Browse abandonment is the largest untapped retention audience in most Klaviyo accounts. Your abandoned cart flow targets people who added to cart. Browse abandonment targets everyone who viewed a product page and left, which is typically 5 to 10 times larger than your cart abandonment audience. The conversion rate is lower because intent is lower, but the volume more than compensates. Here is how to set it up properly.
Browse Abandonment vs Cart Abandonment
Cart abandonment: customer added a product to cart but did not checkout. High intent. Recovery rate: 8 to 15 percent. Audience size: small relative to total visitors.
Browse abandonment: customer viewed a product page (or multiple) but did not add to cart. Lower intent. Recovery rate: 0.5 to 2 percent. Audience size: 5 to 10 times larger than cart abandonment. Net result: browse abandonment generates comparable or greater revenue to cart abandonment for many D2C brands because the lower per-recipient conversion is offset by the dramatically higher volume.
Browse Abandonment Trigger Setup in Klaviyo
Trigger: "Active on Site" metric with a property of "Viewed Product" in the last X minutes without a "Started Checkout" or "Placed Order" event in the same time window. Recommended settings: trigger after 30 to 60 minutes of inactivity after viewing a product. Klaviyo's on-site tracking pixel must be installed for this trigger to work. Verify in Klaviyo's metrics that "Viewed Product" events are firing correctly before building the flow.
Critical exclusions: suppress from browse abandonment if the person has added to cart (they are in your cart abandonment flow, not browse abandonment), placed an order in the last 7 days (they just bought, do not re-trigger purchase messaging), or received a browse abandonment email in the last 72 hours (prevent excessive contact from rapid repeat visits).
Browse Abandonment Email Content
Email 1 (30 to 60 minutes after browse): show the specific product they viewed. Product image, name, price, key benefit (one sentence), star rating, and a direct link back to the product page. No discount. This is a helpful reminder, not a promotional push. Subject line: "[Product name] is still waiting for you" or "Did you get a chance to check out [product name]?"
Email 2 (24 hours after email 1, if no purchase): social proof edition. Lead with 2 customer reviews specifically for the product they viewed. Address the most common concern for that product category. A light offer (free shipping if you offer it elsewhere, or a "complete your routine" bundle recommendation). Keep it short. Subscribers who did not act on email 1 need a different angle, not a louder version of the same message.