Consistent branding across touchpoints like in-store displays, online stores, invoices, and emails builds customer trust. Using your store's domain in your emails enhances this trust and creates a unified brand experience, creating repeat customers. For merchants with established business emails, linking your store's domain enhances brand recognition and helps prevent emails from being marked as spam.

Understanding DMARC authentication

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) plays a critical role in email communication by authenticating the sender's identity, improving email deliverability, and protecting against spam and phishing attacks. Here's how DMARC benefits your store's email setup:

• Authenticates emails, confirming they come from your store.
• Ensures your emails reach customers' inboxes.
• Prevents legitimate emails from being incorrectly marked as spam.

Lightspeed eCom replaces generic email addresses with shop-emails@ecom.lightspeedhq.com to ensure emails can be delivered successfully and avoid being marked as spam.

For domains and inbox providers affected by DMARC, only the sender address is adjusted. However, the sender name in all outgoing emails will consistently display as your store's name. For example, emails will appear from: Mike’s Surf Store <shop-emails@ecom.lightspeedhq.com>.

Linking your domain to your email

Link your domain to services like Gmail or Outlook using DNS (domain name system) settings to create professional email addresses, such as orders@yourstore.com. This can make your emails look more professional while further reducing the risk of emails being marked as spam incorrectly.

The steps to complete this can differ depending on your provider. Consult your domain provider's documentation for accurate information about linking and using an email through a custom domain.

Adding your email addresses to eCom

After linking your email with your domain provider, it's important to differentiate between Generic and Service addresses for your store:

• Generic Address: Used for manual messages like communicating about orders, such as info@yourstore.com.
• Service Address: Ideal for automated communications like order confirmations, such as orders@yourstore.com.

A message will appear when adding your generic and service addresses if they are affected by DMARC.

1. Log in to the Lightspeed eCom Back Office.
2. Navigate to Settings.
3. Under General Settings, click Company.
   
4. Add your store's email addresses under Generic address and Service address.
   • If the correct addresses are already added for your store, click Verify ownership. 
   
5. Click Save and Verify from the top right corner of the page.
   
6. Confirmation emails will be sent to the addresses that you added.
7. Open the confirmation emails.
8. Click the links in the confirmation emails to validate your email addresses.

Adjusting domain provider DNS settings

After validating your email addresses, the last step is to update your domain's DNS settings. This ensures your domain's email system is fully authenticated and reliably sends emails.

1. Log in to the Lightspeed eCom Back Office.
2. Navigate to Settings.
3. Under General Settings, click Company.
   
4. Click Open Detailed Guide in the Email Addresses section.
   
5. You will see more detailed instructions for updating your domain's DNS settings.
   
6. Update name server addresses and DMARC records on your domain provider's website.
   • Consult your domain provider's documentation for accurate instructions about managing your DNS records.