Last updated: September 25, 2026
According to Klaviyo's 2026 benchmark data, drawn from more than 183,000 brands, the average campaign open rate is around 31 percent. Click rates differ sharply by email type: about 5.58 percent for automated flows against 1.69 percent for campaigns. Placed order rates show the same gap, roughly 2.11 percent for flows against 0.16 percent for campaigns. Flows generate about 41 percent of email revenue from just 5.3 percent of sends. So a "good" rate depends entirely on whether you are looking at a campaign or a flow, and open rate is the least reliable of all these numbers.
This guide explains what the benchmarks mean for a Shopify store, why opens mislead, and which metrics to judge your email program by.
The 2026 Klaviyo benchmarks at a glance
| Metric | Campaigns | Flows |
|---|---|---|
| Open rate | ~31% average | Typically higher than campaigns |
| Click rate | ~1.69% | ~5.58% |
| Placed order rate | ~0.16% | ~2.11% |
| Share of email revenue | Flows drive ~41% of revenue from ~5.3% of sends | |
Source: Klaviyo's 2026 email benchmark data. Averages vary by industry, list size and region, so treat them as a reference point, not a grade.
Why are flow rates so much higher than campaign rates?
Flows are triggered by something the subscriber just did: signed up, browsed a product, left a cart, placed an order. The email arrives when intent is highest, and it is about the exact thing they looked at. Campaigns go to a broad list at a time you chose, about something you want to promote. The comparison is not quite fair, and it is not meant to be. It tells you where your email revenue should come from.
If your flows produce a small share of email revenue, the flows are either missing or weak. That is almost always the first thing to fix, before sending more campaigns. The core set for a Shopify store is a welcome series, abandoned cart, abandoned checkout, browse abandonment, post-purchase and winback.
Why is open rate unreliable?
Since Apple introduced Mail Privacy Protection in 2021, Apple Mail preloads email content, including the tracking pixel, whether or not the person reads it. Every subscriber using Apple Mail with the feature on can register as an "open". Depending on your audience, that can inflate open rates heavily.
What this means in practice:
Do not use opens alone to judge subject lines. A/B tests decided by open rate are skewed by machine opens. Use clicks or placed orders as the winning metric where possible.
Do not define engaged segments on opens alone. Include clicks, site activity and purchases. Klaviyo can report Apple privacy opens separately, which helps you see how much of your open rate is real.
Use opens as a deliverability smoke alarm. A sudden sharp drop in opens still signals something wrong, usually emails landing in spam.
Which metrics should a Shopify store judge email by?
| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Revenue per recipient (RPR) | The single best summary of whether an email or flow earns its place |
| Placed order rate | How well emails turn attention into purchases |
| Click rate | Whether content and offers are relevant |
| Flow share of email revenue | Whether your automation foundation is working |
| Unsubscribe and spam complaint rate | Whether you are sending too much or to the wrong people |
| Email share of total store revenue | How much email contributes to the business overall |
RPR is the metric to anchor on, because it combines everything. A campaign with a lower click rate but higher RPR made more money.
My open rate is low. What should I check?
Authentication. Since February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo require bulk senders to authenticate with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, offer one-click unsubscribe, and keep spam complaint rates low. In Klaviyo, set up a branded sending domain and confirm all three records are in place.
List hygiene. Sending to people who have not engaged in months tells inbox providers your mail is unwanted. Suppress long-inactive profiles or move them to a sunset flow.
Sending volume and frequency. Sudden spikes, such as mailing your whole list for the first time in months, hurt deliverability. Ramp up gradually.
Subject lines and sender name. A recognizable sender name and clear subject lines do more than clever ones.
My click rate is low. What should I check?
One clear goal per email. Emails with ten competing links often get fewer clicks than emails with one obvious call to action. Relevance. Segment by what people bought or browsed, rather than sending the same email to everyone. Mobile layout. Most email is read on phones. Test that buttons are large and images do not hide the message. Offer and timing. Even great creative will not rescue an irrelevant offer.
Clicks are fine but orders are low. What now?
Then the problem is usually after the click: the landing page, the product page or checkout. Check that the email sends people to the exact product or collection it promised, that the page loads fast on mobile, and that any discount code applies automatically. Our guides on what a good Shopify conversion rate is and ecommerce conversion benchmarks help you judge whether the store is the bottleneck.
How often should a Shopify store send campaigns?
There is no universal number. Many stores do well with one to three campaigns a week to engaged subscribers, with less frequent sends to the wider list. The right frequency is the highest one where revenue per recipient holds steady and unsubscribes and spam complaints stay low. Test it: increase frequency to your engaged segment for a month and watch RPR and complaints, not just total revenue.
Quick benchmark self-check
| If this is true | Look at |
|---|---|
| Flows are well under a third of email revenue | Missing or weak core flows |
| Campaign click rate well below ~1.7% | Segmentation, content relevance, mobile layout |
| Opens dropped suddenly | Deliverability, authentication, spam placement |
| Good clicks, few orders | Landing pages, offers, checkout |
| Unsubscribes rising | Frequency and relevance |
Want your email program benchmarked properly?
7SEA Marketing builds and manages Klaviyo programs for D2C Shopify brands, starting with an audit of flows, deliverability and revenue per recipient. See how we approach email marketing.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good open rate in Klaviyo?
Klaviyo's 2026 benchmark data puts the average campaign open rate around 31 percent. But open rates are inflated by Apple Mail Privacy Protection, so use them mainly to spot deliverability problems and judge performance on clicks, placed orders and revenue per recipient instead.
What is a good click rate for Klaviyo emails?
Klaviyo's 2026 data shows about 1.69 percent for campaigns and about 5.58 percent for flows. Flows perform better because they are triggered by recent behavior like browsing or abandoning a cart.
Why are Klaviyo flow results better than campaigns?
Flows are sent in response to a subscriber's action, such as signing up, browsing or leaving a cart, so they arrive at peak intent and are highly relevant. Klaviyo's data shows flows generate about 41 percent of email revenue from only about 5.3 percent of sends.
Why is my Klaviyo open rate so high?
Often because of Apple Mail Privacy Protection, which preloads emails and registers opens whether or not they are read. Klaviyo can show Apple privacy opens separately, which helps you see real engagement.
What metric should I use to judge email marketing on Shopify?
Revenue per recipient is the best single metric because it combines opens, clicks and orders into what each email actually earned. Pair it with placed order rate, flow share of revenue and complaint rates.
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