Klaviyo gives you a library of 160+ customizable email templates, a drag-and-drop editor, HTML and hybrid templates, reusable universal content, a brand library and dynamic product blocks that pull from your Shopify catalog. As of November 2026, Klaviyo’s pricing page lists a free plan for up to 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month, and the paid Email plan starts at $20 a month for 500 active profiles. I run Ecommerce Paradise, and this guide walks you through starting from a template, making it match your store, and building the first set of emails a Shopify store needs.
Disclosure: some links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Every Klaviyo fact in this post comes from Klaviyo’s own product, pricing and help pages, which I read on November 10, 2026. Where those pages do not show something, such as which plan includes which template feature, I say “not shown” and tell you where to check. Features and prices change, so confirm them in your own account before you build around them.
Klaviyo Email Template Tools at a Glance (November 2026)
| Tool | What it does | Where you find it |
|---|---|---|
| Email library | 160+ customizable templates built by Klaviyo, aimed mostly at ecommerce and B2C | Content > Templates > Email library |
| Drag-and-drop editor | Rearrange text, image, button, product, coupon, table and other blocks with no code | Opens when you use a library template or create a new template |
| HTML editor | Paste or upload your own HTML for full control | Create > Import email template |
| Hybrid template | Custom HTML with marked regions where you can still drag in Klaviyo blocks | Import an HTML file with editable regions |
| Universal content | Save a block or section once and reuse it everywhere | Star icon in the editor, then the Universal tab |
| Brand library | Logos, colors, fonts, buttons and social links set once | Content > Media & brand > Brand |
| Dynamic product block | Pulls products from a product feed and can target each recipient | Product block in the editor |
| Preview and test send | Check desktop and mobile layouts and send a test to your inbox | Preview button in the editor |
One limit to know up front. Klaviyo’s pricing page, as I loaded it, shows the free plan as up to 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month, and the Email plan as $20 a month for 500 active profiles with 5,000 emails a month. Its comparison table marks campaigns and flows as included on every plan but has no row for templates, universal content or the brand library. If a feature is missing in your account, check the plan in your Klaviyo billing settings. My Klaviyo pricing guide shows the cost at different list sizes.
What Klaviyo’s Template Library Includes
Klaviyo’s templates page says the library holds 160+ customizable templates created by professionals, and it describes them as tailored to various industries and use cases. The features page for templates adds filters by goal, layout and seasonal theme. That library is for one-off campaigns and for the content inside your automated flows.
There are really two kinds of “template” in Klaviyo, and mixing them up is the most common beginner mistake. The first is an email template, the visual layout of a single email. The second is a flow template, a prebuilt automation such as a welcome series or abandoned cart reminder that already contains email content. Klaviyo’s flow template page advertises 40+ prebuilt automations, and I could see 23 of them listed on the page. I cover the flow side in the table further down, because those are the ones you should build first.
Klaviyo says all of its templates are mobile-friendly by default, and the editor lets you check the mobile layout before you send. Klaviyo’s features page says its built-in AI can generate subject lines, body copy, new sections or entire emails. Treat AI output as a first draft. A store selling a $2,000 product needs copy that sounds like a person who knows the product.
The Three Editor Types: Drag-and-Drop, HTML and Hybrid
Klaviyo’s help center names three editor types for a template: drag-and-drop, HTML and text-only. A fourth option, the hybrid template, sits between the first two. Here is how I would choose.
Drag-and-Drop Editor
This is where most store owners should live. Changes autosave, and the blocks cover nearly everything a store email needs: text, image, split, button, header or link bar, divider, social links, spacer, product, coupon, table, HTML, review quote, columns and video. The recommended email width is 600px, and the template styles panel lets you set fonts, colors, corner radius, padding and mobile optimization once for the whole email.
Two blocks matter more for a store than the rest. The coupon block shows each recipient their own assigned code from a coupon you select, and the review quote block features customer reviews from Klaviyo reviews, with only verified reviews eligible. The video block links a thumbnail to the video rather than playing it inside the email, because embedded playback is not supported.
HTML Templates
If a designer or developer hands you finished code, you can import it. In Klaviyo, go to Content > Templates, open the Email: saved tab, choose Create > Import email template, name it, then upload a .html file or paste the code. Local images go in a .zip, and each image must be 10 MB or smaller. Images already hosted online can use full URLs.
Marketing templates need an unsubscribe link, such as the {% unsubscribe %} tag. Klaviyo also asks you to remove tags from other email providers and replace them with its own personalization tags, which use {{ }} for variables and {% %} for tags. Klaviyo recommends against exporting a drag-and-drop template and re-importing it, because that can break functionality, and its support team cannot open your HTML files.
Hybrid Templates
A hybrid template is custom HTML with embedded regions where Klaviyo’s drag-and-drop blocks still work. You mark each region with a data-klaviyo-region="true" attribute inside a table cell, import the file, then add blocks such as products or universal content inside those regions. Only the regions are editable in the visual editor, and the surrounding HTML stays fixed. Klaviyo points technically comfortable marketers or people working with a developer toward this route.
My rule: start with the library and the drag-and-drop editor. Move to HTML only when a brand requires a layout the blocks cannot produce, and use hybrid only if a developer is already involved.
How to Build an Email From a Klaviyo Template, Step by Step
This is the order I would follow on a fresh Shopify store. The menu names come from Klaviyo’s help articles as of November 2026, and Klaviyo does change its interface, so your labels may differ slightly.
Step 1: Connect Shopify First
Templates are only useful with real products behind them, so connect your store before you design anything. In Klaviyo, open Integrations, choose Explore apps, search for Shopify, click Install and enter your store URL in the mystore.myshopify.com format. Choose your sync options, click Connect to Shopify, approve the permissions and confirm the integration. Klaviyo’s guide to getting started with Shopify covers the options, including a warning to disconnect any previous email provider first so double opt-in emails do not go to existing subscribers.
Under Onsite Tracking, turn on behavioral events and switch on the Klaviyo app embed in your Shopify theme editor. Viewed Product and Active on Site track by default once the embed is on, and sign-up forms need onsite tracking. If you need the full walkthrough, my Klaviyo setup guide for Shopify goes through it screen by screen.
Step 2: Import Your Shopify Catalog and Check It
With the Shopify integration, Klaviyo says your catalog syncs in real time, so you usually do not need to import anything by hand. You can view it under Content > Products, where each item shows price, variants, tags and categories. New categories and item membership sync every 6 hours, and you can resync an individual item, a page of items or a single category from the Products area if something looks stale. A full-catalog resync in one click is not available.
If your products do not come from a prebuilt integration, Klaviyo’s academy lesson on the product catalog says you can use the Manage Custom Catalog Sources button to sync XML or JSON product feeds, with fields mapped to Klaviyo’s format. Before you build any product block, open a few items and confirm the image, price and product URL are right. A product block can only show what the catalog contains.
Step 3: Set Up the Brand Library
Go to Content > Media & brand and open the Brand tab. Click Start adding assets, choose Detect from my website, enter your store URL and review the logos, colors and buttons Klaviyo finds. Deselect anything wrong, then check the prefilled header, body and footer defaults for your email template and save. You can also add or edit logos, colors, fonts, buttons, social links and brand voice by hand.
Klaviyo says changes to brand styles and email defaults do not update existing email templates or flow messages, so do this step before you start building. If your site cannot be scanned, add the brand elements manually, which is also the route for branding that lives only on a social page.
Step 4: Start From a Library Template
Go to Content > Templates, select Email library and click a template to review it. If it fits, click Use template, which opens it in the drag-and-drop editor. You can also pick Create > New template, choose Email and name it to start blank. Klaviyo makes a copy whenever you use a template in an email, so edits to that email never change the saved original.
Pick a template for its structure, not its photos. A good starting layout has one clear goal, one main call to action and room for products. Swap the images, rewrite the text in your own voice and delete blocks you will not use. Fewer blocks usually means a clearer email.
Step 5: Add Dynamic Product Blocks
In the editor, drag in a Product block. Klaviyo describes two modes. A dynamic block updates automatically from a product feed and can be targeted to individual recipients, such as the items a shopper left in a cart. A static block shows only products you hand-pick, and it is not updated automatically or targeted. You can show images only or add the name and price.
The academy lesson gives example feed ideas: items added to cart but not ordered in the last 14 days, recommendations based on past purchases, recently viewed items and a new or featured collection. It suggests showing only 3 products in a feed display so the email does not overwhelm the reader. For a high-ticket store with a small catalog, a static block of your best sellers is often enough early on, and dynamic blocks earn their keep in cart and browse emails.
Step 6: Save Reusable Blocks as Universal Content
Hover over a block or section, click the star icon, name it and confirm. It then appears in the Universal tab of the editor, where you can drag it into any other template. Save your header, footer, shipping and returns note, and any guarantee badge row. Later, from Content > Universal content, you can edit it once and choose “Edit across all instances”, or unlink one copy and edit it alone.
Be careful with that power. Klaviyo’s help article states that publishing edits updates every linked instance, including scheduled campaigns and live flows. A section cannot contain another section, saving a section unlinks any universal blocks inside it, and marking a flow email as transactional unlinks its universal content. The article gives no cap on how much universal content you can save, and it does not say which plans include the feature.
Step 7: Preview, Test and Save
Click Preview, choose preview data (a profile for campaigns and most flows, an event for metric-triggered flows), and check both the desktop and mobile layouts. Enter your address in the preview sidebar and click Send test to see how the email looks in a real inbox and whether the links work. The features page for templates also mentions inbox testing across devices and dark mode.
Then save the finished design for reuse. For a campaign email, open the Message step, use the Template options menu and choose Save as template. For a flow email, open the Template section in the flow builder, use the Actions menu and choose Save as template. Saved templates live under Content > Templates > Email: saved, where you can rename, clone or delete them.
Which Klaviyo Templates to Build First
Klaviyo’s flow templates page lists prebuilt automations with names you can search for in the flow library. My guide to Klaviyo flows covers the triggers, filters and timing for the first few in detail. The table below uses Klaviyo’s own names and short descriptions, and the build order is my opinion for a Shopify store that has just launched. Start at the top and work down.
| Order | Klaviyo template name | What Klaviyo says it does | Why I would build it here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Welcome series (email) | Routes new subscribers differently based on whether they have purchased | Every sign-up form feeds it, so it runs from day one |
| 2 | Abandoned cart reminder (checkout) | Targets shoppers who started checkout but did not finish | These shoppers are closest to buying |
| 3 | Abandoned cart reminder (added to cart) | Recovers abandoned carts with a timely reminder and a nudge across channels | Catches the earlier drop-off; use the email steps if SMS is not set up |
| 4 | Browse abandonment | Follows up on products a shopper viewed but did not add to cart | Useful once you have steady traffic |
| 5 | Order confirmation | Sends order details immediately after checkout | Reduces “did my order go through” support tickets |
| 6 | Full shipping confirmation | Notifies customers when the whole order ships, with tracking | Sets expectations for longer delivery times |
| 7 | Partial shipping confirmation | Notifies customers as each shipment in a split order goes out | Matters if your suppliers ship items separately |
| 8 | Delayed fulfillment | Keeps customers informed about delays with non-marketing messaging | A calm message beats a refund request |
| 9 | Post-purchase followup | Tailors post-purchase content to the customer’s lifecycle stage | Starts the second-order conversation |
| 10 | Product review / cross-sell | Requests a review after a purchase, paired with cross-sell recommendations | Builds the social proof new product pages need |
| 11 | Customer winback | Encourages lapsed customers to return, reaching engaged users by SMS and everyone else by email | Worth building once you have past buyers |
| 12 | Back in stock | Alerts customers when a wanted item is restocked | Handy for popular items that sell out |
Klaviyo does not list order confirmation or shipping emails as library templates by name on its general templates page, but they do appear as flow templates, so search the flow library for them. Whether an order confirmation should come from Klaviyo or from your Shopify notifications is a separate decision. If both send, customers get duplicates, so choose one and test an order. Read each flow’s help article before you turn it live, because transactional settings and sending rules differ by message type.
Before you launch any flow, preview it with a real profile, send a test and read the email on your phone. Then leave the flow in draft until you have walked a test order through your own store. If you want a deeper plan for what to send beyond the basics, my dropshipping marketing strategy shows where email fits next to ads and content.
Customizing Templates So They Look Like Your Store
A template looks generic until three things are fixed: fonts and colors, the header and footer, and the product imagery. Klaviyo’s rebranding article gives the order that saves the most work. Update universal content first so changes flow to every template that uses it, then flows, base templates, consent pages and sign-up forms. Changes to brand styles do not rewrite existing templates, so a late rebrand means touching each one.
Klaviyo applies styles in layers: template styles first, then section styles, then block styles, and the more specific setting wins. That is useful when you want one block, such as a guarantee badge, to look different from the rest. It also explains why a button sometimes ignores your brand color. Check whether a block-level override is winning.
Each block also has a Display tab where you choose which recipients and device types see it. That lets one template show a different offer to different groups, and Klaviyo’s templates page describes show and hide logic by customer segment for the same reason. Keep it simple at first. Every extra condition is one more thing to test.
Mistakes That Waste Time
These come straight from Klaviyo’s help articles. Editing a saved template does not update copies already used in flows or unsent campaigns. Changes are not merged across tabs, windows or devices, so an older version saved later can overwrite newer edits, and Undo is disabled after you reopen a template until you make new changes. Deleting a template cannot be undone, although it does not affect flows or campaigns that already use it.
The practical habits are to work in one tab, name templates with a date or version, and clone a template before a big redesign. Cloning is under the template’s three-dot menu, with Clone to this account selected.
Do You Need Klaviyo, or Is Another Email Tool Enough?
Klaviyo is built around store data, which is why its product blocks and flow templates work as well as they do. The cost is that pricing follows your active profiles, so a growing list raises the bill. If you are still comparing tools, my guide to Klaviyo alternatives compares seven platforms on price and fit.
The alternative I get asked about most is Omnisend. I did not review Omnisend’s template library for this post, so I will not compare template counts. For its plans and costs, see my Omnisend pricing guide, and check Omnisend’s own template pages before you decide.
Whichever tool you pick, email is a business expense, and you will want clean books for it. If you have not set up your company yet, my guide to business formation for high-ticket dropshipping explains the structure, so your software subscriptions are billed to the right entity from the start.
Tying Your Email Templates to a High-Ticket Store
Templates are a means to an end. The emails that matter most in a high-ticket dropshipping store are the ones that answer a buyer’s doubts: where the order is, when it ships and what happens if something goes wrong. A single clear shipping email does more for trust than a flashy newsletter.
Your templates should also reflect what you actually sell. If your catalog comes from the high-ticket niches list, build cart and browse emails around the questions that niche’s buyers ask, such as warranty, delivery time and installation. And the delayed fulfillment and partial shipping templates only make sense if your supplier relationships are solid, which is why I walk through how to find suppliers for high-ticket products before anything else.
Klaviyo Email Templates: Frequently Asked Questions
Does Klaviyo have free email templates?
Yes, Klaviyo’s templates page advertises a library of 160+ customizable templates, and its pricing page lists a free plan for up to 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month. Neither page states which plans include the template library or the editor features, so open the Email library in your own account to confirm what you can use.
Can I use my own HTML email template in Klaviyo?
Yes. Go to Content > Templates, open Email: saved, choose Create > Import email template, and upload a .html file or paste your code. Marketing templates need an unsubscribe tag, images in a .zip must each be 10 MB or smaller, and Klaviyo support cannot open your HTML files, so test the template before using it.
What is the difference between universal content and a saved template?
A saved template is a whole email layout you reuse, and editing it does not change emails already built from it. Universal content is a block or section saved from the editor, and publishing an edit updates every linked copy, including scheduled campaigns and live flows. Use templates for layouts and universal content for pieces like headers and footers.
How do I get my Shopify products into Klaviyo emails?
Connect the Shopify integration, and Klaviyo syncs your catalog in real time, viewable under Content > Products. Then drag a Product block into the editor and choose dynamic mode for feed-driven recommendations or static mode for hand-picked items. New categories sync every 6 hours, and you can resync an item or page from the Products area if needed.
Are Klaviyo templates mobile-friendly?
Klaviyo says all of its templates are mobile-friendly by default, and the editor has a mobile layout preview plus a Send test option. The template styles also include a mobile optimization setting. Still, send a test to your own phone before every new design goes live.
Final Take
For a Shopify store, the workflow is simple: connect Shopify, set the brand library, start from an Email library template, drag in product blocks, save your header and footer as universal content, and build the welcome, cart, order and shipping emails first. If you are ready to try it, you can start with Klaviyo here and begin on the free plan while you learn the editor. Prices and features change, so confirm everything in your own account, and this post is general information rather than advice for your situation.
Related Articles
If you are building out your store’s email program, these guides go deeper on the tools and the platform decision.
- Klaviyo Shopify Review: The Best Email Marketing App for High-Ticket Dropshipping
- Klaviyo vs Omnisend in 2026
- Best Email Template Builders in 2026
- Klaviyo Review 2026
- High-Ticket Sales Follow-Up: How to Turn More Leads Into Clients
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and world traveler from Seattle, Washington, and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
He maintains homes in Seattle and Bali, spends most of the year overseas, and usually returns to Seattle for about a month each summer.
