Special DeliveryLearn

The learning center

Reorder marketing and direct mail, explained like you’d want it explained.

Plain English, honest math, no jargon left undefined. Everything Special Delivery does — predictions, postcards, campaigns, attribution — and the thinking behind it, whether or not you ever install anything.

Reorder marketing, explained

The ideas behind the reorder button — what run-out prediction is and why it works.

What is reorder marketing?Reorder (replenishment) marketing reminds customers to restock before they run out. What it is, why it beats forced subscriptions, and how Shopify stores use it.Predicted run-outHow a store can know when a customer is about to run out: purchase intervals, quantity, and honest signals like "still have plenty." With an interactive timing calculator.⚙ Reorder timing calculatorQR reorder buttonsWhy a QR code on the packing slip outperforms almost any ad: zero cost, perfect timing, and a scan that lands in a prefilled cart. Setup and best practices.GlossaryRun-out, cadence, holdout, cart permalink, suppression list, usage record — every term you will meet in reorder marketing and direct mail, defined without jargon.

Direct mail for Shopify

Postcards in plain English: costs, timelines, design specs, and when to mail.

Direct mail, explainedWhat it costs to mail a real postcard, how long delivery takes, why physical mail gets read, and how Shopify stores send it without an agency or minimums.Postcard campaignsHow to run a direct mail campaign from your own customer list: picking a segment, writing the card, what it costs, and the 24-hour cancel window.Campaign cost calculatorPrice a postcard campaign before sending: audience size × card size × your plan’s rate, minus included cards — with breakeven response rate and expected profit.⚙ Campaign cost calculatorPostcard design specsWhat 300 DPI, bleed, and the address safe zone actually mean for a 4×6 postcard — and the exact pixel sizes that print sharp. A checklist for print-ready artwork.Campaigns vs. automationOne-off campaigns and always-on automations solve different problems. When to blast a segment, when to let triggers run, and how the two compound.

Measurement you can trust

ROI math, honest attribution, and what customer lifetime value really tells you.

Direct mail ROIResponse rates, cost per card, and average order value — the three numbers that decide whether a mailing pays. Run your own numbers in the interactive calculator.⚙ ROI calculatorHoldouts & attributionMost tools claim every sale they touched. A measurement holdout shows what your marketing actually caused. How holdouts work and why small samples lie.Customer LTVWhat LTV means, how to compute it from numbers you already have, and how a spend threshold decides who gets a $1.50 postcard versus a free email.

Pricing & compliance

How app billing, spend caps, and consent rules work — no surprises.

App billing & spend capsSubscriptions, usage records, capped amounts: how charges appear on your Shopify invoice, why a spend cap makes surprise bills impossible, and a plan cost calculator.⚙ Plan cost calculatorConsent: email vs. mailEmail marketing needs opt-in consent; postal mail does not. What CAN-SPAM-style rules require, how unsubscribes must work, and being classy beyond the law.

Try the numbers yourself

The two calculations behind every direct mail decision — live, with your inputs.

ROI calculator

Total mailing cost$300
Expected orders8.0
Expected revenue$360
Profit$60

Breakeven response rate: 3.33% — below that, this mailing loses money. Retention mail to your own customers typically responds far above cold-list rates, which is the whole argument for it.

The full walkthrough: direct mail ROI, explained.

Plan cost calculator

Starter$0/mo · $1.50/card$90
Growth$29/mo · $1.50/card$119
Autopilot$99/mo · $1.50/card$189

Total monthly cost: subscription plus cards, printing and postage included. The card rate is the same on every plan — paid plans buy features, not a better rate. Every plan caps against a spend limit you set yourself.

What these numbers mean: how app billing works.