Klaviyo Email Marketing: Complete Guide for Ecommerce (2026)

What makes Klaviyo different

TL;DR: Klaviyo is the leading email and SMS marketing platform built specifically for ecommerce, offering automated flows, purchase-behavior segmentation, and predictive analytics that typically generate 20-30% of total ecommerce revenue. It starts free for up to 500 contacts and scales to enterprise pricing, making it the default choice for ecommerce brands doing $500K+ in revenue.

Klaviyo is an email and SMS marketing platform built specifically for ecommerce. While Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and other email platforms serve every type of business, Klaviyo was designed from the ground up around ecommerce data — purchase history, browse behavior, cart activity, product catalogs, and customer lifetime value.

This ecommerce-first approach shows in everything: the default flow templates are abandoned cart and post-purchase sequences (not generic welcome emails). The segmentation engine filters by purchase frequency, average order value, and predicted next order date (not just email opens). The reporting shows revenue per email and revenue per flow, not just open rates and click rates.

For ecommerce businesses doing $500K+ in revenue, Klaviyo has become the default email platform. It's not the cheapest option, and it's not the simplest — but it's the one that most directly connects email marketing to revenue.

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Core capabilities

Flows (automated sequences)

Flows are automated email and SMS sequences triggered by customer behavior. They run in the background continuously, sending the right message at the right time without manual intervention.

Welcome series. Triggered when someone joins your email list. A typical 3-5 email sequence introduces the brand, highlights best sellers, shares social proof, and offers a first-purchase incentive. Well-optimized welcome flows generate 5-15% of total email revenue.

Abandoned cart. Triggered when someone adds to cart but doesn't purchase. Usually 2-3 emails over 24-72 hours, starting with a reminder, adding social proof or reviews, and potentially including a discount in the final email. This is the highest-ROI flow for most ecommerce brands.

Browse abandonment. Triggered when someone views a product but doesn't add to cart. Lighter touch than cart abandonment — usually 1-2 emails showing the viewed product with related recommendations. Lower conversion rate than cart abandonment but captures a larger audience.

Post-purchase. Triggered after an order. Confirms the purchase, sets delivery expectations, provides product usage tips, and eventually asks for a review. The post-purchase flow builds loyalty and drives repeat purchases.

Win-back. Triggered when a customer hasn't purchased in a defined period (60, 90, or 120 days). Re-engages lapsed customers with personalized product recommendations, updates on what's new, and sometimes a re-activation offer.

Sunset. Triggered when a subscriber hasn't engaged with emails for an extended period. Gives them a chance to re-engage before being removed from the active list. This protects your sender reputation and deliverability.

Segmentation

Klaviyo's segmentation is where the ecommerce-specific design shines. You can segment based on:

Purchase behavior: Customers who bought specific products, spent above a threshold, purchased more than X times, or haven't purchased in Y days.

Browse behavior: People who viewed specific product categories, visited the site in the last 7 days, or spent more than Z minutes browsing.

Engagement: Subscribers who opened or clicked emails in the last 30/60/90 days, or who haven't engaged recently.

Predictive analytics: Klaviyo calculates predicted customer lifetime value, predicted next order date, and churn risk. You can segment by these predictions — send a retention offer to high-value customers predicted to churn, or ramp up upselling to customers with high predicted CLV.

Custom properties: Any data you sync from your ecommerce platform — loyalty tier, subscription status, customer type — can be used for segmentation.

Campaigns

While flows handle automated messaging, campaigns are one-time sends to targeted segments. Product launches, sales events, seasonal promotions, newsletters, and announcements are all campaign territory.

Campaign best practices:

• Send to engaged segments (opened or clicked in last 90 days) to protect deliverability
• A/B test subject lines on every campaign (Klaviyo makes this easy)
• Personalize with dynamic product blocks based on browse/purchase history
• Time sends based on recipient engagement history (Klaviyo's Smart Send Time)

SMS marketing

Klaviyo includes SMS marketing alongside email. The same segmentation, flows, and campaign infrastructure works for text messages. SMS is particularly effective for:

• Time-sensitive promotions (flash sales, limited inventory)
• Shipping notifications and delivery updates
• Abandoned cart recovery (SMS + email combined increases recovery rates)
• VIP customer communication

SMS consent requires separate opt-in from email, and compliance (TCPA in the US) adds complexity. But for brands that collect SMS consent, the channel consistently outperforms email on conversion rate (though at higher cost per message).

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Integrations

Shopify

Klaviyo's deepest integration. Customer data, order history, product catalog, browse events, and cart activity sync automatically. The integration is plug-and-play — install the Klaviyo app from the Shopify App Store and the data flows.

NetSuite

For companies running NetSuite as their ERP, the Klaviyo-NetSuite integration syncs customer data, order history, and product information. This is especially relevant for B2B ecommerce brands on SuiteCommerce or omnichannel retailers using NetSuite for inventory and order management.

The integration enables:

• Segmentation based on NetSuite customer data (customer type, credit terms, sales rep)
• Order-triggered flows based on NetSuite transactions
• Product recommendations using NetSuite catalog data
• Revenue attribution that reconciles between Klaviyo reporting and NetSuite financials

Other platforms

Klaviyo integrates with WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, and most ecommerce platforms. It also connects with review platforms (Yotpo, Judge.me), loyalty programs (Smile.io, LoyaltyLion), and subscription platforms (Recharge).

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Klaviyo vs alternatives

vs Mailchimp

Mailchimp is simpler and cheaper. Klaviyo is more powerful for ecommerce. If your email strategy is basic newsletters and occasional promotions, Mailchimp works fine. If you want sophisticated flows, purchase-behavior segmentation, and revenue-focused reporting, Klaviyo justifies the premium.

Pricing comparison at 10,000 contacts:

• Mailchimp Standard: ~$100/month
• Klaviyo: ~$150/month

The price gap narrows as list size grows, and Klaviyo's revenue impact typically covers the difference many times over.

vs Omnisend

Omnisend is the closest competitor in the ecommerce email space. It's slightly cheaper than Klaviyo with similar features. The trade-off: Klaviyo has deeper analytics, more sophisticated predictive features, and a larger ecosystem of integrations. Omnisend has a simpler UI and faster time to value. For smaller ecommerce brands ($500K-$2M), Omnisend is worth evaluating.

vs HubSpot

HubSpot is a CRM-first platform that includes email marketing. It's the better choice if you need a full CRM alongside email, particularly for B2B ecommerce. For B2C ecommerce focused purely on email/SMS marketing, Klaviyo's ecommerce-specific features make it the stronger choice.

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Pricing

Klaviyo uses list-size-based pricing:

Active Profiles	Email Only	Email + SMS
Up to 500	Free	Free
1,000-2,500	$35/mo	$50/mo
5,000-10,000	$100-150/mo	$120-180/mo
25,000-50,000	$350-500/mo	$400-600/mo
100,000+	$700+/mo	Custom

SMS pricing is usage-based on top of the platform fee. US SMS credits cost roughly $0.01-0.015 per message. MMS (picture messages) cost more.

ROI context: A well-run Klaviyo setup typically generates 20-30% of total ecommerce revenue through email and SMS. At $150/month for a brand doing $100K/month in revenue, that's $20-30K/month attributable to email — a 130-200x return on the platform cost.

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Getting started

The minimum viable setup

1. Connect your ecommerce platform (data sync takes 24-48 hours for full history)
2. Build 4 core flows: Welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase, win-back
3. Create 3-5 segments: Active customers, engaged subscribers, VIPs, at-risk, unengaged
4. Send your first campaign to engaged subscribers
5. Monitor and optimize weekly for the first month

Most brands see meaningful revenue impact within 30 days of launching core flows. The abandoned cart flow alone often covers the Klaviyo subscription cost within the first week.

The growth path

After the basics are running:

• Add browse abandonment and sunset flows
• Build product-specific flows (replenishment reminders, cross-sell sequences)
• Implement SMS alongside email
• Develop advanced segmentation using predictive analytics
• A/B test flow timing, content, and offers systematically

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The bottom line

Klaviyo is the standard for ecommerce email marketing because it connects email performance directly to revenue. The platform is more complex and more expensive than general-purpose email tools, but for ecommerce businesses that take email seriously, the revenue impact justifies the investment.

The key is actually using Klaviyo's capabilities — the flows, the segmentation, the personalization. Too many brands pay for Klaviyo and use it like Mailchimp, sending generic newsletters to their whole list. The value is in the automation and targeting that runs without manual intervention, generating revenue while you sleep.

Frequently Asked Questions

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