- Build a sample flow that triggers when a sample is ordered and leads straight to the full-size purchase.
- Send the first email a few days before the sample runs out, and plan on four emails.
- Keep sample buyers in your regular post-purchase thank-you flow. The sample series runs on top of it, focused on the sample.
- Sample buyers are customers. They've spent money with you, so keep them on the customer path of your flows.
This is for Shopify founders who sell or give away samples, trial sizes or minis, and watch a lot of those buyers never come back for the real thing.
Not many of the brands I work with sell samples online. When one does, I don't just let sample buyers drift through the regular flows and hope. I build a custom flow for them that leads directly to the larger version of the product. Here's how I'd set that up.
Why does a sample buyer need their own flow?
Because they haven't decided yet. Someone who buys a full size has said yes to the product. Someone who buys a sample has said maybe.
That changes what the emails need to do. The job isn't "come back for more." It's "use it properly, see if it works for you, then here's the full size."
Your post-purchase thank-you flow still matters for these people. It covers the first 30 days of a new customer's purchase: thank you, the brand, how to get the most out of what they bought. The sample series sits on top of it and stays focused on one thing, the sample and the full-size product it leads to. The two overlap on purpose. I walk through the full post-purchase setup in what a post purchase email flow should send.
How do you trigger a sample flow in Klaviyo?
Start with your Shopify order data. If the sample or mini is its own product with its own SKU, Klaviyo already sees it on every order.
Here's how I'd set it up:
- Trigger on the sample order. Use Placed Order as the trigger and add a trigger filter for the sample. Per Klaviyo, trigger filters look at the data in the event that starts the flow, so you can limit the flow to orders that include a certain product.
- One sample, one full-size product. Map each sample to the full-size product it leads to. A buyer of the face cream mini should hear about the face cream, not your whole catalog. If you sell several samples, duplicate the flow for each one.
- Exit on the full-size order. Add a profile filter for anyone who has ordered the full size. Per Klaviyo, profile filters are checked when someone enters the flow and again before each email, so a buyer who converts after email two won't get email three.
Klaviyo's cross-sell segment article uses the same logic you need here: Ordered Product at least once for one SKU, and zero times for another. Swap in the sample and the full size, and you have a segment of everyone still sitting on maybe. That's handy for a campaign to sample buyers who came in before the flow existed.
Free samples are the tricky part. If a free sample goes out as a line item on an order, you can track it like a paid one. If it gets tossed in the box with nothing on the order, Klaviyo has no idea it happened. Fix that first, or there's nobody to follow up with.
When should the first sample follow up email go out?
A few days before the sample runs out. Not the day it ships.
Work it out from the size. Say your trial size is 7 servings and people use one a day. Add shipping time, and the sample runs out around day 10 to 12 after the order. Send the first follow-up a few days before that, while they're still using it and still forming an opinion.
A one-time sample, like a single packet or a one-use mini, is faster. The first email can go a few days after delivery, once they've had a chance to try it.
Once you have real data, swap the guess for the actual gap between sample order and full-size order. That's the same idea I use for reorder timing in skincare email flows.
What should the four sample follow-up emails say?
Each email gets one job.
- How to use it. How much, when, what to pair it with, and what to expect. This is the email that makes the sample actually work, and a sample that works is the best sales pitch you have.
- What people notice. Answer the doubts a maybe-buyer has: how long until they see a difference, what it tastes like, whether it fits their routine. Keep claims honest.
- The full-size offer. Now ask. Show the full size, how long it lasts compared to the sample, and give them a reason to buy today.
- A reminder. A short follow-up to anyone who didn't buy, with the same offer and a clear end date.
Don't stop at education. The whole point of the flow is the full-size order, so by email three, somebody has to ask for the sale.
What offer turns a sample into a full-size order?
I don't lead with a discount. Offers should build over the sequence rather than show up in email one. By the time you ask, the sample should have done most of the selling.
One idea that fits samples well: credit the sample price toward the full size. Here's a hypothetical. Say your mini is $8. The sample buyer gets $8 off the full size. It feels fair, it isn't a sitewide discount, and it rewards the exact behavior you want.
In Shopify, a fixed amount off discount code can apply to specific products or collections. Per Shopify's help center, you can limit a code to one use per customer and make it available only to specific customer segments. Point it at the full-size product only.
Other options that work for consumables: a bundle that includes the full size, free shipping on the first full-size order, or a first-subscription-order offer. I go deeper on when discounts help and when they hurt in email discount strategy.
Are sample buyers customers or non-customers?
Customers. They've spent money with the brand, so keep them on the customer path.
That matters in any flow with a "placed order ever?" split. A sample buyer lands on the customer side, and that's right. Their next emails should talk to them like someone who knows your brand, not like a stranger who's never bought. More on how I split those paths in customer vs non-customer email flows.
One place I would keep the sample out: the reorder reminder. A reorder reminder for a sample tells someone to buy the sample again, which keeps them stuck at maybe. Add a trigger filter so orders that only contain a sample don't enter the reorder flow. Full-size orders still flow in normally. Once they buy the full size, they're in your normal reorder rhythm from there, which I cover in my repeat purchase email strategy.
What the research says about samples
There isn't much public data on online sample flows. The closest is an older in-store poll: a Brandweek survey of 1,857 shoppers from 2008 found that 35% of people who tried a free sample bought the product on the same shopping trip, and 58% said they would buy a product again after trying it. That's store sampling, not email, and it's old, so treat it as a sign that trying the product moves people, not as a benchmark for your flow.
FAQ
What should a sample follow up email say?
Start with how to use the sample and what to expect. Then answer the doubts a first-time user has, and only then make the full-size offer. Each email gets one job.
How many emails should a sample follow-up flow have?
Four is a good start: how to use it, what people notice, the full-size offer, then a reminder. Exit anyone who buys the full size at any point.
Should sample buyers still get the post-purchase flow?
Yes. Keep them in the regular post-purchase thank-you flow and run the sample series on top of it. The post-purchase flow covers the first 30 days of a new customer's purchase. The sample series focuses on the sample.
Should I sell samples or give them away?
Either can work. A paid sample gives you a clean price to credit toward the full size. A free sample reaches more people, but make sure it shows up on an order so you can follow up.
How do I measure if the sample follow-up is working?
Track how many sample buyers place a full-size order, per sample, and the clicks on the offer emails. Opens are inflated by Apple and Google, so judge the emails on clicks.
Founder of Bardown Digital, a Chicago-based Klaviyo email and retention agency for Shopify brands. He's worked with brands doing $500K to $100M a year, with $100M+ in email-attributed revenue across them.