Management Center: Troubleshooting: Marketing activity is not sending email messages as expected

Troubleshooting: Marketing activity is not sending email messages as expected

After you create an email activity, you register as a test customer in store preview to be the recipient of the email message. However, the test customer does not receive the email message.

Possible causes, and actions to take
There are a number of reasons why the test customer might not receive the email message.

Possible causes Actions to take
Email accounts are not correctly configured in your testing environment. Ask the site administrator to confirm that the outbound and inbound email accounts are configured properly in the Administration Console. A common problem is that the fully qualified host name of the WebSphere Commerce server specified in the email account is incorrect. Instructions and examples for the site administrator are provided in Configure email activity accounts.
The test customer createdd did not opt in to receive marketing email messages. WebSphere Commerce sends marketing email messages only to customers who opt in. In store preview, open the account for the test customer and select the option to receive marketing email messages.
The test customer createdd is not in the customer segment that is specified in the email activity. Use store preview to create a test customer who belongs to the customer segment. For example:

If the customer segment is Female Customers, register as a customer who specifies her gender as female.
If the customer segment is Customers Who Purchased Cameras, register and then purchase a camera in store preview.

The send date and time for the email activity has not arrived yet. Every email activity has a send date and send time:

The Send date is set by you in the email activity properties. When we are testing an email activity, in the properties for the activity, set the Send date to the current date. After you finish testing, we can change the Send date to the correct date for our actual customers.
The Send time is configured for the store by the site administrator in the Administration Console. We can view the configured Send time immediately below the Send date in the email activity properties.

Typically, the send time is during off-peak hours. If you do not want to wait for the send time to arrive, ask a site administrator to force the email activity to be sent right away.

Related concepts
Email activities

Related tasks
Testing an email activity

Possible causes	Actions to take
Email accounts are not correctly configured in your testing environment.	Ask the site administrator to confirm that the outbound and inbound email accounts are configured properly in the Administration Console. A common problem is that the fully qualified host name of the WebSphere Commerce server specified in the email account is incorrect. Instructions and examples for the site administrator are provided in Configure email activity accounts.
The test customer createdd did not opt in to receive marketing email messages. WebSphere Commerce sends marketing email messages only to customers who opt in.	In store preview, open the account for the test customer and select the option to receive marketing email messages.
The test customer createdd is not in the customer segment that is specified in the email activity.	Use store preview to create a test customer who belongs to the customer segment. For example: If the customer segment is Female Customers, register as a customer who specifies her gender as female. If the customer segment is Customers Who Purchased Cameras, register and then purchase a camera in store preview.
The send date and time for the email activity has not arrived yet.	Every email activity has a send date and send time: The Send date is set by you in the email activity properties. When we are testing an email activity, in the properties for the activity, set the Send date to the current date. After you finish testing, we can change the Send date to the correct date for our actual customers. The Send time is configured for the store by the site administrator in the Administration Console. We can view the configured Send time immediately below the Send date in the email activity properties. Typically, the send time is during off-peak hours. If you do not want to wait for the send time to arrive, ask a site administrator to force the email activity to be sent right away.