Emailing Your Customers About Deals: What the CAN-SPAM Act Asks of a Store’s Newsletter

A store that collects email addresses at the counter or through a loyalty sign-up has a direct line to its regulars. A weekly specials email, a holiday hours notice, a double-points weekend: each costs almost nothing to send, and each is covered by a federal law, the CAN-SPAM Act, and by a rule the Federal Trade Commission wrote under it.

The law does not stop a store from emailing deals. It sets conditions on how the email is built and how the store handles a customer who wants out. A store that builds those conditions into one template can meet them every week.

This article walks through the statute, 15 U.S.C. 7704, the FTC’s CAN-SPAM Rule at 16 CFR Part 316, and the FTC’s plain-language guide, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business, all read on 21 October 2026. The Before You Hit Send checklist puts the requirements on one page.

It covers email only. Text messages to customers’ phones fall under separate rules enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (see the FCC’s guide Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts) and are outside the scope of this article. Nothing here is legal advice, and a question about a specific campaign belongs with an attorney.

Which store emails the law covers

The law turns on what an email is mostly for. 15 U.S.C. 7702 defines a commercial message as “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose).”

Volume does not matter. The FTC guide says: “Despite its name, the CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t apply just to bulk email.” A single promotional email to a single customer is a commercial message if promotion is its primary purpose.

For a neighborhood store, the weekly specials email, the new-product announcement, the weekend sale notice and the loyalty bonus-points offer are all commercial messages, and every requirement in this article applies to each of them.

The other kind of email: transactional or relationship messages

The statute says a commercial message “does not include a transactional or relationship message.” The FTC’s rule lists the content that counts in 16 CFR 316.3(c). In short, it is content that does one of five things:

1. Confirms a purchase: “To facilitate, complete, or confirm a commercial transaction that the recipient has previously agreed to enter into with the sender;”
2. Gives “warranty information, product recall information, or safety or security information” about a product the recipient used or bought;
3. For a “subscription, membership, account, loan, or comparable ongoing commercial relationship,” gives notice of a change in terms or in the recipient’s status, or “At regular periodic intervals, account balance information or other type of account statement;”
4. Gives “information directly related to an employment relationship or related benefit plan in which the recipient is currently involved, participating, or enrolled;” or
5. Delivers goods or services the recipient is entitled to under a transaction they already agreed to.

Such a message is not entirely outside the law. The FTC guide says it “may not contain false or misleading routing information, but is otherwise exempt from most provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.” The guide also warns: “Keep in mind that the law views these categories narrowly.” Being in your loyalty program does not turn every email a customer receives into a relationship message.

When one email does both

Most store emails mix things. A points statement may carry a coupon; a receipt may carry this week’s specials. Under 16 CFR 316.3(a)(2), a message with both kinds of content is treated as commercial if:

• “A recipient reasonably interpreting the subject line of the electronic mail message would likely conclude that the message contains the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service; or”
• “The electronic mail message’s transactional or relationship content as set forth in paragraph (c) of this section does not appear, in whole or in substantial part, at the beginning of the body of the message.”

The table applies that test to common store emails. It shows how they are likely to sort, not a ruling on any message; the subject line and the order of content can move an email from one column to the other.

The practical lesson: keep transactional emails clean. If a store wants a deal on a receipt or points statement, the safest course is to treat the whole email as commercial and give it every element a deals email needs.

The requirements for every deals email

1. Honest From line and header information

The statute bars sending a commercial or transactional message with “header information that is materially false or materially misleading.” The FTC guide says your From, To, Reply-To and routing information “must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.” The email should come from the store’s own name, the one on the sign and the receipt.

2. A subject line that matches the email

Under 15 U.S.C. 7704(a)(2), a commercial email may not carry a subject heading when the sender “has actual knowledge, or knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances,” that it “would be likely to mislead a recipient, acting reasonably under the circumstances, about a material fact regarding the contents or subject matter of the message.” The standard reaches past what a store admits it knew: what the circumstances made obvious counts too. An account update subject on what is really a weekend sale is the kind of mismatch the rule targets.

3. A clear statement that the email is an ad

Every commercial email must provide “clear and conspicuous identification that the message is an advertisement or solicitation.” The FTC guide notes: “The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.”

There is one statutory exception. Section 7704(a)(5)(B) states: “Subparagraph (A)(i) does not apply to the transmission of a commercial electronic mail message if the recipient has given prior affirmative consent to receipt of the message.” Under 15 U.S.C. 7702(1), affirmative consent means “the recipient expressly consented to receive the message, either in response to a clear and conspicuous request for such consent” or on the recipient’s own initiative.

The exception is narrow. It removes only the ad label, not the address or the opt-out, and it depends on what the customer agreed to, which a store can show only if it kept a record. Labeling every deals email as a promotion, for example with a Specials header line, avoids the question. That is a store policy choice.

4. A valid physical postal address

The statute requires “a valid physical postal address of the sender.” The rule defines the term in 16 CFR 316.2(p). A valid physical postal address “means the sender’s current street address, a Post Office box the sender has accurately registered with the United States Postal Service, or a private mailbox the sender has accurately registered with a commercial mail receiving agency that is established pursuant to United States Postal Service regulations.”

For most stores the answer is the storefront address. Two details matter. The rule says “current” street address, so a store that moves should update the email footer the same week it updates the sign. And a P.O. box qualifies only if the store “has accurately registered” it with the Postal Service.

5. A working way to opt out

Every commercial email must give “clear and conspicuous notice of the opportunity under paragraph (3) to decline to receive further commercial electronic mail messages from the sender.” Paragraph (3) requires a functioning return email address or other Internet-based mechanism that “remains capable of receiving such messages or communications for no less than 30 days after the transmission of the original message.”

A store may offer a menu, such as specials only or holiday hours only, but the menu must include “an option under which the recipient may choose not to receive any commercial electronic mail messages from the sender.” The FTC guide adds: “Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.”

Under 16 CFR 316.5, no sender or anyone acting for it may require a recipient to “pay any fee, provide any information other than the recipient’s electronic mail address and opt-out preferences, or take any other steps except sending a reply electronic mail message or visiting a single Internet Web page” to opt out. An unsubscribe page that demands a loyalty number or a login first goes beyond what the rule allows.

6. Honor the opt-out within 10 business days

Under 15 U.S.C. 7704(a)(4)(A)(i), it is unlawful for the sender to send a covered commercial email “more than 10 business days after the receipt of such request.” The FTC guide: “You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days.”

The statute speaks to requests made through the mechanism in the email. Customers do not always use it; a regular may simply ask the cashier to be taken off the list. The law as quoted here does not address a spoken request, but a sensible store policy is to treat it exactly like an unsubscribe click and enter it the same day.

7. Never sell or hand over an opted-out address

Once a customer opts out, the statute bars the sender from acting “to sell, lease, exchange, or otherwise transfer or release the electronic mail address of the recipient” for “any purpose other than compliance with this chapter or other provision of law.” The FTC guide: “The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.”

A customer who opted out can come back: “A prohibition in subparagraph (A) does not apply if there is affirmative consent by the recipient subsequent to the request under subparagraph (A).” Fresh, express consent, recorded with a date, reopens the door.

Loyalty members can still opt out

Many stores collect addresses through a loyalty sign-up, and the FTC guide speaks to that directly: “Recipients of emails from a sender that runs a subscription service or membership program still have the right to opt out of marketing messages from you.”

It sets out both halves in one sentence: “While you don’t need to get members’ consent to send them marketing emails, subscribers and members don’t lose their ability to opt out of marketing emails from you simply because they have a subscription or membership.”

• Opting out of email is not leaving the program. Canceling a member’s points because they unsubscribed would make the opt-out cost more than an email address. Keep the two separate as a store policy.
• Points statements can stay clean. A periodic balance statement fits the “account balance information” category. Add deals to the top or a promotional subject line, and it becomes commercial and needs the opt-out, the address and the ad label.

Using an outside email service does not move the responsibility

Most stores send their newsletter through an email service or a marketing helper. The FTC guide is direct: “The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law.” It adds: “Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.”

The store is the one whose deals are promoted, so the store carries the duty even when a service presses send. Check three things in any service: the store’s name and postal address appear in every footer, the unsubscribe link needs nothing more than an email address, and unsubscribes drop out of future sends well inside 10 business days. An owner can test all three by signing a personal address up to the store’s list and unsubscribing.

Penalties

The FTC guide states that “Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties,” and that “more than one person may be held responsible for violations.” The maximum amount is adjusted for inflation, so this article does not state a figure; the FTC guide carries the current one. Because the penalty counts per email, the template is the place to get things right, not individual sends.

Before You Hit Send: a one-page checklist

Run through these questions before each send. Print the page and keep it by the computer the emails go out from.

Step 1. What is this email mostly for? If it promotes a product, a sale or the store, it is commercial and every step applies. If it is only a receipt, recall notice, clean points statement or change-of-terms notice, it may be transactional or relationship. If it mixes the two and either the subject line or the opening reads as promotion, treat it as commercial.

Step 2. Run the template checks.

Step 3. Clean the list. Confirm that everyone who opted out since the last send, by link, by reply or at the counter, has been removed. The legal deadline is 10 business days; same-day removal is a simple store policy.

Step 4. Check where the addresses came from. Only your own customers’ sign-ups, and no opted-out address shared or uploaded elsewhere.

Step 5. Send a test to yourself. Read it on a phone, click the unsubscribe link and confirm it works with only an email address.

Step 6. Keep the record. Save the email as sent, the date and the opt-outs processed.

Get the template right once and Steps 2 and 5 pass every week. Steps 3 and 4 need attention on every send.

Sign-up at the counter: store practices

The sections quoted here do not require consent before sending deals emails. Still, how a store collects addresses shapes how easy the rules are to follow. These are store policy recommendations, not legal requirements:

• Ask plainly. A sign-up card or screen that offers weekly specials by email from the store, by name, is the kind of clear request the affirmative-consent definition describes.
• Record the date and the source. Counter card, loyalty sign-up or website form.
• Give staff one place to record a removal request, entered the same day.
• Use the list only for your store’s own emails.

Where state law fits

CAN-SPAM limits state email laws more than many federal rules do. 15 U.S.C. 7707(b) says the federal law “supersedes any statute, regulation, or rule of a State or political subdivision of a State that expressly regulates the use of electronic mail to send commercial messages, except to the extent that any such statute, regulation, or rule prohibits falsity or deception in any portion of a commercial electronic mail message or information attached thereto.”

It does not preempt “State laws that are not specific to electronic mail, including State trespass, contract, or tort law,” or state laws “to the extent that those laws relate to acts of fraud or computer crime.” So state rules against false or deceptive email content, and state laws not specific to email, can still apply alongside CAN-SPAM, and where one of those is stricter, the store must meet it too. This article does not summarize any state’s rules; ask your state attorney general’s office or an attorney.

Where the POS fits, and where it does not

For many stores the email list starts at the register. NRS’s loyalty page says: “NRS Loyalty feature allows you to create Loyalty Points and Clubs programs for your customers.” NRS’s home page adds: “Use your POS customer database to send targeted marketing messages and important notifications.”

The register is where a store can capture a sign-up cleanly, tied to the customer’s loyalty account. What the POS does not do is make an email compliant. The From line, subject, ad label, postal address and opt-out handling belong to whatever tool sends the email, and the store stays responsible for all of them.

For building the program that feeds the list, see NRS’s guide to setting up a customer loyalty program at a convenience store. For planning the year’s offers, see how to manage seasonal promotions at your retail store. For organizing customer records, see what customer relationship management means for a store.

What this article leaves out. It does not cover text messages, state email or privacy laws, the rules for sexually explicit email, the rules for naming a single sender when several companies are promoted in one email, refer-a-friend emails, or the criminal provisions on harvesting addresses. The statute and rule were read on the Legal Information Institute and eCFR sites, and the FTC guide on ftc.gov, on 21 October 2026, and any of them can change.

Frequently asked questions

Key takeaways

• An email whose primary purpose is promoting your store is a commercial message, even if it goes to one customer.
• Receipts, recall notices and clean points statements can be transactional or relationship messages, but the FTC reads those categories narrowly.
• A deal at the top of a receipt or a promotional subject line makes the whole email commercial.
• Every deals email needs an honest From line and subject, your valid physical postal address and a working opt-out, and an ad label unless the customer gave prior affirmative consent.
• A P.O. box counts only if accurately registered with the Postal Service.
• Honor opt-outs within 10 business days, ask for nothing beyond an email address, and never share an opted-out address.
• Loyalty members can opt out of marketing email too, and an email service does not take on your responsibility.
• Run the Before You Hit Send checklist on every send.