The 4 Klaviyo Flows Every DTC Brand Needs (and What to Put in Each)
Most DTC brands have some flows set up. Few have the right ones built correctly. Here is exactly what each revenue-critical flow should include — and why it matters.
If you are running a DTC brand on Shopify with Klaviyo connected, you probably have at least one or two flows live. A Welcome email that fires when someone subscribes. Maybe an Abandoned Cart reminder. But most brands stop there — and that gap between “some flows” and “the right flows” is where significant revenue is quietly lost every month.
Email flows are your brand's automated revenue engine. Unlike campaigns (which you send manually and which decay immediately after), flows run indefinitely and compound over time. Getting them right once pays you back for months or years.
There are four flows that every DTC brand should have live, sending, and performing. This is not a ranking — all four matter. But they each serve a different customer moment and cover a different part of the buyer journey.
1. Welcome Series
When it fires: Immediately after someone subscribes to your list
Your Welcome Series is the highest-leverage flow you will ever build. New subscribers are more engaged than they will ever be again — they just opted in, they have your brand on their mind, and they have not yet made a decision about whether to buy. The Welcome Series is your chance to make a first impression and convert that curiosity into a purchase.
Most brands treat this as a single email. That is a significant missed opportunity. A properly built Welcome Series runs 4 to 5 emails over the first 9 to 10 days. Each email has a specific job.
What to include:
Email 1 — Immediately
Brand introduction. Lead with your brand promise and what makes you different. Do not open with a discount — that trains subscribers to wait for one. Hook on values. Close with a soft CTA to browse bestsellers.
Email 2 — Day 2
Social proof. Showcase your top 3 products with real customer review snippets as sub-copy. Link directly to product pages, not your homepage.
Email 3 — Day 5
Deeper trust. Customer stories with photos. Short, specific, and outcome-focused. Include star rating count in the preview text.
Email 4 — Day 9
First-purchase offer. You have earned the right to offer a discount now. Frame it as a reward for their engagement, not a generic code. Include a 48-hour expiry and a single CTA.
Key Klaviyo setting: add a flow filter to exclude anyone who has already placed an order. You do not want to send a first-purchase offer to a customer who already bought.
2. Abandoned Cart (Checkout)
When it fires: When someone starts checkout but does not complete purchase
Industry-wide, somewhere between 65% and 75% of carts are abandoned. Cart abandoners are your single highest-intent audience — they got all the way to checkout, entered their shipping address, and then stopped. The most common reasons are distraction, shipping cost sticker shock, or simply needing to think about it. A well-timed, well-written cart sequence recovers a meaningful percentage of that revenue at near-zero marginal cost.
This flow should be 3 emails. Not one. Three.
What to include:
Email 1 — 1 hour after abandonment
Gentle reminder. Pull in a dynamic image of the abandoned product. Ask a question rather than push. Address the most common objection (price? shipping?) briefly. No discount yet.
Email 2 — 24 hours later
Soft urgency plus social proof. "We can only hold your cart until tonight." Include how many others have viewed or bought recently. One clear CTA.
Email 3 — 72 hours later
Final incentive. Now introduce a small offer — 10% off or free shipping works well. Make clear this is your last email in the sequence. Give the code a 24-hour expiry.
Klaviyo tip: use the “Started Checkout” trigger, not “Added to Cart.” Checkout-triggered flows are significantly more reliable across Shopify integrations. Add a flow filter to suppress anyone who completes a purchase after abandoning, so they do not receive cart emails after buying.
3. Post-Purchase Series
When it fires: Immediately after a completed order
The Post-Purchase flow is underrated. Most brands treat it as just a transactional confirmation — and that is a missed opportunity. The post-purchase period is when a customer's trust is at its highest and their attention is most focused on your brand. A well-built post-purchase sequence builds loyalty, reduces buyer's remorse, generates reviews, and drives repeat purchases.
What to include:
Email 1 — Immediately (Order Confirmation)
Clean and functional. Order summary, estimated delivery, support contact. Add a secondary CTA to follow on social or join your community. Keep it calm and reassuring.
Email 2 — Day 3 (Shipping Update)
Include a tracking link. Add 2–3 usage tips or care instructions relevant to what they bought. This builds anticipation and begins building a relationship with the product before it arrives.
Email 3 — Day 14 (Experience Check)
Ask how they are finding it. If the response indicates satisfaction — prompt them for a review. If not — direct them to support. Segment based on how they engage. This is your loyalty-building moment.
Email 4 — Day 30 (Replenishment or Cross-Sell)
Based on what they bought, suggest reorder timing or a complementary product. Keep the offer light — a loyalty discount or free shipping. This is the beginning of your repeat purchase cycle.
4. Win-Back Series
When it fires: When a customer has not purchased in 90+ days
Win-Back flows address one of the most expensive problems in DTC: customer churn. Acquiring a new customer costs 5 to 7 times more than retaining an existing one. The Win-Back flow targets lapsed customers — people who have bought before and gone quiet — with a sequence designed to re-engage them before you lose them permanently to suppression.
There are two goals here: re-engage whoever can be re-engaged, and cleanly sunset those who cannot. Both outcomes benefit your list health.
What to include:
Email 1 — Day 90 (Re-engagement)
Show what is new since their last purchase. Personalise to their last purchase category if possible. No offer yet — lead with curiosity and social proof to see if they are still interested.
Email 2 — Day 120 (Personalised Offer)
Introduce an incentive. Personalise to their purchase history where possible. Frame as exclusive: "for customers who haven't visited in a while." Use a meaningful incentive — free shipping alone may not be enough at this stage.
Email 3 — Day 150 (Last Chance)
Your strongest offer. Be direct: this is the last email before you stop contacting them. Give a 72-hour expiry. Respect the decision — if they do not engage, move them to a suppressed or sunset segment.
After the Win-Back sequence ends with no engagement, remove these contacts from your active list. Continuing to send to unengaged contacts hurts your deliverability for every email you send. A clean list outperforms a large one.
How to Know If Your Flows Are Actually Working
Having these four flows live is the starting point. Knowing whether they are performing well requires benchmarks. For DTC brands on Klaviyo:
- Welcome Series open rate: aim for 45–55%+ on email 1
- Abandoned Cart recovery rate: 5–10% of carts abandoned across the sequence
- Post-Purchase review conversion: 3–8% of buyers leaving a review from the sequence
- Win-Back re-engagement: 8–15% of lapsed customers placing another order
If your flows are live but underperforming these benchmarks, the issue is usually one of: subject line quality, send timing, email depth (too few emails), or trigger configuration problems in Klaviyo.
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