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Alva Digital Downloads

Email Notification Settings Overview

Learn how to configure email notifications, understand when emails are sent, and control the customer communication experience.

What Are Email Notifications?

Section titled “What Are Email Notifications?”

Email notifications automatically send download links to customers after they purchase digital products. Emails include:

  • Download button
  • List of purchased products
  • Expiration information
  • Your branding

Enable/Disable Email Notifications

Section titled “Enable/Disable Email Notifications”

Toggling Emails On/Off

Section titled “Toggling Emails On/Off”

Email notifications are optional. Customers can still access downloads via:

  • Thank You page (after checkout)
  • Customer account page
  • Direct download links

To enable/disable:

  1. Go to Settings in Alva app
  2. Find Email Notifications toggle
  3. Switch ON or OFF
  1. Click Save Settings

When to Enable

Section titled “When to Enable”

✅ Enable emails when:

  • Want to notify customers actively
  • Customers may miss Thank You page
  • Building email list/engagement
  • Professional communication desired

When to Disable

Section titled “When to Disable”

❌ Disable emails when:

  • Customers prefer to find downloads themselves
  • Want to avoid email overload
  • Using custom notification system
  • Managing communications externally

When Emails Are Sent

Section titled “When Emails Are Sent”

Automatic Email Triggers

Section titled “Automatic Email Triggers”

Emails send automatically when:

  1. Order Marked as Paid
    • Shopify marks order as paid
    • AND email notifications enabled
    • AND fraud prevention passed (if enabled)

  1. Fraud Check Approved (if fraud prevention enabled)

    • Order initially flagged
    • You approve order
    • Email sends with download link

  2. Manual Resend

    • You manually resend email from Orders page
    • Sends new download link

Email Delays

Section titled “Email Delays”

Emails typically send:

  • Immediately: Within 1-2 minutes of order paid
  • After Fraud Check: 5-30 minutes after order (if enabled)
  • Manual: Immediate when you click resend

Email Provider Configuration

Section titled “Email Provider Configuration”

Alva supports two email providers:

Postmark (API - Primary)

Section titled “Postmark (API - Primary)”

Benefits:

  • ✅ Reliable delivery
  • ✅ Real-time tracking
  • ✅ Better deliverability
  • ✅ Detailed analytics

Setup:

  1. Create Postmark account
  2. Verify sender domain/email
  3. Generate API token
  4. Add to Alva settings

See: Email Provider Setup

MailerToGo (SMTP - Fallback)

Section titled “MailerToGo (SMTP - Fallback)”

Benefits:

  • ✅ SMTP standard
  • ✅ Automatic fallback
  • ✅ Simple configuration

Setup:

  1. Get SMTP credentials from provider
  2. Add to Alva settings
  3. Test email delivery

Automatic Fallback: If Postmark fails, system automatically uses MailerToGo as backup.

Email Settings Overview

Section titled “Email Settings Overview”

Accessing Email Settings

Section titled “Accessing Email Settings”
  1. Click Email Settings in navigation menu
  1. Email customization page opens

Available Settings

Section titled “Available Settings”

Content:

  • Email subject line
  • Email title
  • Body message
  • Button text
  • Footer text

Branding:

  • Logo upload
  • Logo size
  • Brand colors
  • Button colors
  • Background colors

Advanced:

  • Text alignment
  • Button rounding
  • From name
  • Variables/placeholders

Email Delivery Status

Section titled “Email Delivery Status”

Checking If Email Was Sent

Section titled “Checking If Email Was Sent”

View email delivery per order:

  1. Go to Orders in Alva app
  2. Click on specific order
  3. Scroll to Email Log section

Status indicators:

  • ✅ Sent: Email delivered successfully
  • ⏳ Pending: Email queued for sending
  • ❌ Failed: Email delivery failed
  • 🔄 Retrying: Attempting resend

Email Logs

Section titled “Email Logs”

Access complete email history:

  1. Go to Email Settings → Email Logs tab
  2. View all sent emails:
    • Recipient
    • Status
    • Sent date/time
    • Email type
    • Provider used

Email Frequency Settings

Section titled “Email Frequency Settings”

Per-Order Emails

Section titled “Per-Order Emails”

Default behavior: One email per order with all digital products included.

Example:

Order contains:
- Product A (digital)
- Product B (digital)
- Product C (physical)


Result: 1 email with Products A & B downloads

Email Suppression

Section titled “Email Suppression”

Duplicate Prevention: App prevents sending duplicate emails for same order within 1 hour.

Manual Resend: Can override and resend manually from Orders page.

Email Variables/Placeholders

Section titled “Email Variables/Placeholders”

Use dynamic content in emails:

Available Variables

Section titled “Available Variables”
  • {shop.name} - Your shop name
  • {customer.name} - Customer’s first name
  • {customer.email} - Customer’s email
  • {order.number} - Order number
  • {download.expiry} - Link expiration date
  • {download.button} - Download button (auto-inserted)

Example:

Subject: Your download from {shop.name}


Body:
Hi {customer.name},
Thank you for your order #{order.number}!

See: Using Email Variables

Email Testing

Section titled “Email Testing”

Send Test Email

Section titled “Send Test Email”

Before going live, test your email design:

  1. Go to Email Settings
  2. Click Send Test Email button
  1. Enter your email address
  2. Click Send
  3. Check inbox (and spam folder)
  4. Verify design and links

What test emails include:

  • Your current email design
  • Sample download button (non-functional)
  • Example variables filled with dummy data

Email Best Practices

Section titled “Email Best Practices”

Deliverability Tips

Section titled “Deliverability Tips”

Improve email delivery rates:

  1. Verify Sender Domain

    • Use custom domain (not generic email)
    • Set up SPF/DKIM records
    • Verify with email provider

  2. Clear Subject Lines

    • Avoid spam trigger words
    • Be specific and honest
    • Include shop name

  3. Test Thoroughly

    • Send to multiple email providers
    • Check mobile and desktop
    • Test links work

  4. Monitor Bounce Rates

    • Check email logs regularly
    • Fix bounced addresses
    • Clean email list

Content Best Practices

Section titled “Content Best Practices”

  1. Keep It Simple

    • Clear call-to-action (download button)
    • Minimal text
    • Easy to scan

  2. Brand Consistently

    • Use your logo
    • Match website colors
    • Professional tone

  3. Set Expectations

    • Mention link expiry
    • Include support contact
    • Clear instructions

Email Notification Scenarios

Section titled “Email Notification Scenarios”

Scenario 1: Standard Purchase

Section titled “Scenario 1: Standard Purchase”

Setup:

  • Email notifications: Enabled
  • Fraud prevention: Disabled

Flow:

  1. Customer purchases
  2. Order marked paid
  3. Email sends immediately
  4. Customer downloads files

Scenario 2: With Fraud Check

Section titled “Scenario 2: With Fraud Check”

Setup:

  • Email notifications: Enabled
  • Fraud prevention: Enabled

Flow:

  1. Customer purchases
  2. Order marked paid
  3. Fraud check initiated (no email yet)
  4. Fraud check passes OR you approve
  5. Email sends with download link

Scenario 3: Emails Disabled

Section titled “Scenario 3: Emails Disabled”

Setup:

  • Email notifications: Disabled

Flow:

  1. Customer purchases
  2. Order marked paid
  3. No email sent
  4. Customer accesses downloads via:
    • Thank You page
    • Account page
    • Direct link (if shared)

Troubleshooting Email Delivery

Section titled “Troubleshooting Email Delivery”

Emails Not Sending

Section titled “Emails Not Sending”

Check:

  1. Email notifications toggle is ON
  2. Email provider configured correctly
  3. Sender email verified
  4. No failed deliveries in logs

Emails Going to Spam

Section titled “Emails Going to Spam”

Solutions:

  1. Verify sender domain
  2. Set up SPF/DKIM records
  3. Avoid spam trigger words
  4. Use reputable email provider
  5. Ask customers to whitelist sender

Wrong Email Content

Section titled “Wrong Email Content”

Check:

  1. Email template saved correctly
  2. Variables spelled correctly
  3. Test email shows expected content
  4. Cache cleared (refresh settings page)

Email Notification Limits

Section titled “Email Notification Limits”

Rate Limits

Section titled “Rate Limits”

Postmark:

  • Free tier: 100 emails/month
  • Paid: 10,000+ emails/month

MailerToGo:

  • Varies by plan
  • Check your provider limits

What happens at limit:

  • Emails queue until next billing period
  • OR automatic fallback to secondary provider
  • OR notification to upgrade plan

Email Analytics

Section titled “Email Analytics”

Available Metrics

Section titled “Available Metrics”

Track email performance:

Delivery Metrics:

  • Emails sent
  • Successful deliveries
  • Failed deliveries
  • Bounce rate

Engagement Metrics (if supported by provider):

  • Open rate
  • Click rate (download button)
  • Time to download

Access from:

  1. Email Settings → Analytics tab
  2. Or Dashboard → Email performance section

Managing Customer Email Preferences

Section titled “Managing Customer Email Preferences”

Opt-Out Handling

Section titled “Opt-Out Handling”

If customer opts out of emails:

  1. Respect their preference
  2. Remove from email list
  3. They can still access downloads via:
    • Account page
    • Direct links

Legal compliance:

  • Include unsubscribe link (optional but recommended)
  • Honor opt-out requests immediately
  • Maintain suppression list

Email Notification Costs

Section titled “Email Notification Costs”

Provider Costs

Section titled “Provider Costs”

Postmark:

  • Free: 100 emails/month
  • $10: 10,000 emails/month
  • $50: 50,000 emails/month

MailerToGo:

  • Free tier available
  • Paid plans vary

Alva App:

  • Email feature included in all plans
  • No additional charge from Alva
  • Only pay email provider

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”