You have a Mailchimp account with a handful of contacts, no automation, no flows, and an e-commerce store about to launch. You know email marketing matters but have no idea where to start with Klaviyo — and you need everything set up properly before your first customers arrive. That is where Chanel from Chickinscratch was when she commissioned a full Klaviyo email marketing setup from CodeSyte. Over eighteen days, we configured the complete Klaviyo infrastructure: domain authentication, store integration, eight automation flows, ten custom email templates, subscriber segmentation, SMS compliance, and a full account walkthrough. This post covers every step — and what any small business owner launching email marketing needs to understand before they send their first campaign.

The Client and the Problem

Who They Were

Chickinscratch (chickinscratch.com) is an e-commerce brand with a WordPress-based store still in development at the time of the project. The business had three Mailchimp campaigns and twelve contacts — a minimal email marketing foundation that had not been expanded or automated. The owner, Chanel, had a clear vision for how email marketing should support the business: automated flows for abandoned carts, post-purchase follow-ups, welcome sequences, and win-back campaigns — but no technical setup in place to deliver any of them.

What Was Not Working

The business was using Mailchimp for basic email, but Mailchimp's automation and segmentation capabilities are significantly more limited than Klaviyo's for e-commerce use cases. The store had not been integrated with any email platform, meaning no event tracking was in place — no Viewed Product signals, no Added to Cart data, no Started Checkout triggers. Without these events firing, abandoned cart and browse abandonment flows simply cannot run. Domain authentication had not been configured, meaning any emails sent would be going out through Klaviyo's generic servers rather than the brand's own domain — increasing spam risk and reducing deliverability.

Chanel also had a specific requirement that went beyond standard email marketing: she wanted SMS marketing capability set up correctly, including compliance configuration for short code messaging. This is a specialist requirement that most basic email marketing setups do not cover. It is part of what I handle through my Klaviyo email and SMS marketing setup services at CodeSyte.

What I Proposed

One-Time Setup — $450, 18 Days

The engagement was structured as a one-time full Klaviyo setup covering everything needed to go from zero to a fully operational email and SMS marketing system. The scope included Klaviyo account configuration and store integration, domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), email and SMS compliance setup, eight automation flows, ten custom email templates aligned to the Chickinscratch brand, subscriber segmentation, a suppression segment for unengaged contacts, and a post-delivery video walkthrough explaining how the entire system worked.

The original quote was $550 but was adjusted to $450 to fit the client's budget — a decision made on the basis that setting up Klaviyo properly for a new store is a long-term investment in deliverability and conversion that pays for itself quickly once the flows start running.

The Build Process

Account Setup and Store Integration

The first step was connecting the Klaviyo account to the Chickinscratch store and enabling all required e-commerce events: Viewed Product, Added to Cart, Started Checkout, and Placed Order. These four events are the trigger foundation for the most high-value flows in any e-commerce email programme. Without them firing correctly, abandoned cart sequences cannot detect when a cart has been started, browse abandonment flows cannot detect product views, and post-purchase flows cannot confirm when an order has been completed.

Store integration in Klaviyo requires the tracking script to be correctly placed on the site and event payloads to be validated in the Klaviyo activity feed before flows are built. This validation step is often skipped — and it is the reason abandoned cart flows fail silently on many stores. Every event was confirmed firing before any flow was constructed.

Domain Authentication — SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

Domain authentication is the single most important technical step in any Klaviyo setup and the one most commonly skipped by businesses setting up email marketing themselves. Without it, emails sent from Klaviyo are treated as coming from a third-party server using your domain name — which spam filters flag aggressively.

The setup required adding DNS records to Chickinscratch's GoDaddy domain: SPF records to authorise Klaviyo's servers to send on behalf of the domain, DKIM records to cryptographically sign outgoing emails, and a DMARC policy to instruct receiving servers what to do with emails that fail authentication. GoDaddy access was shared by the client and all records were added and verified. A dedicated sending subdomain (email.chickinscratch.com) was configured so all Klaviyo emails send from the brand's own authenticated domain. This is a non-negotiable setup step on every Klaviyo email marketing project at CodeSyte.

Eight Automation Flows Built

The full flow stack was built in the following priority order, matching best practice for e-commerce email automation:

• Welcome Series — brand story, social proof, optional incentive, and best sellers across a multi-email sequence for new subscribers
• Abandoned Checkout and Abandoned Cart — reminder, urgency, and reassurance sequence with product imagery, benefits, and reviews
• Browse Abandonment — re-engagement for visitors who viewed products without adding to cart
• Post-Purchase Flow — confirmation, thank you, and cross-sell sequence to increase customer lifetime value
• Customer Appreciation Flow — loyalty-building sequence for repeat customers
• Win-Back Flow — re-activation sequence for lapsed customers with a defined inactivity threshold
• Repeat Customer and Upsell Flow — targeted sequence for high-frequency buyers
• Engagement and VIP Flow — recognition and reward sequence for the most engaged subscribers

Each flow was built with proper triggers, smart delays, conditional branching for customer vs non-customer paths, and personalisation using Klaviyo's dynamic content blocks. Building automation flows with correct logic — not just triggers and a single email — is what makes the difference between flows that run and flows that convert. This is core to my Klaviyo automation and e-commerce email services at CodeSyte.

Ten Custom Email Templates

Ten email templates were designed using the Chickinscratch brand assets provided by the client — logo files across multiple formats, brand colours, and visual identity elements. All templates were built mobile-optimised with dynamic personalisation fields, conversion-focused layouts, and clear CTAs. Four emails were fully written and ready to send at delivery. The template system gives the client a consistent starting point for every future campaign without needing to redesign from scratch.

Segmentation and SMS Compliance

Subscriber segments were created covering new subscribers, engaged and unengaged users (with a 90 to 120 day suppression segment for unengaged contacts), customers versus non-customers, high-value customers, and lapsed customers. Each segment feeds the correct flow automatically based on subscriber behaviour. SMS compliance was configured following Klaviyo's requirements for marketing message opt-in, list growth, and short code sending — ensuring the brand could use SMS marketing legally and without deliverability risk.

The Result

What Was Delivered

• Klaviyo account fully connected to the Chickinscratch store with all four e-commerce events verified
• Domain authentication complete — SPF, DKIM, DMARC records added to GoDaddy, dedicated sending domain configured
• Eight automation flows built with correct triggers, logic, delays, and personalisation
• Ten custom brand-aligned email templates, mobile-optimised and conversion-focused
• Four emails fully written and ready to send
• Subscriber segmentation configured across seven segments
• Suppression segment for unengaged contacts (90 to 120 days) active
• SMS compliance configured for marketing and short code sending
• Full written completion document delivered explaining every component
• Post-delivery support and Q&A on Klaviyo system operation

Client Feedback

Chanel confirmed delivery and stated she would be back in touch for the monthly management phase as discussed. She engaged throughout with detailed and specific questions demonstrating genuine learning investment — reviewing the completion documentation, creating a question document, and researching Klaviyo independently to understand the system being built for her. This level of client engagement is what produces the best long-term results from email marketing investment.

Key Takeaway for Small Business Email Marketing

Domain Authentication Is Not Optional

The single most common mistake small businesses make when setting up Klaviyo is skipping domain authentication. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are not technical formalities — they are the difference between your emails landing in the inbox and going directly to spam. Gmail and Yahoo Mail both introduced stricter sender authentication requirements in 2024, meaning unauthenticated bulk email is now routinely rejected or filtered before it reaches the recipient. If you are setting up Klaviyo and have not configured a dedicated sending domain with full DNS authentication, your campaigns are not reaching your subscribers reliably — regardless of how good the email content is.

Build Flows Before You Have Subscribers

The best time to build your abandoned cart flow is before your first visitor adds to cart. The best time to build your welcome series is before your first subscriber joins the list. Flows built after the fact are flows that missed the opportunities that already passed. Chickinscratch was still in development when the Klaviyo setup was commissioned — which is exactly the right time. When the store launched, every automation was already running and every new subscriber entered a system designed to convert them.

E-Commerce Events Must Be Validated Before Building Flows

Abandoned cart flows are the highest-ROI automation in e-commerce email marketing — typically recovering 5 to 15 percent of abandoned carts when set up correctly. They also fail completely if the Added to Cart and Started Checkout events are not firing. Before building a single flow, every e-commerce event must be verified as active in the Klaviyo activity feed. Skipping this step is the most common reason automated flows run without sending a single email. It is the first thing I confirm on every Klaviyo e-commerce integration project at CodeSyte.

Final Thoughts

The Chickinscratch Klaviyo setup is a complete example of what a properly built e-commerce email marketing foundation looks like — domain authentication, verified event tracking, eight automated flows, ten templates, segmentation, and SMS compliance, all in place before the first customer arrives. Done once and done correctly, this infrastructure runs in the background converting visitors, recovering abandoned carts, and building customer relationships without ongoing manual effort.

If you are launching an e-commerce store and need Klaviyo set up from scratch — or if you have Klaviyo connected but flows not running correctly — that is exactly what I fix at CodeSyte. Explore my full Klaviyo email marketing, automation, and SMS setup services here, or get in touch directly and I will audit your current setup before we agree on scope.