Skip to main content
This guide takes you from a brand-new account to your first revenue-generating email. No technical knowledge required — if you can use your store’s admin panel, you can do this.
You need an active Shopify or WooCommerce store and access to your domain’s DNS settings (usually wherever you bought your domain, like GoDaddy or Cloudflare). If someone else manages your DNS, you can invite them as a team member for step 3.

​
Step 1: Create your account

1

Sign up

Go to app.retainful.com/register and create your account with your work email, or install the Retainful app directly from the Shopify App Store — Shopify creates your account automatically during installation.
2

Verify your email

Click the verification link in your inbox. You can’t send emails until your account email is verified.
3

Set up your organization

Give your organization a name (usually your store name) and pick your currency and timezone under Settings → Currency & Timezone. Reports and scheduled sends use these settings.

​
Step 2: Connect your store

Retainful needs to see your customers, carts, and orders to do its job.
  1. Go to Integrations in the sidebar and choose Shopify.
  2. Enter your store address (for example mystore.myshopify.com) and click Connect.
  3. Approve the permissions on the Shopify screen that opens.
Retainful immediately starts syncing your products, customers, and orders. See Connect Shopify for details, including enabling the storefront tracking pixel.
When the connection succeeds, you’ll see your store listed as Connected on the Integrations page, and contacts begin appearing under Audience → Contacts.

​
Step 3: Set up your sending domain

Out of the box, Retainful can send from a shared domain, but emails sent from your own domain land in the inbox far more reliably and show your brand in the “from” address.
1

Add your domain

Go to Settings → Email → Domains and add the domain you want to send from (for example mystore.com).
2

Add the DNS records

Retainful shows you a short list of DNS records (DKIM, SPF, DMARC, and return-path). Add each one at your DNS provider — copy and paste them exactly.
3

Verify

Back in Retainful, click Verify on each record. DNS changes can take up to a few hours to propagate, so don’t worry if it doesn’t verify instantly.
4

Add a sender address

Under Settings → Email → From Addresses, add the address you’ll send from (like hello@mystore.com) and verify it.
See Sending domains for a record-by-record walkthrough.

​
Step 4: Bring in your audience

If you’re moving from another email tool, export your subscribers there as a CSV file, then:
  1. Go to Audience → Imports and start the import wizard.
  2. Upload your CSV file.
  3. Match your file’s columns to Retainful’s contact fields (email, first name, and so on).
  4. Choose which list the contacts should join and confirm their subscription status.
Only import people who gave you permission to email them. Importing purchased or scraped lists hurts your deliverability and may violate anti-spam laws.
More detail in Import contacts.

​
Step 5: Turn on abandoned cart recovery

This is the fastest way to see revenue from Retainful — it recovers sales you’re currently losing.
  1. Go to Automations and click Templates.
  2. Pick the Abandoned Cart Recovery template.
  3. Review the pre-built emails — adjust the wording, add your logo, or attach a discount.
  4. Click Publish.
From now on, when a shopper leaves the checkout without paying, Retainful automatically follows up with your recovery emails. See the full guide: Abandoned cart recovery.

​
Step 6: Send your first campaign

  1. Go to Campaigns and click Create campaign.
  2. Pick a template you like (you can change everything about it).
  3. Design your email in the drag-and-drop editor.
  4. Choose your audience — start with the list you imported.
  5. Send yourself a test email, then schedule or send.
See Create a campaign for the full walkthrough.

​
What’s next?

Build smart segments

Target customers by behavior — like “bought in the last 30 days” or “opened but didn’t click.”

Add a signup popup

Grow your list with a popup that offers a welcome discount.

Explore automation templates

Welcome series, win-back campaigns, post-purchase thank-yous, and more.

Understand your analytics

Learn what opens, clicks, and conversions tell you about your emails.
This guide takes you from a brand-new account to your first revenue-generating email. No technical knowledge required — if you can use your store’s admin panel, you can do this.
You need an active Shopify or WooCommerce store and access to your domain’s DNS settings (usually wherever you bought your domain, like GoDaddy or Cloudflare). If someone else manages your DNS, you can invite them as a team member for step 3.

​
Step 1: Create your account

1

Sign up

Go to app.retainful.com/register and create your account with your work email, or install the Retainful app directly from the Shopify App Store — Shopify creates your account automatically during installation.
2

Verify your email

Click the verification link in your inbox. You can’t send emails until your account email is verified.
3

Set up your organization

Give your organization a name (usually your store name) and pick your currency and timezone under Settings → Currency & Timezone. Reports and scheduled sends use these settings.

​
Step 2: Connect your store

Retainful needs to see your customers, carts, and orders to do its job.
  1. Go to Integrations in the sidebar and choose Shopify.
  2. Enter your store address (for example mystore.myshopify.com) and click Connect.
  3. Approve the permissions on the Shopify screen that opens.
Retainful immediately starts syncing your products, customers, and orders. See Connect Shopify for details, including enabling the storefront tracking pixel.
When the connection succeeds, you’ll see your store listed as Connected on the Integrations page, and contacts begin appearing under Audience → Contacts.

​
Step 3: Set up your sending domain

Out of the box, Retainful can send from a shared domain, but emails sent from your own domain land in the inbox far more reliably and show your brand in the “from” address.
1

Add your domain

Go to Settings → Email → Domains and add the domain you want to send from (for example mystore.com).
2

Add the DNS records

Retainful shows you a short list of DNS records (DKIM, SPF, DMARC, and return-path). Add each one at your DNS provider — copy and paste them exactly.
3

Verify

Back in Retainful, click Verify on each record. DNS changes can take up to a few hours to propagate, so don’t worry if it doesn’t verify instantly.
4

Add a sender address

Under Settings → Email → From Addresses, add the address you’ll send from (like hello@mystore.com) and verify it.
See Sending domains for a record-by-record walkthrough.

​
Step 4: Bring in your audience

If you’re moving from another email tool, export your subscribers there as a CSV file, then:
  1. Go to Audience → Imports and start the import wizard.
  2. Upload your CSV file.
  3. Match your file’s columns to Retainful’s contact fields (email, first name, and so on).
  4. Choose which list the contacts should join and confirm their subscription status.
Only import people who gave you permission to email them. Importing purchased or scraped lists hurts your deliverability and may violate anti-spam laws.
More detail in Import contacts.

​
Step 5: Turn on abandoned cart recovery

This is the fastest way to see revenue from Retainful — it recovers sales you’re currently losing.
  1. Go to Automations and click Templates.
  2. Pick the Abandoned Cart Recovery template.
  3. Review the pre-built emails — adjust the wording, add your logo, or attach a discount.
  4. Click Publish.
From now on, when a shopper leaves the checkout without paying, Retainful automatically follows up with your recovery emails. See the full guide: Abandoned cart recovery.

​
Step 6: Send your first campaign

  1. Go to Campaigns and click Create campaign.
  2. Pick a template you like (you can change everything about it).
  3. Design your email in the drag-and-drop editor.
  4. Choose your audience — start with the list you imported.
  5. Send yourself a test email, then schedule or send.
See Create a campaign for the full walkthrough.

​
What’s next?

Build smart segments

Target customers by behavior — like “bought in the last 30 days” or “opened but didn’t click.”

Add a signup popup

Grow your list with a popup that offers a welcome discount.

Explore automation templates

Welcome series, win-back campaigns, post-purchase thank-yous, and more.

Understand your analytics

Learn what opens, clicks, and conversions tell you about your emails.