Klaviyo automation is one of the highest-ROI investments an e-commerce brand can make. The right flows — welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase, win-back — run 24/7 and generate revenue without anyone pressing send. Brands using Klaviyo automation report that automated flows account for 30–50% of their total email revenue, despite requiring only a few hours to set up. This guide covers the exact flows to build and how to connect Klaviyo to your broader automation stack.
What is Klaviyo automation?
Klaviyo automation refers to the flows and sequences that trigger automatically based on subscriber behaviour — joining a list, abandoning a cart, making a purchase, going inactive for 90 days. Unlike broadcast campaigns (which you send manually to everyone), flows run in the background and send the right message to the right person at exactly the right moment.
Klaviyo's automation sits on top of its behavioural data layer. Because Klaviyo tracks what subscribers browse, buy, and click, every flow can be personalised based on actual actions — not just list membership. This is what separates Klaviyo automation from basic email marketing automation tools.
Klaviyo automation flows generate revenue around the clock — no manual sends required
The 5 core Klaviyo flows every brand needs
1. Welcome series
The welcome series is your highest-open-rate flow. New subscribers are most engaged in their first 48 hours — welcome series average open rates of 50–60%, compared to 20–25% for regular campaigns. A strong welcome series has 3–5 emails:
- Email 1 (immediate): Welcome + brand story + any promised incentive (discount code, lead magnet)
- Email 2 (day 2): Your bestsellers or most popular collections
- Email 3 (day 4): Social proof — reviews, user-generated content, press mentions
- Email 4 (day 7): Soft urgency if the subscriber hasn't purchased yet
2. Abandoned cart flow
Around 70% of shopping carts are abandoned. An automated Klaviyo abandoned cart flow recovers a portion of that revenue without any manual effort. The standard structure:
- Email 1 (1 hour after abandonment): Gentle reminder with cart contents shown
- Email 2 (24 hours): Address common objections — free shipping, returns policy, reviews
- Email 3 (48–72 hours): Time-limited incentive (5–10% off, free gift) if the subscriber still hasn't converted
Well-optimised abandoned cart flows generate an average of $5–$8 per email sent. For a store doing 1,000 abandoned carts per month, that's $5,000–$8,000 in recovered revenue from a single automated flow.
The core Klaviyo flows — each triggers automatically from specific subscriber behaviour
3. Post-purchase sequence
Most brands stop automating the moment a customer buys. This is a huge missed opportunity. A post-purchase sequence does three things: confirms the order, builds loyalty, and plants the seed for the next purchase.
- Email 1 (immediate): Order confirmation + shipping info (transactional — high open rate)
- Email 2 (3–5 days): Usage tips, how to get the most from their purchase, link to support
- Email 3 (14 days): Request for review + social share incentive
- Email 4 (30 days): Complementary product recommendation based on what they bought
4. Browse abandonment
Browse abandonment fires when a subscriber views a product page but doesn't add to cart. It converts at lower rates than cart abandonment (typically 1–3% vs 5–8%) but represents a much larger audience. A single browse abandonment email, sent 1–4 hours after the session, adds meaningful incremental revenue with almost no setup cost.
5. Win-back flow
Subscribers who haven't opened an email in 90–180 days are on a path toward unsubscribing — or worse, marking your mail as spam. A Klaviyo win-back flow sends a short sequence to re-engage them before you lose them permanently. If they don't re-engage after 3–4 emails, suppress them to protect your deliverability.
Klaviyo shows revenue attribution by flow — helping you optimise the sequences that matter most
Advanced Klaviyo automation strategies
Segment-based conditional splits
Klaviyo's conditional split blocks let you branch flows based on subscriber properties — VIP vs. non-VIP, first-time buyer vs. repeat customer, high-AOV vs. low-AOV. A VIP customer who abandons a cart should receive a different message than a first-time visitor. Use splits to make your flows smarter without creating entirely separate sequences.
Predictive analytics triggers
Klaviyo's predictive analytics engine calculates each customer's predicted next order date, lifetime value, and churn risk. You can trigger flows based on these predictions — sending a re-engagement email 5 days before Klaviyo predicts a customer is likely to buy, or a win-back campaign when churn risk crosses a threshold.
Connecting Klaviyo to your full stack
Klaviyo is powerful for email automation within the platform. But when you need to connect Klaviyo events to other parts of your business — creating a HubSpot contact when a subscriber becomes a VIP, posting a Slack alert when a high-value customer churns, logging new subscribers to Google Sheets for your sales team — you need an external automation layer.
Vendarwon Flow connects to Klaviyo's API so you can trigger workflows from Klaviyo events or push data into Klaviyo from any other app. Describe what you want in plain English and the workflow is built automatically. For more on building multi-tool sequences, see our guide to email marketing automation.
| Flow | Avg. revenue per email sent | Setup time |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome series | $2–$4 | 2–3 hours |
| Abandoned cart | $5–$8 | 2–3 hours |
| Post-purchase | $1–$3 | 2–4 hours |
| Browse abandonment | $0.50–$1.50 | 1–2 hours |
| Win-back | $0.80–$2 | 2–3 hours |
Frequently asked questions
What is the best first Klaviyo flow to build?
Start with the abandoned cart flow. It has the highest revenue-per-email-sent of any Klaviyo automation and requires only 2–3 hours to set up. Most brands see ROI within the first week of activation.
How many emails should be in a Klaviyo welcome series?
Three to five emails is the sweet spot. Email 1 delivers the promised incentive immediately, emails 2–3 build brand trust and showcase bestsellers, and email 4–5 nudge toward first purchase with social proof and light urgency. Beyond five emails, unsubscribe rates tend to rise for cold lists.
Can Klaviyo automation send SMS as well as email?
Yes — Klaviyo supports SMS flows alongside email flows. The same trigger events (abandoned cart, post-purchase, win-back) can trigger SMS messages. SMS typically has higher open rates (95%+) but lower tolerance for frequency. Use SMS as a complement to email, not a replacement.
How does Klaviyo automation compare to Mailchimp?
Klaviyo is purpose-built for e-commerce with deep Shopify/WooCommerce integration, predictive analytics, and revenue attribution per flow. Mailchimp is more general-purpose. For e-commerce brands, Klaviyo automation consistently outperforms Mailchimp in revenue per subscriber. For a broader comparison, see our guide to ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp.
What data does Klaviyo use to personalise automations?
Klaviyo tracks browse history, purchase history, email engagement (opens, clicks), SMS activity, cart events, and custom properties you define. This data feeds into conditional splits, predictive analytics, and dynamic product recommendations inside flows — making every automated email more relevant than a broadcast.
For most e-commerce brands, automated Klaviyo flows account for 30–50% of total email revenue