Segmentation means sending different people different emails because they behave differently. For ecommerce, behavior beats demographics almost every time: what someone bought, and when, says more than their age.
Eight segments to build first
- Engaged subscribers. Clicked, opened with other signals or purchased recently. Your default campaign audience.
- Never purchased. Subscribed but no order. Needs trust-building, education and perhaps an offer.
- First-time buyers. One order. Priority is onboarding and a second purchase.
- Repeat customers. Two or more orders. Reward loyalty, cross-sell and ask for referrals.
- High-value customers. Top spenders by lifetime value. Early access and special treatment.
- Lapsed customers. Haven't ordered for longer than your usual repurchase cycle. Candidates for win-back.
- Subscribers vs non-subscribers. Exclude active subscribers from "reorder now" emails and offer the subscription to the rest.
- Product or category buyers. People who bought a specific product, for relevant usage tips and cross-sells.
Define "lapsed" from your own data
A lapsed supplement buyer is not the same as a lapsed apparel buyer. Use the product's days of supply and your typical time between orders to set the window. For replenishable products, see the replenishment flow guide.
Use segments in flows and campaigns
- Campaigns: send mostly to engaged segments; see email frequency.
- Flows: use segments and flow filters to exclude people who do not need a message.
- Offers: hold discounts for segments where they change behavior, such as never-purchased or lapsed.
Keep it maintainable
Name segments clearly, document their rules and review them quarterly. If you are new to the platform, start with how Klaviyo works.
Quick answers
What is email segmentation?
Dividing your list into groups based on shared traits or behavior, such as purchase history or engagement, so each group receives more relevant messages.
What is the best way to segment an ecommerce list?
Start with behavior: engagement, purchase count and recency, products bought and subscriber status. Behavior predicts action better than demographics for most stores.
How many segments do I need?
Start with a handful that you will actually use, then add more as you can act on them. Unused segments are just clutter.
Tehseen Arbab
Retention and lifecycle marketer for DTC supplement and coffee brands. I led retention for a supplement brand whose monthly run-rate grew from about $500K to $700K, and I work in Klaviyo, Skio, Recharge, Meta Ads and Shopify.