Zest sends transactional emails to your buyers and gift recipients automatically — no engineering or third-party email platform required. These emails are branded with your logo and colors and can be sent from your domain (e.g., [email protected]). This article covers everything you need to know to configure, customize, and troubleshoot transactional emails for Concierge orders.
Before you start:
Choose a sender email address on your brand's domain (e.g., [email protected] or [email protected]).
Make sure you have access to your domain registrar (e.g., GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap) to add DNS records.
Have your Zest account credentials ready.
Overview: How Transactional Emails Work
Zest manages all transactional emails on your behalf using SendGrid, a best-in-class email delivery platform. Here's what that means for you:
Zero engineering required. Zest handles delivery, authentication, and templates automatically.
Branded from your domain. With a simple DNS setup, emails appear to come from your address (e.g., [email protected]).
One sender address. All transactional emails — order confirmations, shipping updates, refunds — are sent from a single sender address you configure.
Shopify emails are suppressed. When orders are pushed to Shopify, Zest instructs Shopify not to send its own order confirmation or fulfillment emails. Zest handles all customer-facing communications directly.
Note: Until your DNS records are configured and activated by the Zest team, emails will come from a default Zest address. Once your domain is set up and activated, all emails will come from your configured address.
Email Types and Recipients (Who Gets What)
Emails to the buyer (gifter / person who placed the order)
For Concierge projects, only the customer (buyer) receives emails — order confirmation and shipping tracking.
Concierge orders
Recipient | When It's Sent | |
Order confirmation | Customer on the project | When the order is submitted for processing |
Shipping notification | Customer | When tracking is created |
Delivery notification | Customer | When the gift is delivered |
Invoice payment confirmation | Customer | When an invoice is paid |
Late payment reminder | Customer | When an invoice becomes overdue (if invoicing is enabled) |
Important: Concierge does not send emails when a project is created, when an invoice is created, or when a collaborator is added. The brand controls all pre-submission communication. Automated emails are only triggered once orders are submitted for processing.
Emails to your team
Your team receives internal notification emails when:
A new order is placed
An invoice is paid or overdue
Inventory is running low
Addresses are uploaded to a Concierge project
Configure which team members receive these in Settings > Company Info.
Account Emails (Sign-In)
Zest sends sign-in links and verification codes to users logging in to the Zest platform. These are sent from Zest's own domain and are not customizable.
Shopify duplicate emails are automatically prevented for all Zest-managed orders. You do not need to configure anything in Shopify — Zest handles this automatically.
Setting Up Your Sender Email Address (DNS Configuration)
To send transactional emails from your brand's domain, Zest needs to authenticate your domain. This is a one-time setup that your Zest implementation contact will guide you through.
Step 1: Choose your sender email address
Use a generic address on your brand's domain:
Good examples: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Avoid: Personal email addresses (e.g., [email protected]) — these emails are automated and customers may reply to them
Use an active inbox — buyers may reply to transactional emails, so the address should be monitored
Best practice: Match the domain of your storefront (e.g., if your portal is gifts.yourbrand.com, use @yourbrand.com)
Zest supports one sender address across all transactional emails.
Step 2: Share your sender address with Zest
Contact your Zest implementation contact or support team with your chosen sender email address.
Step 3: Add DNS records to your domain registrar
Zest will provide you with 5 CNAME records to add to your domain registrar (e.g., GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap). No SMTP configuration is required.
These records enable:
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication — so emails appear to come from your domain and aren't flagged as spam
Custom mail-from subdomain — for proper email routing
Portal domain routing — connects your branded gifting portal to Zest's infrastructure
How to add the records:
Log in to your domain registrar.
Navigate to DNS Management or DNS Records.
Add each of the 5 CNAME records provided by Zest.
Save your changes.
DNS changes typically propagate within a few hours, but can take up to 48 hours.
Step 4: Notify Zest to complete activation
Once DNS records are added and verified, contact Zest to complete the final activation step. This step is performed by Zest engineering and is not automatic. Until activation is complete, emails will continue to come from Zest's default address — even after your DNS records verify successfully.
Changing your sender address later? You can update your sender address, but give your Zest contact advance notice. If you're staying on the same domain, DNS changes may not be required. The update is made on Zest's side.
Configuring Support and Notification Email Addresses
There are several distinct email settings to configure. Understanding the difference between them prevents a lot of confusion:
Setting | What It Is | Where to Configure |
Transactional Sender ("From") Address | The email address transactional emails appear to come from | Via DNS setup with Zest (see Section 3) |
Buyer Support Email | Displayed to buyers/gifters for customer service inquiries | Settings > Company Settings |
Recipient Support Email | Displayed to gift recipients for support inquiries | Settings > Company Settings |
Order Notification Email(s) | Internal alerts sent to your team when orders are placed | Settings > Company Info > Contact Information |
Buyer and Recipient Support Emails
These are the "contact us" addresses shown in emails to buyers and recipients respectively. Best practice is to use a shared customer service inbox rather than an individual email address. These settings apply across your entire account (both Storefronts and Concierge).
To update:
Go to Company Settings.
Update the Buyer Support Email and Recipient Support Email fields.
Click Save.
Order Notification Emails
These are internal alerts to your team when orders come in. You can add multiple email addresses to ensure the right team members are notified.
To update:
Go to Settings > Company Info > Contact Information.
Add email addresses to the Orders notifications emails field.
Click Save.
Tip for Concierge teams: Concierge orders include -C# in their order numbers. You can set up inbox rules in your email client to filter and route Concierge order notifications separately from storefront notifications.
How Multi-recipient Orders Are Handled (Digest Emails)
For large Concierge orders with many recipients, Zest consolidates buyer notifications so your inbox doesn't get flooded:
Order confirmation: One email sent to the buyer when the order is submitted, regardless of the number of recipients.
Shipping updates: The buyer receives a single notification when fulfillment begins ("Your gifts have started to ship!") — not a separate email per recipient.
Delivery notifications: The buyer receives a consolidated delivery update.
Detailed tracking: Individual tracking information is available in the Gifter Dashboard.
Customizing Transactional Emails (Default vs. Klaviyo)
Default (Zest-managed) Emails
Out of the box, Zest sends all transactional emails using standardized templates that automatically include:
Your brand's logo
Your brand's colors
Your configured sender address
The content and layout of default templates cannot be individually edited. This is the recommended starting point for all new brands — it's the fastest path to going live with zero setup.
Self-managed emails via Klaviyo
If you need full control over email copy, subject lines, and design, you can migrate to self-managed transactional emails through your own Klaviyo account. This option:
Requires setting up and monitoring all transactional flows yourself in Klaviyo
Is not required to use Concierge — Zest handles everything automatically without Klaviyo
Should not be implemented during your first months of operation or during peak seasons
Zest's recommendation: Launch with default Zest-managed emails first. Consider transitioning to Klaviyo-managed emails at least one month (ideally 4–6 months) after launch, and avoid switching during Q4.
Troubleshooting Email Delivery Issues
Customers aren't receiving transactional emails or verification codes
This is almost always caused by the recipient's email security settings, not a Zest issue. Try these steps:
Check spam/junk folders — ask the customer to search for the sender address.
Verify the email address — confirm there are no typos.
Contact Zest support — provide the customer's email address, and the Zest team can check delivery logs to confirm whether the email was delivered.
For corporate email addresses — banks, law firms, and financial institutions often have strict spam filters that block or delay emails. Suggest using a personal email address or accessing from a non-corporate network.
Same-domain delivery failures: If transactional emails are sent from [email protected] to recipients who also have @yourbrand.com email addresses, your company's internal mail server may block delivery due to email authentication conflicts. This requires your IT team to whitelist the sender — Zest cannot resolve this.
DNS records verified but emails are still sending from a Zest address
After your DNS records are verified at your registrar, Zest engineering must complete a final activation step. This is not automatic. Contact your Zest support contact to confirm activation has been completed on their end.
Logo appearing too small or incorrectly sized
Logo sizing issues in certain email clients (particularly Outlook) may be an email client rendering issue rather than a Zest problem. Send test orders to Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail to verify. If the issue is consistent across clients, contact Zest — the team can investigate whether the uploaded logo file needs resizing.
Brand colors not displaying correctly
Zest applies your brand colors to transactional email templates. If your colors don't meet ADA color contrast requirements, Zest will request alternative colors that pass accessibility standards. Zest cannot configure non-compliant colors.
How to resend a confirmation email
Open the order in Zest.
Scroll to the top of the order page.
Click Actions.
Select Resend Confirmation Email.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who receives emails for Concierge orders?
The customer (buyer/gifter): Receives order confirmation, shipping updates, and delivery notifications.
Gift recipients: Do not receive emails for Concierge orders. All recipient communication is managed by the brand separately.
When does the order confirmation email send?
The order confirmation email to the customer is sent immediately when the Concierge project is submitted for processing — when you click Submit. There is no way to delay or disable this email.
Workaround: If you want to review the project before the customer receives a confirmation, add your own email address as the customer on the project. You'll receive the confirmation email instead, allowing you to communicate with the actual customer on your own timeline.
How does Zest prevent duplicate emails from Shopify?
When Concierge orders are pushed to Shopify, Zest:
Instructs Shopify to not send order confirmation or fulfillment receipt emails automatically.
Attaches a proxy email address to Child Orders when needed — this prevents Shopify or downstream tools from sending emails containing recipient information to the buyer.
You do not need to configure anything in Shopify to suppress emails for Concierge orders.
Is Klaviyo required for Concierge?
No. Klaviyo is completely optional. Zest sends all transactional emails via SendGrid without any Klaviyo configuration. If you have a Klaviyo account, optional marketing event tracking is available, but it is not required for Concierge to function.
Can I route Concierge order notifications separately from storefront notifications?
There is no built-in setting to route notifications by order type. However, Concierge orders include -C# in their order numbers. You can configure email inbox rules to filter notifications containing this pattern to a separate folder or team member.