What should an order confirmation email say?

What was bought, when it will arrive, and how to change or return it. It is the most-opened message a store ever sends and most of them waste it on branding.

In more detail

It is also the right place to ask for one thing — a notification permission, an app install, a preference. The customer is at peak trust and the message is already being read, which is a combination nothing else in the store achieves.

What to do about it

Delivery is what a customer remembers, and it is the part most stores control least.

A refund handled well makes a repeat customer more often than a sale handled well.

Most support questions are the same five, and answering them before they are asked is cheaper than answering them after.

The mobile app angle

An app makes the after-sale part easier: order status, reordering and support in the place the customer already has open.