The 7 Email Flows Every UK Shopify Store Needs in Place Right Now

Automated email flows are the engine of email marketing for Shopify stores. While campaigns require someone to write, schedule, and send them, flows run continuously in the background — triggering off customer behaviour, nurturing relationships, and generating revenue around the clock without manual intervention.

For UK Shopify brands, getting these seven flows built is the single highest-leverage email marketing activity available. Together, they typically generate 35–50% of total email revenue for well-optimised brands. Each one is attainable on any major ESP, including Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, Omnisend, Dotdigital, Mailchimp, HubSpot, and Brevo.

Here is exactly what each flow does, how to build it, and what performance to expect.

Flow 1: Welcome Series

What it is: A sequence of emails sent to new subscribers when they join your list, regardless of whether they’ve made a purchase.

Why it matters: The welcome series is the highest-engaged email sequence you will ever send. Subscribers are at peak interest in your brand in the first 48–72 hours after signing up. Average open rates for welcome series emails range from 40–60%, compared to 20–30% for campaigns. Not capitalising on this window is one of the costliest email marketing mistakes UK brands make.

How to build it:

A five-email welcome series is the standard recommendation. Space the emails at: immediately on sign-up, day 2, day 4, day 7, and day 14.

Email 1 (Immediate): Welcome and brand introduction. If they signed up for a discount code, deliver it here. Keep it simple: “Welcome to [Brand]. Here’s your 10% off.” Avoid a wall of text. One CTA, one message.
Email 2 (Day 2): Brand story. Why does your brand exist? Who is it for? What makes you different from every other brand in your category? UK consumers, particularly in fashion, beauty, and health, increasingly buy into brand values. This is your opportunity.
Email 3 (Day 4): Social proof and best-sellers. Your highest-rated products, customer reviews, press coverage. Reduce perceived risk for first-time buyers.
Email 4 (Day 7): If they haven’t purchased, send a reminder of their discount code with urgency. “Your welcome offer expires in 48 hours.”
Email 5 (Day 14): A softer engagement email — content, a guide, a recipe (if relevant), an educational piece. Moves the relationship from promotional to relationship-building.

GDPR note: Welcome series emails are sent on the basis of consent — the subscriber opted in. Ensure your consent capture is compliant before building this flow.

Performance benchmark: 35–50% open rate on Email 1. 10–20% click rate. Revenue contribution: 8–15% of total email revenue.

Flow 2: Abandoned Cart

What it is: Triggered when a subscriber adds products to their cart and leaves without completing the purchase.

Why it matters: UK e-commerce cart abandonment rates average 70–75%. Of every 100 customers who add to cart, 70–75 don’t buy. A well-built abandoned cart flow recovers a meaningful percentage of this lost revenue.

How to build it:

A three-email sequence is standard:

Email 1 (1 hour after abandonment): Simple, direct reminder. Show the abandoned cart contents. “You left something behind.” Single CTA: complete your purchase.
Email 2 (24 hours): Address objections. Why do people abandon cart on your site? Price? Shipping cost? Uncertainty about sizing or fit? Address the most common objection in this email. If free returns are available, say so. If shipping is fast, say so.
Email 3 (48–72 hours): If the first two haven’t converted, consider a modest incentive: free shipping, 5–10% off, or a small gift with purchase. Don’t lead with discount — offer it as a last resort only.

GDPR note: You can only send abandoned cart emails to subscribers who have explicitly opted in to marketing. Under PECR’s soft opt-in rule, you may also be able to email existing customers who abandoned cart, but this requires care around what constitutes an “existing customer relationship.”

Performance benchmark: 10–15% of abandoned carts recovered via email. Revenue contribution: 10–20% of total automated flow revenue. Typically the highest single-flow revenue contributor.

Flow 3: Post-Purchase Series

What it is: A sequence triggered immediately after a customer completes their first purchase.

Why it matters: The post-purchase period is when customers are most receptive to your brand. They’ve spent money with you. They’re invested. This window determines whether they become a one-time buyer or a repeat customer.

How to build it:

Separate your transactional emails (order confirmation, shipping notification) from your marketing sequence. The post-purchase marketing series begins after the transactional emails.

Email 1 (Day 1–2 after delivery): Thank-you and product education. How do they get the most out of what they’ve bought? Tips, tutorials, usage guidance. Builds perceived value and reduces buyer’s remorse.
Email 2 (Day 5–7): Cross-sell introduction. “Customers who bought [X] also love [Y].” Use purchase data to make this specific and relevant, not generic.
Email 3 (Day 14): Review request. Ask for a review or user-generated content. UK consumers respond well to specific, low-friction review requests. “Two minutes to tell us what you think” is a good ask.
Email 4 (Day 21–30): Second purchase nudge. Offer something to incentivise a return visit — a loyalty point balance, exclusive content, or a time-limited offer.

Performance benchmark: 25–40% open rate. Revenue contribution: 5–10% of total automated flow revenue. Second purchase rate uplift: 15–25% vs no post-purchase sequence.

Flow 4: Browse Abandonment

What it is: Triggered when a known subscriber views one or more product pages but does not add to cart.

Why it matters: Browse abandonment captures intent earlier in the funnel than cart abandonment. A subscriber who views a product page three times over five days is showing strong purchase intent. Most brands are not capitalising on this.

How to build it:

This is a 2–3 email sequence. Timing should be more conservative than abandoned cart, since the intent signal is softer.

Email 1 (24 hours after browse): Simple, low-pressure acknowledgement. “Still thinking about [product name]?” Show the browsed product, include key product features and social proof. No urgency, no discount. Just relevance.
Email 2 (48–72 hours, if no click/purchase): Add context. Customer reviews, product imagery from different angles, “what to expect” content. Still low pressure.
Email 3 (optional, 5–7 days): For high-value products, a third email with a modest incentive or a comparison guide makes sense. For lower-value products, stop at two.

GDPR note: Browse abandonment is strictly for known subscribers only. You cannot email someone who browsed your site without being in your email list.

Performance benchmark: 5–8% click-to-purchase rate. Revenue contribution: 3–6% of total automated flow revenue.

Flow 5: Win-Back / Re-Engagement

What it is: Triggered when a customer or subscriber hasn’t opened or clicked in a defined period — typically 90–180 days for engagement, or 60–120 days since last purchase for win-back.

Why it matters: Two reasons. First, commercially: a percentage of lapsed customers can be recovered with the right message at the right time. Second, for deliverability: sending to large volumes of non-engaging subscribers damages your sender reputation, reduces inbox placement across your whole list, and ultimately costs you more revenue than it generates.

How to build it:

There are two versions of this flow:

Re-engagement (based on email inactivity):

Email 1: “Is this still a good email for you?” Simple, direct. Ask if they want to keep receiving emails. Provide a clear “Yes, keep me subscribed” CTA.
Email 2 (7 days later, no response): Last chance. “We’re going to remove you from our list unless you click here.” This sounds aggressive but is GDPR-good practice and generates a meaningful response from borderline subscribers.
If no action: Suppress from all marketing sends.

Win-back (based on purchase inactivity):

Email 1 (Day 60–90 post last purchase): “We’ve missed you.” Acknowledge the absence, offer a relevant incentive. Reference their last purchase or favourite category.
Email 2 (Day 7): Follow-up with social proof, new products, or a refreshed offer.
Email 3 (Day 14): Final attempt with maximum incentive.

GDPR note: For subscribers who haven’t engaged in 12+ months, you should seriously consider whether your basis for continued processing remains valid. A re-consent mechanism in the win-back flow is best practice for UK GDPR compliance.

Performance benchmark: 5–15% reactivation rate. Revenue contribution: 2–5% of total automated flow revenue. Deliverability improvement: measurable open rate lift across your full list after regular suppression of non-engagers.

Flow 6: Replenishment / Reorder Reminder

What it is: Triggered a set number of days after purchase to remind customers to reorder a consumable product.

Why it matters: For any UK brand selling consumables — supplements, coffee, skincare, pet food, cleaning products, baby products — the replenishment cycle is predictable. If your product lasts 30 days and you send a reminder on day 25, you are capturing the customer at the exact moment they’re beginning to run low. This is email marketing at its most relevant.

How to build it:

The trigger is based on average days-to-repurchase for the relevant product. You can calculate this in your Shopify analytics or Klaviyo’s predictive data.

Email 1 (X days after purchase, where X = average repurchase window - 5 days): “Running low? Time to reorder.” Show the exact product purchased. One-click reorder if your Shopify setup supports it.
Email 2 (3 days later, if no purchase): Add urgency. “Don’t run out — delivery takes 2–3 days.” Include subscribe-and-save option if available.
Email 3 (3 days later, if still no purchase): Last attempt. Consider a loyalty point balance, bundle offer, or subscription discount.

Performance benchmark: 20–35% open rate (highly relevant, known product). Revenue contribution for consumable brands: 10–20% of total automated flow revenue. This is often the highest-ROI flow for brands with a subscription-friendly product.

Flow 7: VIP / High-Value Customer Flow

What it is: Triggered when a customer crosses a defined spending or order frequency threshold that designates them as a VIP.

Why it matters: VIP customers — typically the top 10–20% of your customer base by lifetime value — generate a disproportionate share of revenue. In most e-commerce businesses, the top 20% of customers generate 50–60% of revenue. Treating these customers differently is not just good marketing — it’s essential retention strategy.

How to build it:

Define your VIP threshold first. Common metrics: spent over £300 lifetime, made 3+ purchases, average order value above £100. Use whichever threshold makes sense for your product price point.

Entry email: “You’re a VIP.” Welcome them to the VIP programme. Explain what this means — early access to sales, exclusive products, dedicated support, or whatever benefits you’re offering.
Exclusive access sends: VIP subscribers should receive advance notice of new product launches, Black Friday early access, and seasonal sale events before anyone else. These don’t need to be separate flow emails — they’re campaign segments. But the VIP flow sets the expectation.
Birthday email: If you have birthday data, a birthday email with a VIP-specific gift or discount is a high-converting mechanic. Set this up as a separate flow within the VIP segment.
Anniversary email: The anniversary of their first purchase is a natural milestone. “One year since your first order — here’s a thank you.”
Retention check-in: At 90 days of no purchase for a VIP customer (which should be unusual if they typically buy frequently), trigger a personalised “We’ve noticed you haven’t visited lately” email. At this tier, a personal, non-template-looking email performs best.

Performance benchmark: VIP email open rates typically 15–25% higher than average list open rates. LTV uplift from a properly managed VIP programme: 20–40% vs no VIP programme. Revenue contribution: 5–10% of total automated flow revenue, but drives disproportionate LTV.

Flow Architecture: Making the 7 Flows Work Together

Having all seven flows running is necessary but not sufficient. They must be orchestrated correctly to avoid contradictory messaging and inbox fatigue.

The most important rule: mutual exclusions. A customer should not be in the abandoned cart flow AND the browse abandonment flow for the same product simultaneously. A VIP customer should not receive a generic win-back email. A new customer in the welcome series should not simultaneously receive a re-engagement flow.

Build exclusion logic into every flow. In Klaviyo, this is handled through flow filters and trigger filters. In ActiveCampaign, it’s managed through goal steps and conditional logic. In Dotdigital and Omnisend, similar exclusion logic is available through segment conditions.

Frequency capping. Especially for high-send-volume weeks (Black Friday, January sales), consider implementing a global frequency cap so that no subscriber receives more than a set number of automated emails in a 7-day period, regardless of flow triggers.

Flow review cadence. Set a quarterly flow review. Check revenue per recipient, open rates, click rates, and unsubscribe rates for each flow. A/B test one element of each flow every quarter. The flows you build today should be meaningfully better in 12 months.

How Long Does It Take to Build All 7 Flows?

Building all seven flows from scratch, with copy, design, and logic, typically takes 4–8 weeks for a competent email marketer or agency. The welcome series and abandoned cart flow should be built first — they generate the most revenue and are the most straightforward to set up.

For UK brands who want these flows running but don’t have the internal resource to build them, Excelohunt provides done-for-you flow builds across Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Dotdigital, Mailchimp, Omnisend, and Brevo — with UK GDPR and PECR compliance built in from the start.

Conclusion

Seven flows. That’s the difference between a UK Shopify store generating 10–15% of revenue from email and one generating 35–50%. Every flow in this list is proven, achievable, and directly tied to commercial outcomes.

The technology to build them exists on every major ESP. The strategy is documented above. What’s required is the time, attention, and expertise to bring them to life — and then the discipline to keep optimising them over time.

Start with the welcome series and abandoned cart. Get those live. Then build out the rest in order of revenue potential for your specific product type and customer base.

The flows that run while you sleep are the ones that compound into meaningful revenue over time.

Get a free email audit from Excelohunt →