Klaviyo flows every skin care brand should run first

Build in this order: welcome series, abandoned checkout, post-purchase education, replenishment, then review requests, browse and cart abandonment, and winback. The first two reach shoppers who are already close to ordering. The next two matter more for skin care than for most categories, because your customer has to use the product correctly over time and then buy it again.

The build order at a glance

I rank flows by how close the shopper is to buying and by how much clean data the flow needs. Treat every delay and email count below as my suggested starting point to test, not a benchmark.

Welcome series: explain the range before you discount it

Trigger the welcome series when someone joins your main list. Three or four emails over about a week is a reasonable place to start. The first delivers whatever the form promised. The next ones explain who each product suits, the order to apply products in, and how you formulate.

Add a conditional split that checks whether the subscriber has placed an order, so buyers leave the sales emails and move to post-purchase content. If your form or quiz asks about skin concern, save the answer as a custom profile property and branch the second email on it.

Three abandonment flows, three different triggers

Abandoned checkout triggers on Checkout Started, which the Shopify integration syncs once the shopper enters an email address at checkout. Build this one first. As a starting point, send the first message within a few hours and a second about a day later, then test both delays. Filter out anyone who has placed an order since entering the flow.

Abandoned cart triggers on Added to Cart. Klaviyo records the event only for visitors it has already identified, for example through a form submission, a login or a past checkout. Check that Added to Cart appears in your account before building, because it depends on onsite tracking being turned on in Klaviyo's Shopify integration settings. Shopify's customer privacy settings can also block tracking for UK and EU visitors who have not consented.

Browse abandonment triggers on Viewed Product. Intent is weakest here, so send one email and limit how often a person can receive it. Exclude anyone who is in the checkout or cart flow, or you will send three reminders for one visit.

The two flows that are specific to skin care

For skin care I would build these two before review requests or winback.

Post-purchase education

Trigger on Placed Order or Fulfilled Order and split by product. Cover three things across two or three emails:

• How to use it. Amount, frequency, morning or evening, and anything your label says about patch testing or sun protection.
• Where it goes in a routine. The order of application next to the products the customer already owns.
• What to expect and when. Describe the texture, the feel and a realistic period of regular use before judging the product.

Keep this copy inside cosmetic language. In the US, the FDA treats a product intended to treat or prevent disease, or to affect the structure or function of the body, as a drug. Health Canada and the UK regulators draw their own lines between cosmetics and drugs or medicines. "Helps skin feel hydrated" is a cosmetic claim. "Treats eczema" or "cures acne" is a drug claim, and it counts whether it appears on your label, your product page or in an email. Treat a customer quote you repeat in a flow as your own claim. Read the current FDA, Health Canada and UK guidance and have your regulatory advisor review flow copy.

Replenishment timed to the product

A replenishment flow in Klaviyo triggers on Ordered Product, filtered to one product, with a time delay that matches how long that product lasts. The right number of days comes from your own product:

1. Take the size of the product, for example 30 ml.
2. Take the dose from your usage directions, for example two pumps twice a day, and measure how much your dispenser delivers per pump.
3. Divide size by daily use. That gives days of supply.
4. Set the reminder to land a week or so before that date, allowing for shipping time.

A 15 ml eye cream and a 200 ml cleanser need different delays, so build one flow or branch per product and size. Then exclude anyone who has reordered that product, and skip subscribers.

If you sell subscriptions, check your subscription app's Klaviyo integration to see which events it sends, since each app differs. Where it sends upcoming-charge or cancellation events, use them for an upcoming-order notice and a cancellation follow-up. Either way, keep active subscribers out of replenishment so they do not get a reorder reminder for a product already on its way.

Review requests and winback

Time the review request to use, and base it on the fulfillment date. A request that lands a few days after shipping reaches a customer who has barely opened the box. Wait until they have had the product in hand long enough to form a view, and set that wait per product from your own usage directions.

Winback triggers on Placed Order with a long delay and a filter for zero orders since. Set the delay beyond your normal reorder gap, which the replenishment math gives you. After two unanswered emails, stop emailing that profile (the deliverability section below covers how).

The data and settings these flows depend on

Shopify data. The integration supplies Checkout Started, Placed Order, Ordered Product and Fulfilled Order, plus Viewed Product and Added to Cart once onsite tracking is on. Klaviyo's Shopify data reference lists every metric and its properties. Product size and usage rate are things you add yourself.

Segmentation. Two layers cover most needs. The first is skin concern or skin type, stored as custom profile properties from a quiz or a form field. The second is engagement: a segment of people who clicked or opened in recent months, and a segment who did not. Send campaigns to the engaged segment by default.

Deliverability. Set up a branded sending domain in Klaviyo and publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC records for it. Gmail and Yahoo require all three of bulk senders, along with one-click unsubscribe on marketing email. Then sunset unengaged profiles: send a final re-permission email and suppress the people who ignore it.

SMS consent. Email consent does not cover text messages. In the US, the TCPA and the FCC's rules under it generally require prior express written consent for automated marketing texts. Canada's CASL requires consent, sender identification and a working unsubscribe. In the UK, PECR and UK GDPR govern marketing texts and generally require prior consent. Collect SMS consent as a separate, explicit opt-in and get legal advice on the wording for each country you sell to.

When Klaviyo is more than you need

In my judgment, Klaviyo earns its cost once you have enough orders for product-level flows to fire often. If you sell one or two products to a small list, Shopify's built-in marketing automations cover basics such as a welcome email and an abandoned checkout reminder. Klaviyo's pricing changes over time, so check its pricing page against your list size.

What devinsta does here

We at devinsta build and maintain these flows as part of our Klaviyo email and SMS service: trigger logic, product-level splits, replenishment intervals, segments and domain authentication. The accounts stay yours, and we work in two-week sprints with weekly demos.

Skin concern and routine data often needs custom work on the store. Our Shopify app development team builds quizzes and routine builders that write answers to Klaviyo profiles, and our post on a custom Shopify app vs a plugin explains when an off-the-shelf quiz app is enough. The skin care brands page shows how the store, email and funnel automation work fits together.

We do not give regulatory or legal advice. Your claims and consent wording need your own advisor's review.

To see where your account stands, request a free site audit and you will get a written report within five working days, or book a free 30-minute strategy call.

Common questions

Which Klaviyo flow should a skin care brand build first?

Build the welcome series and abandoned checkout first, because both reach people who are close to a first order. Then add post-purchase education and replenishment, which drive correct use and repeat orders.

How do I work out the replenishment interval for a product?

Divide the product size by the daily amount your usage directions call for. That gives days of supply. Send the reminder about a week before that date and set a separate delay for each product and size.

Do I need separate consent for SMS in Klaviyo?

Yes. Email consent does not cover marketing texts. The TCPA in the US, CASL in Canada, and PECR with UK GDPR in the UK each set consent rules, so collect an explicit SMS opt-in and get legal advice on the wording.

Can my emails say a product treats acne or eczema?

Not if you sell it as a cosmetic. Regulators in the US, Canada and the UK treat claims to treat or cure a condition as drug or medicine claims. Describe how the product looks, feels and fits a routine, and have an advisor review the copy.