EMAIL & SMS MARKETING

Your international Shopify customers need a post-purchase email sequence — not a newsletter they forgot they signed up to

Most Nepali export brands on Shopify collect email addresses and do nothing with them. No welcome series. No abandoned cart recovery. No post-purchase follow-up. The result is a list that grows and a repeat purchase rate that does not. We build Klaviyo automations that turn first-time international buyers into customers who come back.

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Intro / Context Block

Nepal's e-commerce export sector has grown steadily, with Shopify stores selling handmade goods, apparel, wellness products, and crafts to buyers in the US, UK, Europe, and Australia. The traffic acquisition side has received attention — Google Ads, Meta campaigns, influencer partnerships. The owned channel side has not.

Email marketing for most Nepali export brands means one thing: a monthly promotional email sent to every subscriber at the same time with the same message. No segmentation by country of delivery. No separation of first-time buyers from loyal customers. No automation triggered by behaviour. Open rates sit below 15% because subscribers receive no reason to expect anything worth opening.

The gap is significant. Klaviyo, the leading email and SMS platform for Shopify, allows a store to automate the post-purchase experience from the moment an order is confirmed through to a 90-day win-back sequence. International buyers who receive a well-structured post-purchase series convert to repeat buyers at materially higher rates. This is not speculative — it is the documented outcome of building the flows that most Nepali Shopify stores currently skip.

WhatsApp automation adds a second layer. Nepali customers, and increasingly international buyers who interact with Nepali brands, use WhatsApp as the default communication channel. WhatsApp Business API, connected to the CRM, allows automated order updates, review requests, and re-engagement messages through the channel customers actually respond to.

What's broken

The four email marketing gaps that keep Nepali export brands from building repeat revenue

No welcome series for international subscribers

When a new subscriber joins through a paid ad from the US or UK, they receive nothing. No introduction to the brand, no context on what makes the product different, no incentive to make a first purchase. The subscriber entered the list during a moment of genuine interest and received silence. By the time any communication arrives — if it ever does — the brand is forgotten. A welcome series of three to five emails, triggered automatically at the point of subscription, solves this at zero incremental cost per subscriber after initial setup.

Mass promotional emails with no segmentation

The same email goes to the entire list: first-time visitors who have never purchased, customers who bought once six months ago, repeat buyers who purchase quarterly, and lapsed subscribers who have not opened an email in a year. Each of these groups has a different relationship with the brand and a different message that would move them. Sending one undifferentiated campaign to all of them produces average open rates that understate performance for engaged segments and overstate it for disengaged ones. Deliverability suffers because inbox providers track engagement by segment, and high volumes of unengaged recipients pull down sender reputation for everyone.

Abandoned cart flow absent from the international Shopify store

Abandoned cart recovery is the highest-ROI automation in e-commerce. A three-email sequence — sent at one hour, 24 hours, and 72 hours after cart abandonment — recovers a meaningful percentage of carts that would otherwise be lost. For Nepali export brands selling internationally, cart abandonment rates are typically high because international buyers are often comparison shopping across multiple stores. An abandoned cart flow addresses this at the moment the buyer is still considering the purchase. Most Nepali Shopify stores have not configured this flow in Klaviyo.

WhatsApp not integrated with the CRM

Customer service conversations happen in WhatsApp. Order questions, delivery queries, product inquiries — all of these travel through WhatsApp threads that exist in isolation from the email list, purchase history, and customer profile in Klaviyo. The result is a fragmented customer record. A customer can send three WhatsApp messages, make two purchases, and open every email, and the brand has no unified view of that relationship. WhatsApp Business API integration connects the conversation channel to the CRM, enabling automated post-purchase WhatsApp messages, review requests, and re-engagement flows triggered by the same purchase data that drives email automation.

What we engineer

What an Email & SMS Marketing engagement covers

Klaviyo account setup and Shopify integration

If the store is not yet on Klaviyo, we configure the account from scratch: Shopify integration, data sync, sender domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and list import with suppression of unsubscribes and bounces from previous platforms.

Welcome series (5-email sequence)

Built for international subscribers. Introduces the brand, explains the production process or product origin story (relevant for handmade and craft export brands), presents the core product range, and delivers a first-purchase incentive. Timing: Email 1 immediately on subscription, Email 2 at 24 hours, Email 3 at 72 hours, Email 4 at 7 days, Email 5 at 14 days for non-purchasers.

Abandoned cart flow (3-email + optional SMS)

Email 1 at 1 hour: straightforward cart reminder with product image and price. Email 2 at 24 hours: addresses the common objection relevant to the product category. Email 3 at 72 hours: final recovery attempt with optional discount or free shipping offer. SMS step added for subscribers who have provided a mobile number with consent.

Browse abandonment flow

Triggered when a subscriber views a product page without adding to cart. Lighter than the abandoned cart flow — typically two emails — designed to surface the product they viewed alongside related items.

Post-purchase flow

Triggered on order confirmation. Sequence covers: order confirmation and shipping update, product care or usage guide (relevant for handmade goods), review request at day 14, cross-sell recommendation at day 30, second cross-sell or replenishment reminder at day 60.

Win-back flow

Triggered at 90 days of no purchase for previously active buyers. Three-step sequence designed to re-engage without discounting where possible, with a conditional discount at step three for high-value lapsed customers.

WhatsApp Business API integration

We work with WhatsApp Business API providers to connect WhatsApp automation to the Klaviyo customer profile. This covers: order confirmation WhatsApp message, shipping update, review request at delivery confirmation, and re-engagement message for lapsed customers. Separate from the email sequence and coordinated to avoid duplicate messaging on the same day.

List segmentation build

Core segments created: active subscribers (opened or clicked in 90 days), first-time buyers, repeat buyers (2 or more purchases), high-value customers (top 20% by spend), lapsed buyers (90+ days no purchase), unengaged subscribers (no open in 180 days, suppressed before campaign sends).

Campaign strategy and calendar

Monthly campaign plan covering promotional and editorial sends. Frequency calibrated by segment — active buyers receive more frequent communication than unengaged subscribers. Seasonal sending plan accounts for international holidays in the primary export markets (US, UK, Australia).

A/B testing programme

Ongoing subject line, preview text, and send time testing across the welcome series and abandoned cart flow. Results reviewed monthly and winning variants set as default.

Deliverability management

Monthly sender reputation review, bounce and complaint rate monitoring, unengaged subscriber suppression, and domain warm-up if sending from a new domain.

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What changes

What a structured email programme produces for an export e-commerce brand

Before
After
Before When a new subscriber joins through a paid ad from the US or UK, they receive nothing. No introduction to the brand, no context on what makes the product different, no incentive to make a first purchase. The subscriber entered the list during a moment of genuine interest and received silence. By the time any communication arrives — if it ever does — the brand is forgotten. A welcome series of three to five emails, triggered automatically at the point of subscription, solves this at zero incremental cost per subscriber after initial setup.
After Abandoned cart recovery rate: 5-15% of abandoned carts recovered within the 72-hour sequence window for stores that previously had no cart recovery flow.
Before The same email goes to the entire list: first-time visitors who have never purchased, customers who bought once six months ago, repeat buyers who purchase quarterly, and lapsed subscribers who have not opened an email in a year. Each of these groups has a different relationship with the brand and a different message that would move them. Sending one undifferentiated campaign to all of them produces average open rates that understate performance for engaged segments and overstate it for disengaged ones. Deliverability suffers because inbox providers track engagement by segment, and high volumes of unengaged recipients pull down sender reputation for everyone.
After Welcome series purchase conversion: 3-8% of new subscribers who receive the welcome series make a first purchase within 14 days. For stores with no welcome series, this number is typically below 1%.
Before Abandoned cart recovery is the highest-ROI automation in e-commerce. A three-email sequence — sent at one hour, 24 hours, and 72 hours after cart abandonment — recovers a meaningful percentage of carts that would otherwise be lost. For Nepali export brands selling internationally, cart abandonment rates are typically high because international buyers are often comparison shopping across multiple stores. An abandoned cart flow addresses this at the moment the buyer is still considering the purchase. Most Nepali Shopify stores have not configured this flow in Klaviyo.
After Email revenue as a percentage of total store revenue: For stores that implement flows and consistent campaign sends, email typically reaches 20-35% of total revenue within 6-12 months. Most Nepali export stores are below 5% at the start of an engagement.
Before Customer service conversations happen in WhatsApp. Order questions, delivery queries, product inquiries — all of these travel through WhatsApp threads that exist in isolation from the email list, purchase history, and customer profile in Klaviyo. The result is a fragmented customer record. A customer can send three WhatsApp messages, make two purchases, and open every email, and the brand has no unified view of that relationship. WhatsApp Business API integration connects the conversation channel to the CRM, enabling automated post-purchase WhatsApp messages, review requests, and re-engagement flows triggered by the same purchase data that drives email automation.
After Repeat purchase rate: Post-purchase flows with cross-sell emails at day 30 and day 60 increase repeat purchase rate. The specific lift depends on product category, but cross-sell emails to existing buyers consistently outperform any other campaign type on a revenue-per-recipient basis.
How it works

How we build and launch the email programme

  1. 01

    Audit and account setup

    Week 1

    We audit the existing Klaviyo account or configure a new one. Shopify integration verified, historical data reviewed, existing flows documented. List health assessed: bounce rate, unsubscribe rate, spam complaint rate, and engagement by segment. Domain authentication checked and corrected if needed.

  2. 02

    Flow architecture

    Week 2

    Welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase, and browse abandonment flows built and reviewed. Email copy written, designed in Klaviyo templates, and tested across email clients (Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook). All flows set to draft pending final approval.

  3. 03

    WhatsApp integration and segmentation

    Week 3

    WhatsApp Business API connection configured. Core list segments built in Klaviyo. Flow logic reviewed to ensure WhatsApp and email steps do not overlap on the same day. Win-back flow built and reviewed.

  4. 04

    Launch, campaign calendar, and handover

    Week 4

    All flows activated. First campaign send scheduled and executed. Campaign calendar for the following 60 days delivered. Reporting dashboard configured in Klaviyo showing flow revenue, campaign revenue, open rate, click rate, and revenue per recipient by segment.

  5. 05

    Monthly management

    Ongoing

    Campaign sends executed on schedule. A/B test results reviewed. Flow performance reviewed monthly with optimisation to subject lines, send timing, and content based on data. Quarterly segment refresh.

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Common questions

FAQ

Can I use Klaviyo for an e-commerce store based in Nepal?

Yes. Klaviyo is available globally and integrates directly with Shopify regardless of where the store owner is located. A Nepali business operating a Shopify store can create a Klaviyo account, connect it to the store, and use all automation, segmentation, and campaign features. The main setup requirement is domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC records) using your domain's DNS settings, which applies regardless of the country.

What is the difference between WhatsApp marketing and email marketing for a Nepali e-commerce brand?

Email is the standard owned channel for international e-commerce and works well for buyers in the US, UK, Europe, and Australia. WhatsApp is the preferred communication channel for buyers within Nepal and across South Asia. For a Nepali export brand, the practical approach is to use email as the primary automation channel for international buyers and WhatsApp Business API for domestic buyers or international buyers who have opted into WhatsApp communication. The two channels are not mutually exclusive and can be coordinated through a connected CRM setup.

How do I build an email list for an export brand that sells internationally from Nepal?

The fastest list-building method for an international Shopify store is a pop-up with a first-purchase incentive (discount or free shipping) shown to new website visitors. Additional methods include post-purchase opt-in at checkout, an email capture on the thank-you page, and social media campaigns that drive traffic to a lead magnet landing page. List quality matters more than list size — a smaller list of subscribers who opted in specifically because of the product performs significantly better than a large list assembled through broad giveaway campaigns.

What automated flows should I set up first for a new Shopify store?

The order of priority by ROI is: (1) abandoned cart flow — this recovers revenue that is already in progress; (2) welcome series — this converts new subscribers before they go cold; (3) post-purchase flow — this builds the relationship after the first purchase and drives the second; (4) browse abandonment — this targets visitors who showed product interest but did not reach the cart. A store with no flows should build in this order rather than trying to launch everything simultaneously.

How do I segment an email list when I have buyers from multiple countries?

The most useful segmentation for an export brand is by purchase behaviour (buyer versus non-buyer), by engagement recency (active versus unengaged), and by country of delivery (if the product or shipping offer varies by market). Country segmentation allows you to send relevant content — for example, a US promotional campaign during Black Friday without sending the same promotion to buyers in Australia where the holiday has no cultural relevance. Klaviyo's segmentation tools allow all of these segments to be built using native Shopify data without any additional integration.

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Why Ignited Nepal

Ignited Nepal is a Growth Engineering Company. We work with e-commerce businesses across Nepal, Australia, the UAE, and the US. Our email and SMS work is built on Klaviyo, which is the dominant platform for Shopify-based stores globally.

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