Klaviyo + Shopify: The 7 Email Flows Every D2C Store Needs

Klaviyo for Shopify, set up in the right order: the 7 flows every D2C store needs, Dutch consent rules, headless tracking and deliverability basics.

TL;DR: Connect Klaviyo to Shopify, then build seven automated email flows in this order: welcome series, abandoned cart/checkout, browse abandonment, post-purchase, replenishment/cross-sell, winback and sunset. Klaviyo's own benchmarks show abandoned-cart flows earn the most revenue per recipient, so start with the first three. In the Netherlands, check who you are allowed to email before you send. On a headless store, check that the tracking events actually fire before you write any copy.

Many Shopify brands have Klaviyo installed but never finished the setup. The welcome email is still the default template. The cart email never fires on a headless store. And nobody knows which subscribers you are legally allowed to email. This article covers what we set up as a Klaviyo certified partner, in the order we set it up.

A flow is an automated series of emails that Klaviyo sends when a customer does something, such as signing up or leaving a cart.

Does Klaviyo work with Shopify?

Yes. Klaviyo has an official app in the Shopify App Store. Once you connect it, Shopify sends your customers, orders, products and consent to Klaviyo automatically. Flows can then start on events like Placed Order or Checkout Started without custom code.

The part that needs a developer is tracking on the website itself. On a normal Shopify theme, you switch Klaviyo's onsite tracking on in the integration settings. On a headless store it doesn't work that way. Headless means your customers see a custom-built website (for example in Next.js or Hydrogen) that gets its products and checkout from Shopify. There, a developer has to add the tracking in code. We cover that below, because it is the most common reason flows "don't work".

How to connect Shopify to Klaviyo (Klaviyo integratie Shopify)

The connection itself takes an afternoon. The setup around it takes longer:

1. Install the Klaviyo app from the Shopify App Store and connect your store.
2. Sync consent. Link Shopify's email marketing consent to a Klaviyo list, so customers who tick the box at checkout land on the right list.
3. Turn on onsite tracking. On a theme store it is a setting. On a headless store a developer adds it in code (see below).
4. Set up your sending domain. Send from your own domain and add SPF, DKIM and DMARC records in your DNS. These records prove to inbox providers that the email really comes from you.
5. Set up forms. Use one signup form per purpose (newsletter, back in stock, launch waitlist), each with clear consent wording.
6. Build flows before campaigns. A flow keeps sending every day without anyone touching it. A campaign only earns money on the day you send it.

The 7 Klaviyo flows every Shopify store needs

Use this table as a checklist. The trigger column shows what data each flow needs. That is why the order matters.

1. Welcome series (welcome flow in Klaviyo)

This is the first email a new subscriber gets from you, and the one they are most likely to open. According to Klaviyo, the average welcome flow earns $2.65 per recipient, and the top 10% reach a placed-order rate of 10.53% (Klaviyo). Plan three to four emails: the discount or welcome (if you offer one), your brand story, reviews or other proof, then your best sellers. Remove anyone who buys from the flow, so they stop getting "please buy" emails.

2. Abandoned cart and abandoned checkout

Klaviyo looked at more than 143,000 abandoned-cart flows sent in 2023. These flows earned the most per recipient of any flow: $3.65 on average, and $28.89 for the top 10%. The average placed-order rate was 3.33% (Klaviyo abandoned cart benchmarks). On Shopify you usually run two flows. Checkout Started reaches people who entered their email at checkout and then left. Added to Cart reaches them one step earlier. Stop both flows for anyone who has ordered since.

3. Browse abandonment

This flow starts when a known visitor looks at a product and leaves without adding it to the cart. Klaviyo puts its average click rate at 5.48%, higher than most other flows. Keep it short: one or two emails showing the product they looked at, without a discount. The flow needs the Viewed Product event, which a headless store has to send itself.

4. Post-purchase

Klaviyo reports that post-purchase emails have the highest open rate of all flows: 61.68%. Use that attention for useful information: how to use the product, when it will arrive, how to reach support, and a review request once the order has arrived. Wait until after delivery before you suggest other products.

5. Replenishment and cross-sell

If you sell products that run out, such as supplements, detergent or skincare, this flow often matters more than winback. Time it to how long the product lasts ("your 30-day supply runs out next week"). If you sell subscriptions through a tool like Firmhouse, leave active subscribers out of this flow. They already get the product automatically.

6. Winback

When a customer hasn't ordered for longer than your usual repeat cycle, send two or three emails. Start with what's new, then give them a reason to come back. Base the timing on your own repeat-purchase data, not on a standard 90 days.

7. Sunset (list cleaning)

Subscribers who never open or click hurt your sender reputation. They also cost money, because Klaviyo charges per profile. Send them one "still want to hear from us?" email and suppress everyone who doesn't react. It's the least exciting flow here, but it keeps the other six out of the spam folder.

Want these flows set up with templates in your own style? We build on-brand Klaviyo and Shopify Email templates and connect Klaviyo to your store as part of our Shopify e-commerce work. Tell us about your store.

Dutch and EU consent: who you're allowed to email

This decides who you may email at all, so sort it out before you build anything.

In the Netherlands you need active opt-in consent to send commercial email to consumers. There is one exception for existing customers, called the soft opt-in. If someone gave you their email address when they bought from you, you may email them about similar products or services of your own. The conditions: you told them when you collected the address, they could opt out right then, and every email has an unsubscribe link (Thuiswinkel.org, ICTRecht).

What changed on 1 July 2026: the soft opt-in ended for phone calls only. Calling consumers for sales now needs prior, explicit consent. For email and SMS the soft opt-in still applies (ICTRecht). If you also call customers, check your consent records.

What this means in Klaviyo:

• Keep "buyers under the soft opt-in" and "subscribers who gave explicit consent" in separate segments. Send broad promotional campaigns only to the second group.
• Save where each profile's consent came from (form, checkout, event) as a profile property, so you can prove it later.
• Klaviyo may not track onsite behaviour of visitors in the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland until they accept cookies, based on your Shopify privacy settings (Klaviyo developer docs).

This is practical information, not legal advice. Check your own setup with a privacy lawyer.

Klaviyo on headless Shopify: our checklist

On a headless store, the Shopify integration still sends orders (Checkout Started, Placed Order, Fulfilled Order and others) and your product catalogue to Klaviyo. But three events that come from the website itself have to be built by a developer: Active on Site, Viewed Product and Added to Cart (Klaviyo developer docs). Without them, browse abandonment and the cart flow never start.

An example: on Orangefit's headless Shopify store (Next.js, DatoCMS, Algolia, several markets), Klaviyo runs next to Firmhouse for subscriptions, Yotpo for loyalty and Virtuagym for coaching memberships. With that many tools, you have to decide which tool sends which message. Otherwise customers get the same message twice. Our checklist:

• Load Klaviyo's script only after the visitor accepts marketing or analytics cookies
• Send Viewed Product with the same product ID that Shopify syncs, so the catalogue matches
• Send Added to Cart from your cart code, with the product and value
• Identify visitors when they log in or fill in a form, so their earlier visits link to their profile
• Ask Klaviyo support to change catalogue URLs from *.myshopify.com to your own domain
• Allow Klaviyo's scripts in your Content Security Policy (the list of scripts your site allows to run)
• Check with a test profile that every event shows up in Klaviyo before you build a flow

Klaviyo or Shopify Email (Shopify Messaging)?

Shopify's own email tool is now called Shopify Messaging in the Shopify Help Center. You get 10,000 free emails a month, then pay $1 per 1,000 emails up to 300,000 (Shopify Help Center). For a young store that sends a newsletter and a few basic automations, that is often enough. We build templates for it too.

You need Klaviyo when you want to:

• segment customers in more detail, for example by product bought or expected next order
• send emails based on the products someone looked at
• run SMS in the same flows
• track reliably on a headless store
• combine data from subscription and loyalty tools in one customer profile

Most D2C brands with several product lines and repeat customers get there sooner or later.

Before you send: deliverability basics

If you send more than 5,000 emails a day to Gmail addresses, Google requires SPF, DKIM and DMARC, one-click unsubscribe in marketing emails, and a spam rate below 0.30%. Google recommends staying under 0.10% (Google). Klaviyo adds the one-click unsubscribe for you. Your DNS records and the sunset flow are up to you.

Email templates your team can edit

The flows decide what gets sent. The templates decide whether your marketer can change an email without breaking the layout. We build Klaviyo templates the same way we build websites your team can run: as on-brand blocks (header image, product grid, USPs, review, footer) that anyone can move around in the Klaviyo editor without a developer.

FAQ

Does Klaviyo work with Shopify? Yes. Klaviyo has an official Shopify app that syncs customers, orders, products and consent automatically. On a theme store you switch onsite tracking on in the settings. On a headless store a developer adds it in code.

How do I connect my Shopify store to Klaviyo (Klaviyo integratie Shopify)? Install the Klaviyo app from the Shopify App Store, connect your store, sync email consent to a Klaviyo list, turn on onsite tracking, and set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your sending domain before you send.

What are the best Klaviyo flows for a Shopify store? Welcome series, abandoned cart/checkout, browse abandonment, post-purchase, replenishment/cross-sell, winback and sunset. Start with the first three. Klaviyo's benchmarks show abandoned-cart flows earn the most per recipient.

How many emails should a Klaviyo welcome flow have? Usually three to four, spread over about a week: the welcome or discount, the brand story, reviews or other proof, then best sellers. Remove anyone who buys from the flow.

Is Klaviyo worth it compared with Shopify Email? Shopify's own email tool gives you 10,000 free emails a month and covers newsletters and basic automations. Klaviyo is worth it once you need detailed segments, emails based on viewed products, SMS, or data from subscription and loyalty apps in one customer profile.

Can I email Shopify customers in the Netherlands without explicit consent? Only under the soft opt-in: they gave you their email address when they bought from you, you email them about similar products of your own, and they could unsubscribe when you collected the address and in every email. The change of 1 July 2026 ended the soft opt-in for phone calls only, not for email.

Want more out of Klaviyo and Shopify?

Need Klaviyo set up on a new headless store, tracking fixed on an existing one, or email templates your marketing team can edit themselves? We put it in a written scope with a fixed price, with no retainer. Looking for a Klaviyo partner in the Netherlands? Get in touch, email info@petercoolen.com or call +31 6 57 54 60 27.

Sources

• Klaviyo – Abandoned cart benchmark report
• Klaviyo – Email automation examples (welcome, browse, post-purchase benchmarks)
• Klaviyo Developers – Integrate with a Shopify Hydrogen store
• Shopify App Store – Klaviyo: Email Marketing & SMS
• Shopify Help Center – Shopify Messaging email pricing
• Google – Email sender guidelines
• Thuiswinkel.org – Opt-in or soft opt-in
• ICTRecht – End of the soft opt-in for telemarketing from 1 July 2026