Beyond discounts and flows: Simon Harper on building smarter eСommerce email systems

Most email programs for eСommerce fail not because of weak copy or lack of tools but because of how they’re structured. Overreliance on discounts, disconnected systems, over-automation, and poor data practices quietly undermine performance long before marketers notice. In this interview, we go beyond familiar “best practices” to show what actually drives conversions, protects deliverability, and builds long-term customer relationships.

Simon Harper, eCommerce consultant, email marketing expert, and founder of SRH Design, brings over 25 years of web experience and more than 14 years in email marketing to the table. He shares with Stripo his practical perspective on building email as a connected system: from mobile-first design and ethical data use to smarter automation, gamification, and the future of the inbox.

Key takeaways

1. Email works best as a system, not a channel. Integrating your website, ESP, and customer data unlocks better personalization, stronger conversions, and a more consistent customer experience.
2. Simplicity and relevance drive performance. Clear layouts, product-first hierarchy, and data-driven personalization often matter more than copy tweaks or aggressive discounting.
3. Respect for subscribers is the new competitive edge. Thoughtful automation, ethical data collection, and a focus on long-term relationships protect deliverability and build real customer loyalty.

Simon Harper is a seasoned eCommerce and email marketing expert with over 25 years of experience in web design and more than 14 years in email marketing. As the founder of SRH Design, he specializes in building and optimizing WordPress and WooCommerce websites and consulting on Shopify projects as an official Shopify Partner.

Simon is widely recognized in the industry as Ireland’s first Mailchimp Partner and was personally selected to join Mailchimp’s inaugural Customer Advisory Board, where he helped shape the platform’s future. Today, he is also a Klaviyo Partner and international speaker, sharing practical insights on email marketing, deliverability, and eCommerce growth.

Known for his strong technical background and a sharp focus on SEO and performance, Simon brings a rare combination of strategic thinking and hands-on expertise, helping brands connect their website and email ecosystems into one high-performing system.

From subscribers to systems: Building sustainable email marketing that connects, converts, and lasts

Stripo: At a strategic level, what is the core idea of email marketing for you today? After years in web, eCommerce, and technical delivery, what keeps email compelling, and what still attracts you to this channel compared to others?

Simon: For me, it's about building a loyal community, not just subscribers.

Deliverability standards and requirements are improving. The inbox gives us opportunities that other channels don't. It is constantly evolving, with AI and algorithms driving that change, but “people” remain the constant.

Many of us yearn for that human connection: something AI can't fully give us. Email is personal and (should be) a “permission-based” channel. Somebody is letting you into a part of their daily life, and that’s wonderful.

Email is a chance to have a real conversation, build relationships, and lay strong foundations for a community. We've had so many “email killers,” whether Slack, SMS, or the new RCS standard. Yet email remains, and I believe it will for decades to come.

Stripo: You’re both an email marketing specialist and a WordPress/WooCommerce expert. Where do you see the strongest (and weakest) points of connection between the website layer and the inbox, and where do brands still fail to think of them as one system?

Simon: I think the weakest link is that some marketers treat email and web as separate channels. Yes, to an extent they are, but they're all part of the customer lifecycle.

If you can integrate these platforms as tightly as possible from the start, it makes things much better for both your brand and your subscribers. You have to go beyond “browse” abandonment, which is difficult to do without being creepy, and go beyond the standard abandoned cart flow.

Make sure your eCommerce system is tightly integrated with your ESP so you can use customer purchase data, order history, and other data in your emails and campaigns, with proper consent.

Stripo: In eCommerce, “best practices” are often repeated but rarely questioned. Which common eCommerce email strategies or structures do you think are outdated when it comes to long-term revenue and deliverability?

Simon: This is a tough one.

I think one of the most common strategies in the needs we've reviewed is the initial discount offer, whether that be 10% off, which is nowhere near enough nowadays, or a free shipping voucher.

These strategies can definitely drive short-term revenue if the offer is strong enough. But for long-term growth, you need to balance your discount to provide real value without devaluing your brand, especially if you sell infrequent or one-time purchase products.

You could look at alternatives such as:

• bulk-buying discounts (e.g., buying an additional product for a friend);
• offering add-ons to a product;
• cross-sells and up-sells.

The next example isn’t necessarily outdated, but I don’t personally work with many clients who use browse abandonment. I think it’s very difficult to execute properly due to technical limitations and data-consent issues, and it can feel intrusive.

It’s not a campaign type I’m a fan of.

The most common issue I see with deliverability is with abandoned cart emails. They can lead to both soft and hard bounces and spam complaints. These issues often come from fake or spam email addresses, competitors or bots hitting your checkout, and simple misspellings, and they can be very difficult to manage.

Designing for conversion: Why product, data, and simplicity win

Stripo: From your experience, what structural elements inside eCommerce emails (layout, hierarchy, content logic) most directly influence conversion beyond copy and offers?

Simon: So some of the most performant eCommerce emails are abandoned cart emails, and the reason for that is that the original intent was high to make the purchase. When you look beyond abandoned cart or even browse abandonment emails, those that feature the product most relevant to the individual subscriber tend to convert best.

If you can access the right data and personalize the email with products specific to that subscriber, while keeping the layout clear, simple, and uncluttered, it makes a significant impact even before you touch the copy or define the offer.

In terms of layout, you may want to consider a single-column structure on mobile or a two-column layout for certain sections on desktop, especially if you're showcasing more than one product.

Not always, but most often, I think the product should be the top of the hierarchy, front and centre, and at the beginning of the email, and then the copy comes after. The product is the hero.

Stripo: Gamification in eCommerce emails is often reduced to gimmicks: spin-to-win, scratch cards, countdowns. From your experience, where does gamification actually add value in email journeys, and where does it start to work against trust, accessibility, or long-term brand perception?

Simon: I personally love gamification. If it's done well, and like you've said, a lot of it has been reduced to gimmicks, which automatically makes it very difficult. You don’t see a lot of luxury brands engaging in gamification, so if you're going to do it, you need to do it in a way that doesn't reduce your brand authority.

If your audience or community are used to you always offering a discount, a special offer, a spin-to-win, a scratch card, or countdowns, it becomes a bit of a blur and a race to the bottom, especially when margins are so squeezed. Countdowns are really difficult, particularly with Apple MPP. Either you use them, or you don't, and if you do, do you exclude Apple users or use a workaround?

I'm not completely against these methods, but you need to use them sparingly and choose a gamification type that fits your brand.

Stripo: If you had to audit one eCommerce email program tomorrow with very limited time, what are the first 2–3 signals that tell you whether it’s healthy or broken?

Simon: Gosh, there are so many, but I would look at their deliverability stats, both within the ESP and outside, such as spam complaints in Yahoo CFL and Google Postmaster Tools. Then look at their conversion and engagement rates across their campaigns and flows, as well as unsubscribe rates.

Normally, you can spot many issues there before you even start looking at messaging content and design.

Stripo: Lifecycle automation is often seen as a magic bullet for eCommerce. Where do you see brands over-automating, and how do you decide when a campaign should stay manual rather than be absorbed into a flow?

Simon: I think this is a very relevant discussion: “Can we automate everything?”

We shouldn't be forcing automation. When it comes to campaigns, the more automation you have, the more complex your automation criteria and exclusions become, and the greater your potential to send emails to people who did not want them and did not ask for them.

The question, instead, is not “can we” but “should” we automate this campaign? If it's going to improve your business operations and your subscribers' experience, then yes, automate it. If it's not going to do either of those things, then don't do it.

Easy examples include one-off campaigns, whether that be an announcement or a seasonal event. Basically, something that is not recurring.

Mobile reality and data responsibility: Designing for real people, not just previews

Stripo: What does true mobile-first email design mean to you in practice, and where do designers and marketers still compromise too much?

Simon: Email tools have advanced significantly in recent years, giving us more control over mobile design and previews. However, while these previews are useful, they are still just previews. You might be surprised how different emails look on a real mobile device.

A lot of the problem comes from real-world testing: sending those emails to actual mobile browsers and devices, and seeing how they perform on their computers in different inboxes. Some of the reasons that's done are due to a lack of resources, whether that's time, money, or devices.

Many ESPs and builders offer mobile-specific controls, but some are more limited than others, which creates additional challenges. The biggest compromise I see is that many marketers (not necessarily developers) rely on desktop styles for mobile instead of adjusting font sizes, spacing, and layout.

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Stripo: You describe your work as “privacy-focused & accessible awesomeness.” How do privacy concerns, consent models, and reduced tracking change the way you design email strategies, especially for eCommerce brands accustomed to data abundance?

Simon: When you use eCommerce as an industry as a specific example, where a lot of data can be gathered, like these pop-ups happening all the time, gathering people's information at various stages in the customer journey. Mix in SMS marketing, which is becoming incredibly popular, and we've got the rise of RCS coming soon as well. 

I think that's where the challenges lie: there are shady practices, there's black hat marketing, and different countries and regions have different advertising and privacy standards.

It's finding that balance and that respect. So when I first take on a client, I look at how they're gathering data; there are always issues or holes, and then it's up to the business owner to make those decisions.

I think, as email marketers, we are responsible for informing and advising on best practices, but we're not legal experts. It is ultimately up to the brand to make the decision, but the question arises: do you continue working with a brand if they are going to engage in non-ethical data collection practises?

There is the eternal debate (I’m not going to argue it here): which is better, single opt-in or double opt-in? For the record, it's double opt-in 😉. There will be plenty of opportunities throughout the customer journey to ask questions, build relationships, and gather data ethically. First and zero-party data are high-quality and can inform your email campaigns and strategies much more effectively than third-party data.

So don't get me wrong, I'm not against data tracking, but there are ways that you can collect data, whether through your consent management platform, and have that data anonymized and then connected up to a subscriber once they have given their consent.

It’s how the data is gathered (and any changes that can be made) that defines the email strategy going forward.

Local nuance, global pressure: Compliance, culture, and the future of email

Stripo: Are there any specific nuances when working with email marketing in Ireland, either in terms of audience behavior, regulations, or expectations, especially when global brands target the Irish market with centralized strategies?

Simon: There are always nuances when working across markets, but the biggest factor here is compliance: personal data, GDPR, and broader EU regulations. These frameworks define how we engage with audiences in both Ireland and the UK.

There have long been, and remain, debatable practices, especially around consent, in markets like the US, although regulations there are evolving. That has, in some ways, given those markets an advantage, arguably an unfair one.

Marketing in EU countries comes with stricter requirements, but I see that as a positive. It pushes us to respect subscribers, their privacy, and their inboxes.

Stripo: Looking ahead, what do you think the future of email actually looks like, not in terms of hype, but in terms of what will realistically survive? Which practices, technologies, or mindsets will still matter in five years, and what do you expect to quietly disappear?

Simon: The future of email is still quite volatile. We've already heard talk of MCPs potentially being replaced with CLI, which we've had for years. There are definitely going to be protocols that come and go as we adapt. The AI inboxes and their algorithms are going to change, and those changes will be based on both recipient interaction and where AI companies want us to go.

I think the fundamentals will remain the same: authenticating your domains, best “sending” practices. However, I do see the inbox becoming more personalized than ever, with algorithms individually trained on our behaviour, preferences, and the controls and settings we put in place

A lot of AI features will also come, and I think, in terms of something that won't change, that need for “community” and “human connection”. I think the emails that can achieve that will continue to go from strength to strength.

Something that I would like to go away quite quickly, whether quietly or loudly, is the unprecedented amount of AI spam and cold emails. All the inbox providers have struggled, in particular, over the last six months or so with this.

Wrapping up

A big thank you to Simon Harper for sharing such a grounded and experience-driven perspective on eCommerce email marketing. This conversation is a strong reminder that real results don’t come from isolated tactics but from building a connected system in which data, design, automation, and strategy work together with respect for the subscriber. When email is treated as a long-term relationship channel, not just a sales tool, it becomes far more effective and far more sustainable.