Build four Klaviyo flows first, in this order: welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase, then winback. That is the order Klaviyo’s own help center recommends setting its default flows live, and Klaviyo’s abandoned cart benchmark puts the average at $6.77 in revenue per recipient for email. After those four, add browse abandonment and back in stock. As of November 2026 Klaviyo’s pricing page shows campaigns and flows included on every plan, from the free plan (250 active profiles, 500 emails a month) up, and flow emails use your monthly send capacity just like campaigns do.
I teach high ticket dropshipping at Ecommerce Paradise, and email flows are the cheapest revenue most stores leave on the table. This guide is the Klaviyo-specific version: what a flow is, which flows Klaviyo ships, how triggers and filters work, what the plans and billing actually limit, and the order I would build in. Everything factual comes from Klaviyo’s own pricing, help center and blog pages, read in November 2026. Where a page did not say something, I say so.
Disclosure: some links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The Klaviyo flows to build first
This table is the build order, with the trigger and the timing guidance Klaviyo’s help articles give for each flow. “Not stated” means the article gave no number, so I do not make one up.
| Order | Flow | Trigger | Timing guidance from Klaviyo | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Welcome series | Added to list | 3 emails: immediately, 3 days later, then 4 days after that | A sign-up form and a main list |
| 2 | Abandoned cart | Started Checkout (or Added to Cart) | First message 2 to 4 hours later, second 20 to 48 hours later, 2 to 3 messages | Store integration |
| 3 | Post-purchase | Placed Order | No universal durations given; delays for review, cross-sell and upsell, none for thank you | Store integration |
| 4 | Winback | Placed Order metric plus a filter | First delay a little longer than your average buying cycle, 3 emails | Order history |
| 5 | Browse abandonment | Viewed Product | First delay at least one hour | Viewed Product tracking |
| 6 | Back in stock | Subscribed to Back in Stock | Waits until the item is restocked, typically one message | Supported platform and a form |
The first four rows match the order in Klaviyo’s getting started with flows article, which says to set the welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase and winback flows live first and to review the default message content before you do. The last two rows are my addition, based on how much setup each one needs.
What a Klaviyo flow is
Klaviyo defines a flow as a sequence of automated actions, such as sending messages, triggered by a behavior or event. You will also hear it called an automation or a drip campaign. A flow has a trigger that starts it and then a chain of actions. Klaviyo’s article groups the actions into three kinds: messages that send email or SMS, data actions that update profile properties or lists or fire internal alerts and webhooks, and logic actions that control timing and routing.
Two logic pieces do most of the work. A time delay schedules the next step relative to the previous one, and steps with no delay between them run at the same time. A conditional split sends people down different paths, with up to 20 paths in one split, based on profile data and, in metric-triggered flows, data from the event that started the flow. Klaviyo’s branching best practices suggest one split near the top, such as purchasers versus non-purchasers, so you can offer a first-purchase discount only to people who have not ordered.
Every message has a status. Draft is the default, and in draft nobody is scheduled to receive it. Manual means the message is active but sends need your review first, and scheduled contacts wait under Needs Review. Live sends automatically. The most common reason a new flow “does nothing” is a message still sitting in draft.
Klaviyo’s flows feature page says it offers 60+ pre-built flows and names welcome series, abandoned cart reminder, post-purchase follow-up, browse abandonment, price drop reminder and back in stock reminder among them. To use one, select Create flow to open the library, search or filter by ecommerce integration and channel, pick a tile, name it and choose a trigger if prompted. After the setup wizard, the Flows tab already shows default flows with template content that can pull data from your integrations.
Triggers, filters and re-entry
Klaviyo’s article on flow triggers and filters lists the trigger types a flow can use:
- Metric: starts when someone takes a tracked action, such as placing an order. Performance metrics like Opened Email and Clicked Email cannot start a flow.
- List: starts when someone is added to a list.
- Segment: starts when someone joins a segment.
- Date property: starts when a date property is added or updated, and these flows can recur monthly or yearly, which is how birthday and anniversary flows work.
- Price drop: starts when an item someone viewed or started checkout with drops by a set amount or percentage.
- Low inventory: the sixth trigger type the article lists.
One limit to know before you build: once a trigger is set it cannot be edited, so you copy the flow to use a different trigger.
Filters decide who is allowed through. Trigger filters check data from the triggering event and, for metric-based flows, are checked only when a person first enters. Profile filters look at profile properties or past actions and are rechecked before each flow action. If someone fails a profile filter before an action, that action is skipped but they still move to the next step. Re-entry rules sit in the trigger settings and offer three choices: enter only once, re-enter whenever they requalify, or re-enter after a minimum time.
Two practical warnings from the same article. Filter conditions such as equals and contains need exact matches, so a stray character stops a filter from working. And email opens used in filters can be inflated by Apple Mail Privacy Protection, so Klaviyo suggests clicks or another engagement signal instead.
Flow 1: welcome series
Klaviyo’s welcome series article says to use the Added to list trigger on your main subscriber list. Contacts get onto that list through a sign-up form, a subscribe page, manual addition, or the Lists or Subscribe API. Double opt-in is the default for lists and the article recommends keeping it on for your main list, which means the series fires only after the contact confirms.
The recommended shape is three emails over about a week: the first immediately with no delay, the second three days after sign-up, and the third four days after the second. A list-triggered flow can only send to a person once, even if they resubscribe later. One import warning matters for anyone migrating: pause the series before you import contacts, or imported contacts may receive the first message no matter when they subscribed.
For content, Klaviyo suggests your brand story, the sign-up incentive in the first email if you offer one, best sellers, and your social channels. A conditional split on “has placed order at least once over all time” lets you send a coupon only to people who have not bought yet. For a high ticket store, I would keep the incentive small, because a steep welcome discount on a big-ticket item trains buyers to wait for the next one.
Flow 2: abandoned cart
Klaviyo’s abandoned cart help article says pre-built flows mostly use the Started Checkout metric, which fires when someone enters their information at checkout. Some integrations track Added to Cart instead, and Klaviyo recommends running both as separate flows. On Shopify, you must turn on the Track behavioral events setting to use Added to Cart.
The pre-built flow includes a 4-hour delay before the first message. The article recommends a first message 2 to 4 hours after checkout starts, a second email 20 to 48 hours later, and 2 to 3 abandoned cart messages in total. Add the filter “placed order zero times since starting this flow” so buyers stop getting reminders. If you also run an Added to Cart flow, add “started checkout zero times since starting this flow” so nobody gets both.
The pre-built email includes a dynamic block that repeats for each item in the cart, showing image, title, quantity and price, with a Return to Cart button below it. One integration detail: platforms other than Shopify and BigCommerce may not sync Started Checkout immediately, and for short delays the article recommends at least 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The numbers are worth knowing. Klaviyo’s 2026 abandoned cart benchmark report, published October 2, 2026 and based on more than 110,000 Klaviyo customers, shows email averaging $6.77 in revenue per recipient with the top 10 percent at $13.70, and a 6.0 percent average click rate versus 11.3 percent for the top 10 percent. It gives a sample three-message sequence at 2 to 4 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours. Those are Klaviyo customer averages, not a promise for your store.
Flow 3: post-purchase
Per Klaviyo’s post-purchase flow article, start with the Placed Order trigger. The article separates message types: transactional messages such as order confirmation and shipping notices, which it says to keep free of marketing and in their own flows; thank you messages; optional setup instructions; a review request; and cross-sell. It advises against incentivizing positive reviews.
It suggests a conditional split on “has placed order equals 1 over all time” to separate first-time from repeat customers, and a trigger split on order value, with $100 given only as an example threshold. Use delays for review, cross-sell and upsell messages, skip the delay for a thank you, and time later messages around fulfillment. Check overlap with your welcome series and abandoned cart flows, and use Smart Sending to limit how many messages a customer gets in a set period.
This matters more for high ticket stores than most advice admits. A $3,000 order creates anxiety about delivery and setup, and a well-timed instructions email is as much a support tool as a marketing one.
Flow 4: winback
Klaviyo’s winback flow article says to use a metric trigger, Placed Order, rather than a segment, with the filter “placed order zero times since starting this flow.” Set the first delay to a little longer than your average buying cycle. To find that cycle, create a segment of people who placed at least 2 orders in the last 2 years, export it, and average the time between orders column.
Keep it to three emails. The first is short and features three to six best sellers or new releases with an incentive. The second reminds people of the incentive with an expiry date and different products. The third is a clear last call with a prominent unsubscribe link. Klaviyo says that link is a legal requirement and protects deliverability.
The law behind that is the CAN-SPAM Act. The FTC’s CAN-SPAM compliance guide says commercial email needs a visible opt-out, opt-outs must be honored within 10 business days, you must include a valid physical postal address, and each violating email can carry penalties of up to $53,088. Not legal advice, so check the current rules for your situation.
Flow 5: browse abandonment
Klaviyo’s browse abandonment article says the flow needs Viewed Product tracking enabled on your site. On Shopify that is Klaviyo’s app embed, on BigCommerce it is a snippet in your product page template, and on custom stores it is JavaScript event tracking. Visitors in the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland who have not consented are not tracked on Shopify, so they will not enter the flow.
Add a delay of at least one hour. The filters Klaviyo lists are: placed order zero times, started checkout zero times, and has not been in this flow in the last 30 days, plus added to cart zero times if you run an Added to Cart flow too. The image block should be dynamic and the text block static.
Klaviyo’s Nov. 4, 2026 blog post on top ecommerce automations gives browse abandonment a 5.6 percent average click rate and $4.32 in revenue per recipient for top performers. It gives welcome series an average of $5.75 per recipient with the best at $13.27. It also cites Klaviyo’s 2026 Omnichannel Benchmark Report as saying automated flows deliver 6 to 8 times more revenue per send than campaigns. These are Klaviyo’s own figures, so treat them as direction, not a forecast.
Flow 6: back in stock
This one is for stores that sell items that sell out, which most high ticket dropshippers do not control, so build it after the others. Klaviyo’s back in stock article lists the supported platforms as Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento 2, PrestaShop, SFCC and Shopware, or a custom catalog feed or API. You add a back in stock form or snippet, and the flow starts from the Subscribed to Back in Stock metric.
Shoppers who subscribe wait at a back in stock delay until the item is restocked, then usually get one message. Add no trigger or profile filters, and turn off Smart Sending for that message so everyone receives it. The article states no plan requirement.
Other flows Klaviyo documents
Klaviyo’s flow best practices section also lists guides for replenishment, third-party product review, upsell and cross-sell, transactional email, birthday, sunset, price drop and low inventory flows. Build these only when the first six are live and you have a reason, such as consumable products for replenishment. A sunset flow, which re-engages or removes inactive contacts, is worth considering later for keeping your active profile count down, because that count drives your bill.
Which plan includes flows, and how flows are billed
Klaviyo’s pricing page in November 2026 shows these plans, in USD per month:
| Plan | Price shown | Active profiles | Emails a month | Notes from the page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 250 | 500 | No A/B testing |
| $20 | 500 base, scales up | 5,000 | Everything in Free plus a higher send limit | |
| Marketing | $25 regular, $1 first month offer | 500 base, scales up | 5,000 | Adds social marketing and Customer Hub at 500 profiles, reviews with no order limit |
| Custom | Contact sales | Over 150,000 | Custom | Volume pricing and advanced data features |
The $1 offer is for the first month of an eligible Marketing plan, up to 5,000 active profiles, with terms on a linked page. The page’s comparison table marks campaigns and flows as included on all four plans, the free plan among them, and marks A/B testing as not included on Free. For the full cost by list size, see my Klaviyo pricing breakdown.
Billing runs on two meters, per Klaviyo’s billing help article. Active profiles are any profile that can be emailed through Klaviyo, meaning it has an email address and is not suppressed. A phone number alone does not count, and suppressed or deleted profiles do not count. The second meter is emails sent in the billing cycle, and Klaviyo’s help center says campaigns and automated messages share the same monthly email allowance. Received or bounced emails count and skipped emails do not.
When you pass the send limit, you choose in Billing preferences between flexible overages, automatic upgrade, or none, which stops sending. Klaviyo’s example for flexible overages is a 70,000-email plan costing $7,000, which works out to $0.10 a send, so 10,000 extra sends cost $1,000. Going over the profile limit does not stop sending, except on the free plan, where you cannot send or set flow emails live until you are back under 250 profiles. SMS is a separate plan with a committed spend, not credits.
Worked examples: how many sends your flows use
These are examples with stated assumptions, not forecasts. Each flow email counts once per recipient, and I use the three-email versions above as an upper bound, since people who buy exit the cart flow early.
| Example | Assumptions per month | Flow sends | Plan capacity | Left for campaigns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Free plan store | 50 new subscribers, 40 checkouts started, 30 orders, 3 emails each | 360 | 500 | 140 |
| 2. Entry Email plan store | 100 new subscribers, 60 checkouts started, 40 orders, 3 emails each | 600 | 5,000 | 4,400 |
| 3. Overage using Klaviyo’s example | 70,000-email plan at $7,000, 10,000 extra sends | Not applicable | 70,000 | Extra cost $1,000 |
| 4. Email versus Marketing, year one | Email $20 a month; Marketing $1 first month then $25 | Not applicable | 5,000 each | $240 versus $276 |
Check the arithmetic. Example 1 is (50 plus 40 plus 30) times 3, which is 120 times 3, or 360, and 500 minus 360 leaves 140. Example 2 is (100 plus 60 plus 40) times 3, which is 600, and 5,000 minus 600 leaves 4,400. Example 4: Email is $20 times 12, which is $240. Marketing is $1 plus 11 months at $25, which is $276. The $36 gap buys you the features listed on the pricing page, which matter only if you use them.
The lesson from example 1 is that a free plan store can use most of its 500 sends on three flows alone, which is why campaigns start to squeeze out flows at small scale. Also note that flow emails skipped at the limit mean lost recovery emails, not just lost campaigns.
Setup order that avoids rework
- Connect your store. The Klaviyo Shopify app listing says new stores get guided setup for a sign-up form, a welcome email and an abandoned checkout flow.
- Turn on the tracking each flow needs: behavioral events for Added to Cart, and Viewed Product tracking for browse abandonment.
- Review the default flow content in the Flows tab. Do not leave template copy live. My guide to Klaviyo email templates shows how to build the emails inside each flow.
- Pause the welcome series before any list import, then import.
- Set the welcome series live, then abandoned cart, then post-purchase, then winback.
- Add the purchase filters so buyers leave the cart and browse flows.
- Check overlap between flows and use Smart Sending to cap messages per customer.
- Review each flow monthly on revenue per recipient before changing subject lines.
Klaviyo or an alternative
Klaviyo is the tool this guide covers, and you can start it from my Klaviyo link. Its fit is stores with real purchase data to segment on. If your list is small or the budget is tight, Omnisend is the alternative I would look at next.
I compared the two head to head in Omnisend vs Klaviyo.
Other platforms are in my guide to Klaviyo alternatives. The flows themselves are platform-agnostic, and the strategy layer for high ticket stores is in the email flows every high ticket ecommerce store needs.
Running the business behind the flows
Email recovers revenue from traffic, and traffic needs a store worth buying from. If you have not chosen a category, start with my list of profitable high ticket niches. If the model is new to you, what high ticket dropshipping is explains the economics.
Sourcing sets your margin, and your margin decides how much you can spend on software like this. I wrote a step-by-step guide to finding suppliers for high ticket products.
Email software is a business expense, so set the entity up properly before you scale spend. That is what business formation for a high ticket store covers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What flows should I set up first in Klaviyo?
Klaviyo’s help center recommends setting the welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase and winback flows live first, in that order, after reviewing the default message content. Add browse abandonment and back in stock after that, since both need extra tracking or a form.
Are Klaviyo flows free?
Yes, Klaviyo’s pricing page marks campaigns and flows as included on every plan, including the free plan, which as of November 2026 covers up to 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month at $0. Flow emails count toward that send limit, and Klaviyo’s help center says they can be skipped when you reach it.
Do flow emails count toward my Klaviyo send limit?
Yes. Klaviyo’s help center says campaigns and automated messages share the same monthly email allowance. Received and bounced emails count toward the limit, and skipped emails do not.
How long should I wait before the first abandoned cart email?
Klaviyo’s pre-built flow uses a 4-hour delay, and its help article recommends a first message 2 to 4 hours after checkout starts and a second 20 to 48 hours later. For platforms other than Shopify or BigCommerce, it recommends at least 1 hour and 15 minutes for short delays.
What is a good abandoned cart result in Klaviyo?
Klaviyo’s 2026 abandoned cart benchmark report shows an average of $6.77 in revenue per recipient for email, with the top 10 percent at $13.70, from over 110,000 Klaviyo customers. Those are platform averages, so compare your own flow report month to month instead of chasing the average.
Bottom Line
Build welcome, abandoned cart, post-purchase and winback in that order, then browse abandonment and back in stock. That sequence comes straight from Klaviyo’s help center, and the first four need nothing more than a store integration, a sign-up form and the purchase filters that stop messages after someone buys. Watch the send meter, because flows and campaigns share the same capacity, and a store on the free plan can burn most of its 500 sends on three flows.
Keep the claims in proportion. Klaviyo’s benchmark figures are averages across its customers, plans and prices change, and a few pages I loaded did not state what I wanted, such as any plan requirement for back in stock. Verify on the pricing page before you commit, and test every flow with a real order before you set it live.
Related Articles
If you are comparing email platforms or sizing the cost, these are the posts I would read next.
- Klaviyo Pricing in 2026: What It Really Costs for Your Ecommerce Store
- Klaviyo Alternatives: 7 Email Platforms Compared for 2026
- Omnisend vs Klaviyo in 2026: Which Fits Your Business?
- Omnisend Pricing in 2026: Complete Plan Breakdown
- The Email Flows Every High-Ticket Ecommerce Store Needs
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.
