The flow library we build
Four journeys cover most of the automated revenue in DTC: a welcome series that converts while consent is fresh, an abandoned-cart flow paced in two messages, a browse-abandonment touch for high-intent viewers, and a win-back sequence that suppresses before it annoys. Replenishment flows join the set for consumable products. Each flow ships with its own suppression logic, because automated messages to the wrong segment are the fastest route out of the 0.33% to 0.88% opt-out band.
What do SMS flows earn per message?
Postscript publishes percentile bands for the two flows that matter most. We use them as floor and target when we tune, re-checked July 2026:
| Flow | CTR band | Conversion band | Earnings / message |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abandoned cart | 9.53–17.28% | 3.97–7.84% | $3.52–$10.95 |
| Welcome series | 4.65–10.85% | 0.67–2.67% | $0.58–$3.05 |
Bands are Postscript's 25th to 75th percentiles. Automations also deliver slightly lower than campaigns (92.8% vs 96.6% in Omnisend's data) because they fire around the clock and hit more filtered numbers, which is why delivery monitoring is part of the retainer, not an add-on.
A rebuild, in practice
The clearest example in our own work is the apparel cart-recovery story: an abandoned-cart flow rebuilt around consent timing and two-message pacing moved conversion from 3.1% to 6.9% in 8 weeks, with earnings per message rising from $3.90 to $9.70. Jonah Whitfield led that rebuild; his rule is that a flow message must name the cart contents and the next step in under 240 characters, or it gets cut. Flows only compound when the list keeps growing, so pair this service with SMS List Growth if your opt-in rate has flattened.
Automation FAQ
Abandoned cart first, welcome second, then browse and win-back. Cart flows sit in Postscript's strongest band: 3.97% to 7.84% conversion and $3.52 to $10.95 earned per message between the 25th and 75th percentiles. Welcome flows convert less per message but fire at the moment consent is freshest, so together the two cover most of the automated revenue available.
Klaviyo's 2026 dataset across 183,000+ customers puts flows at 7.6% of sends and 45.2% of SMS revenue, with flow revenue-per-recipient running about 8 times campaign RPR. If your automations earn less than a third of total SMS revenue, the flow library is usually thin or the triggers fire too late. That gap is exactly what we rebuild.
Two, sometimes three. The first goes out once the cart has clearly stalled, the second follows within a day, and a third only fires for high-value carts. Every added message trades conversion against opt-outs, and the 0.33% to 0.88% per-send band is the guardrail. In our apparel engagement, two paced messages beat the old four-message sequence on both counts.