Klaviyo Flow Setup Guide
A client came to us with 3 Klaviyo flows. We built 18. Their email revenue went from 12% to 38% of total revenue.
They had a welcome series, a cart abandonment flow, and a "thank you" email. That was it. Three flows doing the work of eighteen. No browse abandonment capturing window shoppers. No post-purchase sequence driving second orders. No cross-sell flows matching products to purchase history. No win-back campaigns recovering lapsing customers. Just three flows and an email revenue percentage that should have been embarrassing.
We built the missing fifteen flows over 45 days. Within 90 days, email revenue went from 12% to 38% of their total store revenue. Same list size. Same products. Same traffic. The only thing that changed was that Klaviyo was actually doing what it was designed to do — automating personalized messages at every stage of the customer lifecycle.
This guide covers the 8 essential flows every Shopify store needs running in Klaviyo. The ones that should be live before you spend another dollar on ads or worry about any other marketing channel. Flows are free revenue — they run 24/7 without you touching them once they are built.
12% → 38%
Email Revenue Lift
8
Essential Flows
Gold
Klaviyo Partner
150+
Accounts Built
How to fix this — step by step
Welcome series: 7 emails over 14 days
Triggered when someone subscribes. Email 1 (immediate): deliver the signup offer and welcome them. Email 2 (day 2): brand story — who you are, why you exist. Email 3 (day 4): best-selling products or hero product spotlight. Email 4 (day 6): social proof — reviews, testimonials, UGC. Email 5 (day 8): education — how to use your products, buying guide. Email 6 (day 10): reminder of signup offer if unused. Email 7 (day 14): last chance for signup offer. Split by engagement: if they buy at any point, exit the flow and enter post-purchase.
Cart abandonment: 3-4 emails over 48 hours
Triggered when someone adds to cart but does not complete checkout. Email 1 (1 hour): "You left something behind" — product image, cart contents, link to complete. Email 2 (24 hours): social proof for the abandoned product — reviews, ratings, customer photos. Email 3 (48 hours): urgency or incentive — limited stock notice, free shipping offer, or small discount. Add a conditional split: if cart value is above your AOV, send a different sequence with more urgency and better incentive. High-value carts deserve more attention.
Browse abandonment: 2 emails over 24 hours
Triggered when someone views a product but does not add to cart. Email 1 (4 hours): "Still interested in [product]?" with product image and description. Email 2 (24 hours): alternative products in the same category or social proof for the viewed product. This flow catches the 95% of visitors who browse but do not add to cart. Lower conversion rate than cart abandonment but much higher volume — often generates more total revenue.
Post-purchase: 5-6 emails over 30 days
Triggered after first purchase. Email 1 (day 0): order confirmation with personal touch — not just a receipt. Email 2 (day 3): shipping confirmation + product care tips or usage guide. Email 3 (day 7): ask for a review. Email 4 (day 14): cross-sell recommendation based on what they bought. Email 5 (day 21): educational content or brand story deepening. Email 6 (day 30): replenishment reminder (if consumable) or new product introduction. Split: first-time buyers vs. repeat buyers get different messaging.
Win-back: 5 emails over 45 days
Triggered when a customer has not purchased in a period appropriate for your product (60-120 days). Email 1: "We have not seen you in a while" — no discount, just engagement. Email 2 (7 days later): new products or updates since their last purchase. Email 3 (14 days): free shipping offer. Email 4 (21 days): percentage discount. Email 5 (45 days): final effort — best offer + "we do not want to lose you." After flow: if no engagement, move to sunset segment.
Cross-sell and upsell flows
Triggered 7-14 days after purchase based on what they bought. If they bought product A, recommend product B that 40% of A-buyers also purchase. Use Klaviyo product recommendations or manually map cross-sell relationships for your top products. This flow turns single-product buyers into multi-product customers. Time it after they have received and used their purchase — not the day after they ordered.
Want us to handle this?
These 6 flows (plus review request and sunset flows to round out the essential 8) will get your Klaviyo generating real revenue. Build them one at a time over 30 days, starting with welcome and cart abandonment.
If you want all 15-25 flows built by a Gold Partner team with custom copy, advanced conditional logic, and A/B testing baked in — that is what we do. Free audit to show you what is missing and what the revenue opportunity looks like.
Questions our best clients asked first
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