AND vs. OR Guide

AND and OR connectors are essential for setting up segments and flows in Klaviyo. They determine who is grouped within your segments and when someone receives flow messages. In this guide, we will discuss what distinguishes the two conditions and when to use them to reach the right audience.

AND-connector

By using the AND connector between conditions, a segment or flow filter becomes more exclusive. Klaviyo checks each condition separated by AND individually; therefore, each condition must be 'true' for someone to be included. So if a customer meets one condition but not the other, they will be excluded from your flow or segment.

Flow example

In the example flow below, someone must be part of your VIP segment AND have opened an email in the past 30 days to be included. If someone is only part of your VIP segment—or has only opened an email in the past 30 days—they will not go through this flow when placing an order. Both conditions must be met to qualify.

Segment example

In the example segment below, the customer must have subscribed to your newsletter AND placed at least one order at any time. If someone has only performed one of these actions, they will not be included in your segment. Only those who have performed both actions will appear in this segment.

OR-connector

By using the OR connector between a series of segment or flow conditions, they become more inclusive. Due to the inclusivity of the OR connector, someone only needs to meet one of the linked conditions to be added. So if a customer meets one condition but not the other, they will still be included in your flow or segment.

Flow example

In the example flow below, we set up a Winback flow to exclude anyone who has placed an order since this flow started OR has been active on your website in the last 20 days. This way, no one who has recently been active on your website (or placed an order) will receive the Winback flow. Thanks to the inclusivity of the OR connector, they only need to do one or the other.

Segment example

In the example below, the customer must have subscribed to your newsletter OR have ordered a product at least once. If someone has not performed either of these actions, they will not be included in your segment. However, everyone who has performed at least one of the actions will be displayed in this segment.

AND vs OR Graphics

Complex Examples

Negative Conditions

When it comes to negative statements, remember that AND requires each condition to be true, while OR only requires one to be true.

For example, if you want to create a flow filter that excludes people living in the US and Canada, you might think to use “Properties about someone” and say that country is not equal to USA OR country is not equal to Canada. However, the OR connector means that someone could live in Canada (and not in the United States) and still pass through this flow, since only one of these conditions needs to be met. Use the AND joiner to exclude people from both countries.

Applying Both

In some cases, you need to apply both AND and OR conditions when generating a segment or flow. The rules surrounding the conditions do not change, so when two conditions are joined by AND, both must be true for subscribers to be included; whereas when conditions are separated by OR, both can be true for subscribers to be included.

In a Nearly There segment, for example, your goal is to find subscribers who are engaged but have not yet purchased from your store. This indicates who might need an extra incentive or reminder of why they should buy. Engagement is defined using both AND and OR conditions, as shown below.

In this case, the OR connector works as if it is in parentheses. It is nestled between two AND connectors, but since the opened and clicked email conditions are separated by OR, they do not both need to be true for someone to appear in the segment.