A shopper signs up to your list on Monday. Here is what should happen to them next, and what each step is worth.
| When | What they do | The flow that answers |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | Subscribes | Welcome |
| Day 3 | Looks at one product, leaves | Browse abandonment |
| Day 5 | Adds it to the basket, leaves | Abandoned cart |
| Day 6 | Buys | Post-purchase |
| Day 100 | Has not been back | Winback |
Most brands have a welcome email and an abandoned cart, and nothing else. This shopper falls through 3 gaps: days 3, 6 and 100.
The 5 flows
1. Welcome: 3 to 5 emails, days 0 to 10. The subscriber is paying you the most attention they ever will. Welcome emails usually have the highest open rate on the account. Check yours in Klaviyo.
Build it in this order: the brand story, then proof of the product, then proof from other customers, then a reason to buy by email 4 or 5. Lead with a discount in email 1 and you teach people to wait for one. In Klaviyo, trigger it from “Subscribed to List” with a delay between each send.
2. Browse abandonment: 1 to 2 emails. Send 1 email 4 to 8 hours after someone views a specific product and does not add it to the basket, then a soft follow-up 24 hours later. Intent is lower than a cart, so keep it light and useful, not pushy.
3. Abandoned cart: 3 emails, at about 1 hour, 24 hours and 48 hours. Intent is declared here: they added to basket and left.
- Email 1 is a plain reminder with no offer. Most recoveries happen here.
- Email 2 adds a reason to act now, such as low stock.
- Email 3 can add a small offer, if the margin allows.
Here is what email 1 looks like:
4. Post-purchase: 3 to 5 emails, days 1 to 14. Right after a purchase, trust is at its highest, and most brands send an order confirmation and then go silent.
Use the sequence to confirm the order warmly, say when it will arrive, show how to use or care for the product, and introduce a related product by day 10. The aim is a second order. A second order is the best predictor of a customer who stays.
Put numbers on that second order. Enter your own below and see what a repeat customer does to the sum:
Try it with your numbers
Can you afford this customer?
Pays back within 12 months, on about order 2.
5. Winback: 2 to 3 emails, at 90 to 120 days without a purchase. This is for lapsed buyers only, not a broadcast. Acknowledge the gap, lead with something new, and give a reason to return.
If they ignore 2 or 3 attempts, stop sending them campaigns. Unengaged contacts on your active list hurt deliverability for everyone else.
What separates flows that pay from flows that do not
- Segmentation. A first-time buyer needs different messages from a fifth-time buyer, and a full-price buyer from a discount buyer. Use Klaviyo’s conditional splits to branch on both.
- Plain language. Heavy graphics and complicated templates usually convert worse than an email that reads as if one person wrote it.
- Deliverability. A welcome sequence that lands in spam never reaches the subscriber.
- Testing. Every flow has something to test over time: subject line, send time, number of emails, offer or no offer. Build it properly, let it run, then improve it.
What it is worth
Say a brand has £1m in revenue and its 5 flows bring in 20% of it. That is £200,000 a year from messages that send themselves. Check your own share in Klaviyo’s flow revenue report.
Flows earn more when the budget behind them is sized properly.
Want these 5 flows built and checked against your own list? Book a free call.
Quick answers
What is a good retention rate for ecommerce?
It varies by category. In the accounts we run, a repeat purchase rate above 30% over 12 months is a reasonable benchmark for physical goods. Premium and consumable categories should aim higher. The more useful metric is customer lifetime value, what your average customer is worth across all orders.
How much revenue should email drive for an ecommerce brand?
In the accounts we run, a well-managed email programme contributes 25 to 40% of total revenue for mature ecommerce brands. Flows (automated sequences) usually account for about half of that. The rest comes from campaigns. Check your own split in Klaviyo's revenue attribution.
Which is worth more: the welcome emails or the abandoned basket emails?
The welcome flow, in most cases. It sets the relationship during the highest-attention window a subscriber will ever give you. Abandoned cart recovers intent that already exists; the welcome flow builds it.
Do I need SMS as well as email?
SMS works best as a complement, not a replacement. It outperforms email on time-sensitive triggers such as abandoned carts, flash sales and order updates, but list growth is slower and the frequency ceiling is lower. Add it once your email programme is solid.
How long does it take to build these flows?
A competent Klaviyo setup covering the core 5 flows takes 2 to 4 weeks to build, test and send. The limiting factor is usually copy and creative, not the technical build.
