*This article does not apply to subdomains. If you use a subdomain in your email address, you may not be able to set it up. We apologize for the inconvenience, but please understand in advance.
The "sender email address" you set in your Shopify store is an important item used for communicating with customers, such as for inquiries. Many stores set up email addresses with their own domains to ensure brand recognition and credibility.
It has been announced that this email delivery will be transitioned to a new authenticated method in the future, and it is recommended that you authenticate your email address domain.
In this article, we will explain how to authenticate.
What happens if I don't verify my email address domain?
If you do not authenticate your domain, you will still be able to send emails to your customers. However,
- The sender (From) of the email sent to the customer will be indicated as "via shopifyemail.com"
- There is a possibility that your email may end up in the "spam" category when it arrives.
The above phenomenon occurs, and there is concern about a decrease in email delivery rates. In particular, if emails end up in the spam folder, this can lead to problems such as a loss of trust from customers and emails not being noticed, so it is safe to authenticate your domain.
There was a method of domain authentication up until now, but it will be deprecated in the future.
Until now, there has been a way to authenticate the domain of the sender's email address.
This is how to set an SPF record with the value "v=spf1 include:shops.shopify.com ~all" in the DNS settings of the external domain service you have subscribed to (such as Onamae.com).
However, Shopify has officially announced that the above method is deprecated as they transition to the new authenticated email delivery system.
Even if your store has already set up the above SPF record, it is important to perform new authentication.
New Domain Verification Method
From now on, when authenticating an email address domain, you will follow the steps below.
1. Go to "Settings" → "General Settings" in your store admin page
2. Click "Manage" in the "Sender email address" section
3. Click "Authenticate"
If the domain status is "not verified," it will display a message stating that it will go through shopifyemail.com.
4. Summarize information from number 1 to number 4
A pop-up window will appear. Copy and organize the type, host name, and value starting from "Record number 1". Once you've done this, leave this screen for now.
Note: We recommend that the following steps be performed by an experienced domain administrator.
5. Configure DNS settings on external domain service
Open a new tab in your browser and access the external domain service you have subscribed to to configure the DNS settings.
Set the information you compiled earlier, starting from number 1. For example, for Onamae.com, enter "Type" in "TYPE," "Host Name" in "Host Name," and "Value" in "VALUE."
*There is no problem with leaving the TTL value as it is.
Once you have entered the information up to number 4, registration is complete and the DNS settings will be completed.
6. Click "Verify domain"
Return to your Shopify admin page and click on the "Verify Domain" button.
7. Confirm that the status is "Pending"
Once verified, the domain status will change to Pending as shown in the picture below. You will also see a message that your domain is being verified.
Once you've verified all of this, you'll need to wait for your domain to be verified, which can take up to 24 hours.
8. Once domain verification is complete
Once domain authentication is complete, the warning text displayed under the red box in the image below will disappear.
Once you have confirmed this, the authentication is complete, and when you send an email to a customer, only the email address of your store's own domain will be displayed in the sender (From) field. Also, unless the customer has set up a mailer to filter emails, this will prevent emails from ending up in the spam folder.
summary
Above, we have explained how to domain-authenticate the sender email address of your Shopify store. We recommend taking measures early on to prevent the contents of your emails from ending up in your customers' spam folder, especially when communicating with them via email.
If you have any questions about the setup, please contact us.
Contact us
[Related] Verify that email messages are sent to customers (official page)
*This article is current as of August 2021. Due to future updates or changes to Shopify specifications, it may not be possible to set up exactly as described in this article.
