Bala Valli
In a digital world where billions of emails are sent daily, ensuring that messages land in the inbox rather than the spam folder has become a challenge for store owners. WooCommerce emails going to spam can lead to missed order confirmations, frustrated customers, and lost sales.
With 40% of users unsubscribing due to irrelevant emails, it’s clear that poor targeting and generic messaging can significantly harm engagement.
As spam filters become more advanced, businesses must focus on personalization, compliance, and strategic email marketing to maintain strong deliverability and maximize their reach.
The problem is likely to be due to incorrect email authentication, incorrect WooCommerce email setup, or an absent SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup. And in the absence of a correct SMTP server setup for WooCommerce, WordPress emails may end up in spam mailboxes rather than reaching customers.
This guide will help you to fix WooCommerce email spam issues, make emails look more authentic, and avoid getting your WooCommerce emails into spam by setting up SMTP, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC policies for better inbox delivery.
Spam emails, also known as junk emails, are unsolicited or irrelevant messages sent in bulk, often for promotional or fraudulent purposes. Email providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook use advanced spam filters to detect and block these messages, ensuring better email deliverability and protecting users from potential threats.
Unfortunately, these filters sometimes mistakenly classify legitimate WooCommerce emails—such as WooCommerce order notifications, transactional emails, shipping updates, and customer inquiries—as spam. This can lead to WooCommerce emails not reaching customers, resulting in missed order confirmations and customer dissatisfaction.
Several factors can cause WooCommerce emails to go to spam instead of reaching the recipient’s inbox. Below are the most common reasons:
Using the WordPress default option is fine until you get to know the real problem behind it. WooCommerce relies on WordPress’s built-in wp_mail() function, which uses PHP Mail. Many email providers flag such emails as spam because they lack proper email authentication and are often sent from an unreliable source.
If your domain is missing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, email servers may classify WooCommerce transactional emails as suspicious. These authentication methods verify that your emails are legitimate and prevent spoofing or phishing attempts.
Every mail system has restrictive policies and rules for protection. In that case, certain words, excessive capitalization, too many links, or heavy use of images can trigger email spam filters. Even words like “free,” “discount,” and “limited-time offer” in subject lines will cause WooCommerce order emails to be marked as spam.
If your WooCommerce email-sending domain or IP address is blocklisted or has a low reputation, your emails may be filtered into spam folders. Additionally, using a free email provider like Gmail or Yahoo instead of a custom domain email can lower your credibility.
Different providers (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook) use unique filtering mechanisms. If recipients previously marked your WooCommerce email notifications as spam, future messages may automatically be filtered out.
Misconfigured MX records or an improperly set up SMTP server for WooCommerce emails can cause email deliverability issues. Ensure your DNS settings include SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to improve email authentication.
Sending multiple WooCommerce order confirmations, shipping updates, and promotional emails simultaneously without a proper rate limit may cause email servers to flag your messages as spam. Use an SMTP plugin for WooCommerce emails to ensure better deliverability.
By addressing these factors, you can prevent WooCommerce emails from going to spam and improve the deliverability of WooCommerce email notifications.
Using a free email address (e.g., [email protected]) instead of a custom domain email (e.g., [email protected]) reduces credibility. Email providers may perceive messages from free email accounts as untrustworthy, impacting WooCommerce email deliverability.
If you’ve checked your settings and emails still aren’t sending, reaching out to WooCommerce support might be the best next step. Our guide on how to contact WooCommerce support for quick Solutions will help you.
When your WooCommerce emails end up in spam rather than reaching customers, it may result in lost order confirmations, late notifications, and customer dissatisfaction. To enhance WooCommerce email deliverability and get emails into inboxes, follow these guidelines.
WooCommerce uses WordPress’s built-in PHP Mail functionality, which isn’t authenticated and tends to be marked as spam by email services. Using SMTP for WooCommerce email makes it more reliable and authentically validated.
Recommended SMTP Plugins:
Installing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in your DNS stops email spoofing and makes WooCommerce transactional emails authenticate successfully.
How to Set Up
Spam filters mark emails according to some patterns. To keep WooCommerce emails out of spam, avoid:
Instead, maintain simple subject lines and a natural text-to-image ratio.
Using a custom domain email (e.g., [email protected]) instead of a free email provider like Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook can significantly improve your WooCommerce email deliverability. Free email providers often trigger spam filters because they are commonly associated with personal use and, in some cases, spammy behavior.
A business email tied to your domain builds trust with both email providers and customers. Many email service providers (ESPs) like Google and Microsoft prioritize emails sent from authenticated domains, ensuring they reach inboxes rather than spam folders.
Install an email logging plugin to check if WooCommerce order emails are being delivered and sent successfully. Useful plugins are:
These logs assist in recognizing and resolving WooCommerce email problems quicker.
Encourage customers to add your email address to their contacts or allowlist it to prevent WooCommerce emails from being marked as spam.
You can include a simple request in your order confirmation emails or welcome messages, guiding them on how to do this for Gmail, Outlook, and other providers.
This helps improve email deliverability and ensures they never miss important updates from your store.
If your email IP address is blocklisted, it can lead to poor deliverability. Use MXToolbox to test your sender reputation and ask to be removed if necessary.
To learn more about how to test your WooCommerce emails for a better delivery, here is our guide on 2 easy ways to test your email.
Ensuring long-term WooCommerce email deliverability requires continuous monitoring and optimization. Below are key strategies for tracking email performance and preventing WooCommerce emails from going to spam in the future.
Ensuring that WooCommerce emails don’t end up in spam requires ongoing monitoring and proactive steps. Here’s how you can keep track of your email performance and prevent future deliverability issues.
Enable email logging in WooCommerce email logs allow you to track outgoing WooCommerce emails, detect errors, and resolve delivery failures quickly.
Steps to Set Up Email Logs:
Test spam score before sending emails spam filters assess emails based on content, authentication, and sender reputation. Use spam-testing tools to evaluate your emails before sending them.
How to Use:
Keep SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records up to date even if you’ve configured SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, they require periodic updates to prevent WooCommerce email authentication failures.
Best Practices:
How to Update:
Use a dedicated SMTP service for WooCommerce emails shared web hosting servers are unreliable for email delivery. Instead, use a dedicated email-sending service to ensure WooCommerce transactional emails reach customer inboxes.
Top SMTP Services for WooCommerce:
Benefits of Using SMTP:
A responsive design improves engagement and reduces bounce rates. Best practices for responsive WooCommerce emails cover how to make your emails effective across all devices.
As we have discussed in this blog, WooCommerce emails going to spam is a common issue caused by poor email authentication, spam-triggering content, and using the default WordPress mailer.
To improve WooCommerce email deliverability, it’s crucial to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, use an SMTP for WooCommerce emails, and optimize WooCommerce email settings.
Regularly monitoring WooCommerce email logs, checking spam scores, and keeping authentication records updated will help prevent future issues.
With the right setup, you can ensure that WooCommerce transactional emails, including order confirmations and customer notifications, reach inboxes instead of spam folders, improving trust and communication with your customers.
Other Helpful Reads
Fix WooCommerce email spam issues by setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, using an SMTP plugin, and ensuring your domain isn’t blocklisted.
Your WooCommerce order emails may not reach customers due to incorrect WooCommerce email settings, poor mail server reputation, or hosting restrictions on transactional emails. Using a reliable SMTP server can fix this.
Common mistakes include missing email authentication, using free email providers (Gmail/Yahoo), and poorly configured email headers. Spammy content and sending bulk emails without proper limits can also trigger spam filters.
Use SMTP for WooCommerce emails, configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, avoid spam-triggering words, and ask customers to allowlist WooCommerce emails.
Different spam filters handle emails based on content and authentication. WooCommerce order notifications may get delivered, while promotional emails get flagged. Ensuring all emails meet best practices improves consistency.
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