Order Confirmation Email: What to Include, a Template and Examples

Quick answer: An order confirmation email is the automatic email a customer gets right after they place an order. It should confirm the order number, what they bought, what they paid, where it's going and roughly when it will arrive, then tell them what happens next and how to get help. Keep it fast, on brand and free of discount codes. On Shopify, it's the Order confirmation notification, and you can rebrand it without moving it anywhere.

The customer just paid you.

Now they want proof.

They open the email, look for the order number, check the address, check the total. If something looks off or unclear, they email your support team. If everything is there and it sounds like you, they relax.

That's the whole job. Most brands overthink the design and underthink the "what happens next" part.

By Emiel Dingemans, Founder of Magicianly

Updated November 2026

What Is an Order Confirmation Email?

An order confirmation email is the message your store sends automatically when a customer places an order. It confirms the purchase went through and summarizes the order.

It's not the same as a shipping confirmation. In Shopify, the Order confirmation notification goes out when a customer places an order, and the Shipping confirmation goes out when you fulfill the order. One says "we've got it". The other says "it's on the way".

Both are transactional emails. If you want the rules on what makes an email transactional and what you're allowed to put in it, we cover that in transactional vs marketing emails. This page is about making the order confirmation itself good.

What Should an Order Confirmation Email Include?

An order confirmation email should include the order number, the items, the totals, the delivery details, an estimated delivery window, what happens next and a clear way to get help. Put the facts at the top. Everything else comes after.

Two things on this list get skipped most often: the delivery window and the "what happens next" line. Those are the ones that prevent "where's my order?" tickets.

What Should You Leave Out of an Order Confirmation Email?

Leave out anything that pulls attention away from the order: discount codes, product grids, newsletter signup prompts and long brand stories. The customer opened this email to check their order. Let them.

A short line of brand personality is fine. "Good choice. We're packing it now." is better than "Your order has been received." What doesn't belong here is the cross-sell. That goes in your post-purchase emails, sent as marketing to people who opted in.

Order Confirmation Email Template

Here's the structure we'd start from. Swap the bracketed parts for your own details and Shopify's order variables, and rewrite the lines in your brand's voice.

Subject line: Order [order number] confirmed Preview text: Thanks, [first name]. We're getting it ready. Estimated delivery: [delivery window]. Headline: We've got your order Opening line: Thanks for your order, [first name]. Here's everything in one place. Order summary: Order [order number], placed [date]. [Items with image, variant and quantity.] [Subtotal, discount, shipping, tax, total.] Delivery: Shipping to [address] via [delivery method]. Estimated delivery: [delivery window]. What happens next: We're packing your order now. As soon as it ships, you'll get a tracking link by email. Need to change something? Just reply to this email or contact us at [support link]. The sooner you let us know, the easier it is to fix. Buttons: View your order [order status page]. Returns and exchanges [returns policy link]. Sign-off: [Founder or team name], [Brand]

That's it. No coupon, no "you might also like", no social feed.

Order Confirmation Email Examples

The best order confirmation emails keep the same facts and change the "what happens next" part to fit what you sell. These are example lines we'd write for different types of brands. They're illustrations, not emails from real clients.

A standard product brand. Headline: "We're packing your order." Next step: "You'll get a tracking link as soon as it ships, usually within [number] business days."

Made-to-order or pre-order products. Headline: "Your order is in the queue." Next step: "We make each one after you order. Expect it to ship around [date]. We'll email you when it's on its way." Without this, made-to-order customers start asking where their order is far too early.

Consumables, like skincare or supplements. Headline: "Your first [product] is on its way soon." Next step: "When it arrives, start with [simple first step]. Most people notice [result] after [timeframe]." Keep the full how-to for the post-purchase emails.

High-ticket products and gifts. Headline: "Your order is confirmed, [first name]." Next step: what's in the box, what they'll need for setup, and how gift messages or gift receipts work. Big purchases come with more doubt, so answer it here.

Some brands go further. Ritual, the vitamin brand, turns its order update into "we're getting your Ritual ready", with options to change the delivery date or add products. We break down that example in our guide to the unboxing experience.

What Subject Line Should an Order Confirmation Email Use?

Use a plain, searchable subject line with the order number in it, like "Order #1042 confirmed". Customers look for this email days later, often by searching their inbox. Clever subject lines make that harder.

A few that work:

• Order #1042 confirmed
• We've got your order (#1042)
• [Brand] order #1042: confirmed

Use the preview text for the extra line: the estimated delivery date or "we're packing it now". That's where you can add a bit of warmth without hiding the facts.

When Should the Order Confirmation Email Be Sent?

Immediately after the order is placed. Shopify sends it automatically, so you don't set a delay. What you do control is what comes after it, and how close together those emails land.

In the post-purchase flows we build, the first email waits about 10 minutes. Not instantly, because the customer just got their order details from Shopify, and there's no point competing with the receipt. We lay out what comes after that in our post-purchase email sequence.

One thing to watch if you send the shipping confirmation from Klaviyo: Klaviyo's Help Center points out that automatic fulfillment can mark an order fulfilled as soon as payment is captured, which can trigger a Fulfilled Order flow before you've actually shipped. If you pack and ship yourself, check your fulfillment setting.

How Do You Customize the Shopify Order Confirmation Email?

In Shopify, go to Settings, then Notifications, then Customer notifications. You can add your logo and accent color to all templates at once, or edit the Order confirmation email itself in code. Shopify's guide to customizing email notification templates has every step.

The short version:

1. 1Brand all templates. Settings, then Notifications, then Customer notifications, then Customize email template. Upload your logo and set your accent color.
2. 2Confirm your sender email. Shopify requires a confirmed sender email address before you can edit the subject and body of a notification.
3. 3Open the Order confirmation notification. Click Edit code to change the Email subject and the Email body (HTML).
4. 4Change the copy first. The headline, the "what happens next" line and the help line make the biggest difference, and they're the easiest to edit.
5. 5Preview and send a test. Then place a real test order to see it with live data.

You don't need to rebuild the HTML to get most of the value. A better headline, a delivery window and a real reply-to address already put you ahead of most stores.

Can You Design the Shopify Order Confirmation Email in Klaviyo?

Yes. Klaviyo has pre-built Shopify notification templates you can edit in its email editor, then export as HTML and paste into Shopify. Shopify still sends the email. You just get Klaviyo's editor and a design that matches the rest of your emails.

Klaviyo's guide to exporting Shopify notification emails covers the steps. Three things to know before you start:

• the variables in these templates are Shopify variables, not Klaviyo ones, so edit the dynamic blocks carefully;
• Klaviyo dynamic product blocks don't populate in Shopify, so remove them before exporting and use Shopify's variables instead;
• preview in Shopify, because only Shopify's preview shows the variables filled in.

We design email templates in Figma first, so the order confirmation, the post-purchase emails and the campaigns all look like one brand. However you build it, that's the goal: the receipt shouldn't look like it came from a different company.

Should You Send Your Order Confirmation From Klaviyo Instead?

For most brands, no. Shopify sends the Order confirmation automatically, and on standard plans you can't switch it off. If you build a second one in Klaviyo, customers get two.

Shopify's customer notifications guide says most customer notifications can't be deactivated. On Shopify Plus, the store owner can contact Shopify Support to turn off specific notifications.

So the realistic options are:

• Rebrand it in Shopify. Right for most brands.
• Design it in Klaviyo, send it from Shopify. Right if you want it to match your Klaviyo emails exactly.
• Send it from Klaviyo. Only on Shopify Plus, only once Shopify has turned off its version, and only after Klaviyo has accepted the email as transactional. The approval rules are in our guide to transactional vs marketing emails, and the sending domain side is in how to set up a branded sending domain in Klaviyo.

What Are the Most Common Order Confirmation Email Mistakes?

Most mistakes come from never touching the default, or from changing it once and never checking it again.

1. 1No delivery window. The customer has to guess, so they ask.
2. 2A no-reply sender. The easiest way to fix an order is a reply. Don't block it.
3. 3Burying the order details. Big brand image on top, order number at the bottom.
4. 4Only testing the simple order. Check an order with a discount, several items, a free gift and a pre-order item before you call it done.
5. 5Forgetting other languages. If you sell in more than one language, check the translated versions of the notification too, not just the one you edited.
6. 6Two confirmations. Building an order confirmation in Klaviyo while Shopify still sends its own.
7. 7Copy that sounds like a logistics company. "Your order has been received and is being processed" tells them nothing. "We're packing it now" does.

Do You Need an App or Tool for Order Confirmation Emails?

Usually not. Shopify's built-in notifications handle the sending, and you can edit the template inside Shopify. If you already use Klaviyo, its Shopify notification templates let you design it in the editor you already use.

Apps make sense when you need something Shopify can't do out of the box, like complex logic per product or market. For most brands, the gain is in the copy, not the tool.

So What Makes a Good Order Confirmation Email?

A good order confirmation email gets the facts right, tells people what happens next and sounds like your brand. That's it.

Fix the subject line, add a delivery window, make it easy to reply, and let your post-purchase emails take it from there. If you'd rather have us set up your order and post-purchase emails as one system, that's what our email automations service does.

The receipt is where trust starts.

Don't make them hunt for it.