Hi there,
Most brands set their first abandoned cart email to go out 1 hour after someone leaves.
Not because they tested it.
Not because the data told them to.
Because it was the default when they built the flow, and they never changed it.
That default is costing you money.
The Problem:
When someone abandons their cart, they're still warm.
They're thinking about it. Maybe they got distracted. Maybe they wanted to think it over. Maybe their kid walked in the room.
But they were close.
The longer you wait to follow up, the colder they get.
At 15 minutes, they probably still have the tab open.
At 1 hour, they've moved on, eaten dinner, and forgotten you exist.
The Test:
We ran this on a client account. Same email. Same offer. Same copy. Same everything.
We just changed the send time from 1 hour to 15 minutes.
Here's what happened:
1 hour delay: $2.63 revenue per recipient. 15 minute delay: $4.11 revenue per recipient. A 56% lift from one simple split test. Not too bad.
How to Implement:
Go to your abandoned cart flow in Klaviyo
Click on the first email
Set up a split test on the time delay
Test 1-4 hours (what most brands use) against 15 minutes
Save it
That's it.
2 minutes of work. Runs forever.
One thing to keep in mind:
Don't put a discount in email
At 15 minutes, urgency alone is enough to bring people back. Save the offer for email 2 or 3. Otherwise you're just training your customers to abandon on purpose and wait for the coupon.
What to track:
Revenue per recipient on email 1 before and after the change.
That's your number. Give it 30 days and at least 500 sends before drawing conclusions.
Small tweak. Big impact.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Luca
P.S. This same logic applies to your browse abandonment flow. The faster you follow up, the better. Most brands wait too long there too.
Free Resources
Resources to help you scale
Abandoned Cart Flow Guide
A complete breakdown of how to structure your abandoned cart flow for maximum revenue recovery.
Get the Guide100 Abandoned Cart Email Designs (Swipe File)
A curated collection of high-converting abandoned cart emails you can model for your brand.
Get the Swipe File100-Page Email Marketing Guide (2026)
The complete playbook for email marketing across flows, campaigns, and list growth.
Get the Guide
Bonus: Watch the YouTube video below on this exact topic 👇
