Most Shopify brands send the same email to everyone on their list regardless of purchase history, engagement level, or buying behavior. The result is lower conversions, higher unsubscribes, and a list that becomes less valuable over time.
Think about the diversity in a typical 10,000-person email list: 500 people who have purchased 5+ times, 1,200 one-time buyers, 800 discount-only buyers, 2,000 who joined for a lead magnet and never bought, 3,000 who haven't opened in 6 months, and 1,000 who are actively engaged and on the verge of purchasing. Each group needs a completely different message.
Additionally, suppressing unengaged subscribers from promotional campaigns reduces unsubscribe rates and spam complaints, which directly improves deliverability for everyone on your list.
Who they are: Subscribers who have opened or clicked at least one email in the last 90 days.
Why they matter: This is your warm audience — the people most likely to respond to any email you send. Send all promotional campaigns to this segment.
How to use them: All promotional campaigns, new product launches, time-sensitive offers.
Who they are: Your highest-value customers based on a combination of purchase frequency, total spend, and recency.
The common mistake: Most brands define VIPs purely by AOV. This is wrong. A customer who bought once for $500 is less valuable than one who bought 8 times for $80. True VIPs have high frequency AND high total spend AND recent activity.
How to use them: Early access to new products, exclusive offers, loyalty rewards, personal founder emails. Never send VIPs your standard discount campaigns.
Who they are: Customers who have purchased exactly once and haven't returned.
Why they matter: Converting a one-time buyer into a second-time buyer is the single highest-ROI action in retention marketing. A customer who makes a second purchase is dramatically more likely to make a third, fourth, and fifth.
How to use them: Targeted winback campaigns, product education, cross-sell recommendations, exclusive second-purchase incentives.
Who they are: Customers who have only ever purchased using a discount code.
Why they matter: They buy — which is good. But they only buy with discounts — which destroys margin. Knowing who they are lets you make strategic decisions rather than accidentally training more customers into discount dependency.
How to use them: Gradually reduce discount percentage over time. Send value-focused content between discount emails to shift them toward full-price purchasing.
Who they are: Subscribers who actively engage with your emails and/or browse your website regularly but have never purchased.
Why they matter: These are your warmest leads. Something is stopping them from buying. Understanding and removing that barrier is a high-value exercise.
How to use them: Objection-handling campaigns, first-purchase offers, social proof emails, "What's stopping you?" survey emails.
Who they are: Customers who have purchased before but haven't bought in a defined period — typically 60–180 days depending on your product's purchase cycle.
Calculating your threshold: Average time between purchases × 1.4. Supplements: 42–45 days. Fashion: 120–130 days. Home goods: 240+ days.
How to use them: Dedicated winback sequence (3 emails). Remove from regular campaign sends — they hurt your deliverability without meaningfully converting.
Who they are: Subscribers who haven't opened or clicked an email in 90–180 days and have never purchased.
Why they hurt you: Unengaged subscribers damage your deliverability. When inbox providers see large portions of your list never opening emails, they push your emails into spam — even for engaged subscribers.
How to use them: Run a 3-email re-engagement sequence. If they don't re-engage, suppress from all future campaigns.
For more advanced segmentation, the most powerful framework in email marketing is RFM: Recency, Frequency, Monetary. RFM scores every customer on three dimensions, each on a scale of 1–5 (5 being the best).
| RFM Segment | Score Profile | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Champions | R5, F5, M5 | VIP treatment — early access, exclusive products, personal communication |
| Loyal Customers | R3–5, F3–5, M3–5 | Loyalty programs, move toward Champion status |
| Potential Loyalists | R4–5, F1–2, M1–3 | Drive second and third purchase quickly to build the habit |
| New Customers | R5, F1, M1–3 | Exceptional post-purchase experience, fast second purchase |
| At Risk | R2–3, F3–5, M3–5 | High-priority winback — they were loyal but haven't purchased recently |
| Can't Lose Them | R1–2, F4–5, M4–5 | Emergency winback — pull out your best offer |
| Hibernating | R1–2, F1–2, M1–2 | Low priority re-engagement attempt |
| Lost | R1, F1, M1 | Suppress from campaigns — cost exceeds potential revenue |
The most common email marketing question is: how often should I send? The answer depends entirely on the segment.
| Segment | Recommended Frequency | Why |
|---|---|---|
| VIP Customers | 2–4x per week | Most engaged, most valuable — high frequency is appropriate with high-quality content |
| Engaged Subscribers | 2–3x per week | Standard engaged audience — the frequency sweet spot for most brands |
| One-Time Buyers | 1–2x per week | In evaluation phase — value content over volume |
| High-Intent Non-Buyers | 1–2x per week | Similar to one-time buyers — focus on removing objections |
| Discount Buyers | 1x per week maximum | Lower frequency prevents further discount conditioning |
| Lapsed Customers | Winback sequence only | 3 emails over 2 weeks, then suppress from regular sends |
| Unengaged Subscribers | Re-engagement sequence only | 3 emails maximum, then suppress permanently |
VIPs respond to one thing above all else: being treated differently. They want to feel special and recognized for their loyalty.
What NOT to send VIPs: The same campaigns as everyone else. Generic promotional emails. Discount campaigns that undervalue their loyalty.
The second purchase window is typically 14–45 days after the first purchase. Outside of this window, conversion rates drop significantly.
Phase 1 (Months 1–2): Reduce but don't eliminate discounts. Phase 2 (Months 3–4): Send two value emails for every one discount email. Phase 3 (Months 5–6): Test full-price campaigns and measure conversion rate.
If they don't convert after all three emails, suppress from regular campaigns.
Klaviyo segments are dynamic — they update in real time as subscribers meet or no longer meet the conditions. You don't need to manually update them.
Use the Klaviyo definitions provided in Lesson 3.2 for each segment. Build all 7 must-have segments before your next campaign send — the frequency and targeting improvements will immediately improve your deliverability and revenue per send.
A women's fashion brand with 45,000 subscribers was sending 4 campaigns per week to their entire list. Open rates had declined from 28% to 14% over 18 months. Revenue from email had flatlined despite list growth.
Only 12,000 subscribers (27%) were genuinely engaged. 18,000 subscribers (40%) hadn't opened an email in over 90 days. 8,000 subscribers had never purchased and had low engagement. VIP customers were receiving the exact same emails as everyone else. No winback flow existed.
Week 1: Built all 7 segments. Immediately suppressed 18,000 unengaged, never-purchased subscribers. Week 2: Re-engagement sequence to suppressed list — 2,400 re-engaged (13%). Week 3: Created VIP segment (1,800 customers) with dedicated early access track. Week 4: Built winback flow for 6,000 lapsed customers, removed from regular sends.
✓ Campaign open rate: 14% → 31%
✓ Campaign revenue per send: +87%
✓ Total monthly email revenue: +34% despite 35% fewer emails sent
✓ VIP segment generated 3.2x more revenue per email than general list
✓ Klaviyo bill decreased by $340/month
A supplement brand had 8,400 one-time buyers receiving the same promotional campaigns as everyone else for an average of 4 months without converting again.
Built a dedicated one-time buyer segment with a 6-email education and cross-sell sequence triggered 14 days after first purchase: Day 14 (usage guide), Day 18 (cross-sell with social proof), Day 22 (results check-in survey), Day 28 (specific cross-sell with bundle pricing), Day 35 (15% off second order), Day 42 (last chance — 48 hours).
✓ Second purchase rate: 8% → 23%
✓ Average time to second purchase: 67 days → 31 days
✓ 62% converted on emails 1–4 before seeing the discount offer
✓ Incremental monthly revenue from segment: $31,200