What is an email flow?

An automated series of emails sent when a customer does something, such as signing up, leaving a cart or making a purchase.

Which email flow should I build first?

The welcome, then the abandoned cart. Together they usually earn the most.

Should abandoned cart emails include a discount?

Not first. Answer the usual doubts about delivery, returns or fit. A discount trains customers to wait for one.

Klaviyo or Shopify Email?

Shopify Email covers the basics. Klaviyo suits shops that want deeper segments, SMS and more detailed reporting.

Flight Log

The five email flows every shop needs.

Every shop needs five automated email flows: a welcome for new subscribers, a reminder after someone browses, a reminder for an abandoned cart, a follow-up after a purchase, and a win-back for customers who drift away. Built once, they keep selling every day.

October 27, 20266 min

Illustration

Flows before campaigns.

Campaigns are the emails you send to everyone, like a sale or a new arrival. Flows are the emails that send themselves, triggered by what each customer does.

Flows reach people at the moment they are most interested, so they earn far more per email. Build them first, then plan campaigns around them.

Fig. 02Five flows, one customer.

1. The welcome.

Someone has just signed up. Send a welcome straight away that says who you are, what makes you different and what to try first. Two or three emails over the first week work better than one.

**Fig. 03**A sale and a story, from Cambridge Wines.

2. After a browse.

A known subscriber looked at a product and left. A short reminder of what they viewed, with a reason to come back, brings many of them back.

3. The abandoned cart.

Someone added to the cart and didn’t check out. Remind them within hours, then again a day later. Answer the usual doubts, such as delivery, returns or sizing, rather than leading with a discount.

Answer the usual doubts, rather than leading with a discount.

4. After the purchase.

Thank the customer, set expectations for delivery, and help them get the most from what they bought. Later, ask for a review and suggest what goes with it.

5. The win-back.

Some customers go quiet. When one hasn’t bought in longer than usual for your shop, send a short series with something new, something useful, and only then an offer.

Then grow the list and add SMS.

Flows only work on the people you can reach. A sign-up offer on the site and at the counter grows the list every day, and SMS adds a faster channel for those who want it.

For Cambridge Wines, three wine shops in New Jersey, email and SMS grew from 10% to 38% of the online revenue Klaviyo tracked, from October to November 2023, with flows like these running underneath every campaign.

**Fig. 05**The cellar at Cambridge Wines.