high-level takeaways
Set the scene with trends based on all ecommerce data
Quarter-over-quarter engagement rates are relatively steady—especially in email.
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Most industries saw only marginal changes from one quarter to the next across average open rate, click rate, and placed order rate.
There's an exception to this: Some industries, like food and beverage, saw higher placed order rates and revenue per recipient in Q4 2023, but the largest increases are less than $0.04 in RPR, primarily in SMS marketing.
What does this mean for the wider ecommerce industry?
These days, shoppers expect sales all year, not just on Black Friday—year round, brands often compete for consumer attention with clever discounts and limited-time offers.
Brands that want to excel beyond the average will need to go beyond discounts to develop smarter digital relationships. Effectively using customer data for smarter segmentation and better personalisation is key to standing out. (Keep an eye out—more tactical advice on this later in the report.)
![](https://media-s3-us-east-1.ceros.com/james-hu/images/2024/03/08/65058c70594a2e66bc78f5539ebeb50d/iphone-charcoal.png?imageOpt=0&fit=bounds&width=74)
![](https://media-s3-us-east-1.ceros.com/james-hu/images/2024/03/08/956683dccc7bb5257d14bf59f246295c/frame-426955.png?imageOpt=0&fit=bounds&width=80)
Automation is the conversion-driven marketer’s secret weapon.
While one-time email and SMS campaigns often get the glory, automated flows (like abandoned cart or post purchase messages) generate up to 30x more revenue per recipient* than campaigns because they are so timely and targeted.
Of course, campaigns still drive plenty of purchases—and can be even more effective with smart segmentation—but marketers who want to drive revenue while they sleep will do well to focus on their flows.
*Based on the difference between average RPR for email campaigns ($0.11) and average RPR for abandoned cart flows ($3.65).
![](https://media-s3-us-east-1.ceros.com/james-hu/images/2024/03/03/7d9298f9f78696e740eef434a5298fa5/iphone-cotton.png?imageOpt=0&fit=bounds&width=90)
![](https://media-s3-us-east-1.ceros.com/james-hu/images/2024/03/03/4ed63850e2770e01855fe4f26e12b55a/sms-image.png?imageOpt=0&fit=bounds&width=182)
![](https://media-s3-us-east-1.ceros.com/james-hu/images/2024/03/03/da78c762837eb3b146c6cad814177fa6/sms-text.png?imageOpt=0&fit=bounds&width=54)
SMS has the potential to drive
even more revenue per recipient
than email.
Average revenue per recipient (RPR) for SMS campaigns was slightly higher than email based on all ecommerce industries—which represents exciting things for marketers currently leading the way with this relatively new channel.
Texting is already proving ROI for high-intent buyers, so as SMS marketing strategies further advance and interweave with email best practices, the potential for texting-driven revenue could be even higher than email.
Better than your average benchmark report
Want ongoing suggestions based on your performance?
Try Klaviyo’s personalized benchmarks. You’ll see how you compare to the 100 businesses most similar to yours and where you can take steps to improve.
Learn more
Prioritize what areas you want to excel
TOP 10%
67%
52%
AVERAGE
25%
13%
43%
46%
This guide includes both average performance and performance of the top 10% of businesses.
Based on your goals, you might want to hit the top 10% for your abandoned cart series, but feel okay sitting on par with the average for your welcome flow.
For example, if your broader business and marketing goals include driving loyalty, you’ll probably want to jump straight to see if your post-purchase flow is in the top 10%—and learn from Klaviyo partners across the world on how to improve if not.
Learn more about KPIs and terms in this report
16%
35%
21%
24%
Open rate: number of people who open email / total recipients
Click rate: number of people who click link in email or text / total recipients
Placed order rate: number of people who place an order / total recipients
Unsubscribe rate: number of people who unsubscribed / total recipients
Revenue per recipient (RPR): Total amount in USD from purchases / total recipients
Make a concrete list for next steps
For the areas you want to focus on improving, take the advice of Klaviyo customers and partners who rank impressively high on these benchmarks.
From your list of next steps, then choose 1-2 ideas to act on immediately.
Separate apples and oranges
You’ll notice this report breaks down KPIs by industry, type of message, and time of year.
That’s because benchmarks only work when you’re comparing apples to apples—a welcome email click rate can’t be compared to an abandoned cart email click rate, or you’ll get an inaccurate sense of your performance.
So make sure you’re looking at the most closely aligned metric and industry when comparing your own performance.
![](https://media-s3-us-east-1.ceros.com/james-hu/images/2024/03/07/2e31cd5a6aec19be49ad019678199cb0/img-02.png?imageOpt=1&fit=bounds&width=667)
![](https://media-s3-us-east-1.ceros.com/james-hu/images/2024/03/07/762343f3dcf6f27b72243172bbdea3f1/img-01.png?imageOpt=0&fit=bounds&width=191)
![](https://media-s3-us-east-1.ceros.com/james-hu/images/2024/03/07/e6ca685ee173bd23d76657eae0aba211/img-03.png?imageOpt=1&fit=bounds&width=667)
![](https://media-s3-us-east-1.ceros.com/james-hu/images/2024/03/07/024c4c4e24b6eaa0c74dd3d9ab121d8b/img-04.png?imageOpt=1&fit=bounds&width=667)
THE 2024 BENCHMARK REPORT
Email and SMS performance data to guide your ecommerce marketing
Learn from benchmarks of similar businesses
In this 2024 benchmark report, we share data from the Klaviyo platform to help ecommerce marketers from verticals like fashion, beauty, health, and more.
Whether you want to understand how your current metrics stack up next to industry averages or you’re looking for inspiration on what types of emails and texts yield the highest revenue per recipient, this report is for you.
In this report, you’ll learn what “good” and “great” look like based on real 2023 results from Klaviyo, specific to your industry within retail. Plus, hear from ecommerce experts to guide your own best practices and drive more revenue and smarter digital relationships.
Data is a marketer’s best friend—particularly performance data.
Tips to use this guide
As you browse these key performance indicators (KPIs), here’s how you can get the most from this report:
Learn more about KPIs and terms in this report
Separate apples and oranges
1
2
3
Prioritize what areas you want to excel
Make a concrete list for next steps
Table of contents
01
Key takeaways from 2023
Set the context with high-level takeaways based on all data.
02
Email and SMS campaigns
Dive into campaign performance data for your industry.
03
Automated email flows
See both high-level and flow-specific benchmarks.
04
Quarterly trends in ecommerce
Visualize how performance may—or may not—shift over the year.
Better than your average benchmark report
Want ongoing suggestions based on your performance?
Try Klaviyo’s personalized benchmarks. You’ll see how you compare to the 100 businesses most similar to yours and where you can take steps to improve.
Learn more