Due to the new protection standards that Google and Yahoo are enforcing for bulk email senders, we’ve added additional settings to Stay Ai that will improve email deliverability to your customers. Domain verification enables you to control the email domain associated with your email when sending emails to your customers through a third-party app, especially as regulations around email deliverability get stricter for consumer protection.
If you wish to send emails via Stay from a custom domain instead of no-reply@mail-stay.ai (the new default sender email for merchants who do not complete this process), please follow the steps below.
If you do not implement a custom email sender domain in Stay Ai, your Stay subscription emails will send to customers from no-reply@mail-stay.ai. Please note that this is an unmonitored address. If customers respond to the emails sent from no-reply@mail-stay.ai, they will receive an auto-response, directing them to contact the brand directly.
Important! Stay is only acting as the sender for your emails. By enabling these options, you are granting Stay access to send emails on your behalf. DMARC and other policies are controlled by your mailing system and must be set up appropriately.
Using a Main Domain
1. Open your Stay Ai app and navigate to Settings > General. In the Custom Email Domain field, enter the custom domain you would like to use when sending email notifications through Stay. This is the domain you are currently sending your customer communications from (e.g. yourwebsite.com), not your email address. Please ensure that you are not prefacing your main domain with "www." Doing so will be rejected or be recognized as a subdomain, not a main domain.
Important! If you receive an error message "Failed to create domain", it is likely that you are already using this domain for another provider sending through Mailgun (e.g. Gorgias). In this case, you will need to use a subdomain (subscriptions.yourwebsite.com). The steps below apply to using a subdomain, but please refer to the end of the article for an additional instructions specific to using a subdomain.
2. Once you submit your custom email domain, you will be shown "Sending DNS Records" and prompted to set a username (the Sender E-mail User field) for the new domain address. Add the username to match the email you use to send transactional communications to customers. This may be “support” or “help” (e.g. support@yourwebsite.com or help@yourwebsite.com).
3. Work with your webmaster (your web/tech expert) to ensure the "Sending DNS Records" are implemented in your domain registrar (e.g. GoDaddy, Google, Bluehost, Shopify). DNS entry can vary between domain registrars, so please reference documentation from your domain registrar. For example, your DNS provider may only take the first part of the record name (e.g. mx_domainkey), whereas others may require the full record name (e.g. mx_domainkey.customstaydomain.com).
Once the Sending DNS Records are implemented in your DNS settings, please check the status of the records by hitting the refresh button located above the record information.
Important! It can take up to 48 hours for your DNS record updates to become active.
If "v=spf1 include mailgun.org ~all" is already in your SPF records from another platform for the domain you've chosen, there is no need to add it again. It is important to make sure that your records are all in one line.
For example, the below shows all records merged together in one line:
v=spf1 include:mailgun.org include:yourstore.shopify.com include:outlook.com ~all
Below are links to documentations for common domain registrars:
Should you have any questions about adding/updating your DNS records in your domain registrar, please consult your webmaster/IT team.
4. Once your records are enabled, your SPF and DKIM records are verified. You can now toggle on the setting “Enable Sends to This Domain”. This will allow you to send emails from your domain to your customers via Stay without issue.
If you run into any issues with updating the new domain settings in Stay, please reach out to your CSM.
Using a Subdomain
If you already using your main domain for another provider sending emails through Mailgun (e.g. Gorgias), you will need to use a subdomain for Stay Ai, as Mailgun checks across its entire platform to check for any existing domains.
Steps 1–4 remain the same as using a main domain. The only difference will be entering a subdomain rather than a main domain and updating your DNS records specific to your subdomain.
5. Below the Sending DNS Records, you should see Receiving DNS Records, which are provided by Mailgun. If pre-existing receiving records for your subdomain do not already exist in your DNS settings, please add the Receiving DNS Records. MX (Mail Exchange) records are essential in defining the routing of emails and determining the specific domain to which they should be directed.
A priority may be required when adding these receiving records to your DNS settings. Please enter priority 10, as that is what Mailgun recommends.
Important! If you override existing receiving records, you could cause existing mailing systems to stop sending. Receiving records is required for delivery, but please consult your webmaster to ensure your DNS is set up appropriately.
Once you've added the MX records to your DNS settings, hit the refresh button next to Receiving DNS Records to make sure the records have been verified.
Please note, if you do not have receiving records set up from the subdomain in your domain registrar, customers cannot reply to your subdomain email, in the off-chance they manually enter your subdomain email to reply and it may also affect the deliverability of your emails. The reply-to email address field in Settings will remain active and available for you to set as you wish.
For stores who have verified SPF and DKIM records (the first two TXT records in your Sending DNS Records) by Tuesday, February 6th, Stay will automatically set the forwarding email address to be the same as your reply-to email address. This will ensure that any emails that are sent to your subdomain sender email (e.g. info@sends.staysubscription.com) are forwarded to the active reply-to email address (e.g. info@stay.ai).
For all other stores, please fill out the Forwarding Email Address field. This is likely the email address you have set as your Reply-To Email Address.
