Email-attributed revenue: what Klaviyo counts, and what it means
Klaviyo credits a sale to an email when the buyer opened or clicked it shortly before ordering. Here's how that works, and how to read it honestly.
The Wizel Team
Email marketing strategist · · 2 min read
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Every Klaviyo dashboard shows a revenue figure for email. It's useful, but it isn't the same as “money email made”. It's revenue from orders placed by people who interacted with an email shortly before they bought. Knowing the difference keeps you from overclaiming in a good month and panicking in a slow one.
How Klaviyo decides which email gets the credit
Klaviyo uses last-touch attribution with a lookback window. When someone places an order, Klaviyo looks back for the most recent message they interacted with. If that interaction falls inside the window, the order is credited to that message.
5 days
Klaviyo's default lookback window for email opens and clicks on new accounts
You can change the length of the window and what starts it: an open or a click, an open or a click excluding Apple Privacy opens, or a click only. A shorter window, or clicks only, gives you a smaller, stricter number. A longer window that counts opens gives you a bigger, looser one.
Why it won't match Shopify
- Shopify counts every order once, from every channel. Klaviyo only counts the orders it can tie to a recent message.
- One order can follow both an email and an ad. Klaviyo credits the email, and the ad platform may claim the same order in its own report. Each tool counts from its own point of view.
- Opens recorded by Apple Mail Privacy Protection can start a window even when nobody read the email. Excluding Apple Privacy opens tightens this.
- Shopify's sales reports take refunds off. Before comparing totals, check how each tool treats refunds and cancellations.
How to read the number honestly
The useful figure isn't the raw total. It's email's share of your store's revenue, tracked over time with the same settings. If that share rises while your sending stays steady, your emails are pulling more weight. If it jumps right after you lengthen the window, the only thing that changed was the counting.
Choose your attribution settings once, write them down and compare like with like. Changing the window changes the number, not the results.
It also helps to split email revenue into campaigns and flows. Flows keep earning when you send fewer campaigns, so the split shows how much of your email revenue depends on you pressing send.
Ask your own numbers in Wizel
Connect Klaviyo and ask the Wizel chat:
- “What's my total revenue and attribution rate for the last 30 days?”
- “Compare revenue from campaigns vs flows.”
- “Break down revenue by channel: email, SMS and push.”
Frequently asked questions
What is Klaviyo's default attribution window?
For new accounts it's five days for email opens and five days for email clicks, using last-touch attribution. You can change both in your account's attribution settings.
Should I count opens, or only clicks?
Clicks only gives a stricter number that's easier to defend. Counting opens is looser, and Apple Mail Privacy Protection records opens nobody made. Whichever you choose, keep it the same so your month-to-month comparisons hold.
Is email-attributed revenue the same as the revenue email added?
No. Some of those buyers would have ordered anyway. Attributed revenue shows which orders followed an email. To measure what email added on top, you need a holdout test, where part of your list doesn't get the send.
