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TL;DR: A Klaviyo replenishment flow reminds customers to reorder a consumable right before it runs out. Trigger it off Placed Order, filter to your consumable products, and remove anyone who already repurchased. Time the first email a few days before your product's average reorder window, hold discounts for the back half, and use Klaviyo's Average Time Between Orders to set the delay from real data instead of a guess.
A Klaviyo replenishment flow is an automated email sequence that reminds Shopify customers to reorder a consumable product right before they run out, turning one-time buyers into repeat revenue. It's one of the easiest flows to build, and one of the most overlooked. Most brands spend their whole budget finding new customers, then let happy repeat buyers drift to a competitor or the shop down the street.
A well-timed reorder reminder closes that gap, and the math favors it. Klaviyo's data shows the average ecommerce store earns roughly 41% of its revenue from about 8% of its customers, the repeat buyers. Shoppers who buy a second time are up to nine times likelier to convert than first-timers, by Klaviyo's numbers. A replenishment flow exists to create that second order on purpose instead of hoping for it.
This guide walks through what the flow is, which brands need it, how to build it in Klaviyo, when each email should fire, and how to set your timing from your own data. Let's get into it.
What's a replenishment flow?
A replenishment flow is an automated Klaviyo sequence that emails past buyers to restock a product around the time it's likely running low. Unlike a subscription, it never charges the customer automatically. It simply nudges them to place a fresh order, which makes it a natural fit for brands selling consumable goods.
Picture it in action. Someone buys your coffee. A few weeks later, Klaviyo sends a friendly "running low?" email with a Buy Again button. If they reorder, they leave the flow. If they don't, one or two more reminders follow.
Think of it as the bridge between a post-purchase thank-you and an abandoned cart email. You're nurturing a customer who already trusts you, while treating them like a shopper with real intent, because they've bought from you before. That mix of warmth and urgency is what makes the flow convert.
Which brands need one?
Replenishment flows fit any brand that sells something people use up and buy again. Skincare, supplements, coffee, pet food, vitamins, protein powder, and cleaning supplies all qualify. If your product runs out on a fairly predictable schedule, this flow belongs in your account.
Durable goods are the exception. If you sell furniture or bed sheets, a plain reorder reminder makes little sense, since nobody needs a second couch in a month. For those catalogs, a cross-sell or upsell flow beats a replenishment one. You still email past buyers, you just point them at a new product instead of the same one.
Most stores have at least a handful of hero SKUs that fit. Start with those, prove the revenue, then expand to the rest of your consumable range once the flow is earning.
How to build the flow
Building the flow in Klaviyo comes down to three pieces: the trigger, the filters, and the content.
Start with the trigger. Use the Placed Order metric so the sequence kicks off every time someone buys. To tie the flow to a single product, add a trigger filter like "Items contains [your product]." That keeps every email relevant to what the customer actually bought.
Next comes the filter most brands forget. Add a flow filter that removes anyone who's bought that product again since entering. Skip it and you'll email people who already restocked, which frustrates them and hurts your sender reputation. Klaviyo's pre-built flow runs this check before every send, so leave it in place.
For content, keep each email short. Lead with the product image, one clear line about restocking, and a single Buy Again button. You can add a small product block with a related item, like a new coffee flavor or a matching mug, for anyone who wants a change. For a sense of how short the copy should be, Klaviyo's roundup of replenishment email examples from brands like ILIA Beauty and Magic Spoon is worth a look. Well-built email automations like this run in the background and bring in repeat orders for months.
On Shopify and BigCommerce, Klaviyo ships a pre-built replenishment flow in the Flows Library. Open the Flows tab, click Create Flow, then search "replenishment" or pick Encourage repeat purchases. Klaviyo's step-by-step setup doc has the exact clicks.
When should emails send?
Send the first email a few days before your product usually runs out. If a supplement is a 30-day supply, set the first delay to about 20 to 25 days. That gives the customer time to reorder and receive it before they hit empty, which is the entire point.
A reliable default is a four-email sequence:
- Email 1: fires a few days before runout as a soft "time to restock" reminder, at full price.
- Email 2: follows one to three days later, still no discount, for anyone who missed the first.
- Email 3: lands a few days after the expected runout and opens a small incentive for shoppers still on the fence.
- Email 4: a short last-chance closer on that same offer.
Don't badger people. Two reminders plus one or two incentive emails is plenty. Space them one to three days apart so the flow feels like a favor, not a pester.
Find your reorder interval
Here's the part most guides skip. Your ideal delay isn't a number you copy from a blog post. It's a number already sitting in your Klaviyo account, and most brands never pull it.
Klaviyo tracks Average Time Between Orders and an Expected Date of Next Order for customers with enough history. If your average buyer finishes a 24-pack of seltzer in 10 weeks, you set the first email near 9 weeks, not a generic 30 days. Pull that number per product, because a mascara empties faster than a jar of moisturizer.
With enough order history, you can go a step further and trigger one dynamic flow off the Expected Date of Next Order instead of building a separate timeline for every SKU. Klaviyo's predictive model needs a base of repeat-purchase data before it turns on, and it retrains as habits shift, so your timing stays current. One flow, matched to each customer's real cadence.
That's the gap between a flow that guesses and one that lands the morning someone's bottle runs dry. If you're not sure where these numbers live in your account, a quick Klaviyo audit surfaces them fast.
Should you add a discount?
Hold the discount. Don't offer money off in the first email or two. A discount that early trains customers to wait for a deal on a product they'd gladly buy at full price, which quietly eats your margin. Save the incentive for the back half of the sequence.
The logic is simple. Your first emails catch high-intent buyers who planned to reorder anyway, so let them pay full price. The later emails catch the stragglers who needed a push, and that's where a small discount or free shipping earns its place. You protect margin on the easy sales and still rescue the ones about to slip away.
Across the Shopify stores we manage at CartStrings, moving the discount to the back of the flow often lifts flow revenue without spending an extra cent on discounts.
Replenishment vs subscription
Plenty of brands worry a replenishment flow will cannibalize their subscribe-and-save program. Built right, it won't. The two sit in different lanes.
If subscriptions are core to your brand, split the journey. Send first-time buyers a replenishment reminder that also pitches the subscription as the easy way to never run out. Once someone becomes an active subscriber, exit them from the replenishment flow with a conditional split, since they're already getting their reorder shipped. That stops the two from stepping on each other.
Add SMS for another lift. If a customer is opted in to texts, a single message at the offer point of the sequence often beats the email-only version, since texts get read within minutes. Pair it with your email campaigns so the reminder reaches people wherever they actually read.
The takeaway
A replenishment flow is one of the quietest, highest-return automations you can run. It reuses customers you already paid to win and turns them into steady repeat revenue. The build is simple: trigger off Placed Order, filter to your consumables, remove anyone who already reordered, and time the first email just before runout.
The real edge comes from two moves. Pull your reorder interval from your own Klaviyo data instead of copying a generic number, and hold your discount for the back half of the sequence. Across the stores we manage at CartStrings, flows like this drive a large share of email revenue while running on autopilot. If you'd rather have it built and timed right the first time, book a call and we'll map it to your products. You can also browse more playbooks in our articles.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Klaviyo replenishment flow?
It's an automated email sequence that reminds past customers to reorder a consumable product around the time it's likely running low. It doesn't charge them like a subscription does. It just prompts them to place a new order, which lifts repeat purchase rate and customer lifetime value.
When should the first email send?
Send it a few days before your product typically runs out. For a 30-day supply, that usually means a delay of 20 to 25 days. The goal is to reach the customer while they still have product left, so they can reorder and receive it before they hit empty.
How many emails should it have?
A four-email default works well: two full-price reminders, then one incentive email, then a short last-chance closer. Space them one to three days apart. Two reminders plus one or two incentive emails is enough to convert without annoying people.
Should I add a discount?
Not in the first email or two. Discounting early trains customers to wait for a deal and erodes margin on orders they'd place anyway. Hold any discount or free shipping for the back half of the sequence, where it rescues the buyers who needed an extra nudge.
What products need a replenishment flow?
Consumable goods that people use up and repurchase on a schedule: skincare, supplements, coffee, pet food, vitamins, and cleaning supplies. Durable goods like furniture don't fit. For those, a cross-sell or upsell flow works better than a reorder reminder.
