/General Questions
Question
Do I really need email flows as a beginner or should I ignore email until I'm profitable?
Posted by •11/4/2025
I'm seeing a lot of talk about:
- Klaviyo flows
- Abandoned cart sequences
- Post-purchase upsell emails
- Welcome series, etc.
Some people say email is “free money” and you're dumb if you don't set it up.
Others say as a beginner you should forget it and just focus on getting your first sales.
Right now I have:
- Basic Shopify store
- No email tool connected yet
- Barely any traffic, still in the testing phase
Questions:
1. What is the **minimum** email setup you recommend for a beginner?
2. Is it worth spending time on complex flows if I'm doing less than 1–2 sales/day?
3. Any simple structure for an abandoned cart email that doesn't feel super scammy?
- Klaviyo flows
- Abandoned cart sequences
- Post-purchase upsell emails
- Welcome series, etc.
Some people say email is “free money” and you're dumb if you don't set it up.
Others say as a beginner you should forget it and just focus on getting your first sales.
Right now I have:
- Basic Shopify store
- No email tool connected yet
- Barely any traffic, still in the testing phase
Questions:
1. What is the **minimum** email setup you recommend for a beginner?
2. Is it worth spending time on complex flows if I'm doing less than 1–2 sales/day?
3. Any simple structure for an abandoned cart email that doesn't feel super scammy?
2 Replies
•11/4/2025
I ignored email completely for my first 3 months. When I finally set up just abandoned checkout + a simple “thank you” post-purchase email, it added like 10–15% extra revenue with almost no effort.
Don’t obsess over it, but don’t leave it completely on 0 either.
Don’t obsess over it, but don’t leave it completely on 0 either.
•11/4/2025
Here’s the 80/20:
You **don’t** need a full “email marketing machine” when you’re still fighting for your first few sales.
But you *should* at least:
1. Turn on **abandoned checkout** automation
- 1–2 simple emails is enough at the start
- Shopify has this built in, Klaviyo makes it nicer later
2. Collect emails at checkout & for order updates
- So that when you ARE ready for more advanced flows, the list is there
Simple abandoned checkout flow:
**Email 1 – 1–2 hours after abandon**
Subject: "Did something go wrong at checkout?"
Body:
- "Hey [Name], we noticed you tried to grab [Product] but didn't complete your order."
- "If something broke or was confusing, just reply to this email – we actually read them."
- Button: "Continue your order"
**Email 2 – 24 hours later**
Subject: "Still want your [Product]?"
Body:
- Remind them of the key benefit (“no more messy kitchen”, "no more back pain", etc.)
- Reassure:
- 30-day guarantee
- Support if anything goes wrong
- Optional: small incentive (free shipping / bonus, if your margins allow)
That alone can recover a few extra orders per month, even at low volume.
Anything beyond that (welcome series, complex segmentation) → good to have, but not urgent until you’re doing at least 20–30 orders/month.
You **don’t** need a full “email marketing machine” when you’re still fighting for your first few sales.
But you *should* at least:
1. Turn on **abandoned checkout** automation
- 1–2 simple emails is enough at the start
- Shopify has this built in, Klaviyo makes it nicer later
2. Collect emails at checkout & for order updates
- So that when you ARE ready for more advanced flows, the list is there
Simple abandoned checkout flow:
**Email 1 – 1–2 hours after abandon**
Subject: "Did something go wrong at checkout?"
Body:
- "Hey [Name], we noticed you tried to grab [Product] but didn't complete your order."
- "If something broke or was confusing, just reply to this email – we actually read them."
- Button: "Continue your order"
**Email 2 – 24 hours later**
Subject: "Still want your [Product]?"
Body:
- Remind them of the key benefit (“no more messy kitchen”, "no more back pain", etc.)
- Reassure:
- 30-day guarantee
- Support if anything goes wrong
- Optional: small incentive (free shipping / bonus, if your margins allow)
That alone can recover a few extra orders per month, even at low volume.
Anything beyond that (welcome series, complex segmentation) → good to have, but not urgent until you’re doing at least 20–30 orders/month.