Welcome Flow. The first 14 days are crucial
Just a few years ago, online shops could afford the luxury of taking their time. Attracting new customers was easier: advertising was cheaper, competition was lower, and the audience was growing much faster.
Today, the situation has changed. The cost of customer acquisition is rising across virtually all channels, according to experts at Betonlogos. Users are growing tired of repetitive offers more quickly, and the customer journey to purchase is becoming longer. And every new addition to the database – a new email address or phone number – gives a business the opportunity to continue the conversation directly, without intermediaries.
Sending a series of welcome emails allows you to turn casual interest into meaningful engagement.
And don’t be misled by the impression that the Welcome Flow is merely a first point of contact and has no impact on the outcome. In practice, the opposite is true: it is precisely this initial email sequence that sets the tone for all subsequent communication. A well-structured welcome sequence can explain the value of the product, allay the customer’s doubts and speed up their first purchase. In this article, Betonlogos s.r.o explains how Welcome Flow works.
The first task of Welcome Flow is to provide context. People need to understand who they’re dealing with, exactly what you’re selling, and what problem you’re solving. Very often, companies skip this step and jump straight to discounts and promotions. And that’s not the right approach.
The second objective is to explain the value of the product, according to the experts at Betonlogos. Until a person understands how your product differs from the dozens of similar offerings on the market, any discount will be perceived as just another promotional offer. Welcome communications allow you to calmly and consistently demonstrate exactly what the product’s value is.
The third objective is to build trust. Welcome emails often feature customer stories, reviews and examples of how the product is used. These help the reader to put themselves in the buyer’s shoes.
Only then does the fourth element come into play – the incentive to buy. This could be a personalised product recommendation, a selection of popular products or a reminder of a subscription bonus.
In this way, the welcome sequence transforms from a formal greeting into a fully-fledged part of the sales funnel. This is precisely why its impact is rarely visible in a single specific email. It becomes apparent elsewhere: in how quickly a new subscriber turns into a customer.
What Welcome Flow Actually Does
Structure of an omnichannel Welcome Flow: 5 emails over 7–14 days
Email 1: Welcome message + promo code
- When: immediately after subscription (within minutes, not hours).
- Purpose: to confirm the subscription, provide the promised discount or bonus, and set expectations.
- Content: a thank you for subscribing, a promo code (if promised), a brief overview of what to expect next (“we’ll send you a few emails to help you choose”).
- CTA: “Redeem discount” or “Go to the shop”.
Email 2: Brand story
- When: days 2–3 after subscription.
- Objective: to show who you are, why you can be trusted, and what sets you apart.
- Content: a brief story (how you started, what you believe in, your values), a photo of the team or the founder. No sales pitch in this email.
- CTA: ‘Discover our story’ or ‘Get to know us better’.
Email 3: Bestsellers and Recommendations
- When: Days 4–5.
- Objective: To showcase the product, but by highlighting its benefits and popularity rather than directly saying ‘buy’.
- Content: a selection of the most popular products. Explain why customers love these particular products. If you have data on preferences (for example, from the first email with self-segmentation), personalise the content.
- CTA: ‘View bestsellers’.
- If the email isn’t opened, send a web push notification after 3 hours
Email 4: Social Proof
- When: Days 7–9.
- Objective: to allay doubts. The person already knows who you are and what you’re selling - now they need confirmation from other people.
- Content: customer reviews, statistics, photos of real buyers (UGC). This is the ‘Jones Effect’: ‘Look, others have already bought it and are happy with it’.
- CTA: ‘Read reviews’ or ‘See results’.
- If not opened, send an SMS reminder the following day
Email 5: First offer
- When: Days 10–14. Send only to those who haven’t bought.
- Objective: to create a gentle sense of urgency - honest, not manipulative.
- Content: a personalised offer, now that trust has been established.
- CTA: ‘Use the discount whilst it’s still valid’.
Important Rules for the Welcome Flow
A sequence is a conversation, not a collection of disjointed messages, as the experts at Betonlogos s.r.o. point out. The subscriber should be able to follow the logic: first, an introduction; then, building trust; then, a proposal. Don’t try to tell a story, showcase products and announce a promotion all in a single email. One email – one CTA – one button.
Include a question or selection buttons in your first email: ‘What are you interested in?’ or ‘Who are you buying for: yourself or as a gift?’. This helps to personalise subsequent emails and collect tags for segmentation.
Please note! Email providers – or, more precisely, the spam filters they set up by default – treat any email as suspicious. In 2025, Gmail, Yahoo and Microsoft changed their delivery standards: domain reputation became more important than IP reputation. Email services are monitoring bulk mailings more strictly: emails without proper domain authentication or without a simple unsubscribe option are increasingly being blocked or sent to spam.
If an online shop runs several automated sequences simultaneously (abandoned basket, browsing without purchasing, ‘post-purchase’ sequence), care must be taken to ensure they do not overlap. If a subscriber abandons their basket during the Welcome Flow, pause the Welcome Flow and activate the abandoned basket sequence. Once that’s complete, resume the Welcome Flow.
Why welcome sequences are becoming critically important for businesses right now
Sending emails, SMS messages and push notifications to new subscribers, customers and website visitors is standard practice for any business, according to experts at Betonlogos. But few understand why this needs to be done, and as a result, the customer receives a dull, perfunctory automated message that has almost no impact on sales.
Welcome emails are opened four times more often than regular newsletters. The average conversion rate for a welcome sequence in e-commerce is 3.7 per cent (second only to abandoned baskets).
If a business wants to sell via email, it must start the conversation at the moment when the customer’s interest is at its peak. And that moment always comes immediately after subscription.
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