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Sample retention audit Klaviyo account of a fitness-equipment DTC brand, anonymized Window reviewed: Oct 8 to Nov 7, 2025

Seven live flows, a popup that converts, and one attributed order in thirty days.

This brand has the whole Klaviyo setup a DTC store is supposed to have. In the 30 days I looked at, it produced $303.80, from one person. Here is where the revenue leaks and the order I'd fix it in.

Store revenue for the window, as shown on the Klaviyo dashboard
$303.80 attributed to Klaviyo. 10.2% of revenue, from one flow and one recipient. Campaigns: $0. SMS: $0.
$2,989.40 total store revenue, down 40% on the previous 30 days. Attributed revenue fell 77% in the same period.
10.2%
Share of revenue from email and SMS. A healthy DTC account sits around 25 to 35%. A month earlier this one was near 26%, derived from the two period changes on the dashboard.
$0
Campaign revenue in the window. Twelve campaigns went out all year, three of them since May.
$158
Post-purchase flow revenue in the last 365 days, from two orders.
10 months
Since any of the eight flows was last edited.

Account snapshot

Everything below is read from the account as displayed. Where I derive a number, I say so.

What's built
Sign-up formOne popup with four steps: teaser, email opt-in, SMS opt-in, success. Most traffic arrives from social.
FlowsEight: Welcome, Abandoned Checkout, Browse Abandonment, Customer Thank You, Post Purchase, Upsell, VIP, Winback. Seven live, one draft. All last edited on the same January day, within two minutes of each other.
CampaignsTwelve sent year to date. One shows "0 of 1 sent" on Sep 25; a May draft never went out.
SMSSetup guide 29% complete. Opt-ins collected, nothing sent.
WhatsAppNot connected.
Conversion metricPlaced Order. The right choice.
What it produced, Oct 8 to Nov 7
Total revenue$2,989.40, down 40% on the previous 30 days
Attributed to Klaviyo$303.80, 10.16% of total, down 77%
By sourceFlows $303.80 (100% of attributed). Campaigns $0. SMS $0.
Revenue per recipient$0.70
Top flow11 deliveries, $303.80. That is the one order.
Other six flows420 deliveries combined, $0. Two of them earned revenue in the previous period and none in this one.
Popup, last 7 days225 views, 6 submits, 2.67% submit rate (Klaviyo benchmark: Good), $212 attributed

Scorecard

Leaking means measurable revenue is being lost now. Weak means it runs, but below what it should. Working means leave it alone and feed it.

AreaStatusVerdict
List growth (popup)WorkingConverts at benchmark. The limit is traffic, about 32 views a day, and the offer.
Welcome flowNot assessedNot shown in the walkthrough. First thing I'd open with access.
Abandoned checkoutWeakLive, but no re-entry guard, a discount two days in, and one unresolved alert.
Post-purchase and thank-youLeaking44% open, under 1% buy. $158 in a year.
CampaignsLeakingCadence collapsed after May. $0 in the window.
SMSWeakConsent collected for a channel that has never sent.
Flow upkeepLeakingNo edits in ten months, no tests, dead flows left live.
MeasurementWeakRight conversion metric, wrong headline number.

Findings, ranked by revenue impact

Each one in three parts: what the account shows, why it costs money, and the fix.

1

Campaigns stopped, so the list went cold

Leaking

What the account shows

From January to early May, campaigns went out roughly every two weeks and each drew 3,700 to 6,600 unique opens. Then one send in July and two in September. The July and Sep 19 sends reached about 30 people each: 27 and 28 opens at an 85 to 87% open rate. A Sep 25 campaign shows 0 of 1 sent. Year-to-date campaign revenue is about $1,200 across twelve sends; in the audit window it is $0. Click rates on the large sends ran 0.2 to 1.8%.

Why it costs revenue

Campaigns are the only channel that reaches the existing list; flows only touch people who trigger them. A list that isn't mailed for months decays twice: subscribers forget you, and inbox providers stop trusting the sender. It is also why attributed revenue fell faster (77%) than the store (40%). Even at sub-1% click rates, the large sends produced $90 to $430 each.

Fix

  1. Build an engaged segment: clicked in the last 90 days, or ordered in the last 180, or subscribed in the last 30. Send only to this segment for the first month.
  2. Re-warm in steps. First send to the most engaged 20 to 25%, then widen each send while watching bounces and complaints.
  3. Restore a weekly rhythm: one product-education or content send and one offer or launch send per week, planned four weeks ahead.
  4. Judge each send on click rate and placed-order revenue, not opens.
  5. Add a sunset rule: no click or order in 180 days moves a profile to a low-frequency segment, then out.
2

After the sale, almost nothing happens

Leaking

What the account shows

The thank-you flow is one email, sent the day after purchase, then End. It splits new from repeat customers, but both branches carry the same subject line. The post-purchase flow, over 365 days: email 2 on day 10 ("Keeping Our Promise") opened by 44%, clicked by 4.9%, placed-order rate 0.8%, $158 total. Email 3 on day 20 ("The Hottest Products Of The Month!") opened by 44%, clicked by 3%, $0. About 30% of profiles are skipped at each step (99 of 343, then 113 of 345).

Why it costs revenue

For a hero-product fitness brand, the second purchase is accessories, apparel or a gift, and the first 30 days decide whether the product gets used or sent back. A 44% open rate says customers are listening. A 0 to 0.8% purchase rate says the emails aren't asking for anything relevant. An evergreen flow email titled "hottest products of the month" is a sign nobody has opened the flow since January.

Fix

  1. Diagnose the skips first (Smart Sending, suppression or filters) so the numbers mean something.
  2. Give the two thank-you branches different jobs. New customers get what happens next and how to get started; repeat customers get a real thank-you and early access.
  3. Add a get-started email at day 3 to 7: setup, first workout, common mistakes. This cuts returns and builds the habit.
  4. Ask for a review and a photo at day 10 to 14, triggered on delivery if the store passes a fulfilled or delivered event.
  5. Cross-sell at day 21 to 30 with a dynamic product block tied to what they bought, excluding what they already own.
  6. Replace "hottest products of the month" with a dynamic best-sellers block, or delete the email.
3

Abandoned checkout runs without a guard

Weak

What the account shows

Trigger: Checkout Started, with no trigger filters. Klaviyo is flagging a missing re-entry profile filter, and the flow carries one active alert. Sequence: one hour to email 1, 20 hours to email 2, one day to email 3 ("Empty your cart with 15% OFF!"), two days to email 4. Flow analytics weren't shown in the walkthrough.

Why it costs revenue

Without a re-entry guard, someone who starts checkout twice can enter twice and receive two discount codes. A 15% offer at hour 45 teaches returning shoppers to abandon and wait. And Checkout Started only catches people who reached checkout; anyone who added to cart and left never enters a flow.

Fix

  1. Add the profile filter (has not been in this flow in the last 7 days, or Checkout Started zero times since starting) and clear the alert.
  2. Add an Added to Cart flow for the earlier abandoners the checkout trigger misses.
  3. Email 1 at 30 to 45 minutes: the cart, shipping and returns answers, no discount.
  4. Hold the discount for email 4 and gate it: first-time customers only, excluding anyone who ordered in the last 30 days.
  5. Once SMS is live, put a text in the email 2 slot.
4

Eight flows built in one sitting, never touched again

Leaking

What the account shows

All eight flows show the same last-updated day in January, with timestamps two minutes apart. The naming convention shows they were installed as a set by a previous contractor. In the last 7 days one flow earned $303.80 from one recipient; the other seven show $0 or close to it. No A/B tests are visible.

Why it costs revenue

Flows decay. Offers go stale, product blocks show sold-out items, delays that fit January don't fit November. A template pack that was never tuned to the brand converts like a template pack.

Fix

  1. A thirty-minute monthly review: revenue per recipient by flow, placed-order rate per email, skip reasons.
  2. Any flow with $0 in 90 days gets fixed or switched off. Upsell, VIP and Winback need real logic (order count, spend, days since last order), not placeholders.
  3. One A/B test per core flow per month: subject line, delay or offer. Keep the winner, log the result.
  4. Name an owner. An unowned flow is an unmaintained flow.
5

The popup works. The offer and the traffic don't.

Working

What the account shows

Last 7 days: 225 views, 6 submits, a 2.67% submit rate that Klaviyo rates Good against its benchmark, and $212 in attributed revenue. Form conversion is up 0.3 points on the previous period. Most traffic comes from social. The success step has no image; Klaviyo's own tip panel has flagged it three times.

Why it matters

$212 in seven days from new subscribers is 70% of what all eight flows produced in thirty. The front door works and new subscribers buy; the existing list is the problem. The constraint here is how many people see the form, about 32 a day, and what they're offered.

Fix

  1. Keep the form. Fix the success step: an image, the code on screen, and a line that says the welcome email is on its way.
  2. Test the incentive. For a fitness product, a free training plan or first-workout video can beat a percentage off, and it attracts users rather than coupon hunters.
  3. Test exit-intent on mobile; social traffic bounces fast.
  4. Show the SMS step only after the email address is captured, or drop it until SMS is live (finding 6).
6

SMS consent is collected for a channel that doesn't send

Weak

What the account shows

SMS setup is 29% complete. The popup has an SMS opt-in step. SMS attributed revenue is 0, and the dashboard still shows its "welcome SMS subscribers" prompt. WhatsApp is not connected.

Why it costs revenue

A phone number is a promise. Consent gathered now and first used months later converts worse and draws complaints. Meanwhile the extra step adds friction to a form whose volume is already the limit.

Fix

  1. Decide in week 1: launch a minimal SMS program, or remove the step.
  2. Minimal program: a welcome text with the code, an abandoned-checkout text at hour 2, and launch or offer texts a few times a month.
  3. Don't collect what you won't use.
7

The dashboard headline is the wrong number

Weak

What the account shows

Open rates of 58 to 87% sit next to click rates under 3%. Placed Order is set as the conversion metric, which is right. No list-growth or deliverability view appeared in the walkthrough.

Why it costs revenue

Since Apple Mail Privacy Protection, opens are inflated and don't say who is reading. Decisions built on opens drift: subject-line "winners", segment definitions, engaged-list sizes. Clicks, placed-order rate and revenue per recipient are the signals.

Fix

  1. A one-page KPI view: attributed share of revenue, revenue per recipient by flow, click rate and revenue per campaign send, net list growth, spam-complaint and bounce rates.
  2. Define engaged segments on clicks and orders, never on opens.
  3. Read Klaviyo's in-account benchmarks against the brand's peer set, not global averages.

Campaign activity, January to September

Unique opens per campaign, as shown in the account, with the revenue attributed to each send under the date. Nothing went out between May 10 and July 10, or between July 10 and September 19.

Unique opensSends that reached about 30 people
The Sep 30 send isn't charted because its open count wasn't legible in the walkthrough. It produced 6 clicks and one $80 order.

The 90-day plan

Sequenced so the cheapest, fastest fixes land first, and nothing gets rebuilt before the list is warm.

  1. Weeks 1 to 2

    Stop the leaks

    • Clear the flow alert and add the re-entry filter on abandoned checkout
    • Fix the popup success step
    • Decide SMS: launch a minimal program or remove the step
    • Define the engaged segment and send the first re-warm campaign
    • Stand up the KPI view and log the baseline
  2. Weeks 3 to 6

    Rebuild the core

    • Post-purchase program: distinct new and repeat branches, get-started, review request, cross-sell
    • Abandoned checkout: timing, discount gating, and an Added to Cart flow
    • Welcome flow review, once visible
    • Campaigns to weekly, then two a week by week 6
  3. Weeks 7 to 12

    Compound

    • One A/B test per core flow per month
    • Winback with real logic at 60, 90 and 120 days since last order
    • Sunset rule and a deliverability check by inbox provider
    • SMS launch, if chosen
    • Monthly flow review on the calendar, with an owner

What fixed looks like

Where the account is, and where a healthy account of this size sits. I set the final targets from Klaviyo's peer benchmarks inside the account after the first 30 days.

At the window's $2,989 in monthly revenue, 30% attributed is about $900 instead of $304. At the previous period's revenue, roughly $4,980, it's about $1,500. The bigger lever is that a working retention program also lifts the total.

MetricIn the auditTargetLever
Attributed share of revenue10.2%25 to 35%Campaign cadence, post-purchase program
Campaigns per month0 in the window4 to 8Engaged segment, planned calendar
Campaign click rateUnder 1%1.5 to 3%Engaged segment, offer and subject tests
Post-purchase placed-order rate0 to 0.8%2% and upRebuilt program, cross-sell block
Popup submit rate2.67%4% and upIncentive test, exit-intent, success step
Flows edited in the last 90 days0 of 88 of 8Monthly review, one owner

What I'd verify with account access

This audit was read from the outside. With read-only access I'd confirm the following before touching anything.

  • Welcome flow performance and offer. It wasn't shown.
  • List size, growth, unsubscribe and complaint rates, and deliverability by inbox provider.
  • Why about 30% of post-purchase profiles are skipped.
  • Attribution settings (window, last-click or multi-touch). The 10% could move a few points either way.
  • Which Shopify events reach Klaviyo: Added to Cart, Fulfilled Order, Delivered.
  • The segment definitions behind the late-2025 sends.

About this audit

This is a sample audit. I have not worked with this brand. I read the account from a publicly shared screen walkthrough, with no access to settings or full analytics, so every figure is as displayed and every estimate is marked as one. The brand is anonymized. The point is to show how I audit a Klaviyo account, not to present these findings as client results.

Want this on your account?

I run this audit on live Klaviyo accounts for DTC brands. Read-only access, findings ranked by revenue impact, and a 90-day plan you can run in-house or with me.

Request an audit

Not ready for that? Send me a screenshot of your Klaviyo dashboard and I'll tell you where I'd look first.

Nathaniel, TECHZERO · Klaviyo retention audits for DTC brands