Hey, it's Geb from Email Rev Lab!
Signed up for Thorne's email list at 12:38 AM.
I scrolled their homepage. Found no pop-up. Went back to browsing. Then I noticed a thin black tab stuck to the left edge of the screen that said: "Sign up for Email." I almost missed it. I clicked it. A pop-up showed up asking for my email. I entered it. A second pop-up appeared asking for my phone number. The field was broken. I couldn't type anything into it.
My welcome email landed at 12:42 AM. In the Promotions tab.
Four minutes. That's a long time for someone who is still warm.
The Brand:
Thorne has been testing and formulating supplements since 1984. Al Czap, a former supplement salesman, founded the company after seeing the poor state of industry manufacturing standards. Too many additives. Hidden ingredients. Messy manufacturing. So he made his own.
For decades, Thorne was the brand doctors recommended, not the one shoppers stumbled on. They carry out a minimum of four rounds of testing on every product they manufacture. They hold NSF and TGA certifications. They're the only supplement company Mayo Clinic works with to conduct clinical trials, a partnership that started in 2014.
But none of that rigor shows up in the welcome flow. A broken phone field and a four-minute delay don't match a brand that's been testing since Reagan was in office.
The Pop-up Test:
Thorne's pop-up is hidden behind a side tab. You have to notice it and click it yourself. That's a passive entry point on a brand with high traffic and strong intent. Most visitors won't find it.
The copy says "Get exclusive perks!" and promises early access to new products. That's fine. But there's no discount offer. No urgency. No reason to act right now instead of later.
Later usually means never.
The Tech Test:
After entering my email, I got a second screen asking to opt into SMS. The mobile number field was broken. I couldn't enter a number even if I wanted to. That's a broken capture point sitting between signup and confirmation.
Then the welcome email took four minutes to arrive. Timing matters more than most brands think. Invesp data shows real-time welcome email conversion sits at 4.01%, compared to 0.94% for delayed sends. That's a 327% gap, just from timing.
Four minutes isn't catastrophic. But it's not instant either.
The Inbox Test:
The email landed in Promotions, not Primary. Subject line: "Discover our most trusted supplements." That's a product-first line. It doesn't acknowledge the signup. It doesn't deliver on the "exclusive perks" the pop-up promised. It just opens with a sales pitch.
When someone signs up expecting perks and gets a catalog instead, that's a broken promise. Small one. But it chips away at trust on day one.
The Email Creative Test:
The email itself is well-designed. Clean layout. Three product categories: Sports Performance, Sleep Health, Gut Health. Each with product images and prices. There's a closing "Invest in you" banner with a CTA.
The problem is that this reads like a broadcast email, not a welcome email. There's no personal acknowledgment. No reference to the signup. No exclusive offer. No reason this email had to arrive today rather than any other day.
Thorne has a strong editorial voice across their site. This email doesn't use it.
The Fix (Klaviyo):
The primary bottleneck is the four-minute delay paired with a zero-incentive welcome. Here's how to fix it:
In Klaviyo, open your Welcome Series flow. Set the trigger delay on the first email to "Send immediately" (0 minutes). This alone can recover a significant share of early drop-off.
Add a dynamic discount block to the first email. Even 10% off is enough to close the loop the pop-up opened. Use Klaviyo's coupon code block so each subscriber gets a unique code.
Fix the SMS opt-in field before reactivating that second pop-up screen. A broken field creates friction and erodes trust at the exact moment someone is most ready to engage.
The Impact Statement:
Based on Invesp benchmarks, the gap between real-time and delayed welcome email conversion is 327%. For a brand with Thorne's traffic, that delay has a measurable cost every single day.
The Curiosity Hook:
Here's what I'm curious about: Thorne's broken SMS field means they're not capturing phone data even from subscribers who want to opt in. How much SMS revenue are they leaving on the table every month?
The Pitch:
Thorne built their reputation on scientific precision. Four rounds of testing per product. Mayo Clinic clinical trials. NSF and TGA certifications. That same standard applied to their email infrastructure would make this one of the best welcome flows in the supplement space. They just need the Klaviyo side to match the product side.
I send these audits daily because bottlenecks like this can be fixed in one day with the right information.
Want me to audit your Klaviyo account the same way?
Reply to this email, and I'll send you a free breakdown of where your welcome series is leaking revenue.
Geb Vence
P.S. I run Email Rev Lab. We've generated $334k+ for brands by building systems that feel like conversations, not ads. I only work with 3 brands per month. Schedule your call here.