9.6: Reading Email Numbers: Open Rate, Click Rate, Bookings. Which One Actually Matters?
Of all the email numbers, the one that matters most to a shop is bookings that came from email. Click rate comes second. Open rate sounds important but is fairly unreliable these days and is best used only to spot trends.
Open your email software's reports for the first time and you'll see a wall of numbers and charts. It's easy to feel lost. You really only need to understand five numbers, and to know which one leads to money.
This is the last post in the email series. I'll explain each number in plain words, then show how to use them to decide what to fix.
Picture your own shopfront
- •Delivered: the flyer made it into the customer's mailbox.
- •Opened: they picked it up and looked.
- •Clicked: they walked to your door.
- •Booked: they came in and sat down.
- •Unsubscribed: they said "please stop sending these".
Only "sat down" makes money. The earlier steps are the path that leads there.
The 5 numbers to understand
1. Delivery rate
What it is: out of 100 emails sent, how many reached an inbox.
Emails that don't arrive are called "bounces", usually because the address is misspelled or no longer in use.
What to do: if many bounce, your list has bad addresses. Remove them, and have customers type their own email instead of staff typing it for them.
2. Open rate
What it is: of the emails that arrived, how many were opened.
An important caveat: this number is no longer accurate. Some mail apps, such as Apple Mail with its privacy protection, download email content in advance, which makes the software think a message was opened even if nobody read it.
What to do: don't celebrate or worry over one open rate. Use it only to compare your own emails: which subject line got opened more than another.
3. Click rate
What it is: how many people clicked a link in the email.
It's far more trustworthy than open rate, because a click is a real action by a real person.
What to do: if plenty open and few click, the content or the offer isn't compelling enough, or the button is hard to see.
4. Unsubscribe rate
What it is: how many people unsubscribed after an email.
A few unsubscribes after each send is normal, even healthy: the people who remain actually want to hear from you.
What to do: worry only if it spikes after one particular email. Then ask: are you sending too often, or was the content irrelevant to them?
5. Bookings from email
What it is: how many people booked or came in after receiving an email.
It's the most important number, and also the one email software can't measure by itself unless you set something up.
Three simple ways to measure it:
- •An email-only offer code. For example "EMAIL10". Count how many use it.
- •A dedicated booking link used only in emails.
- •Just ask: "How did you hear about this offer?" and write it down.
Vanity numbers and real numbers
| Vanity numbers (nice to know) | Real numbers (use these to decide) |
|---|---|
| Total emails sent | Bookings from email |
| Open rate | Click rate |
| List size | People on the list who still engage |
| Revenue from those bookings |
A list of 2,000 where nobody clicks is worth less than a list of 200 where 20 people book.
What counts as "good"?
I won't give you a benchmark, because it varies by industry, list size and type of email. The averages you see online usually come from large companies, not shops like yours.
The right comparison is your shop against itself:
- •Did this month's email get more clicks than last month's?
- •Which email in the past three months brought the most bookings? What was different about it?
When the numbers are bad, what do you fix?
This is the most practical part. Find where things get stuck and fix that spot:
| Symptom | Where the problem is | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| Lots of bounces | The list | Clean out bad addresses, change how you collect emails |
| Fewer opens than earlier emails | Subject line, send time | A more specific subject, a different day or hour |
| Many opens, few clicks | Content and offer | Shorten the email, one clear button, a stronger offer |
| Many clicks, few bookings | Landing or booking page | Try booking on your own phone, remove steps |
| A spike in unsubscribes | Frequency or relevance | Send less often, segment your customers |
Change one thing at a time. Change the subject, the content and the send time together and you won't know which one made the difference.
A one-page monthly report
At the end of each month, record this in Google Sheets:
| Item | This month | Last month |
|---|---|---|
| People on the list | ||
| New sign-ups | ||
| Emails sent (campaigns) | ||
| Click rate of the best email | ||
| Unsubscribes | ||
| Bookings from email | ||
| One thing to try next month |
The last row matters most. A report isn't for admiring. It's for deciding what to do differently next month.
Ten minutes a month is enough.
Quick recap, and the whole series in one line
- •The number that matters most is bookings from email. Next is click rate.
- •Open rate is unreliable now. Use it only to compare your own emails.
- •Find the stuck point and fix that spot, one change at a time.
- •Each month, write a one-page report and one thing to try.
The six posts form one path: understand why email is worth it (9.1) → collect emails properly (9.2) → have a gift to offer (9.3) → have a page where people sign up (9.4) → have a sequence that runs by itself (9.5) → measure and improve (9.6).
More email isn't better email. The right group, the right content and the right numbers are what produce bookings.
If you'd like bookings and revenue tied to each email automatically instead of counting by hand, that's what Wizy CRM does. Questions? Book a free 15-minute consultation.
✍️ About the author: Do Ngoc Hoan Founder of Wizy.ca, a marketing agency for Vietnamese businesses in Ontario. I write to make marketing simple for busy shop owners — no confusing jargon. More at dongochoan.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which email marketing metric matters most for a small shop?+
Bookings or visits that came from email, because that's the number tied to revenue. Next is click rate, since it reflects a real action by the recipient. Total emails sent and list size are only nice to know.
Why is email open rate no longer reliable?+
Because some mail apps, such as Apple Mail with its privacy protection, download email content in advance, so the software records an open even if the recipient never read it. Open rates therefore tend to be inflated. Use them only to compare your own emails, such as which subject line did better.
How can I tell whether an email led to bookings?+
Three simple ways: use an offer code that appears only in the email and count redemptions; use a booking link dedicated to email; or ask customers how they heard about the offer and note it. Email software can't measure bookings without extra setup.
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