Klaviyo Profile Properties: The 22 That Actually Matter

Most Klaviyo accounts are a profile property graveyard

We audit between 15 and 25 Klaviyo accounts a year. The median brand has 64 profile properties synced. The median brand uses 9 of them. The other 55 are syntax errors, dead experiments, and copy-pasted implementations from an agency that left two years ago.

TL;DR ▸ Most Klaviyo accounts sync far more than they use, cluttering segmentation ▸ The 22 properties below cover 95 percent of real DTC use cases ▸ Naming conventions matter more than you think, inconsistent names kill flow logic ▸ Delete unused properties, they slow down segmentation queries and confuse team members

This post lists the 22 profile properties that drive actual segmentation, personalization, and flow branching decisions. Every property has a defined source, a defined use, and a defined owner. Start here and stop collecting anything else until you are using these well.

For the broader Klaviyo context, the Klaviyo retention playbook covers the full program. This post is the data layer.

The naming convention first

Before we list the properties, a note on naming. Klaviyo property names are case-sensitive and cannot be renamed without losing historical data. Get the convention right on day one.

Our convention:

1. Use title case: First Order Date, not first_order_date
2. Start with the noun, not the verb: Total Orders, not Ordered Total
3. Put the data type at the end if ambiguous: LTV USD, Birth Date
4. Namespace properties by source when conflicts exist: Shopify Tags, Zendesk CSAT

The Klaviyo segmentation for DTC post covers the downstream segment logic these names unlock.

The 22 properties

Identity and contact

1. First Name — synced from Shopify, used in every email greeting. Required.
2. Last Name — synced from Shopify, used in transactional templates. Required.
3. Email — the primary key, synced from Shopify. Required.
4. Phone Number — synced from Shopify with E.164 formatting, required for SMS programs.
5. Postal Code — synced from Shopify billing address, powers timezone inference and geo segments.

Commercial behavior

6. First Order Date — the foundation of every cohort analysis. Sync from Shopify via the Placed Order event.
7. Last Order Date — updated on every Placed Order event, drives winback timing and VIP definition.
8. Total Orders — count of completed orders, not attempted. Drives second purchase and repeat buyer segments.
9. Total Spent LTV — sum of completed order value, defines VIP tiers and lifetime value analysis.
10. Average Order Value — Total Spent divided by Total Orders. Useful for AOV-based segments.
11. Primary Product Category — the category of highest spend. Drives category-specific flows.
12. Last Product Category — the category of the most recent purchase. Drives cross-sell timing.

Subscription state

13. Subscription Status — active, paused, cancelled, never. The single most important property for subscription brands.
14. Next Charge Date — synced from Recharge or Skio, drives pre-charge communication.
15. Subscription Product — the SKU of the active subscription, powers product-specific subscription flows.
16. Subscription Cadence — 30, 45, 60, 90 day frequency. Powers cadence-change save offers.
17. Months as Subscriber — calculated from sign up date, drives loyalty messaging and tenure-based offers.

Engagement signals

18. Last Email Open Date — updated on every email open, drives re-engagement flow timing.
19. Last Email Click Date — updated on every link click, more engagement signal than opens alone.
20. Email Engagement Tier — calculated property, active if opened in the last 30 days, engaged if 31 to 90 days, dormant if 91+ days.

Acquisition metadata

21. First Acquisition Source — the channel of first conversion, synced from UTMs. Drives channel-specific LTV analysis.
22. First Discount Code Used — the code used on first order, tracks which promotional entry point the customer came through.

What these 22 enable

With these 22 properties in place, you can build every segment a mid-size DTC brand needs:

Each segment powers a flow or campaign. The Klaviyo flows that move revenue post covers the flow library these segments feed.

Sources and sync cadence

Not every property comes from the same place. Mapping the source matters for debugging.

• Shopify identity fields: First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Postal Code — sync real-time
• Shopify commercial events: Placed Order, Fulfilled Order — sync real-time
• Derived commercial properties: First Order Date, Total Spent LTV — calculated in Klaviyo from events
• Subscription properties: sync real-time from Recharge or Skio webhooks
• Engagement properties: Klaviyo native, updated on open and click events
• Acquisition metadata: captured on first Active on Site or Started Checkout event with UTM parameters

For brands running custom data warehouses, sync derived properties via the Klaviyo API on a daily batch. Real-time for transactional fields, daily for analytical fields, monthly for slow-moving segmentation fields.

What to delete

If your account has any of these properties and they are not used in a flow or segment you will use this quarter, delete them:

▸ Inferred Gender from third-party enrichment, rarely accurate for segmentation ▸ Age Range unless you have explicit zero-party collection ▸ Predicted Next Order Date unless you trust the calculation and have validated it ▸ Every NPS survey response older than 18 months ▸ Duplicate tags that mean the same thing with different capitalization ▸ Deprecated loyalty tier names from the tier structure you retired

Before deletion, export the property to CSV so you can recover historical data if needed. Klaviyo deletions are permanent.

Zero-party data overlay

The 22 base properties are behavioral and transactional. Zero-party data asks the customer directly and is the highest-quality signal for personalization.

The five zero-party questions that earn their keep:

1. Primary skin concern or use case: drives product recommendations
2. Household size: drives replenishment cadence defaults
3. Birth Date: drives birthday campaigns with clear revenue attribution
4. Preferred communication cadence: reduces unsubscribes
5. Gift recipient relationship: drives gift messaging and timing

Collect these through Klaviyo signup forms, post-purchase surveys, or the customer portal. Each one should map to a specific flow or segment. If you cannot name the use, do not ask the question.

The Klaviyo retention playbook covers zero-party implementation in detail.

Integration patterns

Our Klaviyo implementation service sets these properties up on every new engagement. The sequence:

1. Audit existing property list, identify keep, merge, and delete
2. Map sources for every kept property
3. Backfill historical values where possible
4. Build segmentation layer on top of the clean property set
5. Rewire flows to use standardized property names
6. Document the property dictionary for the client team

The documentation step is underrated. A Klaviyo account without a property dictionary drifts within six months as new team members invent their own properties. Maintain a living dictionary as a Notion page or a spreadsheet.

The 22 in a compact reference

For quick reference:

Print this. Tape it to your monitor. Every time someone suggests a new property, ask whether it fits in this list or replaces something in this list.

What to do this week

▸ Export your Klaviyo profile property list to CSV ▸ Highlight the 22 above, mark everything else for review ▸ Check every flow for references to non-standard property names ▸ Build the property dictionary document and share with your team ▸ Validate source and sync cadence for each kept property ▸ Schedule the deletion of unused properties with a 30 day cooldown

For broader retention strategy beyond the data layer, our retention marketing service ships the full program. And the Klaviyo vs Attentive comparison covers the platform decision if you are revisiting the stack.

Profile properties are the foundation of Klaviyo segmentation. Get the 22 right. Delete the rest. Document what remains. The rest of the retention stack sits on this layer.