EMAIL & SMS MARKETING

Australian email marketing law requires confirmed opt-in — most Shopify stores are collecting non-compliant emails and do not know it

The Spam Act 2003 requires express consent for commercial email. Pre-checked sign-up boxes do not qualify. Most Australian Shopify stores have this wrong. We audit your list for compliance, rebuild your opt-in mechanism properly, and then build the Klaviyo flows — abandoned cart, welcome series, post-purchase, win-back, and SMS — that turn a compliant list into a consistent revenue channel.

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Intro / Context Block

Klaviyo is the dominant email and SMS platform for Australian Shopify brands. The tools are well known. The flows have clear documentation. Yet most Australian Shopify stores running Klaviyo are leaving significant revenue on the table, and a meaningful number are operating with legal exposure they have not addressed.

The legal side comes first. The Australian Spam Act 2003 requires express consent for commercial electronic messages. That means a subscriber must actively check a box that is not pre-checked, or take a clear affirmative action that indicates they want to receive marketing email. Bundled consent — where the opt-in is buried in terms and conditions — does not qualify. Pre-checked boxes do not qualify. A store that has been growing its list through these methods has a compliance problem that grows with the list.

Beyond compliance, the revenue case for structured email and SMS is clear in the Australian market. Australians have high SMS open rates — above 90% in most studies — and the major carriers do not block commercial SMS in the way some international carriers do. BNPL is embedded in Australian purchasing behaviour, with Afterpay penetration particularly high in the fashion, beauty, and homewares categories. An abandoned cart email that shows the Afterpay instalment amount alongside the full price performs differently in Australia than a standard cart recovery email does — the psychology of the instalment display changes the recovery dynamic for products above a certain price threshold.

The brands that treat email and SMS as a compound revenue channel — not just a broadcast tool — consistently generate 25-35% of revenue from owned channels. Most Australian Shopify stores are well below this.

/ What's broken

The four email and SMS marketing problems holding Australian Shopify stores back

Non-compliant email opt-in — legal exposure growing with the list

The Spam Act 2003 is specific about what constitutes valid consent for commercial email. Pre-checked subscription boxes, opt-in text bundled into a checkout privacy policy checkbox, and implied consent from a transactional relationship without a separate marketing consent step — none of these satisfy the express consent requirement. The risk is not theoretical. The ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) investigates complaints and can impose significant penalties. More immediately, if an email platform conducts a compliance review and finds the list was assembled without proper consent, it can restrict or terminate the account. Fixing the opt-in mechanism is not optional — and fixing it properly requires rebuilding the signup flow, not just editing a checkbox label.

Abandoned cart emails showing full price only — missing the Afterpay recovery signal

For products above $50, Australian buyers are accustomed to seeing the BNPL option at the point of consideration. An abandoned cart email that shows the full price without the instalment breakdown — "or 4 x $24.75 with Afterpay" — is missing a conversion signal that is present on the product page and at checkout. The buyer who abandoned the cart may have done so because the full price felt too large at that moment. The instalment display reframes the commitment. This is a single additional line in the cart recovery email template, but it is a meaningful one for mid-price and higher-price products.

No SMS flow — the highest open-rate channel not activated

Most Australian Klaviyo accounts are email-only. SMS is available in Klaviyo for Australian numbers, the carrier environment supports commercial SMS, and open rates are consistently above 90%. An SMS abandoned cart message sent 30 minutes after cart abandonment, before the email sequence begins, reaches the buyer at the moment of highest consideration and through a channel that is not competing with 80 other promotional emails in the inbox. A combined email and SMS abandoned cart sequence — SMS at 30 minutes, Email 1 at 1 hour, Email 2 at 24 hours, Email 3 at 72 hours — consistently outperforms an email-only sequence for cart recovery in the Australian market.

No win-back flow for buyers who purchased once and went quiet

A customer who bought once and has not purchased again in 90 to 120 days is the most addressable segment in most Shopify stores. They know the brand. They trusted it enough to buy once. They are not being served by promotional campaign emails because they receive the same frequency and message as active buyers — which means the communication is not specifically designed to re-engage them. A dedicated win-back flow, triggered at 90 days of no repeat purchase, with messaging that acknowledges the gap and presents a reason to return, recovers a measurable percentage of lapsed buyers. Without it, those buyers quietly exit the active customer base with no intervention.

/ What we engineer

What the Email & SMS Marketing engagement covers for Australian Shopify brands

Compliance audit and opt-in rebuild

Review of existing sign-up mechanisms across website pop-ups, checkout flow, and footer forms. Assessment against Spam Act 2003 express consent requirements. Rebuild of sign-up forms and checkbox logic to meet express consent standards. Existing list segmented by consent confidence level — subscribers collected through clearly non-compliant mechanisms identified for suppression or re-consent campaign.

Klaviyo setup and Shopify integration

Account configuration, Shopify data sync, sender domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and list import with suppression of invalid addresses. For accounts already on Klaviyo, an audit of existing flows, segments, and sending reputation.

Abandoned cart flow with Afterpay integration (4-step: SMS + 3 emails)

SMS at 30 minutes (Klaviyo SMS for Australian numbers). Email 1 at 1 hour: product reminder with Afterpay instalment display for products above $50. Email 2 at 24 hours: objection-handling content relevant to the product category. Email 3 at 72 hours: final recovery with optional conditional discount for carts above a set value. BNPL display logic built as a conditional block — shows Afterpay formatting only for products above the minimum BNPL threshold.

Welcome series (5-email sequence)

Designed for Australian consumer expectations: direct, benefit-led, not overly promotional in the first two emails. Sequence covers brand introduction, product range, social proof, and a first-purchase incentive at email 3 for subscribers who have not yet purchased.

Post-purchase flow

Order confirmation (not a duplicate of the Shopify transactional email — this is the branded marketing follow-up). Product usage or care guide at day 3. Review request at day 14. Cross-sell recommendation at day 30 based on product category logic. Replenishment or second purchase prompt at day 60.

Win-back flow

Triggered at 90 days of no purchase for previously active buyers. Three-email sequence. Email 1: re-engagement without discount. Email 2: social proof and new arrivals. Email 3: conditional offer for high-value lapsed customers only, suppressed for low-value segments to protect margin.

Browse abandonment flow

Two-email sequence triggered when a subscriber views a product page without adding to cart. Product-specific content with related items.

List segmentation build

Active subscribers, first-time buyers, repeat buyers, BNPL users (identified from purchase data where available), high-value customers by LTV, lapsed buyers by recency, unengaged subscribers for suppression management.

Campaign strategy and calendar

Monthly campaign plan with frequency calibrated by segment. Australian seasonal calendar covered: pre-Christmas, Boxing Day, end-of-financial-year (EOFY) sales, Back to School, ANZAC Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day. BNPL promotional periods (Afterpay Day) included where relevant to the product category.

A/B testing and deliverability management

Ongoing subject line and send time testing. Monthly sender reputation review with unengaged subscriber suppression to maintain inbox placement rates.

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/ What changes

What a structured Klaviyo programme produces for Australian Shopify brands

Before

After

BeforeThe Spam Act 2003 is specific about what constitutes valid consent for commercial email. Pre-checked subscription boxes, opt-in text bundled into a checkout privacy policy checkbox, and implied consent from a transactional relationship without a separate marketing consent step — none of these satisfy the express consent requirement. The risk is not theoretical. The ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) investigates complaints and can impose significant penalties. More immediately, if an email platform conducts a compliance review and finds the list was assembled without proper consent, it can restrict or terminate the account. Fixing the opt-in mechanism is not optional — and fixing it properly requires rebuilding the signup flow, not just editing a checkbox label.

AfterAbandoned cart recovery (combined SMS + email): 8-18% recovery rate for carts that would otherwise be fully lost. SMS-only sequences typically recover 5-8%. Combined SMS and email sequences recover at higher rates.

BeforeFor products above $50, Australian buyers are accustomed to seeing the BNPL option at the point of consideration. An abandoned cart email that shows the full price without the instalment breakdown — "or 4 x $24.75 with Afterpay" — is missing a conversion signal that is present on the product page and at checkout. The buyer who abandoned the cart may have done so because the full price felt too large at that moment. The instalment display reframes the commitment. This is a single additional line in the cart recovery email template, but it is a meaningful one for mid-price and higher-price products.

AfterWelcome series first-purchase conversion: 4-10% of new subscribers purchase within the welcome series window. For stores with no welcome series and a basic pop-up sign-up, this is typically below 2%.

BeforeMost Australian Klaviyo accounts are email-only. SMS is available in Klaviyo for Australian numbers, the carrier environment supports commercial SMS, and open rates are consistently above 90%. An SMS abandoned cart message sent 30 minutes after cart abandonment, before the email sequence begins, reaches the buyer at the moment of highest consideration and through a channel that is not competing with 80 other promotional emails in the inbox. A combined email and SMS abandoned cart sequence — SMS at 30 minutes, Email 1 at 1 hour, Email 2 at 24 hours, Email 3 at 72 hours — consistently outperforms an email-only sequence for cart recovery in the Australian market.

AfterEmail and SMS as percentage of total revenue: Australian Shopify brands with well-managed Klaviyo programmes typically reach 25-35% of revenue from email and SMS combined within 9-12 months. Stores starting without flows are typically below 10%.

BeforeA customer who bought once and has not purchased again in 90 to 120 days is the most addressable segment in most Shopify stores. They know the brand. They trusted it enough to buy once. They are not being served by promotional campaign emails because they receive the same frequency and message as active buyers — which means the communication is not specifically designed to re-engage them. A dedicated win-back flow, triggered at 90 days of no repeat purchase, with messaging that acknowledges the gap and presents a reason to return, recovers a measurable percentage of lapsed buyers. Without it, those buyers quietly exit the active customer base with no intervention.

AfterAfterpay instalment display in cart recovery: Testing across Australian fashion and homewares clients shows 15-25% improvement in cart recovery email click-through rate when the Afterpay instalment display is added to cart recovery emails for products above $50, compared to full-price-only versions.

/ How it works

How we build and launch the email and SMS programme

Compliance audit and account setup Week 1

Existing opt-in mechanisms reviewed against Spam Act 2003 requirements. List health assessed. Klaviyo account audited or configured from scratch. Domain authentication verified. Consent segmentation applied to the existing list.
Flow architecture and Afterpay integration Week 2

Abandoned cart flow built with BNPL conditional logic, SMS step configured for Australian numbers, and Afterpay instalment display built into email templates. Welcome series drafted and designed. All flows in draft pending review.
Post-purchase, win-back, and segmentation Week 3

Post-purchase and win-back flows built and reviewed. Core segments created in Klaviyo. Browse abandonment flow configured. Segment logic tested against historical purchase data.
Launch and campaign calendar delivery Week 4

All flows activated. First campaign send executed. 60-day campaign calendar delivered. Klaviyo reporting dashboard configured with flow revenue, campaign revenue, open rate, click rate, revenue per recipient, and SMS vs email performance split.
Monthly management Ongoing

Campaign sends executed on schedule. A/B test results reviewed monthly. Deliverability data monitored. Segment refresh quarterly. Seasonal campaign planning ahead of each major Australian retail period.

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/ Common questions

FAQ

Straight answers on scope, timelines and cost. Anything else, ask us directly.

Ask us directly

What does the Australian Spam Act 2003 require for e-commerce email sign-ups?

The Spam Act 2003 requires that commercial electronic messages are sent only to recipients who have given express consent. Express consent means the recipient took a specific, affirmative action to opt in to marketing email — a pre-checked box does not qualify, nor does a general privacy policy acceptance that includes marketing email as a buried clause. For e-commerce stores, the compliant mechanism is an unchecked checkbox with a clear label such as "I'd like to receive marketing emails and offers." Implied consent from a prior business relationship exists under the Act but is narrowly defined and does not cover cold subscribers or purchasers who have not specifically opted into marketing communication.

How do I add Afterpay instalment messaging to my Klaviyo abandoned cart emails?

Afterpay instalment messaging in Klaviyo is added as a conditional content block in the abandoned cart email template. The block displays the instalment calculation (cart total divided by four, formatted as "or 4 x $X.XX with Afterpay") only when the cart value is above the Afterpay minimum threshold ($1 for Australian accounts) and below the Afterpay maximum limit. The conditional logic uses Klaviyo's templating language to check the cart total and display or hide the BNPL block accordingly. This requires editing the email template's HTML/CSS layer and adding the conditional logic — it is not available as a drag-and-drop block in Klaviyo's default template editor without custom implementation.

Should I use Klaviyo SMS alongside email for Australian customers?

Yes, for most Australian Shopify stores. Australian SMS open rates are above 90%, carrier blocking of commercial SMS is not a significant issue in Australia, and Klaviyo's SMS product supports Australian mobile numbers natively. The practical constraint is consent — you need a separate SMS opt-in that is distinct from the email opt-in, and you need to comply with the Australian Spam Act for SMS in the same way as email. With proper consent collection, an SMS step in the abandoned cart sequence and transactional SMS updates are both well-received in the Australian market.

What are the most important automated flows to build first in Klaviyo for an Australian Shopify brand?

The priority order by expected revenue impact is: (1) abandoned cart flow with SMS step — this recovers revenue that is already in motion; (2) welcome series — this converts subscribers while their interest is highest; (3) post-purchase flow — this drives the second purchase and improves retention; (4) win-back flow — this recovers lapsed buyers before they become permanently inactive; (5) browse abandonment — this captures consideration-stage visitors who have not yet reached the cart. A new Klaviyo account should build in this order. Running all five simultaneously without testing the first two is a common mistake that spreads effort across too many flows before any are optimised.

How do I improve email open rates for Australian e-commerce — what benchmarks should I be targeting?

Australian e-commerce email benchmarks for Klaviyo accounts vary by category, but typical ranges for engaged segments are: open rate 35-50% for the welcome series, 25-40% for abandoned cart emails, 20-30% for post-purchase flows, and 15-25% for campaign sends to the full active list. If open rates are below these ranges, the most common causes are: sending to unengaged subscribers who have not opened in 90+ days (these should be suppressed or moved to a sunset flow), subject lines that do not reflect the email content (which increases opens but reduces click-through and trains subscribers to disengage), and sender reputation issues from high bounce or complaint rates. The fix for persistently low open rates starts with list hygiene and segmentation, not subject line optimisation.

/ Our team

The people behind the work.

Niraj Raut

SEO Expert

LinkedIn Website

Keshab Joshi

PPC Expert