Klaviyo's free tier supports up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends/month — plenty to start. Connect it to your Shopify/WooCommerce store (one-click integration). It automatically imports your customer data, purchase history, and browsing behavior. This is the foundation everything else builds on.

Set up these three flows first — they generate 50-70% of email revenue for most stores: (1) Welcome series (3 emails: brand story, social proof, discount), (2) Abandoned cart (3 emails: reminder, urgency, final offer), (3) Post-purchase (thank you, cross-sell, review request). Klaviyo has pre-built templates for all three.

The #1 mistake in ecommerce email: making them look like newsletter templates from 2015. Write like you're texting a friend who asked about your product. Short paragraphs, one CTA per email, and a subject line that creates curiosity. Study brands like Liquid Death or Chubbies for tone inspiration.

Split your list into at least 3 segments: (1) Never purchased, (2) Purchased once, (3) Repeat customers. Send different content to each — don't email a discount code to someone who already bought at full price yesterday. Klaviyo makes this point-and-click easy with pre-built segment conditions.

Check open rates (aim for 40%+), click rates (2.5%+), and revenue per email. If open rates are low, your subject lines need work. If clicks are low, your email content or CTA is the problem. A/B test one thing at a time — subject line, then send time, then CTA placement. Small improvements compound fast when you're sending emails daily.