The welcome email flow we build in Klaviyo, step by step
The first sequence a subscriber ever gets from you. It's the one we build before anything else.
One trigger, four sends, three decisions, one exit
The delays and splits our Automation Playbook draws for this flow.
Somebody joins the list
It fires on a newsletter signup, whether that's the on-site popup or a registration on the site. One entry point, so nobody arrives twice.
The introduction
Subject line · Welcome aboard
It lands while you're still on screen. Whatever the signup promised gets honoured here, usually the first-order code.
Has an order been placed in the last three days?
The reminder with a deadline
Subject line · [COUPON] Your 10% off expires in two days
The same offer, now finite. We don't add anything new: the reason to act is the clock, not another argument.
Has an order been placed in the last two days?
The last call
Subject line · [10% OFF] Today's the last day
The offer closes here. Short, one call to action, and it says out loud that this is the last one.
Has anything been opened in the past ten days?
The last shot
A stronger offer than the first three, live for one day. It only goes to the people who are still opening.
The profile leaves the flow
Bought or not, it stops here and the campaign calendar takes over. Nobody sits in a welcome flow twice.
What it costs to skip a send
Three things that never show up as a problem in a campaign report.
The introduction that never happens
Let's face it: a signup with nothing behind it is just a name on a list. The keenest minute you'll ever get out of somebody passes in silence.
One email, and no reason to act today
One welcome, no follow-up, and you're asking for a decision on the spot. Most people don't make it. Nothing ever asks them again.
No exits, so buyers get chased anyway
Without the order checks between sends, somebody who bought yesterday still gets the last-day discount. That's how a list learns to wait for the offer.
What we test, and in what order
Three tests, one at a time: which email carries the offer, the subject line on email one, then how long that first delay runs. Each one runs long enough to be decided on orders, not opens.
What a rebuilt welcome flow did on one account
One client, one year, one flow.
Rebel Aromas, January to December 2025. Read the case study.
FAQs
What is a welcome email flow?
A welcome email flow is an automated sequence that sends the moment somebody joins your email list, instead of leaving them to wait for the next campaign. Ours runs four emails across ten days from a newsletter signup, with an order check between each send, so anybody who buys stops hearing about the offer. It's the first automation we build on any account. Somebody has just asked to hear from you: that moment doesn't come round twice.
How many emails should a welcome email flow have?
Four is where we start: the introduction, the reminder with a deadline, the last call, and a final send to the people still opening. A considered purchase usually wants more education between the offers. One product, and you often want fewer. We'll settle the count with you once we can see how long your customers take to buy. It isn't a rule.
When should the first welcome email send?
Immediately. There's no delay before email one in our build: they're still on the site and they still remember why they signed up. If the signup promised a code, that code goes in the first email, not in a follow-up an hour later. Otherwise the promise reads as a trick.
Should a welcome email flow include a discount?
Offered one at signup? Then yes, and it belongs in the first email. If you didn't, the flow runs on your story, your bestsellers and the reasons people pick you. And the size of the offer matters less than the deadline on it. Say when it ends: that's what makes sends two and three worth opening.
Is a welcome email flow allowed under UK GDPR and PECR?
Yes, as long as the person opted in themselves and the signup wording said what they'd get. We record consent on the profile with its source and timestamp, keep a one-click unsubscribe in every send, and never run this flow against a bought list or a pre-ticked box. Soft opt-in covers existing customers for similar products. But a newsletter signup is consent in its own right, and it's the cleaner basis to build on.
How do you know whether the welcome flow is working?
Placed order rate and revenue per recipient, read against the flow's own history, not somebody else's benchmark. Open rate tells you the subject line worked. Nothing more. We look at the drop between email one and email two first, because that gap is usually the delay being wrong for your buying cycle, not the copy being weak.
The ten core flows, drawn the way we build them
Fourteen more flows, and the hub they sit in
Each one gets the same treatment: the real trigger, the real delays, and the splits that decide who stops hearing from you.
- Site searchSearched, then went no further
- Category browseBrowsed a category, opened nothing
- Browse abandonmentViewed a product, then left
- Back in stockThe moment the stock lands
- Price dropOnly the people already watching
- Abandoned cartBasic and advanced, on one page
- Checkout abandonmentStopped at the payment step
- BirthdayOne date, given on purpose
The eCommerce Email Automation Playbook
Twelve pages of decision trees: every evergreen automation with its trigger, delays, splits and exits drawn out.
- Post purchaseThe first order welcome
- ReplenishmentTimed to the reorder window
- Cross sellThe second product, not the same one
- VIPYour best customers, kept close
- WinbackThe dormant shopper, before sunset
- SunsetThe profiles that stopped reading
- The flow libraryAll fourteen, in one place
The whole stack is drawn in the Automation Playbook, the channel it runs in is email marketing, and the map that decides which flow owns which moment is lifecycle strategy.
Want this flow built on your account?
Bring your Klaviyo login to the first call. We'll read what your welcome flow does today and tell you which of these four sends is missing. Take that away and build it yourself if you like.
Book a call with our founder.
We're all about relationships built on trust, mutual respect and a shared vision for success. If that sounds like your vibe, let's make some waves together 🌊
