Klaviyo segmentation strategies: How to target the right customers

Sending same email campaign to entire 10,000-subscriber list generates $0.35 revenue per recipient on average. Segmenting that same list into 5 behavioral groups and sending targeted campaigns generates $0.85-1.20 revenue per recipient—2.5-3.5x improvement from segmentation alone. Yet 67% of Shopify stores using Klaviyo send all campaigns to entire list without segmentation, leaving 60-70% revenue improvement uncaptured.

According to email marketing research across 5,000+ Shopify merchants, stores implementing 5-7 core segments see 35-55% email revenue increase versus unsegmented broadcasts, without sending more emails or adding costs. The same subscriber list, same products, same sending frequency—just smarter targeting of who receives which messages.

This guide provides practical segmentation framework for Shopify stores: five essential segments delivering immediate impact, how to create each segment in Klaviyo, what campaigns to send to each, and when sophisticated segmentation justifies effort versus simpler approaches.

Why segmentation matters: The batch-and-blast problem

What happens with unsegmented campaigns

Campaign to entire 8,000-subscriber list promoting ""25% off dresses"": (1) 2,000 subscribers purchased dresses recently—offer feels redundant, (2) 1,500 subscribers never bought dresses, only browse activewear—offer irrelevant, (3) 1,000 subscribers haven't opened email in 6 months—won't engage anyway, (4) 800 subscribers are men shopping for gifts—dress promotion poorly targeted, (5) 2,700 subscribers might actually care about dress sale.

Result: 34% of list (2,700) is genuine audience. Sending to all 8,000 dilutes engagement (opens from 35% potential to 18% actual), increases unsubscribes (irrelevant emails), and harms deliverability (low engagement signals to email providers). Worst: you've ""used up"" this campaign on 5,300 people who didn't care, creating fatigue without value.

What segmentation fixes

Same campaign, segmented: Send only to women who (1) opened email in last 90 days AND (2) viewed dresses or purchased dresses in last 180 days. Segment size: 1,800 subscribers.

Result: 48% open rate (versus 18% unsegmented), 7.2% click rate (versus 2.8%), 2.4% conversion (versus 0.7%), $1.15 revenue per recipient (versus $0.35). You've achieved better results by sending to fewer people—and the 6,200 subscribers you didn't send to are ""saved"" for campaigns actually relevant to them, reducing overall fatigue.

The five essential segments

Segment 1: Engaged subscribers (foundation segment)

Definition: Subscribers who opened or clicked any email in last 90 days. This is your active, engaged audience—people actually interacting with your emails.

Typical size: 40-60% of total list for healthy programs. Under 30% indicates engagement problems (over-sending, poor content, or old acquired list). Above 70% indicates very engaged list or recent aggressive list cleaning.

How to create in Klaviyo: Lists & Segments → Create Segment → Conditions: ""What someone has done"" → ""Opened Email"" → ""at least once in the last 90 days."" Add OR condition: ""Clicked Email"" → ""at least once in the last 90 days.""

How to use: Send all promotional campaigns to engaged segment only, not entire list. Unengaged subscribers (haven't opened in 90+ days) won't respond to promotions anyway; including them hurts deliverability and engagement metrics without revenue benefit. Every 6 months, send separate win-back campaign to unengaged subscribers (""We miss you—here's 20% off""), then suppress entirely if they don't respond.

Expected impact: Campaign open rates improve 15-25 percentage points, click rates improve 2-4 points, revenue per recipient improves 40-80% by excluding unengaged subscribers dragging down performance.

Segment 2: VIP customers (high-value targeting)

Definition: Customers who purchased 3+ times OR spent $500+ total OR purchased in last 60 days (frequent, high-value, or recent buyers). These are your most valuable customers deserving preferential treatment.

Typical size: 10-25% of email list for established stores (newer stores might have 5-10%). This small segment often generates 40-60% of total email revenue.

How to create in Klaviyo: Lists & Segments → Create Segment → Conditions: ""What someone has done"" → ""Placed Order"" → ""at least 3 times"" → ""over all time."" Add OR condition: ""Placed Order"" → ""where Total Price at least $500"" → ""over all time."" Add OR condition: ""Placed Order"" → ""at least once in the last 60 days.""

How to use: (1) Early access to sales (""VIP early access: 48 hours before public""), (2) Exclusive offers (20% off versus 15% for general list), (3) New product previews (""See our new collection first""), (4) Loyalty appreciation (""Thank you for being a valued customer""). VIP customers have proven high lifetime value—investing in retention through preferential treatment generates strong returns.

Expected impact: VIP segment typically converts at 3-5x rate of general list (4-8% conversion versus 1-2%) and has 2-3x higher average order value, generating $1.50-3.00 revenue per recipient versus $0.40-0.80 for general campaigns.

Segment 3: One-time buyers (conversion opportunity)

Definition: Customers who purchased exactly once and haven't purchased again in 60+ days. They've validated interest by purchasing but haven't developed buying habit yet. High-potential retention opportunity.

Typical size: 30-50% of customer base for most D2C stores (many first-time buyers don't return). Converting this segment to repeat customers dramatically increases lifetime value.

How to create in Klaviyo: Lists & Segments → Create Segment → Conditions: ""What someone has done"" → ""Placed Order"" → ""exactly 1 time"" → ""over all time."" Add AND condition: ""Placed Order"" → ""at least once in the last 60 days"" (ensures recent purchase, not years-old one-time buyer).

How to use: (1) Reorder reminders for consumables (""Time to restock your [Product]?""), (2) Complementary product recommendations (""Customers who bought [Previous Purchase] also love [Complementary Product]""), (3) Incentive to return (""Your second purchase: 15% off today only""), (4) Content education (""5 ways to get more from your [Product]""). Focus: moving customers from one-time to repeat buyers where real lifetime value exists.

Expected impact: Converting 10-15% of one-time buyers to second purchase (achievable with targeted campaigns) doubles that cohort's lifetime value. For store with 500 monthly one-time buyers and $80 AOV, this represents $4,000-6,000 additional monthly revenue.

Segment 4: Engaged non-buyers (conversion opportunity)

Definition: Subscribers who opened or clicked emails in last 90 days but never purchased. They're interested (engaging with emails) but haven't converted yet. Often need final push—better offer, social proof, or urgency.

Typical size: 20-40% of engaged subscribers for growing stores (lots of signups, moderate conversion). Lower percentage (10-20%) for established stores with efficient conversion funnels.

How to create in Klaviyo: Lists & Segments → Create Segment → Conditions: ""What someone has done"" → ""Opened Email"" → ""at least once in the last 90 days."" Add AND condition: ""What someone has done"" → ""Placed Order"" → ""zero times"" → ""over all time.""

How to use: (1) Stronger incentives than general campaigns (""First purchase: 20% off"" versus 15% for general), (2) Social proof campaigns (""Join 10,000+ happy customers"" + reviews), (3) Risk reduction (""Free returns, 100% satisfaction guarantee""), (4) Urgency creates (""Sale ends tonight""). These subscribers are email-engaged but need extra motivation to make first purchase.

Expected impact: Converting 3-8% of engaged non-buyers to first purchase monthly generates consistent new customer acquisition at near-zero cost (no ad spend). For 2,000-person segment with $75 AOV, 5% monthly conversion generates $7,500 revenue monthly without acquisition costs.

Segment 5: Category/product affinity (relevance targeting)

Definition: Subscribers who purchased or browsed specific product categories (dresses, activewear, accessories, home goods—whatever categories matter for your store). Enables sending category-specific campaigns only to interested audiences.

Typical size: Varies by category—bestselling categories might have 40-60% of list showing interest, niche categories 10-20%. Create one segment per major category (3-5 segments total for most stores).

How to create in Klaviyo: Lists & Segments → Create Segment → Conditions: ""What someone has done"" → ""Viewed Product"" → ""where Product Name contains [Category] at least once in the last 180 days."" Add OR condition: ""Placed Order"" → ""where Product Name contains [Category] at least once in the last 365 days."" Replace [Category] with your category names (""Dress,"" ""Activewear,"" etc.).

How to use: Send category-specific campaigns only to category-interested segment. ""New dress arrivals"" goes to dress segment, not entire list. ""Activewear sale"" goes to activewear segment. This prevents irrelevant promotions fatiguing subscribers while improving campaign performance through targeting.

Expected impact: Category-targeted campaigns show 2-3x better performance than category promotions sent to entire list. Dress campaign to dress-interested segment: 6-8% conversion typical. Same campaign to entire list: 2-3% conversion (diluted by uninterested recipients).

Segment combinations (advanced targeting)

Combining segments for precision

Most powerful campaigns combine multiple segment conditions. Example: ""VIP customers + dress affinity + engaged in last 30 days."" This creates hyper-targeted audience: proven high-value customers who love dresses and are currently active. Expected performance: 8-12% conversion, $2-4 revenue per recipient—exceptional results from precision targeting.

Recommended combinations

New product launch: VIP customers + category affinity + engaged last 30 days. Send early access 24-48 hours before general announcement. Conversion: 6-10% typical.

Flash sale: Engaged subscribers (last 90 days) + previous purchasers + category affinity. Tight targeting for time-sensitive offer. Conversion: 3-6% typical.

Win-back campaign: Previous customers (purchased ever) + NOT purchased in 180+ days + NOT engaged in 90+ days. Aggressive incentive (""We miss you: 25% off"") to re-activate cold customers. Conversion: 1-3% typical (low, but these customers were generating $0 previously).

Creating your segmentation strategy

For small lists (under 2,000 subscribers)

Recommended segments: Two only—(1) Engaged subscribers, (2) Previous customers. This simple split provides 80% of segmentation value with minimal complexity. Small lists lack statistical power for sophisticated multi-segment strategies.

Campaign approach: Send all promotional campaigns to engaged subscribers segment. Send customer-specific campaigns (restock reminders, loyalty offers) to previous customers segment. That's it—simple but effective.

For medium lists (2,000-10,000 subscribers)

Recommended segments: Five—(1) Engaged subscribers, (2) VIP customers, (3) One-time buyers, (4) Engaged non-buyers, (5) 1-2 category affinity segments for your biggest categories.

Campaign approach: Every campaign targets specific segment. VIP campaign to VIPs. Category promotion to category segment. First-purchase offer to engaged non-buyers. Reorder campaign to one-time buyers. Each subscriber receives 2-4 campaigns monthly, all highly relevant to them.

For large lists (10,000+ subscribers)

Recommended segments: Eight to ten—All five essential segments plus 3-5 category/product affinity segments covering your main product lines. Add behavioral segments like ""high AOV customers"" (>$150 average), ""frequent browsers"" (viewed 10+ products in 30 days), ""abandoned cart propensity"" (abandoned cart 2+ times without purchasing).

Campaign approach: Sophisticated targeting combining multiple segment conditions. Most campaigns target 10-30% of list with precision relevance rather than 100% batch-and-blast. Subscriber experience: receiving 3-5 campaigns monthly, every single one relevant to their interests and behavior.

Common segmentation mistakes

Mistake 1: Over-segmentation (too many tiny segments)

Merchant creates 25 different segments: VIP dress buyers, VIP activewear buyers, one-time dress buyers, engaged dress browsers, etc. Result: Segment sizes too small to justify targeted campaigns (50-person segments don't warrant custom emails), strategy becomes unmanageably complex, and time spent on segmentation exceeds time spent on content quality.

Solution: Start with five essential segments. Only add additional segments when each would receive 4+ campaigns annually and has 500+ members. Segmentation should simplify strategy (right message to right people), not complicate it.

Mistake 2: Static segments never updated

Merchant creates VIP segment in January defined as ""purchased 3+ times in last 90 days."" Never updates definition. By December, segment includes customers whose last purchase was 10 months ago—no longer active VIPs, shouldn't receive VIP treatment.

Solution: Use dynamic segments with recency conditions. ""Purchased 3+ times AND last purchase within 180 days"" ensures segment stays current automatically. Review segment definitions quarterly to verify they still match strategic intent.

Mistake 3: Segmenting everything (even simple campaigns)

Merchant segments every single email including one-off announcements (""We're closed for holidays""), company news (""Meet our new team member""), or universal promotions (""Free shipping site-wide""). Segmentation overhead exceeds value for simple broadcasts.

Solution: Segment promotional and product campaigns where relevance varies by audience. Don't segment operational emails (order confirmations, shipping updates), universal announcements, or content emails relevant to entire engaged list. Segmentation is tool for relevance, not requirement for every send.

Mistake 4: Ignoring segment overlap

Merchant sends ""VIP early access sale"" to VIP segment Monday, then ""General sale launch"" to entire list (including VIPs) Wednesday. VIPs receive both emails promoting same sale—feels like lack of coordination, undermines ""exclusive early access"" positioning.

Solution: When sending segmented campaign, exclude those recipients from related general campaigns. ""General sale launch"" should exclude VIP segment (they already received VIP version). This respects segmentation strategy and prevents redundant messaging.

Segment performance tracking

Monthly segment health check

First Monday of month, review each segment: (1) Current segment size versus 30 days ago (growing, flat, shrinking?), (2) Average campaign performance to segment over last 30 days (opens, clicks, conversions), (3) Revenue generated from campaigns to this segment.

Healthy patterns: VIP segment stable or slowly growing (1-2% monthly), high performance (6-10% conversion). Engaged non-buyer segment shrinking (converting to customers), moderate performance (2-4% conversion). One-time buyer segment stable (new first-timers replacing converted repeat buyers), moderate-to-high performance (3-6% conversion).

Quarterly segment strategy review

Every 90 days, evaluate segmentation strategy: (1) Are all segments receiving campaigns quarterly (minimum frequency for segment to justify existence)? (2) Do segment definitions still match strategic intent? (3) Should any segments merge (too similar) or split (too broad)? (4) What new segments would improve targeting?

This review prevents segment proliferation (creating too many unused segments) while ensuring strategy evolves with business growth.

Klaviyo Segmentation Strategies

Five essential segments deliver immediate impact: (1) Engaged subscribers (exclude unengaged from promotions, improving metrics 15-25%), (2) VIP customers (high-value treatment generating 3-5x conversion rates), (3) One-time buyers (retention opportunity converting 10-15% to repeat), (4) Engaged non-buyers (first-purchase conversion with stronger offers), (5) Category affinity (relevance targeting improving performance 2-3x for category campaigns).

Implementation approach: Small lists (under 2,000): Two segments only—engaged and previous customers. Medium lists (2,000-10,000): All five essential segments. Large lists (10,000+): Five essential plus 3-5 category/behavioral segments for sophisticated targeting.

Expected results: Stores implementing five-segment strategy see 35-55% email revenue increase versus unsegmented broadcasts. Same list, same products, same frequency—just smarter targeting of who receives which messages.

Avoid: Over-segmentation creating unmanageable complexity, static segments never updated, segmenting simple broadcasts unnecessarily, and ignoring segment overlap creating redundant messaging. Segmentation simplifies strategy through relevance, not complicates through excessive splits.