• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, Yesterday

Email marketers often rely on sheer volume to achieve results. But that's an outdated approach, especially for ecommerce brands, judging by an article from Mailmend in AI Journal. 

Email should function less like a marketing add-on and more like a core operational layer, Mailmend writes.

Does that mean systems are more important than traditional elements like the offer, creative and targeting? 

That’s not what experts are saying, according to Mailmen.

 “Creative and strategy still matter,” one practitioner argues. “But once a brand reaches a certain size, performance depends more on how the system behaves than on individual campaigns.” 

Another operator says, “Campaign volume is easy to scale, Maintaining performance across automated flows is where most teams struggle.”

So the focus is shifting toward systems, not campaign output. 

“As brands grow, most teams already have campaign calendars, audience segments, and lifecycle flows in place,” Mailmend writes. “The challenge is no longer building these systems, but keeping them effective as complexity increases.”

Of course, email plays an all-important role in the marketing ecosystem. It is critical in product launches, restocks, promotions, and post-purchase engagement. 

Klaviyo reports that abandoned cart flows generate an average revenue per recipient of $3.65, compared with $0.11 for standard campaigns, Mailmend notes. 

Here is another stat: Klaviyo reports that automations account for 41% of email revenue. 

That shift adds emphasis to how email programs are built and maintained over time.

“Most of the value in email does not come from how much you send, but from how well the system is structured,” says a lifecycle marketing operator.

That shift places more weight on how email programs are built and maintained over time. This calls for integration of systems. 

For large ecommerce brands, email no longer sits quietly in the background as a retention tool. which turns performance into a question of execution rather than volume, Mailmend assserts. 

As you might have guessed, Mailmend is in the business. It works with such consumer brands as Dr. Squatch, Dossier, BYLT Basics, Tracksmith, and Good Ranchers. The article it posted does not have a byline.  

The company plans to introduce several AI-based products for use by ecommerce marketers. 

Ecommerce? Omnisend says the top 5% of ecommerce brands generated 57% of order growth last year.