Most Shopify merchants have heard that push notifications can drive sales. Fewer know the actual numbers behind that claim, or how to set them up in a way that works rather than irritating subscribers into opting out. This guide covers both.
Push Notifications vs Email vs SMS: What You Are Actually Dealing With
All three channels require permission, but that is roughly where the similarity ends.
Email lands in an inbox that most people check on a schedule, or not at all. Average open rates for ecommerce emails sit around 15-20%, and that figure counts people who opened the email at some point, not necessarily within the hour it was sent.
SMS has higher open rates (closer to 90% within minutes) but the cost per message, regulatory requirements, and the personal nature of a text make aggressive use risky for most merchants.
Push notifications occupy a different space. On a mobile device, they appear on the lock screen before the user has opened their phone. There is no spam folder, no inbox congestion, and no per-message cost once the infrastructure is in place. Open rates run 4 to 8 times higher than email for ecommerce, with click-through rates that reflect genuine intent rather than accidental inbox browsing.
The opt-in mechanic matters. A user who has installed your app and accepted push notifications has made a deliberate choice to hear from you. That is a fundamentally different relationship than a customer who signed up for email at checkout to claim a discount code.
The Numbers That Should Change Your Mind
Cart abandonment is the most measurable use case. A well-structured push sequence targeting abandoned carts, typically three messages sent over 24 to 72 hours, recovers 15 to 20% of those carts. For a store doing £50,000 per month, where 60 to 70% of initiated checkouts are abandoned (which is typical), that recovery rate translates to real money quickly.
Back-in-stock alerts perform even better on a per-message basis because the audience is already motivated. A customer who signed up to be notified that a product is available again has already done the buying decision work. Conversion rates on back-in-stock push notifications frequently exceed 20%.
Flash sale announcements sent via push create urgency that email cannot replicate. When a notification appears on a lock screen at 10am saying a 6-hour sale has started, the time pressure is immediate. The same message sitting in an email inbox at 2pm often arrives after the window has closed.
Five Push Notification Types That Drive Revenue
1. Back-in-stock alerts. High intent, warm audience, minimal effort. Set these up first.
2. Flash sale announcements. Time-sensitive offers perform best via push. Keep the message short and the deadline visible.
3. Personalised product drops. If you have purchase history or browse data, use it. A notification about a new arrival in a category a customer has bought from twice converts far better than a generic "new products" message.
4. Post-purchase upsells. Sent 24 to 48 hours after a purchase, these surface complementary products without feeling intrusive. The timing matters because the customer is still engaged with your brand.
5. Loyalty point reminders. "You have 500 points, enough for £5 off" is a simple message that reliably drives repeat visits. Customers forget about loyalty balances, and a push notification is the most direct reminder.
Why Web Push Underperforms Native App Push
There are two main types of push notification available to Shopify merchants: web push (browser-based) and native app push (delivered through an installed mobile app).
Web push is easier to set up and does not require a dedicated app. However, on iOS, web push notifications do not appear on the lock screen for most users, and opt-in rates for browser push prompts are substantially lower than for app notifications. If your customers are primarily on mobile (and for most Shopify stores, they are), web push misses the most valuable part of the audience.
Native app push has none of these restrictions. Notifications appear on the lock screen, in notification centres, and with custom sounds or badges. Opt-in rates for app notifications from engaged customers typically run between 40 and 60%, compared to 5 to 15% for web push prompts.
App builder platforms like Talmee include native push notifications built into the Shopify integration, so there is no separate tool to configure. The notifications connect directly to your store's inventory, order data, and customer segments, meaning back-in-stock alerts and order updates work automatically once the app is live.
Practical Setup: Getting the Implementation Right
Segment your subscribers. Sending the same message to every subscriber is the fastest route to mass opt-outs. At minimum, segment by purchase history, recency of last purchase, and product category interest derived from browse or purchase data.
Time your sends. Tuesday through Thursday between 10am and 2pm consistently outperforms other windows for ecommerce push notifications. Avoid sending outside business hours unless you are running a genuinely time-sensitive promotion.
Keep titles under 50 characters. Most devices truncate push notification titles beyond that length. The title should carry the core message; the body text can add detail. "New arrivals: minimalist leather wallets" works. "We wanted to let you know that we have just added some exciting new products" does not.
A/B test your messages. Most push platforms support split testing. Test one variable at a time: offer framing, urgency language, or product name versus benefit. Run tests for at least a week before drawing conclusions.
What Not to Do
Sending more than two or three push notifications per week to the same subscriber is the most reliable way to drive opt-outs. Once someone opts out, you cannot re-engage them through that channel without them reinstalling the app.
Generic messages have measurably lower click-through rates than specific ones. "Check out our latest products!" loses to "Your saved item is back in stock" every time. Every message should answer "why am I receiving this right now?" from the subscriber's point of view.
Sending at midnight or in the early hours generates complaints at a rate that outweighs any timezone-based reach you gain. If you have an international customer base, use scheduled delivery tied to the recipient's local timezone.
Push notifications are a high-trust channel. The performance numbers are real, but they depend on the discipline of the setup, not just the existence of the channel.
Top comments (0)