- Skincare reorder timing depends on product size and how much people use each day, so each product needs its own reorder window.
- A skincare post-purchase flow should teach the routine: how much to use, when, and what pairs with it.
- Skincare buyers need education and a reason to buy in the same email, because content alone rarely closes the sale.
- At one skincare brand, the reorder reminder flow grew 496% in one month as a wave of new customers hit their reorder window.
What makes a skincare buyer different?
Skincare buyers are careful. They're putting something on their face, so they want to know what's in it, how to use it and whether it'll work for their skin. That makes the first purchase slower than a snack or a drink.
Once they've bought, the habit is the routine. If they use it the right way and like how it feels, they'll come back. If they use too little, too much or at the wrong time, they'll decide it didn't work.
So skincare email has two jobs most categories don't: answer the questions before the first order, and teach the routine after it.
Which skincare email flows should you build first?
These are the flows that brand rebuilt, with what each one needs to do for a skincare buyer. In my Flow System, each one has a separate path for customers and for people who haven't bought yet.
- Welcome. Spend most of your effort on email #1. Tell them what you make, who it's for and how to pick their first product, with one clear reason to buy now.
- Browse abandonment. They looked at a product and left. Answer the question that probably stopped them: what's in it, how to use it, what size to get.
- Window shopper. For people who keep looking around without buying. Help them narrow it down to one product or a starter set.
- Post-purchase. Teach the routine. More on this below.
- Reorder reminder. Timed to when the product runs out, product by product.
- Winback. Keep it long. People drift to other brands slowly, and it takes more than one email to bring them back.
For the full list and how they fit together, see my guide to the essential Klaviyo flows.
How should you time skincare reorder emails?
Do the math for each product. Skincare sizes and usage vary a lot more than a 30-day supplement bottle.
Say you sell a 50 ml face cream and most people use about half a milliliter a day. That jar lasts around 100 days. A body balm in the same size, used in bigger amounts, might be gone in a month. One reorder delay for the whole store means the face cream buyer gets nagged too early and the body balm buyer hears from you too late.
Here's how I'd set it:
- Start from ml in the product divided by ml per day, then send the first reminder a couple of weeks before it runs out.
- Once you have orders, use the median days between first and second order for each product instead.
- Split by size if you sell a travel size and a full size.
At that skincare brand, the reorder reminder flow grew 496% in one month as a big group of new customers hit their reorder window, and the flow was there to catch them. That's what a well-timed reorder flow does. I go through the build in my Klaviyo replenishment flow guide.
How do you teach the routine in a post-purchase flow?
This is where skincare brands win or lose the second order. A customer who uses it right is more likely to like it, and a customer who likes it reorders.
Here's a post-purchase shape I'd start with, split by what they bought:
- How to use it. Arrives with or right after delivery. How much, when, and in what order with the rest of their routine.
- What to expect. A plain check-in a week or two later. What it should feel like, and how to reach you with questions. Don't promise results you can't back up.
- What pairs with it. The next step in the routine. If they bought a cleanser, show them what goes after it.
- Ask for a review. Once they've had time to actually use it.
Then hand them off to the reorder reminder. For the full post-purchase setup, read my guide to the post purchase email flow.
Why do skincare buyers need education plus a reason to buy?
Because education alone doesn't sell. Content warms people up, but somebody has to ask for the sale.
I've seen this go wrong. At a wellness brand, a month of all-educational campaigns with no offer took campaign revenue from $3,146 to $110, down 96.5%. Skincare is especially tempting here, because there's so much to teach about ingredients and routines.
So pair every educational email with a reason to buy:
- A routine set that bundles the products you just taught them about.
- A new size, a restock or a new product.
- A gift with purchase or free shipping threshold.
- Early access for customers.
Teach one thing, then give one button.
What should a skincare brand measure?
Judge emails by clicks and revenue. Opens are inflated by Apple Mail.
- Flow share of email revenue. At that skincare brand it went from 60% to 83%. A rising share means the automated system is doing more of the work.
- Reorder flow revenue by month, so you can see waves of customers hitting their reorder window.
- Days to second order for each product.
- Second-order rate for customers who went through the full post-purchase flow.
That brand's store revenue also went from six figures to nearly seven. For the bigger picture on second and third orders, see my repeat purchase email strategy.
Where these numbers come from
The revenue, flow share and reorder numbers are from one skincare brand. The education example is from one wellness brand. Single-brand results depend on the products, the list and the starting point, so treat them as examples, not benchmarks.
FAQ
What's the most important skincare email flow?
If your products run out, the reorder reminder, timed product by product. Right behind it is a post-purchase flow that teaches the routine, since a customer who uses the product correctly is more likely to come back.
When should a skincare brand send reorder reminders?
A couple of weeks before the product runs out, based on its size and daily use. Once you have order data, switch to the median days between first and second order for each product.
Should skincare emails be educational or promotional?
Both, in the same email. Teach one thing and give one reason to buy. All-education sends can look healthy on clicks and still not sell.
How many emails should a skincare post-purchase flow have?
I'd start with about four: how to use it, what to expect, what pairs with it and a review ask. Split it by product so each customer gets instructions for what they actually bought.
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.