In deliverability, notification: a third genre between transactional and promotional

I've received these questions many times before:

"Do I need to put an unsubscribe link in my cart abandonment emails?"

"My in-stock product return alerts, do I consider them transactional emails?"

"A price drop notification counts as a service message, right?"

These are the kinds of questions that come up whenever a campaign falls into that famous grey area where people hesitate: is it really a "transactional" message, or is it already pure marketing?

Today is an opportunity to formalize my position as adeliverability expert on this subject. A few days ago, a lively discussionon the EmailGeeks Slack (over sixty responses in twenty-four hours!) gave me the opportunity to formalize my point of view.

So here's the long and short version of why I consider a notification to be neither a transactional nor a promotional email (and, more importantly, how to handle it without burning your deliverability wings).

Why is the "transactional email" box too narrow?

The conventional view is that an email is "transactional" when it is the direct result of an action that is essential to the service: order confirmation, invoice, password reset, etc.

In such cases, European regulations, like most international legislation, tolerate the absence of prior consent: we're not going to ask for opt-in for a receipt or password reminder, that's obvious. All the more so as it is the user himself who has carried out an action and will legitimately expect to receive a reaction by e-mail.

But what is a notification back in stock? Information the web surfer actually needs? Yes, but not vital to use the service. Let's say the user would like to know when the product will be available again. So there is an expectation, but not an absolute necessity.

As a result, the authorities do not legally recognize it as a "message essential to the execution of the contract". Anti-spam filters, on the other hand, will classify it primarily on the basis of recipients' reactions: complaints, placement in "Promotions" folder, opening rate... Not exactly the highway reserved for order confirmations.

Another point to bear in mind: in many cases, a notification is offered to the user by the company precisely because it will increase sales (or traffic, depending on the business model). So we're not in the transaction business.

Why doesn't the "promotional email" box fit either?

Conversely, to treat this notification as a marketing email in the strict sense of the term would be tosend on the same pipe as Newsletter and promotional emailson the same IPs, with the same sub-domain. A transactional email does not respond to the same constraints :

• the message leaves per unittriggered by a specific event in the database;
• l'commitment for this type of message is very strong (unless abused by the sender).

In fact, both technically and in terms of commitment, the notification is very similar to a transactional message.

However, as with email marketing, it must be possible tostop receiving notifications. For example, if you set up an alert on a real estate website for information about your dream home every time a new ad matching your criteria is published, clearly, at some point, you need to be able to unsubscribe.

The real criterion: intention and expectation

The EmailGeeks discussion made it clear: what determines classificationit's not the sending mechanism, but thecommercial intent and the user perception.

• Did the contact expressly request the message? Yes.
• Does this message seek to complete an existing transaction? Not really.
• Is it designed to trigger a purchase? Clearly, yes.

In other words: the notification is sent to the rhythm of a transactional emailbut she replies the same consent requirements as a promotional message. It therefore occupies a third box, which I simply call "notification email".

Best practices for staying on the right side of filters (and the law)

1. Respect the frequency requested by the user: Clicking "Notify me of return to stock" authorizes a notification, not a series of reminders. If the alert needs to be repeated, the user must click again. For other notifications, it will be once a day with a "digest", for others still, it will be at each event, but with a simple way of deactivating the notification.
2. There's always a way to unsubscribe: Even if the legislation seems permissive, add a clear (and visible) link: "Do not receive this alert again". On the one hand, this reduces complaints, and on the other, it proves your good faith in the event of an inspection.
3. Minimalist content: No coupon, no cross-sell, no "Discover our new collection". Just the info you're asked for: "Product X is back, here's the link". The slightest bit of marketing packaging will requalify the message as a promotion, and the filters won't forgive you.
4. Explicit object : Indicate that this is an expected notification: "[Alert requested] Your jacket is available in size M". Users remember, you're legitimate. Spam filters understand, and will correctly categorize the message.
5. Possibility of sending notification emails from your domain and IP transac : You can use the same IP as your service emails. The important thing is to ensure that engagement with your notification emails is similar to that of your transactional emails.
6. Fine-tuned preference management : Ideally, store this permission in a preference center: the user retains control, and you retain traceability. Everyone's happy.

To remember

The boundaries between "transactional" and "promotional" are less legal than based on the actual expectations of the recipient.

Email notification:

• leaves in a continuous stream as a service message;
• requires the same opt-in (and opt-out) as a marketing campaign;
• must remain strictly single-objective, otherwise it will be considered misleading and re-categorized as a promotion (or worse, as spam).

By following these rules, you'll enjoy the best of both worlds: good deliverability transactional flows and regulatory compliance of promotional emails. And above all, you'll respect what matters most: the trust of your recipients.

Article inspired by a conversation on community Slack EmailGeeks (July 2025), reflecting a recurring debate among marketers and deliverability consultants.