Shopify Email Deliverability: Authentication Setup and Common Issues

Best Practices

Shopify stores send email from multiple sources — order confirmations, shipping notifications, marketing campaigns through Shopify Email, and third-party apps. Each source needs proper authentication, and Shopify's default setup doesn't always cover everything.

If your Shopify emails are going to spam or bouncing, authentication gaps are the most likely cause.

How Shopify Sends Email

Shopify sends email on your behalf from several paths:

Setting Up Authentication

Shopify Sender Authentication

Shopify provides a sender authentication flow in your admin:

SPF Record

Shopify's current SPF setup typically uses their sender authentication CNAME records rather than requiring a separate SPF include. However, if you need to add Shopify to your SPF record, check Shopify's current documentation for the correct include value, as this can change.

Your SPF record should include all services that send email from your domain:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:shops.shopify.com ~all

Check your SPF record after any changes.

DMARC Record

Shopify authentication covers SPF and DKIM, but you still need a DMARC record on your domain:

v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected]

Without DMARC, you don't meet Google and Yahoo's bulk sender requirements — even if SPF and DKIM pass.

Common Shopify Email Issues

Order Emails Going to Spam

If customer order confirmations land in spam:

1. Authentication not complete — Verify sender authentication in Settings → Notifications
2. Custom domain not authenticated — If you use a custom sender email (not @shopify.com), it must be authenticated
3. Missing DMARC record — Add a DMARC record to your domain
4. Third-party app interference — Some apps send email that breaks authentication

Third-Party App Emails

Many Shopify apps send email on your behalf (review requests, abandoned cart emails, loyalty programs). These apps may:

• Send from their own infrastructure (not covered by Shopify's authentication)
• Use your domain in the From address without proper DKIM
• Require their own SPF include in your DNS

Fix: Check each app's email settings. Apps that send email from your domain should provide DNS records for authentication. If they can't authenticate properly, consider using the app's domain as the sender instead.

Shopify Email Marketing

Shopify Email (Shopify's built-in email marketing tool) uses Shopify's authenticated infrastructure. If you've completed sender authentication, Shopify Email campaigns should pass authentication automatically.

If Shopify Email campaigns go to spam despite authentication, check:

• Your domain's overall reputation (Google Postmaster Tools)
• Your sending volume and frequency
• List quality and engagement rates

Shopify-Specific Best Practices

Separate Transactional and Marketing

Consider using different email addresses or subdomains:

• [email protected] — Transactional emails (order confirmations, shipping)
• [email protected] or a subdomain — Marketing emails

This isolates reputation — marketing complaints won't affect order confirmation delivery.

Manage Your Customer List

Shopify's customer list grows automatically as people purchase. Not all customers opted into marketing:

• Only send marketing to customers who explicitly opted in at checkout
• Respect Shopify's marketing consent flags
• Don't import purchased email lists into Shopify

Monitor Bounce Notifications

Shopify suppresses addresses that hard bounce, but review your notification settings to ensure bounces are being handled. High bounce rates on transactional email suggest data quality issues with customer-entered addresses.