Start with the shipping email (texts 1–3): every customer gets it, and you change it once. Plan about 30 minutes the first time.
Your emails: shipping and order confirmation
1. Shipping email: subject · copy as is
Your parcel from {{ shop.name }} is on its way ({{ name }})
Shopify fills in your shop name and the order number (#1001). Customers search their inbox for that number.
2. Shipping email: first lines · copy as is, if it’s true for you
<p>Your parcel is packed and on its way.</p>
<p>Before we closed the box, we checked every item against your order.</p>
Only if you really check every order before the box closes. If you check something else, write that instead. If you don’t check, keep only the first line. “Parcel”, not “order”: it stays true when an order ships in two parts.
2b. Or the story version (CD Baby style, still true) · your three steps
<p>Your parcel is on its way from our [PLACE, e.g. small workshop in Graz].</p>
<p>Here's what happened before it left: we [STEP 1, e.g. checked every seam], [STEP 2, e.g. wrapped it in paper] and [STEP 3, e.g. wrote "thank you" on the box].</p>
<p>Now it's in the carrier's hands. We'll miss it a little.</p>
Use it instead of text 2. Only steps you really do for every order.
3. Shipping email: the heads-up · copy as is (saves “where is my order?” emails)
<p>If the tracking says "delivered" but you can't find your parcel, check your mailbox, parcel locker and neighbours, then please wait one working day. Sometimes the carrier scans it a little early.</p>
<p>Still nothing? Just reply to this email.</p>
4. Order confirmation · one number
<p>Thank you! Your order ships within [1 working day / 2 working days / NUMBER working days].</p>
<p>We'll email you as soon as your parcel is on its way.</p>
How it looks (texts 1–3 together)
Subject: Your parcel from Example Shop is on its way (#1001)
Your parcel is packed and on its way. Before we closed the box, we checked every item against your order.
If the tracking says “delivered” but you can’t find your parcel, check your mailbox, parcel locker and neighbours, then please wait one working day. Sometimes the carrier scans it a little early. Still nothing? Just reply to this email.
(Shopify’s tracking button stays below, as before.)
Where to paste it in Shopify
- Settings → Notifications → Customer notifications → Shipping confirmation → Edit code.
- First, copy the whole code into a text file and keep it. That’s your way back to your current version.
- Email subject: replace it with text 1.
- Email body (HTML): near the top, usually right after
{% capture email_body %}, is the sentence that says the order is on the way (“Your order is on the way.” in Shopify’s English default). There may be several versions of it (for a whole order, for the last items, for some items). Replace each of them with texts 2 and 3. Don’t change anything inside{{ }}or{% %}. - Click Preview, then Send test email (it goes to the account you’re logged in with). Reply to that test email: the reply should land in an inbox you read. If it doesn’t, check the Sender email on the Notifications page, the address where your customers can contact you. Then Save.
- Something looks wrong? Paste your saved copy back, or use Revert to default, then Save.
- Text 4: open Order confirmation and replace only the sentence about getting the order ready to ship (“We’re getting your order ready to be shipped.” in the default). Leave the texts for pickup and local delivery alone.
- Other languages: let the AI prompt translate the texts, then add them as the translation of each notification (Shopify help: “Translating checkout and email notifications”).
Sending these emails with Klaviyo or another app? Paste the texts there instead.
The card inside
Next print run, a few cents per card.
5. The care card · your steps
How to make your [PRODUCT] last:
1. [care step]
2. [care step]
3. Please don't [the one mistake people make].
A step that only fits some products goes on that product’s card only.
6. Why you started · one sentence (skip it if you resell other brands)
[FOUNDER] started [SHOP NAME] because [the real reason].
7. The way back · one link (only for things people buy again)
Running low? [SHORT LINK] takes you straight back to your [PRODUCT].
The box
A sticker or a stamp, no new boxes needed.
8. Checked by · copy as is, if you check every order
Every item checked against your order.
Checked by: ______
Whoever packs writes their initials by hand. Same rule as text 2: only if it’s true.
9. Open me first · one fact
Before you start: [the one thing to know, e.g. wash it cold the first time].
10. Inside the lid · one fact
One more thing: [one true, surprising fact about your product].
For example: “One more thing: this linen gets softer with every wash.”
Let AI fill in the rest
The prompt also translates, if you need it. Answer the brackets in the first part, then paste everything into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini:
My shop: [SHOP NAME]. Product word (e.g. candle, socks): [PRODUCT]. Language: [LANGUAGE] (German: [du / Sie]).
Facts (true for every order; write "none" if you don't have it):
- Our orders ship within [NUMBER] working days. Parcels leave from: [PLACE].
- Three steps we do with every order before it leaves: [STEP 1], [STEP 2], [STEP 3].
- Care steps: [STEP 1], [STEP 2]. The one mistake customers make: [MISTAKE].
- Founder: [NAME]. Why we started: [REASON].
- Link to buy again: [LINK].
- The one thing to know before using it: [THING].
- One true, surprising fact about the product: [FACT].
Fill in texts 2b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 below.
Rules:
- Only replace the [brackets] with my facts. Fix grammar where needed (e.g. "1 working day"). Don't add or remove meaning.
- If a fact is "none", replace the WHOLE numbered text with "SKIP". Never write SKIP inside a sentence.
- Add no name, number, place, time, reason or claim that isn't in my facts.
- If my language isn't English, translate ALL texts, including 1, 2, 3 and 8, without changing their meaning. Keep {{ }} and <p> exactly as they are.
- Keep the line breaks and numbered steps.
- No jokes next to care or safety steps.
- At the end, write three lists: "Needs you:" (brackets still open), "Skipped:" (text numbers), "Check:" (facts that contradict each other, e.g. a 10-day wait next to "ships within 2 days").
1. Your parcel from {{ shop.name }} is on its way ({{ name }})
2. <p>Your parcel is packed and on its way.</p><p>Before we closed the box, we checked every item against your order.</p>
2b. <p>Your parcel is on its way from our [PLACE].</p><p>Here's what happened before it left: we [STEP 1], [STEP 2] and [STEP 3].</p><p>Now it's in the carrier's hands. We'll miss it a little.</p>
3. <p>If the tracking says "delivered" but you can't find your parcel, check your mailbox, parcel locker and neighbours, then please wait one working day. Sometimes the carrier scans it a little early.</p><p>Still nothing? Just reply to this email.</p>
4. <p>Thank you! Your order ships within [NUMBER] working days.</p><p>We'll email you as soon as your parcel is on its way.</p>
5. How to make your [PRODUCT] last:
1. [care step]
2. [care step]
3. Please don't [the one mistake people make].
6. [FOUNDER] started [SHOP NAME] because [the real reason].
7. Running low? [SHORT LINK] takes you straight back to your [PRODUCT].
8. Every item checked against your order. Checked by: ______
9. Before you start: [the one thing to know].
10. One more thing: [one true, surprising fact about your product].
How to tell it worked
Count the “where is my order?” emails for two weeks before and two weeks after you change the shipping email.
When to skip it
If the product disappoints, nicer words make it worse. Fix the product first.
Where the ideas come from
- CD Baby turned “Your order has shipped today” into a story with a satin pillow and a “private CD Baby jet”. Founder Derek Sivers wrote in 2012 that a search for that phrase found over 20,000 results, and that “that one goofy e-mail created thousands of new customers” (his own claim, no other number published). tim.blog, 2012 → texts 1–3 and 2b
- Dr. Squatch warns in its delivery email: “Occasionally carriers jump the gun and mark packages as ‘delivered’ a little early.” reallygoodemails.com → text 3
- Hiut Denim puts a maker’s name inside every pair of jeans: “It is a mark of responsibility.” hiutdenim.co.uk → text 8
- The Pet Rock (1975) came with a training manual, The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock. On shaking hands: “Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t teach a rock to shake hands.” The rock was plain; the manual made the product. Scan of the manual, archive.org → text 5
- Oatly prints next to the best-before note: “Look, smell and taste - often good after.” Useful information, said like a person. UK pack text, Morrisons → texts 9 and 10
Made by the Sondercase team.