When it comes to building your order confirmation email, you should focus on one thing above all: clarity.
This is one of the first steps in your customer’s post-purchase journey, and your chance to set expectations that create a better buying experience and (hopefully!) lead to repeat purchases down the line.
But before we jump into our order confirmation email examples (we've got some good ones), let’s get the basics straight:
What should you include in your order confirmation email?
- Order number
- Order contents (what was bought, and in what quantities — ideally with images)
- Payment method
- Estimated delivery or shipping date
- Delivery address
- Clear next steps for communication
While clarity is the most important thing, you can also take advantage of the exceptionally high open rate of confirmation emails (70%!) to introduce a productive action for your customer to take, such as referring their friends, following you on social media, or exploring your resources.
💡 Top tip: Go for a simple subject line containing the key terms people will search to find this email later down the line, such as ‘order’ and ‘confirmation’.
15 Order confirmation email examples
- Chubbies
- Glossier
- Goby
- Refreshments
- Mistobox
- Boohoo
- H&M
- Allbirds
- Maisonette
- Frank Body
- Haoma
- Patagonia
- Etsy
- Postable
- Everlywell
1. Chubbies
✍️ Subject line: Order Confirmation #3581757
💛 Why we like it: Chubbies hits the brief with this clear order confirmation email. As well as including all the key info, they do a great job of setting expectations around delivery times, and alerting the customer to the fact that some items of their order will arrive separately, avoiding confusion and unnecessary strain on their customer service team later down the line. And there’s personality, too; a sunny brand shot, and the ‘You done did it’ headline replacing the standard ‘Thanks for your order’ which injects a playful note, without compromising the key need-to-knows.
2. Glossier
✍️ Subject line: Order GL14408175 confirmed
💛 Why we like it: In true Glossier fashion, this order confirmation email is sleek and stylish, with a super clear layout that’s easy to skim for info. And like the Chubbies example above, it does a good job of setting expectations around potential delays, and when the customer can expect to hear from them next.
We like it, but we don’t love it. For us, the joke in the first paragraph doesn’t quite land; it would have been better to keep this body copy short, and go for something with more personality in the headline instead of ‘Order confirmation’, which is covered in the subject line. But it absolutely does the job.
3. Goby
✍️ Subject line: Goby Order Confirmation #R1706832239
💛 Why we like it: Goby’s order confirmation email is concise and simple, getting across all the key info in a low key, Goby tone of voice. And while the order info is the main focus of the email (as it should be), they take the opportunity to introduce the Goby referral scheme.
In an ideal world, parts of this email would be sharper (‘we’ll be in touch with tracking info as soon as it’s ready’), but this isn’t always easy information for a business to predict, and it kind of suits the laissez-faire tone.
4. Refreshments
✍️ Subject line: Welcome to Refreshments, Freshie. Your order is confirmed.
💛 Why we like it: We love how this Refreshments email makes us feel like part of a fun new group. This is a confirmation email for a subscription rather than a single purchase, so it’s not totally transferable to an ecommerce brand, but you can still take inspiration from it. Could you, for example, trigger a different version of your order confirmation email for first-time customers which focuses on welcoming them to your community, alongside laying out their order info?
The email also does a great job of laying out the next steps in the customer’s journey in a clear timeline. And like the Goby email above, it doesn’t miss the chance to dangle in an extra action — in this case a gentle push to follow Refreshments on social media.
5. Mistobox
✍️ Subject line: Welcome to MistoBox!
💛 Why we like it: Again, this is a subscription confirmation email rather than confirmation of a single purchase, but there’s still plenty to love about this email. The simple headings break out the (quite complex) info in a digestible way, and the simple footer gives us a choice of what to do next; follow MistoBox on social media, start referring our friends, or reach out to the MistoBox team for help. The headline — ‘Oh, the coffee you’ll brew’ — also makes us super excited for our first box to arrive.
6. Boohoo
✍️ Subject line: It’s in the bag
💛 Why we like it: This Boohoo order confirmation email has our favourite layout of any example we’ve come across, even though it’s a really simple one.
Having a different pastel background for each section helps instantly separate out all the key information, as do the simple icons and snappy headings. The FAQs section at the bottom covers key questions or doubts, taking strain off the customer service team, and saving the customer valuable time. The simple header mimics the top menu of the website, giving a simple springboard to further shopping, without any hard sell.
One improvement we’d suggest? While we like ‘It’s in the bag’, the subject line is missing those key words we’re accustomed to searching when digging out these emails, like ‘order’ and ‘confirmation’.
7. H&M
✍️ Subject line: Order confirmation
💛 Why we like it: There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about this H&M confirmation email, we just think it does a good job of balancing substance, style, and simplicity. The images at the top make us feel excited to receive our clothes, and the nod to the newsletter at the bottom is effective without feeling pushy.
While the subject line does what it says on the tin, it does feel a little bare — an added sprinkle of personality (or even an order number) would have helped.
8. Allbirds
✍️ Subject line: Your Feet Say Thank You
💛 Why we like it: What this Allbirds example might lack in information, it makes up with in personality. The seeming randomness of the ewe pun and drawing (‘hang on, that’s not a bird?’) had us reading down to the paragraph about the welfare of the Allbirds sheep. The result? We now have the info we need, and we’re feeling pretty good about our purchase.
9. Maisonette
✍️ Subject line: Maisonette | New Order
💛 Why we like it: Maisonette sells boutique decor and clothing for kids, so the title — ‘Commence cuteness overload’ — totally fits the vibe, as does the sweet illustration. We love it when an order confirmation email gives all the right information in a clear way, but looks good and feels on brand, too.
10. Frank Body
✍️ Subject line: Order confirmation for order #3310299352U
💛 Why we like it: Frank Body takes ‘on brand’ one step further with their confirmation email. And while it looks great, and we’re excited to witness ‘#thefrankeffect’, the readability suffers a little (and we’d imagine it’s a slow one to load on mobile).
11. Haoma
✍️ Subject line: Thank you for your order!
💛 Why we like it: Buyer’s regret? Not here — we’ve just planted ourselves a tree! This feel-good email doesn’t just confirm our order, it brings us back to why we placed it in the first place.
12. Patagonia
✍️ Subject line: Confirmation of Your Order US650005000
💛 Why we like it: Something we’ve noticed in the outdoorsy brands we admire is that all of their emails include a bold hero image — one that makes us want to go have an adventure. As clichéd as it sounds, sometimes a picture really does serve up more in a small space than words can.
13. Etsy
✍️ Subject line: Your Etsy Purchase from TheHeartDepartmentCo (6500600)
💛 Why we like it: Etsy’s order confirmation email has a tough job to do. It has to set expectations around delivery and shipping times, while also making it clear that the seller is the one shipping the order, not Etsy themselves, so they’re the one to get in touch with.
Including a thank you message from the seller is such a nice touch — it reminds us of the joy of supporting small businesses through Etsy, really packing in the feel-good factor. It also offers a gentle introduction to the more technical stuff, including the seller’s FAQs and terms.
14. Postable
✍️ Subject line: Postable Order
💛 Why we like it: The main thing we love about this email is the ‘Viva snail mail!’ line, but it also goes above and beyond to be helpful to the customer, with clear instructions of how to cancel their order, and where to reach out if they have any questions.
15. Everlywell
✍️ Subject line: Welcome to your Everlywell Membership!
💛 Why we like it: Everywell is a subscription, rather than a single purchase. But there’s lots to learn from this confirmation email nonetheless.
For starters, the language in the header and opening paragraph makes us release a breath we didn’t know we were holding; customers come to Everywell for a solution (to feel or become more ‘well’), and ‘you’re in control’ makes them feel confident they’ve found it.
Secondly, the next steps are laid out super clearly, and in an easy-to-skim format (although they could be a little snappier). And finally, it offers a springboard to the good stuff; a new community, and lots of (trust-building) guides and advice.
FAQs
What’s the most important thing to include in an order confirmation email?
An order confirmation email should show the customer what they’ve bought, how they bought it (payment method), where it’ll arrive, when it’ll arrive, and when they’ll hear from you next with more information, as well as an order number to make any queries faster to resolve. Once all this is in place, you can think of softly introducing an action for your customer to take, such as referring their friends, or following you on social media.
How can I create an order confirmation email?
If you use an ecommerce website builder like Shopify, BigCommerce, or Squarespace, there’ll already be an order confirmation email that triggers when your customers place an order — you’ll just need to locate it and
Do I need an order confirmation page?
Yes! Once a customer has successfully placed an order, they should be redirected to an order confirmation page. Without one, they’ll be confused about whether or not the transaction has gone through. You can keep the content on this page super simple, thanking the customer for their order, confirming it was successful, and letting them know you’re emailing them all the details. Again, if you built your website with an ecommerce platform, a basic version of this page will already exist — you’ll just want to find and modify it.
Are order confirmation emails transactional?
Yes. Order confirmation emails are transactional, meaning they can be sent to customers who haven’t opted in to marketing communications. But that doesn’t mean they need to be entirely free of ‘marketing’ — many of the options we’ve looked at above demonstrate how you can inspire that next customer action with the lightest of touches.
