What's a good email open rate for eCommerce?

On Klaviyo, healthy eCommerce brands see 35-45% open rates on flows and 25-35% on campaigns. If you're below 20% on campaigns, you likely have a deliverability problem, not a content problem. The industry average is misleading because it includes brands with terrible list hygiene dragging the number down.

Should I delete subscribers who never open my emails?

Suppress them, don't delete them. Suppressing removes them from sends (which protects your sender reputation) but keeps their data in Klaviyo so you can still see purchase history and reactivate them later if they engage through another channel. Deleting loses that data permanently.

Do Apple's Mail Privacy Protection changes make open rates unreliable?

Partially. Apple's MPP pre-loads tracking pixels, which inflates open rates for Apple Mail users (roughly 50% of email users). But opens from non-Apple devices are still accurate, and click rates are unaffected. We use a combination of opens on non-Apple devices plus click rates to get the real picture. Klaviyo also flags MPP opens so you can filter them.

How often should I email my list?

For most eCommerce brands, 2-3 campaigns per week is the sweet spot — but only to engaged segments. If your list is under 10K and engagement is below 25%, drop to once per week until you rebuild your sender reputation. Flows don't count toward this number because they're triggered by behavior and have naturally high engagement.

Is it worth switching from Mailchimp to Klaviyo?

If you're doing eCommerce, yes. Klaviyo's Shopify integration is significantly deeper — real-time product data, predictive analytics, better segmentation. The migration takes 1-2 weeks depending on list size and flow complexity. We handle Mailchimp-to-Klaviyo migrations regularly and can usually rebuild everything within 10 business days.

Email Marketing Guide

Why are your email open rates tanking — even when the content is good?

You're writing decent emails. Your offers are solid. But your open rates keep dropping — 18%, 15%, now 12%. And you're starting to wonder if email is even worth the effort anymore.

Here's what's actually happening: it's not your subject lines. It's your sender reputation. Every time you blast your entire list, Gmail and Yahoo track how many people ignore you. Low engagement tells their algorithms your emails aren't wanted. So they move you from the inbox to Promotions. Then to spam. And once you're in spam, it doesn't matter how good your subject line is — nobody sees it. This compounds fast. Lower placement means lower opens, which means worse reputation, which means even lower placement.

The fix isn't a better subject line formula. It's a complete reset of how you think about list health, segmentation, and send frequency. Below is the exact playbook we use with Klaviyo clients to take open rates from the low teens back above 35% in 30-60 days. It works — but it requires discipline.

35-45%

Healthy Open Rate (Klaviyo)

39 chars

Ideal Subject Line Length

60 days

Reputation Recovery Time

12%

Open Rate Lift from Segmentation

How to fix this — step by step

Stop blasting your entire list immediately

This is the single biggest mistake we see. Sending to everyone — including people who haven't opened in 90+ days — tanks your sender reputation. Starting today, only send campaigns to engaged profiles: people who've opened or clicked in the last 90 days. In Klaviyo, create a segment with the condition "Opened Email at least once in the last 90 days OR Clicked Email at least once in the last 90 days." Send only to this segment until your open rates stabilize above 30%.

Sunset your unengaged subscribers

Profiles that haven't opened in 180+ days are actively hurting you. Build a sunset flow in Klaviyo: send 2-3 "we miss you" emails over 10 days. Anyone who doesn't open gets suppressed — not deleted, suppressed. This typically cuts your list by 20-40%, and that's a good thing. A list of 5,000 engaged subscribers will outperform a list of 25,000 dead ones every single time.

Fix your subject lines — length and format

Subject lines under 40 characters get 12% higher open rates on Klaviyo. That's not our opinion — it's from Klaviyo's own benchmark data across billions of sends. Kill the emojis in subject lines (they're spam triggers now). Use sentence case, not Title Case. Front-load the benefit. "Your cart is waiting" outperforms "Don't Miss Out On Your Cart Items!!" every time. And never use all caps. Ever.

Authenticate your sending domain

If you haven't set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your sending domain, do it now. Gmail and Yahoo made this mandatory in February 2024. Without authentication, your emails are more likely to land in spam regardless of content. In Klaviyo, go to Settings → Domains → Add Sending Domain. It walks you through adding the DNS records. Takes 20 minutes and it's one of the highest-impact things you can do.

Warm up with high-engagement segments first

After cleaning your list, don't jump back to 3 sends per week. Start with one campaign per week, sent only to your most engaged 30-day segment. As your open rates climb back above 35%, gradually expand to 60-day engaged, then 90-day. This is called "warming" and it signals to inbox providers that your emails are wanted. Rush this and you'll end up right back where you started.

Rebuild your flow architecture

This is where most brands stall. Campaigns are just part of the equation — your automated flows (welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase, win-back, browse abandonment) are doing the heavy lifting 24/7. But most Klaviyo accounts have flows that were set up once and never touched again. Outdated copy, wrong delays, missing splits, no A/B testing. Rebuilding your flow architecture so every touchpoint is optimized is a project that takes 2-4 weeks of focused work.

Implement continuous list hygiene and send optimization

Fixing open rates once is step one. Keeping them high is the real challenge. You need ongoing suppression rules, engagement-based segmentation that updates automatically, send time optimization, and monthly deliverability audits. This is where having a dedicated email team — people who live in Klaviyo every day — makes the difference between a one-time fix and sustained 40%+ open rates.

Want us to handle this?

Steps 1 through 5 will move the needle. If your open rates are below 20%, doing just those five things should get you back above 30% within 60 days. We've seen it dozens of times.

But steps 6 and 7 — rebuilding your entire flow architecture and maintaining list health month after month — that's where most brands need help. As a Klaviyo Gold Partner, we do this every day. We'll audit your account, rebuild your flows, clean your list, and keep your deliverability healthy so you can focus on running your business. The audit is free and takes 48 hours.

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