Email · Klaviyo
Klaviyo flowsbefore the campaign.
On-site events turned into a few flows, then campaigns for people those flows did not already reach.
The short answer
The program, not the logo.
Klaviyo fits an ecommerce brand whose site can send real events: viewed product, added to cart, started checkout, placed order. The work is the flows tied to those events, a list you have permission to mail, and campaigns that do not shout over the flows. On ecommerce programs, flows accounted for 28% to 41% of email-attributed revenue after 90 days. That range is the program. It is not a Klaviyo guarantee, and it will not show up if the offer and the list are weak.
Ecommerce events
Choose it when the store can tell the truth.
Klaviyo is the right tool when the catalog and the orders live in a store the app can hear, most often Shopify, and someone will write the flows. Browse, cart, checkout, and post-purchase are the spine. Campaigns are the layer for a drop, a restock, or a real edit. They are not the first build.
It is more tool than you need for a simple newsletter with no commerce events. A restaurant list or a small B2B letter may be happier in a lighter platform. It is also the wrong time to switch tools if the current problem is a bought list and a tired domain. A new login will not repair permission you never had.
- Product, cart, and order events can reach the account.
- Someone owns the offer, the creative, and the unsubscribes.
Flow spine
Welcome, abandon, and the mail after the order.
We build welcome for a new subscriber, browse or cart for someone who showed intent, checkout if the data supports it, and post-purchase for what happens after the order. Win-back has an end date. Each flow suppresses people the next flow should not also nag. Discounts are not the default sentence in every email. A first purchase and a refill are different messages.
Campaigns go to engaged people the flows did not just email, with recent buyers suppressed when the offer would cheapen an order they placed. Segments are recency and engagement, not a predicted score we treat as strategy. Domain authentication and a working unsubscribe are in place before volume goes up. SMS, if it exists, is a separate consent and a separate revenue line.
- A short set of flows tied to real store events.
- Recent buyers suppressed from discount campaigns.
Mistakes
A calendar on top of a broken welcome.
The failure is a campaign every week and a welcome flow that is one email with a code. Cart and checkout do not exist, or they fire twice and fight each other. The list includes old purchasers who never opted into promotional mail. Complaints rise. The team adds another send because last week's revenue looked soft.
The other failure is quoting a platform statistic as if the tool produces it. The flow share we cite is from ecommerce programs after 90 days, not from installing Klaviyo. A store with no permission, no products in the template, and a code on every message will not land in that range by changing logos.
- No campaign cadence that outruns the flows.
- No purchased or scraped list imported to 'get started.'
Revenue by flow
Flows and campaigns on separate lines.
We report email-attributed revenue split by flow and by campaign. After 90 days on ecommerce programs, flows have accounted for 28% to 41% of that email-attributed revenue. Say that as the program. Do not say Klaviyo guarantees it. Open rate is a placement check. It is not the goal.
Complaints, unsubscribes, and the sunset of people who never click or buy cap the frequency. A flow that sends and does not get orders gets rewritten or turned off. Campaign revenue per recipient is read with the suppression rules visible, so a blast to the whole list cannot hide behind a single strong day.
- Revenue by flow, separate from campaign revenue.
- Complaint and unsubscribe rates next to send frequency.
Example engagement
A specialty retailer mailing a calendar and little else.
Specialty retailer on Shopify. Klaviyo was connected. The welcome flow was one email. Cart and post-purchase did not exist. Campaigns went out several times a week, including to people who had just bought. Revenue was reported as one email number. The team wanted a new template before they wanted the missing flows.
We built welcome, cart, checkout, and post-purchase, and we suppressed recent buyers from the discount campaigns. Campaigns stayed, on a shorter calendar, aimed at people the flows had not just emailed. On ecommerce programs, flows later accounted for 28% to 41% of email-attributed revenue after 90 days. That is the range across those programs. It is not a promise that this store, or Klaviyo itself, will hit it. The store's report was split by flow so the calendar could no longer take all the credit.
28% to 41%
Share of email-attributed revenue from flows after 90 days, ecommerce programs, not a Klaviyo guarantee
The example uses anonymized results from a Quorum engagement. It is one account, not a benchmark you should budget against.
Questions
Klaviyo questions.
Is this only for Shopify?
Shopify is the common case because the events are there. Other stores can work when the same events arrive intact. If we cannot trust viewed product, cart, and order, we do not pretend the flows are live. Fix the events first.
Do you guarantee that flow share?
No. 28% to 41% is the share of email-attributed revenue from flows after 90 days on ecommerce programs we have run. It describes the program. It is not a Klaviyo guarantee and it is not a quota for your store.
How many campaigns should we send?
As many as you have a reason for, after suppressions, without driving complaints. A standing Thursday send is not a reason. A restock or a real editorial edit can be. Frequency follows the list's engagement, not a calendar template.
Should every flow offer a discount?
No. A code in the welcome mail trains people to wait for a code. Some flows should explain the product, the reorder window, or the delivery. Discounts belong where margin allows them, not as the only sentence the brand can say.
Where does SMS fit?
As its own consent and its own revenue line. A phone number collected for a receipt is not a texting list. If SMS is in scope, it is scoped apart from this email figure so the two channels cannot claim the same order twice.
Talk through klaviyo.
One conversation. A diagnostic. A plan you can kill if it is not the work.