Why Do Online Shops Ask for My Email and Phone Number?
If you've ever wondered why Etsy asks for your email (or why Etsy and other online shops sometimes ask for your phone number), I'm here to give you some answers.
So, I've noticed this: Many of my customers use a throw-away email for online purchases, or an email specifically for online shopping. How can I tell? Well. Because our primary emails are not foretsygifts @ blabla.com or simplysendmyorder @ chitchat.com
I can tell.
I can also think of a handful of reasons for it, such as to keep their primary inbox clean and organized, or - and this matters - not to be bombarded with marketing emails every other hour.
(Giving a shop your email address to place an order is not the same thing as giving marketing consent. However, many shops do it.)
(I am an online buyer too #thishappenedtome. No, I don't do it in my shop.)
So, why do online shops and marketplaces need your email and sometimes (yikes) your... phone number?
A customer isn't just handing over an email address because the shop wants their email.
They're just giving the shop a practical way to communicate about the transaction.
The email gives a way to the shop to confirm that you placed an order, the when and what and how much it cost.
It is a way to be updated about when your order is shipped, what's the tracking number and what's the estimated delivery date.
(By the way, delivery estimates are often based on the seller's processing time, shipping method, carrier information, and/or historical delivery data. They're not numbers the shop pulls out of thin air.
Which is both good and bad.
Because it means they're based on something real, but they can still prove inaccurate depending on many other factors, such as the holiday season, when everything slows down.)
[Related: Why your package tracking stopped updating and why you shouldn't worry about it]
It also gives you a way to communicate with the shop if needed. A marketplace like Etsy has its own message center and buyers communicate with shops via the platform, but if you're not on a marketplace, the shop's email is often the only thing you got to get in touch.
Plus, it gives you proof. Safety.
If something goes wrong or feels off about your order, you can use those emails you received to open a case if needed, let's say:
if the shop sent you a fake tracking number,
if you paid for tracked shipment but there's no tracking,
or if the shop sent a shipping confirmation and after two weeks you still see no updates,
if you ordered *this and received that*, and so on.
You can absolutely use a secondary email when you shop online. Just make sure it's alive and you check it often, otherwise you might miss crucial information and updates regarding your order.
[Speaking of proof - Related: But why people still buy from shops with bad reviews??]
Okay, then why the phone number?
Here is how things can get tricky: Many courier services require a recipient's phone number.
During the postal shipment suspensions to the USA, the only way for me to ship orders to the US was via a private courier service.
They would NOT accept the package for shipment without a recipient's phone number. It was mandatory.
Why?
Because some courier services operate differently.
They might use other messaging services (via Viber or WhatsApp etc) to update recipients for their package whereabouts, schedule delivery, offer the option to update delivery dates,
and to simply make sure that someone will be at the delivery address the specific date and specific time to receive it - and depending on the courier, delivery may also require the recipient or another authorized person to be present.
So when the shop uses a courier service, or if a customer pays for express shipping, the recipient's phone number can be part of the courier's required shipment information.
(It's not necessarily the individual seller deciding, “Ooooh, I would like your phone number, please (wink))
Etsy, Shopify stores, Amazon, eBay, couriers, payment providers, etc. can have different requirements and different reasons for collecting particular information. And not every request for a phone number means the same thing.
(Fun Fact: Some courier services do not deliver at P.O. Boxes.)
During those months of postal-shipping darkness I had to explain very often why a phone number was needed to suspicious customers who were worried.
Some denied entirely to provide a phone number, and I literally couldn't complete the order without it.
(I had to cancel two orders because of this.)
And some, gave a fake number.
(Which caused its own little fun (not) chaos, I'll explain.)
Your questions answered:
Why do you need my email?
Because an online order needs a reliable way to communicate with you: confirmation, dispatch notification, tracking, delivery problems, etc.
Why do you need my phone number?
When a courier is involved a phone number might be mandatory, because the courier may require the recipient's number and use it to arrange/contact you about delivery. It's not merely the seller being nosy.
(P.S. You don't have to put a phone number when you place an order in my shop. But if you're okay with it, or if by your experience with your country's postal service you think it's needed, go ahead.)
Why can't I use a P.O. box for every courier shipment?
Because courier delivery is fundamentally different from postal delivery. A courier may need to deliver to a physical address and contact the recipient for the delivery. Some courier shipments are not compatible with a P.O. box (In Greece, they're not.)
Does giving you my email mean I subscribed to your newsletter?
No. An order communication address and marketing consent are two different things.
Can I just give a fake number?
You can, technically, but not a good idea and I'll tell you why.
Once your package is with the courier, the courier may not communicate with you by email. They may contact you by phone, SMS, Viber, WhatsApp, or another messaging service instead.
If the number on the parcel doesn't work, you may never receive the message telling you when they're coming.
(Courier services in Greece never communicate via email, only via phone)
And then things can get interesting.
Depending on the courier and the circumstances, they may schedule delivery for a date or time you don't know about.
Then, they may leave a delivery notice (sorry, we missed you!) and require you to collect the package from their office, god knows where.
(Fun Fact: I had an angry customer who sent me a long message blaming me about "the courier required my signature and I wasn't there, and now I have to rearrange my whole week's schedule to drive over an hour to go and pick it up myself")
They might make another delivery attempt and you'll never know about it, either (yikes)
or, if they cannot contact or identify the recipient, eventually return the package to the sender.
And the worst part is, that while you will probably be refunded for the cost of the item you bought once it gets back to the seller's hands, you won't be refunded for shipping.
Don't assume you'll automatically get the shipping cost back.
Depending on the shop's policies, marketplace rules, and what happened to the parcel, you may lose that. And couriers are expensive.
So if a shop or marketplace asks for your phone number because your chosen shipping method requires it, giving them a fake number doesn't really protect you.
But it can sure make it impossible for the courier to reach you when your package is actually on its way.
Does giving you my phone number mean you can text/call me about promotions?
No, separate consent/legal basis is actually required.
So why am I suddenly getting marketing emails?
Well, this is where we can have our little raised-eyebrow moment. 😏
An email address provided to fulfil an order should not transform into “Congratulations! You are now subscribed to everything we sell!”
What happens to my information after delivery?
It's burned.
No. I'll tell you.
The shop may retain your order information after delivery. How long and exactly what they retain depends on the shop, marketplace, and applicable legal requirements.
Your order history can also be useful for practical reasons: if you come back months later with a question about something you bought, need information about an old order, want to place another order, or have a problem with a previous purchase, there's a record of what happened.
I have had many, many customers come back to my shop months or even years later asking about something they bought back then.
Sometimes they can't find the design anymore because I don't have it anymore.
Sometimes I updated the title (thank you Etsy and your constant SEO quirks).
Sometimes I changed the design itself and created a new listing.
Sometimes they changed devices and lost our entire conversation history, but luckily enough, I still have it.
Sometimes they bought something for a friend back then, and now they want something similar but customized for themselves.
And-and-and.
Having an order history means we can sometimes work backwards from that old purchase and figure out what they had asked for, what materials or details it used, or what they were talking about at the time.
And yes, there's another practical benefit: repeat customers often get discounts or special offers. Having an order history is one way a shop can recognize that you've been there before.
So no, your order history isn't necessarily just a dusty digital receipt nobody will ever look at again.
But there's an important distinction here too: retaining information about an order is not the same thing as having permission to use your contact details for marketing or any other reason except for your previous, current or future orders.
Those are different purposes.
(I think I might have said this three more times already.)
In few words:
Email? Normal.
Phone number for courier delivery? Often completely normal.
No P.O. box for courier? Normal.
Suddenly receiving 14 promotional emails because you bought a bookmark? …hmm.
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