Shopify Messaging

Email, SMS and WhatsApp Experts for Shopify Messaging

Shopify Messaging is the new name for Shopify Email. It's Shopify's built-in marketing app for email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns, plus email and SMS automations, run from the Shopify admin with ready-made templates and Sidekick to edit designs from plain-language instructions. Installing it is free. Email is charged only beyond a monthly free allowance, while SMS and WhatsApp are priced per message.

Help is worth paying for once the app has to do more than send a monthly newsletter: welcome, abandoned checkout, post-purchase and win-back automations, SMS consent and toll-free number approval in the US and Canada, WhatsApp campaigns in countries where they're allowed, or a move across from another email platform. A lifecycle marketer who works inside Shopify's own tools is the usual fit.

If you can't find the right person below, the email marketing services listed further down are where lifecycle marketers take on this work.

Start your brief with your Shopify plan, the countries your subscribers live in, the channels you want, and the automations already running.

What Shopify Messaging experts build

Messaging looks simple because it is. The skill lies in deciding what to send, to whom and on which channel, while keeping the monthly bill predictable.

Templates and brand. Building branded email templates and sender settings, then using Sidekick to make design changes from a written description. A solid template set covers updates, offers and product tips without a redesign for every send.

Automations. Welcome, abandoned checkout, post-purchase and win-back sequences for email and SMS, each with its own trigger and timing. Someone has to decide how they overlap, or a new customer can receive several messages in one day.

SMS set-up. Getting a toll-free number approved for SMS in the US and Canada, collecting consent properly, and checking which countries your SMS can reach before the first campaign is planned.

WhatsApp. Connecting a WhatsApp Business Account and setting up campaigns where WhatsApp marketing is allowed. It can't be sent to customers in the United States, so this is mostly work for stores selling elsewhere.

Forms and Flow. Shopify lists Shopify Forms and Shopify Flow as tools that work with Messaging, so sign-ups and the store logic around them can stay inside Shopify instead of needing another app.

Migration and audits. Moving lists, consent records and templates from another email tool, then auditing deliverability and spend. Extra email costs land on the Shopify bill for the previous month as Marketing emails, so an audit reads that line next to the campaign analytics.

Testing a Shopify Messaging specialist before you hire

Plenty of email marketers can write a campaign. Fewer understand how this app bills, where SMS is allowed and what WhatsApp can't do. Test for those three.

Ask where your subscribers live. Channel rules differ by country, and two European SMS pauses started in September and October 2026. A good specialist asks for your subscriber countries before proposing an SMS or WhatsApp plan.

Ask how they'd keep spend predictable. Every email automation except abandoned checkout counts toward the monthly free email allowance, and SMS and WhatsApp are billed per message. They should be able to estimate monthly volume from your list size and send plan.

Ask to see work inside this app. Sidekick can edit emails from instructions, but someone still sets the brand rules it works within. Ask for templates they've built in this app itself, not in another platform.

Pass on anyone who pitches WhatsApp campaigns to a US audience, promises open or conversion rates, or moves consent records across without checking how each subscriber opted in.

A first paid job. One welcome automation, live and tested, with a note on how many emails it will use each month at your current sign-up rate.

Messaging setup: SMS pauses, WhatsApp rules and billing

The rename. Shopify Email became Shopify Messaging, and SMS arrived in December 2025. The old Shopify Email app address now opens the Shopify Messaging listing. A brief or tutorial that still says Shopify Email describes the same app, possibly from before SMS existed.

Plan and privacy settings. Stores on Basic, Grow, Advanced or Plus can use Messaging, and the app needs Shopify Network Intelligence switched on under privacy settings. Check both at the start of any project.

SMS pauses in Europe. SMS marketing to Spanish phone numbers has been paused since 15 September 2026, and to Austrian numbers since 1 October 2026. Stores with subscribers in either country need email or WhatsApp to carry those messages for now.

Toll-free numbers in North America. SMS to the US and Canada needs an approved toll-free number, and each number carries its own monthly charge. Get the number approved before the campaign calendar depends on SMS.

WhatsApp limits and charges. WhatsApp marketing can't reach customers in the United States or several sanctioned regions. From 1 October 2026, service messages beyond each WhatsApp Business Account's monthly free threshold are charged and added to the Shopify bill.

Automations eat the allowance. Email automations count toward the monthly free emails, except abandoned checkout automations, which are always free. Switch on several flows at once and the free tier can run out sooner than the campaign plan suggested.

Shopify Messaging projects to scope

The SMS and WhatsApp jobs depend on where your subscribers live; the rest apply to any store on the app.

Move from another email tool

Lists, consent and templates brought across and checked

Core automations

Welcome, abandoned checkout, post-purchase and win-back flows for email and SMS

SMS launch in North America

Toll-free number approval, consent collection and a first campaign

WhatsApp outside the US

Business Account connected and campaigns built for permitted countries

Branded template set

Email templates and sender settings built once, then edited with Sidekick

Spend and deliverability audit

Send volumes, Shopify bill lines and campaign results reviewed together

Shopify Email, now Shopify Messaging: common questions

Is Shopify Email still available?

Yes, under a new name. Shopify Email is now Shopify Messaging, and the old app address opens the new listing. The app still handles email and now adds SMS and WhatsApp alongside it. If you only need to get a first campaign out, our guide to Shopify email setup walks through it without hiring anyone.

Do I need an expert for the Shopify Email app, or can I do it myself?

A single monthly newsletter built from a template is a reasonable do-it-yourself job. Bring someone in when you add SMS or WhatsApp, run several automations, move a large list from another platform, or need the monthly bill to stay predictable. Those jobs mix compliance, billing and design, and mistakes are harder to undo once messages have gone out.

Are there Shopify Messaging templates to start from?

Yes. The app includes ready-made templates for timely updates, exclusive offers, product tips and more, and Sidekick adjusts a template when you describe the change in plain language. Templates save time, but they look generic until someone applies your brand to them once and saves the result as the starting point for every send.

Do Shopify Flow and Shopify Forms work with Shopify Messaging?

Shopify lists both as compatible tools. Forms collects sign-ups; Flow automates the store logic around them. Decide early which tool owns each step, so a customer doesn't land in two sequences that send the same message, and document the split for whoever runs the account next.

Where do Shopify Messaging charges show up?

Extra email costs are added to your Shopify bill for the previous month, listed as Marketing emails. WhatsApp service messages beyond the free threshold also land on the Shopify bill. Read those lines each month next to your campaign results. If one jumps, check which automations went live that month before anything else.