How to use SMS in replenishment flows

You will learn

Learn how to add SMS to your replenishment flow in Klaviyo. 

Before you begin

Before you can start adding SMS to any flow, turn on SMS in your account settings. 

Add SMS to your replenishment flow

The next steps depend on your current setup.

For those with existing replenishment flows:

1. Go to the Flows tab. 
2. Navigate to the replenishment flow where you want to add SMS. 
3. After the first time delay, add a conditional split. 
4. Set the split’s condition to: Is consented to to receive SMS > is.
   
5. On the YES path, place an SMS message. 
6. Click Configure Content.
7. Add in your message; for example: “Hey {{ first_name|default:’there’ }}, running low? Reorder now! [LINK]”
8. On the NO path, rejoin the split under the SMS message. 
9. Add a time delay below the rejoin and set it to 1 day. 
10. Move your existing email to below the 1-day time delay.
    
11. When you’re ready to publish, click Update action statuses in the top right of the flow builder, and choose Live from the dropdown. 

Best practices for replenishment flows

Message timing

Timing is the most important part of replenishment flows. The key is to remind subscribers when they are low on the product, but not completely out. They also work better if you allow time for the product to ship and be delivered.

For instance, if the buying cycle is 30 days, you may want to send the notification at around 20 days. 

Since SMS is sent immediately, it’s a great tool to also hone in on this timing. You can use splits with different time delays to optimize when you send the replenishment message, possibly shortening the buying cycle.

Message content

Replenishment messages should focus on reminding customers about the product. Best practices for creating the content include:

• Keep it simple and straightforward. 
• Remind recipients about the product. 
  • Add the product name.
  • Link to the product page.
• Consider adding a promotion, particularly for first-time flow recipients.
  • Provide free shipping.
  • Offer a 10% off coupon. 

Number of messages

Typically, replenishment flows don’t need many messages, at most 1–2 per recipient:. 

• If someone is an SMS subscriber, send 1 SMS and then follow up with an email.
• For email-only subscribers, send 1 email and perhaps follow up with another email.

Optimize your replenishment flow

Improve the message timing

To optimize the message timing, you need to test what works best for your audience: 

1. Decrease the number of days in the initial time delay (e.g., from 25 to 20).
2. Under the split that separates your SMS subscribers, add another conditional split.
3. Set this new split to Random sample > 50%.
   
4. Add a time delay to each path under the random sample. 
5. Choose the timeframes you want to test (e.g., 1 day versus 5 days).
   

Over time, check back on the results of each message for both the click rate and conversion rate. (Klaviyo can’t automatically pick a winner when using a split to A/B test.)

Repeat this experiment until you find the shortest timeframe with the highest performance. 

Order value split

For higher-priced items, customers may wait for discounts before re-buying or take more time before deciding. You may want to add an extra incentive, space out the replenishment messages, or change the phrasing to convince customers to restock more expensive items. 

To split the flow based on order value:

1. Add a trigger split directly after the first time delay. 
2. Set the split to trigger $value > is at least > 100 (replace 100 with whatever order value you’d like to split based on). 
3. In both the YES and NO paths, add conditional splits that check for SMS consent and add your email and SMS messages accordingly.
4. Edit the message(s) in the YES path to offer your incentive (e.g., a discount or free shipping), change the timing of messages, etc.
   

First-time flow recipients vs. repeat customers

Replenishment flows help people develop the habit of re-buying from you. To convert one-time customers to repeat customers, you may want to split the flow and its messages, maybe offer a discount. 

1. Add a conditional split directly after the first time delay. 
2. Set the split to What someone has done (or not done) > Placed Order > is at least 2 > over all time. 
3. In both the YES and NO paths, add conditional splits that check for SMS consent and add your email and SMS messages accordingly.
4. Edit the message(s) in the NO path to customize your messaging for first-time flow recipients (e.g., offer an incentive).
   

Additional resources

Learn more about adding SMS in your flows:

• Add SMS to a browse abandonment flow
• Add SMS to a thank you or order confirmation flow
• Create flows to respond to inbound SMS messages