The 6 Klaviyo Flows Every Shopify Store Needs in 2026 (With Timings)

Campaigns get the attention, but flows do the quiet, compounding work. A flow is an automated sequence triggered by something a shopper does (or stops doing). Build it once, and it runs every day for every new subscriber and customer.

If your Klaviyo account has only a welcome email and an abandoned-cart reminder, you're likely missing revenue that's already in your traffic. Below are the six flows we build first for every Shopify brand, with the trigger, the key filters and a sensible starting timing for each. Treat the timings as starting points to test, not laws.

1. Welcome series

Trigger: Added to List (your popup or footer signup list). Key filter: Placed Order zero times since starting this flow, so people who buy exit the discount pitch. Starting structure: 4–5 emails over 7–9 days: deliver the incentive immediately, tell your brand story, show social proof, handle objections (shipping, returns, sizing), then send a final reminder before the offer expires.

The welcome series reaches people at their moment of highest interest. Most accounts under-build it: one email with a code, then silence.

2. Abandoned checkout (and abandoned cart)

Trigger: Started Checkout, with a separate flow on Added to Cart for shoppers who never reached checkout. Key filters: Placed Order zero times since starting the flow, and not in the flow in the last 7 days. Starting structure: an email at 1 hour, SMS at about 4 hours (consented subscribers only), an email at 24 hours with reviews, and a final email at 48–72 hours. Add an incentive only if your discount rules allow it.

Keep the cart and checkout flows separate so nobody gets both.

3. Browse abandonment

Trigger: Viewed Product. Key filters: hasn't started checkout or ordered since, hasn't been in this flow for 14 days, and isn't already in the cart flow. Starting structure: two emails: a helpful "still thinking about it?" at about 2 hours with the product, and a "customers also loved" email at 24 hours.

It needs Klaviyo's onsite tracking installed, or the Viewed Product event never fires.

4. Post-purchase

Trigger: Placed Order, splitting first-time from repeat buyers. Starting structure: a thank-you with what happens next, product education after fulfillment, a review request about a week after delivery, a cross-sell at 2–3 weeks, and (for consumables) a replenishment reminder just before the typical reorder date.

This is where a one-time buyer becomes a second-time buyer, and the second order is the hardest one to win.

5. Winback

Trigger: a date- or segment-based condition: no order in roughly 1.5–2 times your typical reorder interval. For many stores that's 90–120 days. Starting structure: 3–4 messages: what's new, best sellers and reviews, an incentive (if allowed) with a real expiry, and an SMS last call to consented subscribers.

6. Sunset (list hygiene)

Trigger: entering an "unengaged" segment, typically no clicks or site activity in about 180 days and no purchase. Starting structure: ask "should we keep in touch?" with a one-click stay-subscribed link, send a last-chance email that offers a lower frequency, then suppress anyone who doesn't respond.

The sunset flow protects deliverability. Mailbox providers watch engagement, and mailing thousands of people who never open hurts inbox placement for everyone else.

A quick self-check

• Are all six live (not just drafted)?
• Do purchase-based exits work, so a buyer stops getting cart reminders?
• Do merge tags have fallbacks ("Hi there" when the first name is blank)?
• Is SMS limited to subscribers who gave consent?
• Are the images your real product photos, with one clear call to action per email?

Want to know which of these your store is missing? Run the free RetentionSmith audit. It checks your flows, segments, campaign cadence and deliverability basics in about 10 minutes.