• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, January 27, 2025

American brands generated $1.4 billion in revenue from 8.5 million ecommerce sales in 2024. 

The average order value was $!65. And the credit goes to three channels: email, SMS and push, judging by a new study from Omnisend: Understanding What Really Works In Ecommerce Marketing.  

Email remains the leader. In general, email open rates rose by 6% YoY for an average of 26.6%, the fourth consecutive year of growth.  

The click rate fell slightly from 1.49% to 1.22% YoY. But the click-to-conversion rate jumped by 17.6% as shoppers sought value.

Automated emails pulled a 40.65% average open rate, a 4.56 click-to-open and a 1.76% conversion rate -- by far the highest of any channel.

In addition, they drove 29% of sales, while making up only 1.5% of email volume, and accounting for 37% of all email-driven sales. 

Different types of email pulled as follows: 

• Back in stock — 60.43% open rate and 5.89% conversion rate
• Abandoned cart — 49.04% open rate and 2.34% conversion rate
  
• Welcome — 32.43% open rate and 1.48% conversion rate

"Back-in-stock emails continue to dominate in terms of open, click, and conversion rates,” says Greg Zakowicz, senior ecommerce expert at Omnisend.

“These messages are a form of social proof—they sold out once and people loved them — and naturally convey a sense of FOMO that generates sales," 

At the same time, other channels are gaining in popularity. Brands sent 2.5 times more push notifications and almost twice as many SMS messages in 2024 as they did in the prior year. Adoption of these channels grew by 68% YoY.  

By industry, the highest overall conversion rates were .30% for games, 0.23% for autos and vehicles and 0.18% for arts & entertainment.

These findings do not necessarily cover the whole industry, although they are a useful snapshot. Omnisend analyzed almost 24 billion marketing emails, 230 million SMS and 413 million web push messages sent by merchants on its own platform in 2024. 

For marketers who want to drive more ecommerce sales, Zakowicz recommends the following:

• Use behavior-triggered messaging
• Diversify with SMS and push notifications 
• Leverage social proof and scarcity tactics
• Analyze and refine regularly
  

"Algorithms change,” he says. “Data shares stop. As seen with TikTok, platforms get banned. Relying on third-party channels makes brands vulnerable.

First-party channels, on the other hand, leave brands in control of their customer engagement, making them critical for growing sales.”