What is a Good Open Rate for eCommerce Emails?

Open rates are one of the most frequently tracked—and misunderstood—metrics in email marketing. We get this question all the time: "What’s a good open rate for my ecommerce emails?" And while the answer isn’t black-and-white, let’s break it down.

Why Open Rate Matters

An open rate gives you a first glimpse into how your audience is interacting with your emails. If no one’s opening them, it means they’re either not seeing your emails (deliverability issues), not finding them interesting enough (poor subject lines), or not in the right segment (irrelevant targeting).

Open rates are essentially the front door of your customer engagement. If people don’t cross that threshold, they’ll never see your content, click on your offers, or convert. So… What’s Considered a “Good” Open Rate?

For ecommerce businesses, a healthy open rate typically falls between 35% and 40%.

That said, we’ve worked with clients that consistently see open rates of 50%, 60%, and even 65%+—especially when their segmentation, sender reputation, and content strategy are spot-on.

Here’s what influences your open rates:

• Your audience size and quality

• Segmentation: Are you targeting engaged users or the whole list?

• Send frequency: Are you showing up too often or too rarely?

• Subject lines: Are they personalized, relevant, and clear?

• Deliverability: Are your emails even making it to the inbox?

Benchmarks by Industry (According to Klaviyo)

Here’s a rough snapshot of average open rates by ecommerce segment:

• Beauty & Cosmetics: 35%–42%

• Apparel & Fashion: 30%–38%

• Home & Garden: 40%+

• Health & Wellness: 33%–40%

• Luxury & Premium Brands: Often lower, but more selective

Of course, averages only go so far. The best benchmark? Your past performance. If you were at 28% last month and hit 38% this month, you’re clearly improving—even if you’re below the industry “norm.”

How to Improve Your Open Rates

1. Segment Like a ProDon’t blast your full list. Instead, target based on purchase history, engagement level, and behavior.

2. Test Subject LinesTry A/B testing with different tones, emojis, personalization, urgency, or questions.

3. Avoid Spam TrapsA low-quality list can hurt your sender score. Make sure you’re emailing people who opted in—and recently.

4. Clean Your List RegularlyRemove inactive contacts that haven’t opened in months. They drag your metrics down and damage deliverability.

5. Optimize Send TimesTry sending when your audience is most active. Tools like Klaviyo can help identify your optimal send windows.

Open rate is just one part of the puzzle. It tells you who’s interested enough to open—but not what they did next. That’s why it’s important to also look at click-through rates, conversions, and revenue per recipient.

Still, a strong open rate is a sign you’re doing something right. Start there, optimize constantly, and your email marketing engine will keep getting stronger