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Email has been one of the most reliable revenue streams for e-commerce businesses for many years now. They recruit copywriters, create flows, test subject lines, divide lists and pay for cutting-edge tools that get more out of each subscriber.
There is, however, a quieter issue lurking under all those efforts: Not all customers even receive the emails directly in their inbox.
That problem was the starting point for Mailmend, a tech firm designed for Klaviyo users and ecommerce brands looking to make their campaigns visible to customers as they check their inbox. Founded by the owner of a coaching firm who noticed the problem in his earlier practice, Mailmend launched in late 2022.
The company’s email list, marketing infrastructure, and promotional offers were in place, but more and more of these emails were going into Gmail’s promotions tab. Many brands don’t use that tab as their secondary inbox, but rather as a holding area that customers don’t check regularly.
But instead of considering it a minor inconvenience in deliverability, Mailmend’s founder saw it as a revenue issue. He closed other projects and recruited engineers to create a business around a single question: What happens when emails to e-commerce are not only delivered, but displayed right into the inbox?
The Promotions Tab Has Become a Silent Revenue Leak
For most e-commerce teams, an email is simply written, scheduled and sent. Very few people know where that email will go after reaching the customer. That distinction matters. There are times when a brand could be promoting a campaign and it doesn’t make it to the main inbox, which would still be a loss in its effort to capture attention.
This results in an annoying situation in the long run: companies invest in email software, creative teams, and marketing, but a chunk of their audience is never reached in reality. Mailmend’s view is simple. E-commerce brands don’t always require more emails, larger lists or more marketing. In many cases, improving visibility is the first problem they need to solve.
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