The 7 Klaviyo Flows Every Ecommerce Brand Needs

The seven Klaviyo flows every ecommerce brand needs are: welcome, abandoned cart or checkout, browse abandonment, post-purchase, replenishment, winback and sunset. Each one is triggered by something a person does (or stops doing), so the message arrives when it is relevant.

Below I go through each flow with its trigger, its purpose, how many messages I would put in it, and one tip. There is a summary table near the end if you only want the short version.

Why flows come before campaigns

Campaigns go to a lot of people at a time you choose. Flows go to one person at the moment they act. That timing is why flows punch above their weight.

Klaviyo's email benchmarks, based on more than 183,000 of its customers, report that flows bring in nearly 41% of total email revenue from only 5.3% of sends. The same page puts the average flow click rate at 5.58%, against 1.69% for campaigns.

So if your account is mostly campaigns with one or two half-built flows, this is where I would spend the next few weeks.

Flows that turn visitors into first-time buyers

1. Welcome series

• Trigger: someone is added to your newsletter list, usually through a signup form.
• Purpose: deliver what you promised on the form, introduce the brand, and get the first order.
• Messages: I build 4 to 5 emails. Klaviyo's own setup guide uses a simple example of three emails spread over one week, which is a fine starting point.
• Tip: add a split that checks whether the person has already ordered, so existing customers who join the list do not get a first-order discount pitch.

2. Abandoned cart or checkout

• Trigger: Started Checkout is the most common trigger according to Klaviyo's abandoned cart guide. You can run a second flow on Added to Cart for people who never reached checkout.
• Purpose: bring back people who were close to buying.
• Messages: Klaviyo recommends 2 to 3 messages, with the first one 2 to 4 hours after the checkout started and the next one 20 to 48 hours later.
• Tip: keep the discount out of the first email. Klaviyo's guide says the same: save it for the last message or for people who have never purchased.

3. Browse abandonment

• Trigger: Viewed Product, with filters so that anyone who starts a checkout or orders is removed.
• Purpose: a light reminder for people who looked but did not add to cart.
• Messages: 1 or 2. Intent is lower here, so I keep it short.
• Tip: limit how often someone can enter. Klaviyo's browse abandonment guide suggests a filter that skips anyone who has been in the flow in the last 30 days, and a delay of at least one hour before the first email.

Flows that turn one order into two

4. Post-purchase

• Trigger: Placed Order (or Fulfilled Order for messages that should land closer to delivery).
• Purpose: say thank you, help the customer get a good result from the product, then ask for a review and suggest what to buy next.
• Messages: 3 to 5, spread over a few weeks.
• Tip: split first-time and repeat buyers. In Klaviyo the condition is whether Placed Order equals 1 over all time. A fifth-time customer does not need the brand introduction.

5. Replenishment

• Trigger: Placed Order, filtered to a specific consumable product.
• Purpose: remind people to reorder just before they run out.
• Messages: 2 to 3. Klaviyo's replenishment guide suggests two reminders and one follow-up after the buying cycle has passed.
• Tip: time it to the product, not the calendar. Klaviyo's example for a 30-day supply is a first reminder around day 25. If you sell different sizes, each size needs its own timing.

Flows that deal with silence

6. Winback

• Trigger: Placed Order, followed by a long time delay and a filter that removes anyone who orders again.
• Purpose: bring back customers who have gone past their normal reorder window.
• Messages: Klaviyo's winback guide recommends three emails.
• Tip: set the delay a little longer than your average buying cycle, which is how Klaviyo frames it too. A coffee brand and a mattress brand should not use the same number of days.

7. Sunset

• Trigger: a segment of subscribers who have received plenty of emails and have not opened, clicked or visited in a long time.
• Purpose: give people one last chance to stay, then stop emailing the ones who do not respond. This protects your deliverability.
• Messages: Klaviyo's sunset guide says to keep it to no more than three emails.
• Tip: finish the flow with an action. Tag the profiles that stayed silent and suppress them, otherwise the flow is just three more emails to people who do not open.

A flow nobody opens is still a flow you are paying to send.

The seven flows at a glance

What to do next

You do not have to build all seven this week. I start with the flows closest to a purchase, because they pay for the time you spend on the rest.

Then open each live flow once a quarter. Check that the filters still work, the products shown are still in stock, and the timing still matches how your customers buy. If you would like a second pair of eyes on your flows, book a call and I will tell you what I would fix first.