Order confirmation email: Templates, examples & best practices

An order confirmation email is the first message your customers receive after purchase. A healthy 54% of people opened them in 2025, with those kinds of views dictating that you take them as seriously as any marketing email.

My order confirmations play three roles. The first is documenting the transaction. Second, they ensure my customer isn’t anxious about their shipping information. Third, they start a sequence.

That third point is something I want to hit home. It’s so easy to think of a confirmation email as the last act in a sale. It’s anything but that.

Shipping and delivery notifications and post-purchase follow-ups lead on from them. I don’t build single-order confirmation emails anymore; I create sequences for the entire customer journey, all tied back to revenue.

In this article, I’ll walk through order confirmations, including what they are (and aren’t), share real examples, provide templates, and share the tips I learned following years of selling online.

TL;DR

No issue with you skipping the bulk. Here are the quick points from my article:

• Order confirmation emails have high open and click-to-conversion rates, and are the most engaged-with confirmation notifications. You can use them to influence trust and quality perception in your brand.
• Your order confirmations don’t just document the transaction, but also give customers what they need and start your post-purchase sequence.
• A fantastic email design and logical hierarchy give your business a professional first impression and set the tone for future inbox placement.
• The best order confirmation email examples have descriptive subject lines and get to the point in the email content, without waffle. Follow those cues, and your customers will appreciate your communications. 

What is an order confirmation email?

An order confirmation email is the transactional message your customer receives following a purchase to notify them that it went through.

A timely order confirmation email from a branded sender domain (@yourstore.com) is a trust signal for your customer. Additionally, it hands their experience over to you. They can now get on with their day while you handle the order.

That handoff and immediacy aren’t something you actively manage. Order confirmations are automated by your ecommerce platform with stock templates (editable on WooCommerce and most others) or an email tool connected to it.

I always integrate an email tool because it provides more control over email design. For instance, I created the template below in Omnisend:

Additionally, email tools open up new opportunities for a post-purchase series. An example is a flow containing a confirmation email and a thank-you email.

Transactional emails can also include receipts and invoices. The difference:

• An invoice is a bill requesting payment (pre-purchase)
• A confirmation records that the order was placed (post-purchase)
• A receipt is a financial record of the transaction (post-purchase)

Only the order confirmation and receipt are post-purchase here, and it isn’t uncommon for a sequence to include a confirmation email, then a receipt email, when the confirmation doesn’t include the payment record.

A second receipt email can be seen as one too many, though. I prefer a leaner setup, where one order confirmation email covers the transaction with the products ordered, any preferences such as gift packaging, and the payment method.

What to include in an order confirmation email

My customers want to check their inbox after placing an order and see an email confirming that their order went through correctly and what they’re getting. They don’t want a cross-sell or anything else that distracts them from confirming their order.

Here’s what I include to answer those questions and present my ecommerce store as professional and trustworthy:

Descriptive subject line

Such as Order #10918 Confirmed or Thank You For Your Order. I sometimes personalize them with my customer’s first name, such as “Thank You For Your Order, Sarah”, a trust signal I like to use for orders placed in gift and seasonal collections.

Order confirmation details

One of my proudest achievements with order confirmation emails is how few customer enquiries arise from them. That might seem odd, but confirmations that answer every question save my support team enormous amounts of time.

I include these elements, tick them off as you add them to your template:

• An order number at the top, with the word “confirmed”. Order #81981 Confirmed” is the boring but highly effective format I always use. Note that it’s typical for default confirmations to lead with a thank-you. I prefer to lead with the order number and move the thank-you to the description (see below).
• A short description of my store’s next action underneath the heading. Such as, “Thank you for your order. We’re preparing it for shipping and will notify you when it ships.” An estimated delivery date is helpful but not necessary if your shipping confirmation has it.
• An order summary. To contain the ordered products with this information:
  • Names
  • Quantities
  • Pricing, including any discounts
  • Subtotal
  • Shipping fees
  • Total, with savings when appropriate
• Customer information. Their shipping address, billing address, payment method, and shipping method.
• Optional: A “view your” order button. Made possible when your ecommerce store creates an account for your customer that lets them log in.

Order confirmation email extras

• Social media links, not begging for followers, but as natural ways for customers to follow your brand. Use icons in your email footer.
• A loyalty program link. You can get away with this one as non-promotional if you mention it as a natural next step.
• A “create an account” button for those who didn’t create an account during purchase. I also treat this as another chance to collect marketing opt-ins. Remember that abandoned cart emails do not alone collect consent for marketing; your customers need to have checked the box to opt in, as shown in the image below:

Order confirmation email examples from real brands

The most successful ecommerce stores have concise order confirmation emails because they know their customers want information delivered fast. Another thing I’ve noticed is that they are always on-brand and match the store’s websites.

Here are my favorite examples from real brands:

1. Postable

Subject line: Thanks for your Postable order 📬

Postable is a gift card retailer that posts unique cards to customers. Its order confirmation email uses a descriptive subject line and thanks customers immediately in the email, with a delivery timeline to set expectations.

I like how the order number sits beneath an illustration of a smiling card because it reinforces the idea of a happy customer experience. 

Another key element is the cancel order button, which seems odd at first glance (wouldn’t it promote cancelling!?) but makes perfect sense when you consider greetings card purchases are fraught with misplaced orders due to date mistakes.

What works here

• The content above the fold has loads of personality
• The order number is enormous and frankly unmissable
• It sets the stage for delivery and provides a concise order summary

2. Sundays

Subject line: Confirmed: Our retrievers have your order

Air-dried dog food retailer Sundays does lots right with its order confirmation email. First, the subject line’s play on words is fun (retrievers, aka golden retrievers). Opening the email reveals a descriptive heading and an order progress bar.

That bar is my favorite feature. It sets the tone for the next message (shipping) and basically lets the customer know they will get two additional updates.

The white order summary box stands out, too, much more so than if it had the same background as the email body, helping customers quickly scan and find the information.

What works here

• The email has lots of information, but spreads it with a clean hierarchy
• The progress bar replaces a typical paragraph about the next steps
• There’s a signup box near the button for customers who didn’t subscribe to texts

3. Athletic Greens

Subject line: AG1, confirmed ✅

Athletic Greens’ order confirmation email for subscribers leads with product benefits and the heading “Way to keep a good thing going.” I love the product image with benefits listed in series and the description below, which confirms the order being prepped.

Since these confirmations are for existing customers, they don’t try to upsell membership, rewards, or additional product sales. They keep complete focus on how the customer benefits from their products to influence high retention rates.

What works here

• There’s no promotion whatsoever, only benefits and results
• The email sets a clear expectation for the next email (“we’ll be in touch once it’s on its way”)
• Customers can click the “View Your Order” button to manage their order, rather than contacting support

4. Casper

Subject line: Thank you for your order (#R650000650)

Casper uses the clever heading “countdown to better sleep” to confirm orders. It creates excitement and leads on to a description confirming order receipt and what happens next (a shipping email). It’s plain and works perfectly.

The order summary layout puts what Casper’s customers want to confirm first at the top, in this case, their shipping address. It then lists the products and provides subtotals.

One of the potential friction points in Casper’s delivery process is products shipping separately, which it addresses with a view order link for shipping updates.

What works here

• The subject line is straight to the point without filler
• The logo, rocket illustration, and product images take up little space and let the information shine
• The order number and your order links have a blue background and are underlined to make them distinguishable

 5. Crocs

Subject line: We got your order. (You have great taste!)

Crocs has one of the best order confirmation email templates I’ve ever seen. It’s the hierarchy that makes it great, with its initial thank you message, progress bar, and description placed into a grey box so it’s available at a glance.

I also appreciate how the order number, date, billing information, and shipping address sit side-by-side, rather than in a list. It saves space, reduces scrolling/swiping, and means that the payment summary information below it can use a list format.

What works here

• The email explains what happens next clearly
• There’s a blue link for customers to cancel in case they made a mistake
• The product details box uses a high-quality image and mimics the ecommerce store’s listing

6. Wimp

Subject line: Order #WIMP6500 confirmed

Decaf coffee company Wimp uses a progress bar in its order confirmation email and goes further than my other examples for setting up the next step. Rather than confirming the order, the heading at the top of the email says “Your order will be shipped soon!”

The orange button to “VIEW YOUR ORDER” puts control in the customer’s hands, or they can swipe to see their order in the email. The layout is easy to scan and leaves the customer in no doubt that Wimp has everything under control.

What works here

• The orange colors stand out and match Wimp’s branding
• The headings are descriptive and stand out
• The bottom of the email has a large thank-you message to build affinity

7. IPSY

Subject line: Welcome to Refreshments, Freshie. Your order is confirmed.

Beauty retailer IPSY builds excitement into its order confirmation with the heading “Do a Little Dance, It’s Official!” It then welcomes customers to the club and re-educates them about how its subscription works with a link to a written guide.

The hero background, layout, and image match the IPSY site and create the feeling of a fun, youthful brand. Boring this confirmation isn’t, and I also rate how it lays out the product summary with plenty of whitespace between elements.

What works here

• The subject line calls the customer a Freshie, making them feel like part of an exclusive club
• Excitable language features throughout the email to build anticipation
• The important information has a list structure that’s scannable and easy to digest

8. Patagonia

Subject line: Confirmation of Your Order US650005000

Outdoor apparel brand Patagonia uses a no-nonsense order confirmation subject line and immediately thanks customers for their order in its email. The hero image is adventurous and matches the season of the products purchased (shorts).

The “Get text updates about your delivery. Sign up” CTA targets those who didn’t opt into receiving text messages during purchase, or customers can continue scrolling to see their order information and a summary of products.

At the bottom of the email (not shown, due to length), Patagonia includes guarantee information and a 1% for the planet donation disclaimer.

What works here

• The image at the top is on-brand
• It thanks customers immediately, replacing the need for a separate thank-you email
• All important information (order number, shipping info) sits within a grey box so that it’s easy to find

Order confirmation email templates you can use today

Grab the content in the order confirmation email templates I’ve prepared below and swap out any placeholders with your own information:

Template one: Clean and direct, for lifestyle and fashion brands

Template two: Personality-first, for DTC brands wanting to show some character in a bland market

Template three: For VIPs, high spenders, and luxury brands (or any store wanting to appeal to a more upmarket crowd)

Order confirmation email subject lines that get opened

Something I’ve observed from sending over 1,000 order confirmation emails is that they get opened irrespective of the subject lines.

My customers, and yours, open them because they need to check their order went through okay, not because of the quality of the subject line.

Even so, the more direct you are, the easier it is for customers to know that your email isn’t a marketing message, which improves trust. You can also build excitement into purchases and stand out from generic confirmations with personality.

The subject lines I’ve provided below use Liquid templating (“[[ ]]”) for personalization, such as order numbers and names. Omnisend uses these tags. You can paste them into your subject line field. Additionally, all of them are under 50 characters to prevent truncation:

Functional/direct

• Order #[[ order.order_number ]] confirmed
• [[ contact.first_name ]], we have your order
• Thanks for order #[[ order.order_number ]]
• Payment received for order #[[ order.order_number ]]

Excitement-driven

• Yes! It’s Confirmed
• Good things are coming your way
• Confirmation of an amazing order
• Wonderful order, fully confirmed

Reassurance

• We’ve got it, your order’s in
• Your order’s secure and moving
• Your order is in motion

Playful

• High five! Great choice
• Consider it done and dusted
• We’re already on it, next stop, shipping

For high-value orders

• Dear [[ contact.first_name ]], we have your order
• Thank you for your VIP order
• Your investment is confirmed

For any subject lines you think are too long, too vague, or overly flowery, use Omnisend’s subject line tester for refinement ideas.

Order confirmation email design: What works and what doesn’t

I’ve perfected my order confirmation email design to the point where I can copy the HTML/Liquid/CSS across platforms and make very few changes. Here’s what works:

• Layout: I design for mobile first because that’s where most of my customers open emails. Omnisend has email templates that are responsive by default, or you can use media queries with custom code. My goal is always to make everything viewable with one swipe/scroll. I follow these steps to achieve that:
  • Set the spacing between elements to 20px maximum
  • Put elements like shipping and billing addresses side-by-side in boxes when screen space allows
• Branding: Your logo is the bare minimum. Colors add another touch of familiarity to your customer’s purchase. Match the font type to your website, too, such as serif.
• Hierarchy: The blueprint is to put important information first. In order:
  • Logo
  • Order number
  • Thank you paragraph with the next expectation, such as a shipping confirmation
  • Order summary, including the product and quantity
  • Order subtotal and total
  • Shipping information
  • Payment information
  • Track my order button/create an account button
  • Footer, containing my support page link and social media icons
• Images: Absolutely fine as the hero if you include the order number as an overlay. If not, reserve images for the order summary. Remember, not everyone has the setting to show images in their email client turned on.
• Accessibility: Some customers use screen readers, which read the alt text in images and work their way down your content. Screen readers aren’t great at describing CTA buttons, so use descriptive language for those, such as “View return policy”.

The table below provides additional dos and don’ts when designing your order confirmations:

How to write an order confirmation email: Step-by-step

The wonderful thing about order confirmation emails is that you write them once. Your email tool then automatically sends them with order information pulled from your store. The parts you control are the subject line, preheader, and email body.

Follow these pointers for how to write a confirmation email:

Step one: The subject line

Confirm the order in as few words as possible, for example:

• Order #191891 Confirmed
• Confirming Your Order
• Order Confirmed, Thank You

Either of those three subject lines is perfect. Don’t add any fluff. You want to immediately tell your customer you have their order, nothing else.

Going branded, getting personal, and leading with a thank-you is also possible:

• Your BrandZero Order Is In
• Thank You For Ordering
• Nikki, We Have Your Order

I’ve tested multiple subject lines using Omnisend. My experience is that personalized subject lines perform the best. My highest performer: “[Name], Order Confirmed.”

Step two: The preheader

Some email clients show preview text in place of the first part of your email. Use it to describe the purpose or next action, such as:

• Your order has gone through, and we’re prepping it for shipping
• Thank you for purchasing with us! We’re now getting things ready

Your customer will open the email to mark it as read, but won’t have to spend time scrolling through it to know it’s moving through your system.

Step three: Top heading

Use any of these depending on how formal/informal you want to go:

• Order #189178 is in
• Thank you for your order
• Your order’s in, thank you
• We have your order
• Sweet! Your order’s gone through

Referencing the order number is my first approach because some customers will need to find and copy it in the future when contacting support.

Step four: The description

To go under your heading and describe what you’re doing next. Set expectations for their next email and put any doubts around deliveries to bed. A few options:

• We’ve received your order and are getting it ready for shipping. We’ll ship it within the next 24 hours and send a shipping notification soon.
• Your order’s in, we’re getting it ready. A shipping notification will come your way in the next few hours. Thank you.

Anything along the above two lines works fine. You don’t need to be unique, but do be casual and set up the next email in your sequence.

Step five: Order information

You have control over the data your confirmation email template pulls into the order summary/information blocks. For example, you can include/exclude images, prices, quantities, or anything else you think isn’t relevant using code.

I recommend including these elements:

• Product name
• Quantity
• One image
• Purchase price, with crossed-out discounts

The information you select is dynamically generated based on orders. If you think it’s cluttered, that’s a design problem to fix when building your template.

Step six: Links to additional content

There are a few additional things I recommend you add to your order confirmations:

• A My account or Create an account link/button. These let your customers see their orders and get tracking information without visiting their inbox or asking you for help. Use the CTA text “Create account” or “Visit my account.”
• Links to your support page and FAQs, they help reduce demand on your support, and you can use them to educate customers for better product experiences. Use the anchors “Support pages” and “Customer FAQs.”
• Links to your rewards scheme or most popular product category. Don’t push them hard, but do include them for the most curious customers.

Step seven: Test before finalizing

Use Grammarly to catch any grammatical errors and ask ChatGPT if there are any typos in the code or things that look out of place, such as British grammar if you’re selling to US customers.

Preview your order confirmation message in your email tool and send test messages. Send it to an Outlook and Gmail address and ensure both clients render your email properly.

How to automate order confirmation emails

Most ecommerce platforms have built-in order confirmations, as well as confirmations for shipping and receipts. They’re decent enough for starting selling, but I outgrew them as soon as I wanted to create an on-brand and personalized customer experience.

There’s also the control factor. I can edit the order confirmation template in Shopify, for instance, but I can’t build it into a sequence without an app.

Installing an email tool, such as Omnisend, lets me create a flow with multiple messages that improve my customer experience. Here’s one of my typical flows:

• Email one, an order confirmation (following the order)
• Email two, a shipping confirmation (triggered after printing a shipping label)
• Email three, a delivery confirmation (based on your courier’s tracking)
• Email four, a follow-up email asking for a review (two days post-delivery)
• Email five, a replenishment reminder or anniversary email (could trigger 30, 60, 90, or one year following purchase)

Follow these steps to create your first order confirmation email in Omnisend:

1. Log in to Omnisend
2. Connect your ecommerce store if you haven’t already
3. Head to Automation in the sidebar
4. Click + Create workflow
5. Find and select the pre-built Order Confirmation flow > click Customize workflow:

6. The pre-built flow has the trigger “Paid for order” applied and the exit condition “Order cancelled.” You do not need to change these. You can add additional filters, though. One that I like to add is “Order Total” to a separate build, because I can then send snazzier VIP-like emails to those who purchase more than $100. Have a look at the filters and see if there is anything you want to add:

7. Click the email element in your flow and edit these elements:

a. Subject line

b. Preheader

c. Sender’s name (if it’s different from your default store name)

d. Top tip: Omnisend lets you use generative AI for the subject line and preheader

8. Click Edit content under the email in the right-hand sidebar to open the email editor. Add your content and other elements, then click Finish editing:

9. Click the Start workflow button to power on your order confirmation automation. You will then land back on the Automation page:

That’s it! You have your first order confirmation. Now take these final steps: 

• Send test order confirmation emails to Gmail and Outlook, and check that the text and images format correctly
• Turn off the default order confirmation triggered by your ecommerce store so that your customers don’t get duplicates

Order confirmation email metrics: What good looks like

Order confirmations have high open rates by default. I see averages of between 40% and 50% and sometimes as high as 70% for luxury purchases. 

Confirmations achieve higher open rates than marketing messages because they contain crucial information. Customers want to know that I’m getting things ready and that I have the correct shipping address. Here are the metrics to watch with benchmarks:

FAQs