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Theory Road.
E-commerce

Klaviyo email and SMS flows that earn real revenue.

We build and run Klaviyo for e-commerce brands, and we use it on our own Shopify stores.

Most accounts we inherit have the same shape: a welcome series from launch, a cart flow nobody has touched in two years, weekly campaigns sent to the whole list, and a dashboard crediting Klaviyo with a share of revenue that nobody believes. We rebuild the core flows, segment by real purchase behavior, fix deliverability so mail lands in the inbox under Google and Yahoo's bulk sender rules, set up SMS with consent that holds up, and measure email and SMS against a holdout instead of Klaviyo's own attribution. Then we run campaigns and testing month to month, or hand the program to your team.

Questions this page answers

  • Klaviyo agency for a Shopify brand
  • Klaviyo vs mailchimp for e-commerce
  • Which Klaviyo flows should every store have
  • Why are my Klaviyo emails going to spam
  • Is Klaviyo revenue attribution accurate
  • How to collect SMS consent in Klaviyo legally
  • How Klaviyo pricing works with active profiles

Step 1 of 2

How can we help you get found?

What do you need help with?

Next: name, email and budget. That’s it.

How Klaviyo really works

Where Klaviyo pays off, and where it stalls.

Klaviyo's strength is its data. It pulls every Shopify order, product view, cart and checkout event into a profile, and flows fire from those events without anyone pressing send. That is why a handful of flows (welcome, browse abandonment, cart and checkout abandonment, post-purchase, replenishment and winback) do most of the work in a healthy account. Campaigns ride on top, and they perform best when sent to segments built from behavior: recent engagers, repeat buyers, category buyers, people who have never purchased. Sending everything to everyone is the fastest way to damage the sending reputation you depend on.

Accounts get stuck in three places. Deliverability first: since Google and Yahoo began enforcing bulk sender requirements in 2024, senders need an authenticated sending domain with SPF, DKIM and a DMARC policy, one-click unsubscribe, and a spam complaint rate kept well under 0.3 percent. Many stores still send from a shared domain. Second, SMS gets added without clean consent language or quiet hours, which creates legal exposure. Third, attribution: Klaviyo credits any order placed within its window after an open or click, so it claims sales that would have happened anyway, and budget decisions get made on inflated numbers.

We start with an account audit: sending domain and DNS records, list health and suppression, flow triggers and filters, form logic, consent capture and the attribution settings. Then we rebuild flows in priority order, cart and checkout abandonment first because they sit closest to revenue, with branching for first-time versus repeat buyers. We set up segments that exclude unengaged profiles from campaigns, which protects the inbox and reduces the profiles you pay for. Finally we measure incrementally, with holdout groups on key flows, so you know what email and SMS actually add over what you would have sold anyway.

Where Klaviyo sits in your stack

Feeds it

  • Shopify orders
  • Onsite browsing events
  • Signup forms
  • Subscription events
  • Reviews and support
Klaviyo

It feeds

  • Email and SMS revenue
  • Repeat purchase rate
  • Meta and Google audiences
  • Holdout lift report

Every connection is built on your accounts and documented, so the data survives any change of vendor.

What we do

Klaviyo email and SMS management, scoped to the result.

Scope it with us →
  • Core flow build

    Welcome, browse abandonment, cart and checkout abandonment, post-purchase, cross-sell, replenishment and winback, each with branching for new versus repeat buyers and product-aware dynamic content.

  • Deliverability setup and repair

    Branded sending domain, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, one-click unsubscribe, engagement-based sending segments, sunset flows for unengaged profiles, and warmup when moving off a shared domain.

  • SMS program with consent

    Compliant opt-in forms and keyword signups, consent language and records, quiet hours by recipient time zone, and SMS steps added to flows only where they earn more than the email alone.

  • Segmentation and campaigns

    Behavior-based segments by recency, purchase count, category and predicted next order, then a campaign calendar that sends the right offer to the right group instead of the whole list.

  • List growth forms

    Popups, embedded and flyout forms with sensible timing and exit rules, two-step email then SMS capture, and quiz or offer-based forms that grow the list without training buyers to wait for discounts.

  • Migration from Mailchimp and others

    Profiles, consent status, suppressions and history moved from Mailchimp, Omnisend or another platform, with flows rebuilt natively in Klaviyo rather than copied over as they were.

What usually goes wrong

Where Klaviyo setups break.

The problems we are most often hired to fix, in the order they tend to cost money.

  • Sending from a shared domain

    Without a branded, authenticated sending domain and a DMARC record, mail to Gmail and Yahoo is more likely to be filtered or rejected, and your reputation is tied to other senders on the platform.

  • Believing the attributed revenue

    Klaviyo credits orders placed within its attribution window after an open or click. Apple Mail privacy opens and loyal buyers who would have purchased anyway make the reported revenue look larger than the true lift.

  • Paying for dead profiles

    Klaviyo bills on active profiles, so years of unengaged subscribers raise the bill and drag down inbox placement at the same time. Few accounts suppress or sunset them on a schedule.

  • SMS added without real consent

    Pre-checked boxes, vague consent language or texting people who only gave an email creates exposure under the TCPA and state rules, and carriers filter senders who draw complaints.

What we connect it to

Klaviyo, wired into the rest of the business.

  • Shopify

    Native sync of catalog, orders, checkouts and customer data that powers every flow trigger.

  • Recharge

    Subscription events for upcoming charge reminders, failed payment recovery and cancellation saves.

  • Meta Ads

    Klaviyo segments synced as custom audiences for suppression and lookalike building.

  • Google Ads

    Customer lists synced for Customer Match, new customer goals and exclusions.

  • Judge.me

    Review request timing and review events used in post-purchase and winback branching.

  • Gorgias

    Support tickets visible beside profiles so flows pause for customers with open issues.

  • Postscript

    Used when brands keep SMS outside Klaviyo, with consent and suppression kept in sync.

How an engagement runs

From audit to running it.

  1. Audit.

    We review DNS authentication, list health, flow triggers and filters, forms, consent capture and attribution settings, then rank fixes by revenue at risk and compliance exposure.

  2. Rebuild.

    We rebuild the core flows, set up engagement segments and sunset rules, fix sending domain records and forms, and add SMS where consent and economics support it.

  3. Connect.

    We sync Klaviyo with Shopify, subscriptions, reviews, support and ad platform audiences so events and segments flow both ways, and set holdout groups on key flows to measure lift.

  4. Run or hand over.

    We run campaigns, testing and monthly reporting month to month, or hand over a documented account with a flow map, segment definitions and a campaign playbook.

A good fit

  • Shopify and e-commerce brands with an existing list and order history whose flows have not been rebuilt in years.
  • Brands seeing open rates fall or Gmail placement slip and needing deliverability fixed before sending more.
  • Teams moving from Mailchimp or another platform who want flows rebuilt natively rather than copied over.
  • Operators who want email and SMS measured by incremental lift, not by the platform grading its own work.

Probably not a fit

  • Stores with no traffic or list yet, where acquisition has to come first and a basic welcome flow is enough.
  • Brands that only want someone to design pretty campaign emails with no interest in flows, data or measurement.
What it costs

Pricing, plainly.

Klaviyo prices by active profiles, meaning the number of contacts you can message, with a free tier for small lists and paid email plans that step up as the profile count grows. SMS is bought separately as a monthly credit allotment on the combined email and SMS plan, and pricing varies by country and message type. That billing model is why suppressing unengaged profiles saves money directly. We scope our work as a fixed-scope audit and flow rebuild, quoted after a short call and a look at the account, then an optional monthly program for campaigns, testing and reporting, month to month after an initial term.

Perspectives

Reading on Klaviyo.

All perspectives
Questions

Hiring help with Klaviyo.

Q01
Are you a certified Klaviyo Partner?
No. We are independent and not a member of Klaviyo's partner program. We run Klaviyo on our own stores and for clients. That means we are not paid to move you up a plan or add SMS credits, and if a simpler tool fits your size better, we will say so plainly.
Q02
Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: which is better for e-commerce?
For a Shopify store with steady order volume, Klaviyo usually wins because its segmentation and flow triggers run on order and browsing data in real time. Mailchimp can be cheaper and simpler for small lists, newsletters or businesses without a store. The deciding factor is whether you will use behavior-based flows and segments.
Q03
Which Klaviyo flows matter most?
Checkout abandonment, cart abandonment, browse abandonment, welcome, post-purchase and winback cover most of the revenue in a typical store. Replenishment matters for consumables such as supplements, coffee, skincare and pet food. We build those first, then add cross-sell, back-in-stock, price drop and subscription flows.
Q04
Why are our emails going to spam?
The usual causes are sending from a shared or unauthenticated domain, a missing or failing DMARC record, mailing unengaged profiles until complaints rise, and missing one-click unsubscribe. Google and Yahoo enforce these requirements for bulk senders. We check DNS, complaint and bounce rates, and list engagement, then fix and rewarm.
Q05
Is Klaviyo's attributed revenue accurate?
It is a useful signal, not a measure of lift. Klaviyo credits orders placed within its attribution window after a message is opened or clicked, including buyers who were coming back anyway. We tighten the windows, exclude privacy-inflated opens where possible, and run holdout groups on key flows to see real incremental revenue.
Q06
What do we need to text customers legally?
Clear written consent for marketing texts, captured with consent language that names your brand and message type, plus STOP and HELP handling, quiet hours and records you can produce. Rules vary by state and some states are stricter than federal law, so we build to the strictest one that applies. This is not legal advice.
Work with us

Let’s get Klaviyo working for you.

A short note on where the business is and where it needs to go. A senior partner replies within one business day.

t@theoryroad.com