Popflex grows BFCM sale revenue 91% YoY with help from Klaviyo hybrid flows

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Popflex began in a Pilates studio. Back in college, the brand’s CEO and head designer Cassey Ho worked as a fitness instructor, and she couldn’t find a bag that would fit her mat, water bottle, and towel—so she created one. It became Popflex’s first product.

Since then, Popflex has grown into a lifestyle brand with noteworthy fans like Taylor Swift, who wore Popflex’s patented Pirouette skort in a recent YouTube short. (The color she wore sold out in 15 minutes!) To power smarter digital relationships with their 1.5M+ email and SMS subscribers—especially during high-volume shopping seasons—Popflex relies on Klaviyo.

Learn how Klaviyo helped Popflex set BFCM revenue records last year

Challenge

For BFCM 2023, Popflex didn’t want to reinvent the wheel.

Their 2022 strategy worked well: They started out with a giveaway to drive email sign-ups. Shortly after, they invited subscribers to sign up for a password-protected early-access sale. After that, the BFCM discounts went public.

But in 2023, “we wanted to take it to a different level,” says Jen-Ai Notman, VP of marketing at Popflex.

Specifically, they wanted to create an intimate VIP experience for every customer, especially those who signed up for the early-access sale. That meant:

• More SMS: Popflex started with Klaviyo SMS in 2022, and by 2023, they realized their customers had a major appetite for SMS messages—sales and sign-ups were both on the rise. “We saw this huge opportunity to increase our investment,” says Notman. “SMS feels so much more intimate than getting an email. It’s like texting with a friend.”
• More targeted messaging: In 2023, Popflex launched a slew of new products—and to stand out in a crowded holiday inbox, they needed to target their holiday messaging more to the customer’s interests and the moment in the sale.

Solution

Using Klaviyo for email and SMS made both goals simpler for Popflex. They leaned on Klaviyo’s segmentation, automations, and integrations to improve their customer experience.

Incorporating more SMS into their automations helped boost holiday revenue attributed to flows and SMS. In 2023, Popflex’s revenue from automations during their 8-day BFCM sale jumped 3.3x YoY, and their revenue from SMS during their sale grew 172% YoY.

The first day of our Black Friday sale last year was our best day in the history of the company. And the first hour that we opened was the best hour we ever had.

The Popflex team also leaned on a mix of browsing data, purchasing data, and wishlist data from Klaviyo’s Swym integration to send more targeted, timely messages and stand out in the inbox.

It all contributed to a record-setting 2023 holiday season, Notman reports.

“The first day of our Black Friday sale last year was our best day in the history of the company,” she says. “And the first hour that we opened was the best hour we ever had.”

Strategy

Popflex leaned on Klaviyo’s integrations and multi-channel automations to modernize their holiday strategy. They made 3 core updates for BFCM 2023:

• Giveaway-powered targeting: Popflex ran a shopping spree giveaway in October, and required entrants to create holiday wishlists on their site. Nearly 100K customers entered, which gave them plenty of browsing and wishlist data from Swym to use for targeted holiday messaging.
• Hybrid email-and-SMS flows: Popflex added SMS into 3 abandonment flows—for browse, cart, and checkout abandonment—so SMS subscribers got mobile-native reminders to complete their purchase before the sale’s end.
• FOMO messaging about key BFCM moments: Popflex sent customers their passwords to the early-access portion of the BFCM sale the day before it started, plus the day of—making the kickoff unmissable. In 2023, loyalty and retention marketing manager Jodi Miller also sent resonant “final hours” campaigns as the sale wound down.

Heading into BFCM 2024, Popflex plans to refine their current strategy further. They’re testing Klaviyo AI to inject more personalized product recommendations into their holiday flows and campaigns, and ramping up segmentation based on their new style quiz.

“One great thing about Klaviyo is you always know you can rely on it,” says Miller. “Having email and SMS together in one platform helps, because you can have the flows integrated. We’re investing so much in Black Friday, and it’s nice feeling confident that everything is going to work perfectly.”

One great thing about Klaviyo is you always know you can rely on it. We’re investing so much in Black Friday, and it’s nice feeling confident that everything is going to work perfectly.