Is a Klaviyo Site Abandonment Flow Worth Building?

Yes, once your core flows work and your store has enough identifiable traffic. A Klaviyo site abandonment flow emails known visitors who leave without viewing a product. It's the lowest-intent abandonment flow, so build it last, keep it to two emails, filter out anyone who moves on to browse, cart, checkout or purchase, and help rather than discount.

Someone lands on your homepage.

They scroll a bit, maybe open a collection page. Then they're gone.

No product viewed. Nothing in the cart.

That's the visitor a site abandonment flow is built for. It's the flow most brands forget about, and honestly, that's fine for a while. It's the last one we'd build.

By Emiel Dingemans, Founder of Magicianly

Updated October 2026

What Is a Klaviyo Site Abandonment Flow?

A site abandonment flow is an automated email series that starts when a known visitor is active on your site and leaves without viewing a product, adding to cart, starting checkout or buying. In Klaviyo, it's triggered by the Active on Site metric. Klaviyo also calls it a site bounce flow.

It's the first step on the abandonment ladder. Someone was interested enough to visit.

That's about all you know.

How Is Site Abandonment Different From Browse, Cart and Checkout Abandonment?

It's the earliest, lowest-intent moment. Browse abandonment starts when someone views a product. Cart and checkout abandonment start when they've nearly decided. Site abandonment starts before any of that.

So the messaging shouldn't pretend a homepage visit is a cart. If you want the next step up, here's how we build the Klaviyo browse abandonment flow.

Who Actually Enters a Site Abandonment Flow?

Only visitors Klaviyo can identify. Klaviyo's onsite tracking only follows "known browsers", for example people who've clicked through a Klaviyo email or SMS to your site, or subscribed through a Klaviyo form.

That has a big practical consequence. Most people in this flow are already subscribers or customers, and a lot of them arrived by clicking one of your own emails.

So this flow doesn't find new people. It nudges people you're already emailing.

That's why we keep it short and low-pressure, and why it should never stack on top of your campaigns and other flows.

When Is a Site Abandonment Flow Worth Building?

When the rest of your flows are already doing their job and you have enough identified traffic to fill it.

Our rough build order for the core lifecycle flows:

1. 1Welcome
2. 2Checkout abandonment
3. 3Cart abandonment
4. 4Browse abandonment
5. 5Post-purchase
6. 6Winback
7. 7Site abandonment

That's a starting point, not a law. The reasoning is in ecommerce email flows, and if you're starting from scratch, begin with the five automations to prioritize first.

It's probably time when:

• your welcome, abandonment, post-purchase and winback flows are live and tuned;
• you have substantial traffic, with plenty of visitors coming back through your emails;
• you have something genuinely useful to show a first-time browser, like bestsellers, a "start here" guide or a product quiz.

It can wait when:

• your cart or checkout flow still sends three "you forgot something" emails;
• browse abandonment isn't live yet;
• your traffic is small, so the flow would barely trigger.

How Do You Set Up a Site Abandonment Flow in Klaviyo?

Use Active on Site as the trigger, then add flow filters so anyone who views a product, adds to cart, starts checkout or orders drops out. This follows Klaviyo's own guide on how to create an abandoned site flow.

1. 1Make sure Klaviyo onsite tracking is installed. For most ecommerce stores, it's installed automatically.
2. 2Build a new flow from scratch and choose the Active on Site metric as the trigger.
3. 3Add these flow filters:
   • Active on Site zero times since starting this flow;
   • Viewed Product zero times since starting this flow;
   • Started Checkout zero times since starting this flow;
   • Placed Order zero times since starting this flow;
   • Added to Cart zero times since starting this flow (Shopify and BigCommerce, if Added to Cart tracking is on);
   • has not been in this flow in the last 30 days.
4. 4Add your first email, a time delay, then your second email.

Klaviyo's guide warns that you'll see a lot of skipped messages in this flow. That's expected. It means the filters are working: people came back, looked at a product or started a cart, and your browse, cart or post-purchase flows took over.

For how filters, splits and exclusions keep flows from overlapping in general, see Klaviyo flow filters vs trigger splits vs exclusions.

Should You Exclude Customers From a Site Abandonment Flow?

Usually, at least recent ones. Someone who ordered last week and came back to check their tracking page doesn't need a "can we help you find something?" email.

The filters in Klaviyo's guide only remove people who order after they enter the flow. So we usually add one more filter to keep recent buyers out, or send customers down their own path with a split.

What "recent" means depends on how often people buy from you. A fast-moving consumable and a once-a-year purchase need different windows.

What Timing Should a Site Abandonment Flow Use?

Test the first email somewhere between 1 and 4 hours after the visit, then send the second about a day later.

Site abandoners are earlier in the journey than browse or cart abandoners, so the first email can wait a little longer. The further down the funnel, the shorter the delay usually gets.

We start with the first email because it usually has the biggest impact. Test a couple of delays in that 1 to 4 hour range with a random sample split, then lock in the winner. Klaviyo's own template waits 1 day before the second message.

What Should a Site Abandonment Email Say?

Help them find their way in. They didn't look at a product, so "still thinking about it?" makes no sense. Give them a better starting point than the one they had.

Email 1: Help them find where to start

• a short, friendly line that doesn't pretend you know what they wanted;
• your bestsellers or most-loved products (3 to 5, not the whole catalog);
• a simple way to choose: a quiz, a "start here" guide or shopping by need;
• one clear call to action near the top.

Subject lines in this spirit: "Not sure where to start?", "Our three bestsellers, in one place" or "A quick guide to choosing".

Email 2: Give them a reason to trust you

• reviews or a short customer story;
• what makes your product different;
• shipping, returns and guarantees, said plainly;
• an invitation to reply with questions.

A short plain-text note from the founder or the team works well here.

Keep both emails light. This visitor gave you very little. Two helpful emails is plenty.

Should You Offer a Discount in a Site Abandonment Flow?

Not by default. Klaviyo's example leans on a deal (it also suggests new arrivals or offering help), and we get why. But someone who hasn't even looked at a product hasn't hit a price objection yet.

A discount here mostly teaches your list that browsing earns a coupon. Lead with guidance, bestsellers and trust instead.

The exception is a sale that's already running. During Black Friday, for example, we keep this flow to one email about an hour after the visit, with a useful selection and the offer that's live.

Should You Add SMS to a Site Abandonment Flow?

We usually don't. Klaviyo's guide adds an SMS branch, with a best practice of one SMS per recipient, sent within 48 hours. That's a sensible cap if you do use it.

Our view: promotional SMS earns its place for launches, restocks and real sales, not for someone who glanced at your homepage. We keep this one email-only.

How Do You Know If Your Site Abandonment Flow Is Working?

Look at placed order rate, revenue per recipient, unsubscribes and spam complaints, and be skeptical of the attributed revenue.

Plenty of people in this flow would have come back anyway. Many are engaged subscribers who were already clicking your campaigns. So the revenue Klaviyo attributes to this flow will look better than what it really adds. We explain why in can you trust Klaviyo attribution?

If you want a cleaner answer, add a random sample split that holds back a share of people from the emails, and compare orders between the two groups over a few weeks.

And watch unsubscribes closely in the first weeks. If this flow pushes people off your list, it's costing you more than it brings in.

What Are the Most Common Site Abandonment Mistakes?

Most of them come from treating a homepage visit like a cart.

1. 1Building it before your welcome, abandonment and post-purchase flows work.
2. 2Skipping the filters, so people get site, browse and cart emails for the same visit.
3. 3Using cart-style urgency and countdowns on someone who never looked at a product.
4. 4Leading with a discount.
5. 5Sending recent customers "can we help you find something?" emails.
6. 6Adding an SMS to a moment that doesn't deserve one.
7. 7Judging the flow on attributed revenue alone.

So Is a Klaviyo Site Abandonment Flow Worth Building?

Yes, as the last of your core flows, once the others work and your traffic is big enough to fill it.

Trigger it on Active on Site, filter out anyone who moves further into the funnel, keep it to two helpful emails and skip the reflex discount. Then measure it honestly. The same testing mindset applies to your campaigns, too, starting with the best time to send marketing emails.

Small flow, small job.

Do it well and it quietly points curious visitors to the right product.