The Klaviyo flows every Shopify store needs

Short answer: Every Shopify store should run at least five flows: a welcome series, abandoned checkout, browse abandonment, post-purchase, and win-back. Add abandoned cart (add-to-cart without checkout), replenishment, back-in-stock and VIP flows when your data and catalogue support them. Build them once, review them twice a year, and they'll keep earning while you sleep.

The examples below use Klaviyo terms, but the same flows work in Omnisend, Shopify Email, Mailchimp and other platforms.

Why flows matter more than campaigns

Campaigns are the emails you send to your list on a schedule: launches, sales, newsletters. Flows are triggered by what a customer actually does, so they reach people at the moment they're most interested. A well-built flow keeps working every day without anyone pressing send, which is why flows are usually the first thing we fix for established stores.

1. Welcome series

Trigger: someone joins your list through a sign-up form or pop-up.

Why it matters: new subscribers are at their most engaged right after signing up. This is your chance to introduce the brand and turn interest into a first purchase.

A solid structure:

• Email 1 (immediately): deliver whatever you promised (a discount, guide or early access), say who you are in two sentences, and link to best sellers.
• Email 2 (day 2): your story or point of difference: why the products exist, who makes them, what makes them better.
• Email 3 (day 4): social proof, with reviews, customer photos and press mentions.
• Email 4 (day 6–7): help choosing: a quiz, buying guide or best sellers by need. If you used an incentive, remind them before it expires.

Split it: customers who buy during the series should exit and move into post-purchase.

2. Abandoned checkout

Trigger: "Started Checkout" without "Placed Order". This is the classic "abandoned cart email" most people mean.

A solid structure:

• Email 1 (1–4 hours): a simple reminder with the product image, name and a clear button back to checkout. No discount.
• Email 2 (about 24 hours): handle objections: shipping times and thresholds, returns policy, reviews, sizing help.
• Email 3 (48–72 hours, optional): a final nudge. If you use an incentive, this is the place, with filters to exclude people who've recently received one.

Tips: pull in dynamic product blocks so customers see exactly what they left. Make sure the link restores their checkout. Keep the design simple, because most opens are on mobile.

3. Abandoned cart (added to cart, didn't check out)

Trigger: "Added to Cart" without "Started Checkout". Klaviyo needs the Added to Cart event tracked on your store, which most current integrations support.

This catches shoppers earlier than the checkout flow. Keep it to one or two emails, and make sure people who go on to start checkout exit this flow and enter abandoned checkout instead, so nobody gets duplicate reminders.

4. Browse abandonment

Trigger: "Viewed Product" without adding to cart, for known subscribers or customers.

Structure: one or two gentle emails featuring the product they viewed plus related items, a review, and a helpful line such as "Need help choosing a size?". Set frequency limits so frequent browsers aren't flooded.

5. Post-purchase

Trigger: "Placed Order".

The post-purchase flow does more for long-term revenue than almost any other. It reassures, educates and sets up the second order.

• Thank-you and what happens next (day 0–1): a genuine thank-you beyond the transactional confirmation, plus delivery expectations.
• How to get the best results (on or after delivery): usage, care or styling tips. This reduces returns and builds loyalty.
• Review request (about 7–14 days after delivery, depending on the product): ask while the experience is fresh.
• Cross-sell (2–4 weeks): complementary products based on what they bought.

Split first-time and repeat customers. First-time buyers need more reassurance and brand story; repeat customers can get straight to new arrivals and loyalty perks.

6. Replenishment

Trigger: a set time after purchasing a consumable, such as skincare, supplements, coffee or pet food.

Base the timing on how long the product actually lasts. If a serum lasts about six weeks, send a reminder around week five. Subscription offers fit naturally here.

7. Back in stock

Trigger: a customer subscribes to back-in-stock alerts on an out-of-stock product.

Simple and high intent: "It's back", the product, and a buy button. Send promptly, because stock may be limited.

8. Win-back

Trigger: customers who haven't purchased within a period that's long for your category (often 90 to 180 days, depending on purchase frequency).

Structure: two or three emails: what's new since they last visited, a reminder of what they loved, and optionally an incentive in the final email. Customers who don't re-engage after the flow should be considered for suppression to protect deliverability.

9. VIP and loyalty (when you're ready)

Once you have enough repeat customers, reward your best ones with early access, exclusive products or thank-you gifts. Segment by order count or lifetime value.

Sign-up capture: fuel for every flow

Flows only work if people join your list. Use a pop-up or flyout with a clear reason to sign up, timed so it doesn't interrupt shoppers the moment they land. Test the offer: not every brand needs a discount; early access, a guide or a quiz can work too. Make sure the pop-up is easy to close on mobile, both for shoppers and because intrusive interstitials can hurt search performance.

For the Australian beauty and haircare retailer Gemma ran end to end, setting up email marketing and pop-ups to capture sign-ups was part of the programme that took the store from about $100 a week to about $45k a month in sales (client's Shopify data; results include paid ads run by an outside agency she managed). Read the case study.

What to measure

Look at each flow on its own and at the programme as a whole.

• Revenue per recipient for each flow, which is more useful than open rate since Apple Mail Privacy Protection inflates opens.
• Click rate and placed-order rate for each email in a sequence, to spot where people lose interest.
• Unsubscribe and spam complaint rates, especially in the first emails of a welcome series.
• Share of email revenue from flows vs campaigns. A healthy, established store usually earns a meaningful share from flows; if it's very low, flows are probably missing or broken.
• List growth from sign-up forms, by source.

Set up a simple monthly view and compare it with the same month last year to allow for seasonality.

Writing emails people actually read

Good flow emails sound like the brand, not like a template. Use a subject line that says what's inside, open with the point, and keep one main call to action per email. Plain, personal-looking emails from the founder often perform well in welcome and post-purchase flows, especially for smaller brands. Product-heavy layouts suit abandoned checkout and browse abandonment, where the shopper wants to see the item again. Whatever the style, check every email on a phone before it goes live.

Common flow mistakes

• Leaving default templates live for years.
• No exit conditions, so customers who buy keep getting "you forgot something" emails.
• Discounting too early, training customers to abandon carts on purpose.
• Ignoring deliverability: sending to unengaged contacts forever hurts inbox placement for everyone.
• One flow for everyone when first-time and repeat customers need different messages.
• Not reviewing performance. Check flow revenue, open and click rates, and unsubscribes at least twice a year.

SMS alongside email

If you collect SMS consent, add a text message to your abandoned checkout and back-in-stock flows rather than duplicating every email. Keep SMS short, timely and rare, and follow Australian spam rules on consent and opt-out.

How to prioritise

If you're starting from scratch, build in this order: abandoned checkout, welcome series, post-purchase, browse abandonment, then win-back. If those exist, audit them for timing, exit conditions, content and segmentation before adding new flows.

Get it built

Our email and retention service audits your flows in Polish, builds or optimises two flows a month plus campaigns in Grow, and covers all core flows with segmentation in Scale, on Klaviyo, Omnisend, Shopify Email or Mailchimp. See pricing, or request a free audit for an email flow gap check.