The trigger, the two filters, and five emails over nine days, with every Klaviyo setting named.
- Point every signup form at one list and trigger the welcome flow from that list.
- Add two profile filters: Placed Order zero times over all time, and Checkout Started zero times since starting this flow.
- Send five emails on days 0, 1, 3, 6, and 9: the offer, the founder story, bestsellers, answers to first-order questions, and a last reminder.
- Turn Smart Sending off on email one so the offer always arrives, and keep it on for the other four.
- Judge the flow on placed order rate per email and the share of new subscribers who buy within 30 days.
On this page
The welcome flow is the first thing a new subscriber receives from you, and for many stores it is also the flow that runs longest without anyone opening it. A common version is two emails written at launch, a discount code and a brand story, still featuring products that have since changed.
This playbook rebuilds it from the trigger up: one trigger, two filters, and five emails over nine days. Every Klaviyo setting is named, so you can follow along in your account.
Set up the list and the trigger
Start with the list, then the flow. In Klaviyo, go to Audience > Lists & segments and find the list your signup forms add people to. If three old forms feed three lists, choose one and point every form at it, because a list-triggered flow fires from one list.
Open the list, then Settings > Consent, and check the opt-in process. Klaviyo lists use double opt-in by default. Single opt-in adds people the moment they submit a form. With double opt-in, Klaviyo sends a confirmation email first and adds people only after they click.
Single opt-in grows the list faster. Double opt-in gives you a cleaner list, and some regions expect it, so check the rules where your customers live.
Now create the flow. Go to Flows, click Create flow, and choose Build your own. Under All triggers, choose Added to list and select your signup list. Leave Re-entry criteria on No re-entry, the default for list triggers, so each subscriber gets the series once.
Only people who join the list after the flow goes live enter it. Importing a CSV to the list also triggers the flow, so turn the flow off before any import.
If your forms also collect SMS consent, build the email version first. Add SMS steps later behind a conditional split on whether the profile can receive SMS marketing.
Add the two filters
Click the trigger and add profile filters. Klaviyo checks them when someone enters and again before every email, and skips any email the subscriber no longer qualifies for.
Filter one: Placed Order zero times over all time
This keeps existing customers out of a series built for first-time buyers. Because Klaviyo checks it before every email, it also skips the remaining emails for anyone who buys partway through, and your post-purchase flow takes over from there.
If customers often subscribe after their first order, this filter means they skip the welcome entirely. Give them a short separate flow of their own, triggered from the same list with the opposite filter, and leave the first-order discount out of it.
Filter two: Checkout Started zero times since starting this flow
This moves a subscriber who starts a checkout out of the welcome series and leaves them to your abandoned checkout flow. That flow speaks to what they are doing right now, and running both would put several emails in their inbox on the same day.
The trade-off is that someone who starts a checkout and never buys misses the rest of the welcome series. If your welcome series carries the first-order code and your checkout flow does not, skip this filter and let them stay in both.
The five emails over nine days
Set the timing first, then write the emails. Email one sends immediately. After it, add Time delay steps of 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, and 3 days, which puts the remaining emails on days 1, 3, 6, and 9.
Turn Smart Sending off on email one so it always sends, even if a campaign went out that morning, and leave it on for the other four. The toggle sits in the Settings section of each email card. Turn on Enable UTM Tracking there for all five emails so the flow shows up in Google Analytics.
Email one, day 0: the welcome and the offer
Deliver what the form promised in the first line, whether that is a code, a guide, or early access. If it is a code, show it as text in the body so it survives image blocking and copy and paste.
Create the code in Klaviyo's Coupons section with Create Shopify Coupon, and insert it with the coupon code tag, so each subscriber gets a single-use code. Add one line about who you are and one link to your bestsellers. The subscriber came for the offer, so keep everything else brief.
Whether to offer a discount depends on your margins and how often customers come back. Run the numbers in our discount cost calculator before you choose an amount.
Email two, day 1: why the brand exists
This is the founder email. Write it in the first person and keep it under 200 words: why you started, what you wanted that you could not buy, and what you would not compromise on.
A plain or near-plain template suits this email, because it reads like a person wrote it. Sign it with your name and set the reply-to address to an inbox someone reads.
Email three, day 3: the bestsellers
Show three or four products with one sentence each on what they are for. Choose the products new customers tend to buy first. Start from Shopify's sales by product report, and favor the items that show up most in first orders.
Add reviews if your review app connects to Klaviyo. Remind the subscriber of the code and the date it expires.
Email four, day 6: the questions before a first order
Answer the three or four questions your support inbox gets from people who have not bought yet. These are usually sizing, shipping times, returns, and how the product compares with what they use now. Link each answer to the page that covers it in full.
This email does the work a store associate would do in person. Judge it on placed order rate rather than clicks.
Email five, day 9: the last reminder
If you offered a code, this email says when it expires, in the subject line and in the first sentence. In the coupon's Expiration setting, choose a set number of days after the code is generated, such as 10, so the deadline is real.
If you did not offer a code, use email five to point to a next step, such as a quiz, a starter bundle, or a sample. After this email, the subscriber moves on to your regular campaigns.
Check it before it goes live
- Confirm the trigger is your one signup list, with Re-entry criteria set to No re-entry.
- Confirm both profile filters are in place.
- Confirm the delays after email one are 1, 2, 3, and 3 days.
- Confirm Smart Sending is off on email one and on for the rest, with UTM tracking on for all five.
- Preview the coupon block with a real profile and test the code at checkout.
- Set each email to Live, then set the flow to Live.
Then subscribe through your own form with a personal email and read all five as they arrive.
What to measure
Three numbers tell you whether the welcome flow is working.
- Placed order rate for each email. Email one should lead. If email four or five outperforms email two, move it earlier and test the new order.
- First orders from new subscribers. Build a segment of profiles with Subscribed to List at least once in the last 30 days. Copy it, add Placed Order at least once in the last 30 days, and compare the two counts.
- Unsubscribe rate per email. A rise on one email points to that email's content or timing.
Check these monthly. A welcome flow sees new subscribers every day, and the results need a few weeks of volume to settle.
What to do this week
Open your current welcome flow and write down its trigger, its filters, and the date each email was last edited. If any email still features a product you no longer sell, fix that first.
Then add the two filters and turn Smart Sending off on email one. Those changes take about ten minutes and fix the problems a subscriber would notice.
Finally, subscribe through your own form with a personal email and read what arrives over the next nine days.
If you want an outside view of your email program alongside paid, SEO, and the site, the free growth plan is a six-month plan we build from the outside, with no logins, and walk you through on a call. Welcome flows are part of our email and SMS work, and Klaviyo Flows: What to Build First covers how this flow fits with the rest.
