a Shopify email marketing agency check first?
The integration between Shopify and your email platform. A good agency verifies it end to end, for example by subscribing and adding products to a cart, to confirm that sign-ups, carts, checkouts and orders all reach the platform before any flow is built on top of them.
Which email flows should a Shopify store build first?
Welcome series, abandoned cart and checkout, browse abandonment, post-purchase and win-back. Together they cover the main moments in a shopper’s journey and keep earning without new sends.
How much does an email agency cost for a Shopify brand?
At Excelohunt, fixed-price flows start from $209, a full Email Platform Setup with store integration work is $559, and managed campaign plans run from $499 to $2,999 a month. Custom work is quoted after a free audit.
How long does onboarding take?
With Excelohunt, the strategy is ready by day 3, the content calendar and first design by day 7, campaigns go live from week 2, and you get findings on your existing flows in week 3.
Do I need Klaviyo to work with an agency?
No. Excelohunt, for example, works across more than 20 email platforms, though Klaviyo is the most common choice for Shopify stores because of how closely it connects to store data.
About the author
Ravinderpal Singh is the founder of Excelohunt, an email and SMS marketing agency for ecommerce brands. Over 7+ years the team has worked with 500+ brands in 26+ countries. Get a free audit or see Excelohunt’s pricing.
Prefer a specialist to run this for you? Meet Excelohunt's vetted email marketing talent.
