BigCommerce Email Deliverability Guide

BigCommerce Email Architecture

BigCommerce handles transactional emails natively and relies on third-party ESPs for marketing. Unlike Shopify, BigCommerce offers SMTP customization options for transactional email, giving you more control over deliverability.

Transactional Email Setup

Default Configuration

Out of the box, BigCommerce sends transactional emails (order confirmation, shipping, refund) through their shared infrastructure. This works but offers no authentication control.

Custom SMTP (Better)

BigCommerce supports custom SMTP for transactional emails:

1. Store Setup > Store Email
2. Configure SMTP settings with your preferred transactional ESP

Recommended transactional ESPs for BigCommerce:

ESP	Pricing	Deliverability	Integration
SendGrid	Free tier available	Excellent	SMTP
Postmark	$15/month	Excellent	SMTP
Mailgun	Free tier available	Good	SMTP
AWS SES	Pay per send	Good	SMTP

Using custom SMTP means transactional emails authenticate against your domain, giving you DMARC alignment and reputation control.

Practitioner note: Switching BigCommerce transactional email to custom SMTP via SendGrid or Postmark is the single biggest deliverability improvement you can make. Order confirmations get 60-80% open rates — those engagement signals build your domain reputation with every order. Don't leave that reputation on BigCommerce's shared infrastructure.

Marketing ESP Integration

Klaviyo + BigCommerce

Klaviyo's BigCommerce integration syncs:

• Customer data (orders, lifetime value, products viewed)
• Product catalog
• Cart data for abandoned cart flows

Setup:

1. Install Klaviyo app from BigCommerce App Marketplace
2. Connect your Klaviyo account
3. Configure data sync settings
4. Set up Klaviyo's sending domain authentication

Omnisend + BigCommerce

Omnisend offers a native BigCommerce integration with:

• Product recommendations
• Automation workflows
• SMS + email combined
• More affordable pricing for smaller stores

Mailchimp + BigCommerce

Mailchimp's BigCommerce integration handles basic contact sync and product data. Less sophisticated than Klaviyo or Omnisend for ecommerce-specific features.

Authentication Configuration

Since BigCommerce doesn't manage DNS, add all records through your domain registrar.

SPF Record

Combine all sending services:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:send.klaviyo.com include:sendgrid.net ~all

Adjust includes for your specific ESP stack.

DKIM Records

Add DKIM records from each ESP:

ESP	Record Type	Example Host
Klaviyo	CNAME	kl._domainkey, kl2._domainkey
SendGrid	CNAME	s1._domainkey, s2._domainkey
Mailchimp	CNAME	k1._domainkey
Omnisend	CNAME	Check Omnisend dashboard

DMARC Record

_dmarc.yourdomain.com  TXT  "v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected]"

Monitor DMARC reports before advancing past p=none.

Avoiding Email Overlap

Like the Shopify + Klaviyo setup, disable BigCommerce emails that you've moved to your ESP:

Keep in BigCommerce

• Order confirmation (unless using custom SMTP for everything)
• Shipping notifications
• Return/refund confirmations

Move to ESP

• Welcome email
• Abandoned cart
• Post-purchase follow-up
• Review requests
• Win-back campaigns
• All marketing campaigns

Disable the BigCommerce versions under Marketing > Transactional Emails for any email type you've moved to your ESP.

Practitioner note: BigCommerce's abandoned cart email is basic — single email, limited customization, no behavioral branching. Moving this to Klaviyo or Omnisend with a multi-step flow typically recovers 2-3x more revenue. The deliverability benefit is a bonus.

BigCommerce-Specific Deliverability Issues

App-Generated Emails

BigCommerce apps (reviews, loyalty, back-in-stock) often send their own emails through separate infrastructure. Each app may need authentication.

Audit your apps: List every app that sends email. Verify each has proper authentication or uses your ESP's sending infrastructure.

Multi-Storefront

BigCommerce supports multiple storefronts. Each storefront's domain needs its own authentication:

• Separate SPF records per domain
• Separate DKIM per domain per ESP
• Separate DMARC per domain
• Consider multi-domain monitoring

Checkout Email Collection

BigCommerce captures email at checkout for guest customers. These contacts need careful handling:

• Only add to marketing flows with explicit opt-in
• Always send order-related emails (these are transactional)
• Don't assume checkout email = marketing consent (varies by jurisdiction)

Monitoring

Set up monitoring for your BigCommerce email stack:

1. Google Postmaster Tools — domain reputation
2. ESP analytics — engagement metrics per flow and campaign
3. Blacklist monitoring — automated checks
4. BigCommerce email logs — transactional delivery status

Practitioner note: BigCommerce stores often have lower email engagement than Shopify stores because the default BigCommerce email templates are less engaging. Investing in custom transactional email templates through your SMTP provider makes a measurable difference in open and click rates.

If you need help optimizing your BigCommerce email deliverability or setting up a custom transactional email stack, schedule a consultation.

Sources

• BigCommerce: Email Settings Documentation
• Klaviyo: BigCommerce Integration
• Omnisend: BigCommerce Integration
• Google: Email Sender Guidelines

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v1.0 · April 2026