Case Studies / VILROS
Revenue from email increased from 1% to 26% within 30 days.
THE SITUATION
Vilros had a large list and a channel generating almost nothing — 1% of total revenue from email and SMS. Two flows existed: a welcome and an abandoned checkout. Over 50,000 subscribers had never placed an order. More than 200,000 subscribers hadn’t received an email in over three months. There was no campaign strategy and no deliverability infrastructure.
A list this size producing 1% isn’t underperformance. It’s an unbuilt channel sitting on top of a large, untapped customer base.
THE GAP
Two flows on a list this size means the brand was capturing a fraction of the intent it had already paid to acquire. 50,000+ subscribers had opted in and never bought — a quantifiable revenue opportunity with no system designed to convert it. Meanwhile, 200,000+ dormant subscribers were costing money on every Klaviyo bill while actively suppressing deliverability for everyone else. The brand was paying to hold an audience it couldn’t reach and couldn’t convert.
THE ENGINEERING
Two flows became eleven. Beyond the foundational stack — abandoned cart, browse abandonment, site abandonment — the build included the flows that engineer repeat purchase specifically: post-purchase cross-sell, customer winback, VIP welcome, first-order anniversary, sunset. These aren’t promotional flows; they’re the architecture of a retention system. Each one generated revenue from day one of going live, because each was built around a specific customer behaviour rather than a generic trigger.
This is the most RE-aligned component. Rather than broadcasting to the list, sends were structured around where each subscriber sat in the customer journey — lapsed customers, non-customers, potential purchasers, engaged subscribers, and highest-spending customers each treated as a distinct segment with a distinct approach. A preference centre was built so subscribers could self-identify what they wanted to receive — engagement, sales, or educational content. That preference data is zero-party data: the subscriber telling you, directly, how to treat them. Using it to shape the system is precisely how RE builds an increasingly precise picture of a customer base over time.
The 200,000+ dormant contacts were addressed with a re-engagement campaign paired with a sunset flow — over 100,000 subscribers recovered, the rest removed, saving more than $1,000 per month in Klaviyo cost. A dedicated sending domain was established with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. This is the precondition RE depends on: a retention system can only compound through a channel that reliably reaches the inbox, built on a list of people who actually want to be there.
THE RESULTS
Revenue within 30 days
Email and SMS revenue contribution grew from 1% to 26% of total revenue within 30 days
$101,000 in additional revenue in the first month
Flow stack expanded
Flow stack expanded from 2 to 11, each generating revenue from launch
100,000+ dormant subscribers re-engaged and retained; the rest cleanly removed
Over $1,000 per month saved in platform cost by rebuilding the list properly
Dedicated sending domain and full authentication established from a near-zero deliverability base
FULL VIDEO TESTIMONIAL
Lauren, Vilros — full video testimonial
THE LINE THAT MATTERS
A channel generating 1% of revenue became a system generating 26% — and $101,000 in a single month — by engineering the architecture from the ground up, not by sending more email.
