How to Set Up Shopify Browse Abandonment Emails in Klaviyo

What Is Browse Abandonment and Why Does It Matter?

Browse abandonment happens when a subscribed visitor views a product page on your Shopify store but doesn’t add anything to their cart. These visitors are earlier in the buying journey than cart abandoners — they’re interested but not yet committed. A well-timed browse abandonment email can pull them back at exactly the right moment.

Browse abandonment emails typically have lower conversion rates than cart abandonment (2–5% vs 5–15%) but far higher volume — every product view is a trigger opportunity. For high-traffic stores, this flow can generate significant incremental revenue from visitors who would otherwise never convert.

Prerequisites: What You Need Before Setting Up

• Klaviyo account connected to your Shopify store
• Klaviyo tracking snippet installed on your Shopify theme (done automatically via the Klaviyo app)
• Sufficient email list — browse abandonment only triggers for identified subscribers (people in your Klaviyo list who are cookie-matched to your site)

Step 1: Enable Onsite Tracking in Klaviyo

Go to Klaviyo → Integrations → Shopify → ensure “Track viewed products” and “Track active on site” are enabled. Klaviyo adds JavaScript to your Shopify theme that fires events when known subscribers browse your product pages. Without this, no browse events are captured.

Step 2: Create the Browse Abandonment Flow

In Klaviyo, go to Flows → Create Flow → Browse from scratch (or use the pre-built Browse Abandonment template if available in your account).

Trigger: “Viewed Product” metric

Flow filter (critical): Add a filter so the flow only continues if the person has NOT started checkout or placed an order since triggering. Without this filter, you’ll email people who already bought — which is irritating and wastes sends.

Trigger filter: Properties about someone → “Has not placed order in last 0 hours” AND “Has not started checkout in last 0 hours”

Step 3: Set the Time Delay

Add a time delay of 1–4 hours before the first email sends. Unlike cart abandonment (where urgency is higher), browse abandonment doesn’t require an immediate send. 2–3 hours is the sweet spot — long enough that the visitor has left the site, short enough that the product is still fresh in their mind.

Step 4: Build the Email

Use Klaviyo’s dynamic blocks to pull in the viewed product automatically:

• Product image — dynamic block pulling from the “Viewed Product” event
• Product name and price — dynamic text variables
• CTA button — “View [Product Name]” linking back to the product page
• Similar products section — 3–4 related items to give alternatives
• Social proof — a relevant review for the viewed product if available

Subject line approach: Soft reminder, not pushy. “Still thinking about [Product Name]?” or “We saved your place” works better than “Buy now before it’s gone.”

Step 5: Add a Second Email (Optional)

A single browse abandonment email is fine to start. If you want to add a second email, send it 24 hours after the first. Focus on social proof and answering common questions about the product. Do not add a discount to browse abandonment emails unless you also use one in cart abandonment — you’re training customers to browse without buying to get a discount.

Performance Benchmarks

• Open rate: 35–50%
• Click rate: 5–12%
• Conversion rate: 2–5% of triggered emails
• Revenue per recipient: £0.50–£2.00 depending on product price

Need Klaviyo set up properly for your Shopify store? Our team handles full email automation builds. Get in touch or see our past projects.