Best Email Sequence Tools for Ecommerce Welcome Sequences

For a small online store that wants a welcome series after signup or after a first order, Klaviyo is the best email tool to start with. Its welcome-series guide describes the exact splits a store needs: a branch for people who have never bought, a branch for people who have not bought since the flow began, and a "can receive SMS marketing" branch for the text invitation. Its browse-abandonment guide covers Shopify and BigCommerce tracking, and its integration page lists WooCommerce order data. Klaviyo's email plan lists $30 a month at 1,000 profiles. This page is written for a store owner or a team of two, with a few hundred to ten thousand subscribers on Shopify, WooCommerce or BigCommerce, no developer, and prices read from vendor pages on 7 October 2026.

Omnisend ranks second because its help pages explain consent more clearly than any other: separate statuses for email, SMS and push, and a documented list of which messages each status can receive. Drip is third for pre-built welcome workflows on four platforms. The Shopify-only Shopify Messaging app, formerly Shopify Email, is the free option below 10,000 emails a month. For the writing of each email, see welcome sequence best practices; this page is about which tool can run the logic around those emails.

Which tool for which store

Three things a store welcome series has to get right

It must know whether the person has bought. A welcome series is written for a stranger, and a stranger who buys on day one should leave. Klaviyo's help page puts it in terms of a conditional split, Drip's in terms of a goal, Omnisend's in terms of an exit condition. The tools differ in where the check sits and how easy it is to forget.

It must keep email and SMS consent apart. Klaviyo's import help page lists Email Marketing Consent, SMS Marketing Consent and SMS Transactional Consent as separate columns and says you cannot send SMS to someone marked never subscribed, though you can email them. Omnisend's contact-statuses page says a contact who gives a phone number at checkout without ticking the SMS box is added as non-subscribed to SMS, and that for US contacts every SMS, including order confirmations, needs opt-in. Consent law differs by country and this site does not give legal advice, so check your own before you switch SMS on.

It must separate the order confirmation from marketing. The order confirmation, shipping notice and refund notice are transactional messages sent by the store platform or a transactional service. Omnisend's status table shows order, shipping and cancellation confirmations reaching non-subscribed contacts by email, while campaigns and the Welcome automation need a subscribed contact. Mailchimp's trigger page marks its order, cancellation, invoice and shipping confirmations as triggers that cannot be combined with any other trigger. Keep the welcome series out of those emails; the transactional versus marketing email page explains the line.

The 9 tools, ranked for store welcome sequences

1. Klaviyo: the most documented welcome-and-browse flow

Klaviyo's welcome-series guide uses an Added to list trigger, recommends three emails over a week (immediately, after 3 days, after 4 days), and says someone can only receive messages in a list-triggered flow once, so a resubscriber does not get the series again. It describes a conditional split "Has Placed Order at least once over all time" for subscribers who have never purchased, a second split "Has Placed Order at least once since starting this flow" to give a coupon only after the first emails, and a "can receive SMS marketing" split that lets the email flow invite people to text. It warns that if you import a list while the welcome flow is live, everyone imported is scheduled for the first message, and tells you to set the flow to manual first.

Klaviyo's browse-abandonment guide says the flow needs Viewed Product tracking: on Shopify it starts when you turn on the Klaviyo app embed, for BigCommerce you enable onsite tracking and add the Viewed Product snippet to the theme's product page, and for Shopify stores in the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland the flow will not include people who have not consented. Its profile filters include "Placed Order zero times since starting this flow". The WooCommerce integration page lists synced data such as Active on site, Ordered product, Placed order and Fulfilled orders.

Klaviyo's pricing page lists a free plan with up to 250 profiles, 500 emails a month and $5 of mobile messages a month. The email plan reads $20 a month at 500 profiles, $30 at 1,000, $100 at 5,000 and $150 at 10,000. The jump from $30 to $100 is what a growing store notices; SMS credits are separate.

Choose it if you want browse-aware branching and your list will stay under about 5,000 profiles, or you can price the jump. Skip it if you only need a three-email welcome and a cart reminder, where a cheaper tool covers the same ground.

2. Omnisend: the clearest consent model, and cheap to start

Omnisend's Welcome Automation page says the preset uses a Subscribed to Marketing trigger that fires for email, SMS or push subscriptions, and by default has two trigger filters: "Subscription method is a signup form" and "First subscription is true". It warns that the signup-form filter excludes checkout opt-ins, imported contacts, third-party forms and API integrations, and tells you to remove it if you want everyone. The contact-statuses page describes subscribed, non-subscribed and unsubscribed for each channel and a table of which message types each can receive. Non-subscribed contacts, those who ordered without ticking the box, can get transactional automations such as order confirmations and abandoned-cart reminders but not campaigns or the Welcome automation.

The product-abandonment page lists Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce (module 1.6.0 or newer) as supported, says the trigger fires only for identified contacts, makes Placed Order the default exit, and recommends a frequency of 10 to 15 days and a delay of at least 2 hours.

Omnisend's pricing page lists a free plan for 250 contacts and 500 emails a month; Standard for 500 contacts and 6,000 emails, shown at $11.20 a month for the first three months ($33.60 today against $48.00 in total, which is $16 a month at the regular rate: $48.00 / 3); and Pro for 2,500 contacts with unlimited emails, shown at $41.30 for the first three months ($123.90 today against $177.00, which is $59 a month: $177.00 / 3). Billing counts subscribers and non-subscribers who received automated messages; unsubscribed contacts are not billed. SMS starts at $0.007 per message for high-volume US sends.

Choose it if SMS and email will live in one flow and you want the consent rules written down. Skip it if you need a price at 5,000 or 10,000 contacts today: the pages read give none.

3. Drip: welcome templates for four platforms and goals that end the flow

Drip's welcome-series page lists pre-built Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and Shopper Activity API Welcome Series workflows. It says the Subscriber Created event adds anyone created in the account, whether through a form, a first completed order or a CSV import; the workflow includes an optional decision node to offer an incentive to people who have not made a purchase during their first week; and goals move someone past the remaining steps when they place an order. It also says triggers only apply going forward and that after someone exits they are eligible to re-enter. The BigCommerce page lists Abandoned Cart, Abandoned Browse, Post-Purchase and Welcome Series templates and says new customers' subscribed status follows their BigCommerce status.

Drip's pricing page reads $39 a month for 1 to 2,500 people, $89 at 5,000 and $154 at 10,000, with unlimited email sends, up to 50 workflows and a 14-day free trial without a card. SMS is available at a cost that depends on subscribers and message segments. Choose it if you want a pre-built flow per platform and a purchase goal. Skip it if you are under 1,000 subscribers, where its entry price is above several others.

4. Shopify Messaging: the free first step for a Shopify store

Shopify's marketing automations page lists templates for Convert abandoned product browse, Recover abandoned cart and Recover abandoned checkout (email and SMS), Welcome new subscribers with a discount email, and Welcome new subscribers with a discount series: a discount email, then 2 brand-building emails, then a discount reminder if no purchase is made. Post-purchase templates include thanking customers after their first and second purchases and an upsell after the first purchase. Marketing automations send only to customers subscribed to email marketing by default, and abandoned-checkout emails do not count toward your sent-email total.

The pricing page says the first 10,000 emails each month are free and after that pricing starts at $1 per 1,000 emails. The app was renamed from Shopify Email and now covers SMS and WhatsApp as well. It is built for Shopify, so a store on WooCommerce or BigCommerce cannot use it. Choose it if you are on Shopify and want a welcome flow this week. Skip it if you need branching on browsing behaviour beyond the templates.

5. Mailchimp: Shopify triggers and a familiar builder

Mailchimp's list of automation triggers includes Signs up for email, Signs up for SMS, Tag added, Buys any product, Buys a specific product, Abandons cart, and, with a connected Shopify store, Shopify abandoned cart, abandoned checkout and abandoned browse, plus Views products in Shopify store and Performs checkout action. Email and SMS sign-ups are separate triggers, which suits the separate-consent rule. I did not find a purchase-exit setting on the page read, so check the flow builder's conditions on a test order. The pricing page lists Shopify and WooCommerce among its integrations, a free plan of up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, Essentials at $13 and Standard at $20 at 500 contacts, and the marketing pricing page shows Standard at $100 a month for 2,501 to 5,000 contacts ($50 for the first 12 months) and $135 for 5,001 to 10,000 ($67.50 for the first 12 months). Choose it if your list already lives there. Skip it if you want a flat bill.

6. Brevo: an inexpensive WooCommerce match

Brevo's WooCommerce plugin article says it syncs contacts, orders and products in real time from WooCommerce to Brevo, adds an opt-in checkbox at checkout, installs a tracker for abandoned carts and purchases and routes WooCommerce transactional email through Brevo. It also says the sync runs one way and an optional setting imports contacts, guest checkouts included, as subscribed, which you should leave off unless you hold consent. The Brevo PushOwl app article describes a Shopify app that syncs customers, products, collections and orders, tracks visitor behaviour and sends email, push, SMS and WhatsApp, with free and paid options; its prices were not on the page. Brevo's trigger list includes Order created, Cart updated and Cart deleted, and its automation settings include exit conditions and a re-entry switch. The pricing help page lists a free plan with 300 daily sends and automation for up to 2,000 contacts, and Starter from $9 a month. I did not confirm a BigCommerce connection.

7. ActiveCampaign: for stores that also run a sales pipeline

ActiveCampaign's pricing page lists standard ecommerce integrations (Shopify, Square and WooCommerce) and premium ones (BigCommerce, Magento and Shopify Plus), with rows for abandoned cart, product catalog and blocks, and coupons. Its feature columns attach premium ecommerce integrations to Pro and Enterprise and standard ones to Starter and Plus. Starter lists 5 actions per automation, Plus and above unlimited. Prices at 1,000 contacts, billed annually, are $15, $49 and $79 for Starter, Plus and Pro; at 5,000 they are $79, $145 and $205; at 10,000, $149, $189 and $375. Choose it if wholesale or B2B buyers need a person following up. Skip it if the store is consumer-only and the welcome series is the main job.

8. MailerLite: a low-cost option for smaller catalogues

MailerLite's automation page lists ecommerce triggers (Abandons cart, Buys a specific product, Buys any product, Buys from category), pre-defined segments including 0 purchase subscribers and First-time customers, and condition steps. The pricing page lists Shopify and WooCommerce integrations and plans: Comfort at $19, $49 and $89 a month for 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 subscribers, Power at $39, $69 and $129. The plan comparison does not show which plans hold the ecommerce triggers, and no SMS is listed, so confirm both in a trial. Choose it if you want a tidy builder at a low price. Skip it if text messages are part of the plan.

9. Flodesk: purchase triggers on Shopify and clean templates

Flodesk's trigger help page lists added to a segment, submits an opt-in form, makes a purchase (Flodesk Checkout, Shopify, Squarespace, Wix or ThriveCart) and abandons a cart (Flodesk Checkout, Shopify, Wix or ThriveCart). The pricing page lists Lite at $25 a month for 1,000 subscribers with one workflow and Pro at $28 with unlimited workflows; Pro is $59 at 5,000 and $79 at 10,000 on monthly billing. WooCommerce and BigCommerce are not on the trigger list. Choose it if design is the priority and you sell on Shopify. Skip it if you need browse-based branching.

What each vendor says about Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce

Three welcome sequences for a store

Sequence A: a discount welcome for new subscribers

Use this when the signup form promises a code. The flow starts when someone subscribes and the first email delivers the code, as Klaviyo's guide suggests. A split on "Has Placed Order at least once over all time" separates existing customers, who skip the code, from first-timers.

Sequence B: a no-discount welcome that earns the first sale

Use this when you do not want to train people to wait for a code. It follows the idea in Drip's welcome-series page of letting people pay full price first and offering a small incentive only to those who have not bought; Shopify's own discount-series template and Klaviyo's "since starting this flow" split are the same pattern.

Browse branches are the weak link: Omnisend's help page says product abandonment fires only for identified contacts, and Klaviyo's says it tracks identifiable browsers. A new subscriber who has not yet clicked an email may not be identified, so write the day 1 email so it still makes sense when the product is missing.

Sequence C: after the first order, and SMS on a separate track

The SMS track is built in the SMS flow, not in the email flow. Klaviyo's guide says to keep the two apart and to use the email flow only to invite people to text; in Omnisend, an SMS block in a mixed workflow either passes people who are not opted in to the next step or sends them out of the workflow, depending on the "Pass non-opted-in contact to next workflow step" setting, so choose deliberately.

Monthly cost as the store's list grows from 1,000 to 10,000 contacts

Assumptions are mine. A store adds 300 subscribers a month who receive a 4-email welcome, so 300 x 4 = 1,200 sends. It has 80 first-time buyers a month who receive 3 post-purchase emails, so 80 x 3 = 240 sends. It sends 4 campaigns a month to the whole list. At 1,000 contacts that is 4 x 1,000 = 4,000, for 1,200 + 240 + 4,000 = 5,440 sends; at 5,000 it is 20,000 and 21,440 sends; at 10,000 it is 40,000 and 41,440 sends. Prices are US dollars a month, checked on 7 October 2026, before tax, and exclude SMS.

The Shopify Messaging row shows quantities, not a bill: the page says only that pricing starts at $1 per 1,000 emails, so read the exact rate in the app before you budget. Of the three tools built around stores, only Klaviyo and Drip publish a price at all three sizes on the pages read, and Klaviyo is $30 against Drip's $39 at 1,000, $100 against $89 at 5,000 and $150 against $154 at 10,000.

A year at 5,000 contacts

The gap between Klaviyo and Drip at 5,000 is 12 x ($100 - $89) = $132 a year, small next to the difference in what each reads from your store. The ActiveCampaign Pro row exists because BigCommerce is a premium integration there; on Shopify or WooCommerce, Plus at 12 x $145 = $1,740 is the comparable row.

Where store welcome series break, and when this advice does not apply

Imports start the series for everyone

Klaviyo's help page warns that importing a list into a live welcome flow schedules the first message for everyone imported. Switch the flow to manual first, import, then switch it back. Other tools behave in their own way, so import into a segment, not a live trigger, until you have tested.

The default filter hides your checkout sign-ups

Omnisend's welcome preset ships with "Subscription method is a signup form", and the page's warning says that filter excludes checkout opt-ins, imported contacts, third-party forms and API integrations. If half your subscribers come in at checkout, half of them never get the welcome series until you remove the filter.

Customers with no marketing consent

A person who buys without ticking the opt-in box is a customer, not a subscriber. Omnisend and Klaviyo both keep that distinction, and Brevo's WooCommerce plugin only imports guest checkouts as subscribed if you switch that option on. Do not switch it on to make the list bigger.

A returning subscriber gets no welcome

Klaviyo's guide says someone can only receive messages in a list-triggered flow once, so a person who unsubscribes and rejoins six months later is not welcomed again. Brevo's audience settings have a re-entry switch and say a contact should usually enter a welcome automation only once. Decide whether a returning customer should see a short "welcome back" flow, and build it separately.

Marketplace sellers, tiny lists and subscription stores

If you sell through a marketplace and have the buyer's email only by order, a welcome series for subscribers is irrelevant; read a post-purchase guide instead. If your store has under 250 subscribers, a free plan on Klaviyo, Omnisend or Mailchimp is enough to prove the sequence before you pay. For subscription stores, the renewal and failed-payment emails belong to the subscription app, not to the welcome flow.

More on this site

• Welcome sequence best practices
• Transactional versus marketing email
• Klaviyo vs ActiveCampaign
• ActiveCampaign vs Drip
• Email deliverability guide, for authenticating the sending domain before the first send

Frequently asked questions

Should a welcome series include a discount?

It is a choice about margin, not a rule, and the sequences above let you test both without rebuilding. Klaviyo's welcome-series guide describes two splits for the decision: "Has Placed Order at least once over all time" to send the discount only to people who have never bought, and "Has Placed Order at least once since starting this flow" to hold the code back until the first emails have given the person a chance to buy at full price. Drip's welcome-series page recommends giving customers time to pay full price before offering a modest discount.

Do I need separate welcome flows for email and SMS?

Yes, if you collect both. Klaviyo's help page says an email welcome series should be separate from an SMS welcome series because people sign up for each at different times and can only enter a single welcome flow once. Omnisend's help pages say a contact has a separate subscription status for email, SMS and push, and that email consent does not grant SMS consent. Use the email flow to invite people to the text list instead of sending texts to everyone.

How do I stop the welcome series once someone buys?

Add a purchase check at the flow level, not only on one email. In Klaviyo that is the filter "Placed Order zero times since starting this flow"; in Drip a "placed an order" goal moves people past the remaining steps; in Brevo you add an exit condition; Shopify's own discount-series template sends its reminder only if no purchase is made. Test with a real order on a small product before you launch, because a customer who buys and then receives a "10% off your first order" email is the mistake to rule out.

Which tool works with WooCommerce or BigCommerce, not just Shopify?

Klaviyo, Drip and Omnisend each document all three platforms on their own pages. Brevo documents a WooCommerce plugin and a Shopify app, and I did not confirm a BigCommerce connection. Mailchimp's trigger page documents Shopify triggers, and Shopify Messaging only works for Shopify merchants. ActiveCampaign lists BigCommerce under premium ecommerce integrations, which its feature columns attach to Pro and Enterprise.

Can I run a welcome series on a free plan?

For a very small list, yes, with sharp edges. Klaviyo's free plan lists 250 profiles and 500 emails a month, Omnisend's lists 250 contacts and 500 emails, Mailchimp's lists 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, and Brevo's allows 300 sends a day with automation for up to 2,000 contacts. Shopify Messaging has no list limit and lists the first 10,000 emails each month as free, which makes it the easiest start for a Shopify store.