Start with seven: welcome, abandoned checkout, browse abandonment, post-purchase, winback, back-in-stock, and sunset. Each one attaches to a moment a shopper already signaled intent. But here is what most guides skip: nearly every account we audit already has these flows. What it lacks is the exits, filters and suppression logic that stop them colliding, and that architecture matters more than the checklist.
Flows are the automated backbone of ecommerce email. Unlike campaigns, which you send to a segment on a schedule, a flow fires off a behaviour: a signup, an added item, a completed order. Because the trigger is the shopper’s own action, flow messages tend to be the most relevant email a store sends. In a healthy program, flows drive 25 to 40 percent of total email revenue. Get the core set live, triggered correctly and earning, then layer on refinements.
Trigger: a new profile subscribes, usually through your signup form or popup.
The welcome flow is the first impression for someone who just raised a hand, and the window is short: new-subscriber interest decays rapidly after 72 hours, so front-load the series. The first message should be near-instant, and a healthy one opens at 45 to 55 percent; below 30 means the subject line or your deliverability is broken. Deliver any promised incentive, introduce the brand, point to your best products, and give a clear reason to buy. Time later messages away from your campaign sends so a subscriber never reads the stack as spam.
Trigger: a shopper starts checkout but does not complete the order.
This shopper got further than anyone: they entered the checkout. That makes recovery the single highest-intent moment in ecommerce email, and timing is measured in minutes, not hours. We run first-message delays of 20 to 60 minutes and split-test down to 15, because two hours later the shopper is on a different vibe entirely. Lead with the product they left, a direct link back to checkout, and reassurance rather than a discount, since many abandoners convert on a plain reminder. If you use an incentive, hold it for a later step and escalate codes across the sequence. Two hygiene rules most stores miss: block re-entry for about 14 days, and exclude anyone who recently received an abandonment email from any other flow.
Trigger: a known profile views a product but does not add to cart or start checkout.
Browse abandonment sits one step earlier in intent than checkout recovery, and it is the broadest trigger in the account, so it is the flow that most rewards segmentation. Split it by category or engagement tier rather than firing one generic message at every viewer. Acknowledge interest gently, surface the viewed product or its category, and add social proof or a related recommendation. Because intent is lower than at checkout, keep the tone helpful, and only fire for identified profiles so you are not guessing.
Trigger: an order is placed, and for later steps, fulfilled or delivered.
The post-purchase flow turns a first order into a relationship, and it doubles as the account’s most important exit signal: the moment someone buys, they must be pulled out of welcome, cart and checkout sequences immediately. Early messages set delivery expectations. Later messages share how to use the product, invite a review, and prompt a reorder when the timing fits the usage cycle. Pair it with tiered suppression, a 7, 30 or 60 day freeze on promotional sends after purchase, so new customers are not blasted while their order is in transit. This flow lifts repeat rate without paid acquisition, which is why it protects margin.
Trigger: a customer has not purchased or engaged within a window you define, based on your typical purchase cycle.
The winback flow re-engages customers who have gone quiet. The right window depends on how often people naturally buy your category, so set it from your own data rather than a generic default. Be realistic: winback audiences open at some of the lowest rates in the account, because these people are already drifting away. That makes winback an escalation sequence, not a single email, reminding lapsed customers why they bought and raising the incentive as silence continues. It recovers revenue and gives you a clean signal about who is still worth emailing.
Trigger: a shopper requests notification on an out-of-stock product, and inventory returns.
Back-in-stock captures demand you would otherwise lose. When a popular item sells out, a signup form lets shoppers ask to be told when it returns, and the flow fires the moment inventory is replenished. Intent is high because the shopper asked to be contacted about a specific product, so conversion tends to be strong and the message can be short and direct.
Trigger: a profile has not opened, clicked or purchased across a defined period despite receiving sends.
The sunset flow is your list hygiene automation, and it works best as a hard rule, not a feeling. Ours: a two-week grace period and roughly five emails; no opens, no clicks, they are out. Suppressing disengaged profiles protects how mailbox providers treat everyone else’s sends, and unengaged profiles inflate your Klaviyo bill while producing nothing. One timing rule: never purge right before your biggest sending season. Warm cold profiles first, give them a real last chance, then sunset the silent. Sunset is the flow that keeps the other six healthy.
Read top to bottom and the set forms a lifecycle, but a list of flows is not an architecture. We structure accounts as three clusters, pre-purchase, post-purchase and lifecycle, sitting on a suppression spine every message honours. That spine is what most accounts are missing: without exits and filters, a subscriber who converts on the first welcome email still gets the rest of the welcome series, three cart emails, and the checkout sequence, eight or nine messages that turn a new customer into an unsubscribe. Sequence the flows against each other, so checkout suppresses cart and cart suppresses browse, and exclude active flow members from campaign resends.
Build in priority order: welcome and abandoned checkout convert hardest, so they always outrank everything else, including campaigns. Stand those up first, confirm each triggers on the correct event, then add the rest. Judge every flow on revenue per recipient: above roughly 50 cents it is a producer, under 5 cents it is silent and needs a rebuild, not a tweak. Structure first, sophistication second. If you want these built and tuned for your catalogue and buying cycle, our email team does exactly that.
Begin with the seven core flows in this guide: welcome, abandoned checkout, browse abandonment, post-purchase, winback, back-in-stock and sunset. Then invest in the exits, filters and suppression between them, which is where most accounts actually fail, before adding anything more specialised.
A campaign is a one-time send to a segment on a schedule. A flow fires off a shopper’s behaviour, such as a signup or an abandoned checkout. In a healthy account, flows drive 25 to 40 percent of email revenue; under 15 percent means underbuilt automations, over 50 percent usually means underperforming campaigns.
Lead with a reminder and reassurance, not a discount. Many abandoners still convert without one, so an immediate incentive erodes margin. If you use one, place it in a later step, escalate codes across the sequence, and set re-entry rules so nobody farms the flow for coupons.
Base it on your typical purchase cycle rather than a generic number. Trigger winback once someone has clearly gone past your usual reorder window. A replenishable product needs a shorter window than an occasional purchase, and expect low opens: this audience needs escalation, not one email.
Emailing people who never engage affects how mailbox providers treat all of your sends, and it inflates your Klaviyo bill for profiles producing nothing. A sunset flow gives disengaged profiles a final warming sequence, then suppresses the silent, protecting inbox placement for subscribers who want to hear from you.
We build the seven core flows on a proper suppression spine, then judge each on revenue per recipient.