Klaviyo review: Is it the best marketing automation solution for your ecommerce business?

Klaviyo powers next-level email and SMS marketing for ecommerce. But is it actually the best automation tool out there? This in-depth review is all you need to decide if this is the right tool for your business.

Klaviyo is one of the most popular SMS and email marketing automation tools for ecommerce, especially for Shopify stores. 

It helps brands automate campaigns, personalize customer journeys, and track performance insights.

This review looks at Klaviyo’s features, pricing, and usability, along with what real users are saying and how it compares to other marketing tools. 

By the end, you’ll have a clear sense of whether Klaviyo suits your business needs.

What is Klaviyo?

Klaviyo is a marketing automation software that helps users automate email and SMS marketing campaigns. 

The tool provides much-needed efficiency since it streamlines repetitive marketing tasks like email scheduling and multichannel segmentation.

It also personalizes client experience, allowing businesses to obtain, convert, and retain customers, which boosts productivity in the long run.

Klaviyo was founded in 2012 to help ecommerce store owners improve their email marketing campaigns. Andrew Bialecki and Ed Hallen, the co-founders, had noticed a disconnect between how much customer data businesses collected and how much they knew about their clientele. 

They then developed a system that integrated data, analytics, and marketing, creating Klaviyo.

Today, more than 175,000 popular brands worldwide use the platform.

How does Klaviyo help ecommerce businesses?

Klaviyo helps businesses automate their email and SMS marketing campaigns.

Before we look at how it helps you automate these processes in detail, let’s ensure you understand email and SMS marketing. 

What is email marketing?

Email marketing involves using emails to market and promote your products or services. It can play a massive role in helping you generate leads for your business, enhancing brand awareness, and improving relationships with your customers.

Here are some types of emails you can send to your clients; they all play different roles during marketing campaigns:

• Welcome emails
• Newsletter emails
• Lead nurturing emails
• Promotional emails
• Survey emails
• Seasonal marketing emails

The main reason why most online store owners subscribe to email automation platforms like Klaviyo is to nurture relationships with their customers. Businesses also use such tools to drive traffic to their social media and blog pages and to run A/B tests. 

What is SMS marketing?

SMS marketing just means sending promotional or transactional text messages directly to your customers’ phones. 

It’s one of the fastest ways to reach people, as unlike emails, texts are almost always read.

SMS marketing is simple, scalable, and cost-effective. You don’t need fancy visuals or complicated templates, just short, clear messages that drive action.

For ecommerce brands, SMS marketing can boost engagement, recover abandoned carts, and keep customers in the loop about new drops or sales.

That said, compliance matters.

Always follow regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the CAN-SPAM Act to avoid penalties and protect your brand’s reputation.

Let’s see how Klaviyo helps businesses put email and SMS marketing into action.

A look at Klaviyo's marketing automation tools

Contact segmentation

Klaviyo makes segmentation easy. You can group customers by behavior, purchase history, location, or engagement – like whether they opened an email or abandoned their cart. 

Once your store’s integrated, you’ll see real-time data on who bought, canceled, or checked out successfully. 

Say you sell ebooks. You could create segments for people who:

• Bought a mystery novel in the past month
• Browsed your site but didn’t buy
• Haven’t opened an email in 30 days

Klaviyo pulls this data automatically from your ecommerce store — things like purchase history, browsing behavior, and engagement. You can then use those filters to build segments and send tailored messages to each group.

Automated email and SMS flows

Flows (also called automations or drip campaigns) are automated actions that arise once a customer performs a specific action – like a new signup, a cart abandonment, or a completed purchase. Common flows include:

• Welcome series: introduce your brand to new subscribers.
• Abandoned cart: remind shoppers what they left behind.
• Win-back: re-engage inactive customers.
• Post-purchase: send thank-yous or upsells.

You can start from ready-made templates or build your own. One downside: cloned flows don’t copy over analytics.

Campaign tracking and reporting 

Like most high-performance marketing automation platforms, Klaviyo gives you detailed performance data, from open and click-through rates to conversions and ROI.

Reports are customizable and visually clear, showing which messages drive the most revenue and engagement.

One cool feature is the ability to set the parameters you want these metrics to measure: like generating more leads or improving sales volumes.

A/B testing for improved insights

A/B testing (or split testing) in Klaviyo lets you compare two or more versions of an email or SMS to see which one performs better.

You can test things like subject lines, message copy, visuals, or send times.

Here’s how it works: Klaviyo automatically splits your audience into groups and sends each one a different version of the message.

After collecting analytics (like open rates, clicks, or conversions), Klaviyo shows which version drives better results.

You can then send the winning variation to the rest of your list or apply the insights to future campaigns.

The Klaviyo email builder

Klaviyo’s email builder gives you three ways to create campaigns:

• A drag-and-drop editor
• A plain-text option
• A custom HTML builder for advanced users

The drag-and-drop editor is simple to use: you can easily add images, buttons, text blocks, and product recommendations without touching code.

There’s also a library of templates organized by goal (like welcome emails, promotions, or newsletters).

Preview each design on desktop or mobile and customize colors, fonts, and layouts to match your brand. Klaviyo supports custom-coded templates, too.

A single portfolio for multiple accounts

If you run multiple brands or operate in different regions, Klaviyo’s Portfolio feature simplifies management.

It lets you connect all your accounts under one umbrella so that you can access shared assets, performance insights, and billing from a single dashboard.

Switch between brands without logging in and out, and even give team members different permission levels across accounts.

Klaviyo's peer group benchmarking

Klaviyo's benchmarks tell you how your company stacks up against similar businesses and how you can align it with best practices and industry trends.

You can then use these insights to understand your business's strengths and opportunities and know where to allocate resources next.

Businesses that wish to start email or SMS benchmarking must have sent at least 25 emails in the previous six months.

They are then required to update their primary industry of operation to receive industry-level benchmarks.

Multi-language support

Klaviyo provides support in seven languages: English, French, Brazilian-Portuguese, German, Korean, Spanish, and Italian.

This feature allows businesses to scale internationally and enables marketers from different regions to automate their marketing activities through Klaviyo.

Cross-platform integration

Klaviyo users can make a wide range of integrations to enhance their workflows.

You can integrate most of your ecommerce platforms, including Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, and OpenCart. 

The types of events you can pull from your ecommerce shop depend on the particular platform you're using. Syncing a customer’s purchase history or other behavioral data might work for one ecommerce platform and fail in another. 

Klaviyo also integrates with Facebook Ads and Google Analytics, giving you a seamless marketing experience. If you want more, you can hire a developer to build custom integrations that support your workflow.

Klaviyo AI

Klaviyo also uses artificial intelligence (AI) to provide AI-driven insights and analytics. Klaviyo AI has four main roles:

• Review sentiment analysis
• Predictive analysis
• Creating personalized product feeds
• Providing industry-specific benchmarks

The company deploys artificial intelligence across most features. Examples include Flows AI, Email AI, SMS AI, and Reviews AI.

You can also use AI when personalizing campaigns, A/B testing your messages, scheduling your messages, and optimizing form display.

How much does Klaviyo cost?

Klaviyo's pricing depends on the number of active profiles you want to be included — the more contacts there are, the more charges there will be.

It comes with three pricing tiers: a free plan, an email plan, and an email and SMS plan.

• Klaviyo Free: Up to 1000 active profiles, 500 monthly emails, 150 free monthly SMS/MMS credits, and email support for the first 60 days.
• Klaviyo Email Plan starting at $30/month: 501 - 1,000 active profiles, minimum of 10,000 monthly emails, mobile push notifications, 150 free monthly SMS/MMS credits, email and chat support.
• Klaviyo Email and SMS Plan starting at $45/month: 501 - 1,000 active profiles, minimum of 10,000 monthly emails, mobile push notifications, email and chat support, 1250 monthly SMS/MMS credits.

Reviews and ratings: What are users saying about Klaviyo?

Klaviyo has a 4.6/5 rating on G2 from 1046 reviews, 9/10 on TrustRadius from 235 ratings, and 4.5/5 on GetApp based on 449 reviews.

Overall, the platform maintains relatively high ratings on most software review sites.

Positive reviews:

High ratings mention Klaviyo's ease of use, helpful user interface, and ability to help them with marketing automation.

"Klaviyo allows us to easily create SMS and email campaigns. We previously used another company, which cost us nearly triple."

- Taylor Hall, Shopify business owner

“Klaviyo is one of the best SMS and email marketing tools available.”

- Javier M, marketing and advertising professional

Deshea shares similar sentiments. She’s impressed by Klaviyo’s standout customization features. However, segmentation can prove challenging for users with a limited understanding of digital marketing flows. 

Negative reviews:

Despite Klaviyo having a majority of positive reviews, there are a few dissatisfied customers.

These reviews are about Klaviyo’s poor customer support and price increments now and then.

"When I ask them to remove a feature they added that we never asked for, I am asked the same questions 3 times in a row."

– Vladimir H, farming industry professional

Another customer also says he's unhappy with the platform’s email deliverability:

"It started off great, however over time we noticed severe issues with email deliverability."

– Trevor A, marketing and advertising professional

He further complains about constant payment hikes and the inability of the support team to offer human responses.

Based on these actual user reviews, Klaviyo’s positives outweigh its negatives. In the next section, we’ll look at Klaviyo’s Pros and Cons in detail. 

What are the benefits of using Klaviyo for email and SMS marketing automation?

✔ Signing up is pretty straightforward

Klaviyo’s user-friendly interface makes it easy to get started. All you have to do is provide details such as your phone number and email address, and you're in. All the features are well arranged, making switching from one tool to another easy. 

Klaviyo’s onboarding process is simple once you connect it to your ecommerce site. The system will ask about your marketing objectives and prompt you to state how many contacts you want to work with.

After you're done with this process, you can start automating your SMS or email marketing campaigns. 

Again, we retaliate the importance of getting acquainted with all the tools before diving in. A solid background understanding of Klaviyo’s features can significantly enhance your efficiency. One of the best ways to learn is by watching training videos and checking out Klaviyo Academy.

✔ Klaviyo offers multichannel customer support

Klaviyo subscribers have access to multiple customer support channels. These include live chat support, email support, and the help center. 

Businesses on the free plan can only receive help through email support for the first 60 days, but this is serviceable. You will typically get responses through email within one or two days. 

Because Klaviyo doesn't offer phone technical support, your queries are best handled through live chat, which provides the fastest responses. However, the live chat is not available 24/7.

And if you still need more help, you can get answers through the Klaviyo Academy, interactive live training, and Community forums.

✔ Klaviyo's ecommerce features are impressive

Another factor that sets Klaviyo apart is its robust automation features. It has various applications, from campaign tracking and reporting to messaging flows and contact segmentation.

Klaviyo’s ability to provide powerful and actionable data about your email and SMS campaigns is unrivaled. There are many KPIs to work with, giving you a comprehensive understanding of your business’s performance over time. 

What are Klaviyo’s limitations?

✘ There are no dedicated account reps

Klaviyo might offer multichannel support for its users, but it can get disappointing the more you use the platform.

As a first-time user, you receive over-the-top help from the support team. Onboarding is easy, but no dedicated account representatives can help you with issues after you become a seasoned user.

There is also no technical support over email, which prompts most business owners to rely on the live chat for assistance.

✘ Klaviyo has a steep learning curve

Klaviyo fails to provide dedicated technical support, meaning that most users end up doing almost everything by themselves. A quick solution to this problem is hiring an experienced developer to offer post-onboarding help. However, this comes with additional operating costs.

Which Klaviyo alternatives are available?

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is another popular email marketing automation tool with features similar to Klaviyo’s. Users can create email campaigns, drive new sales, and automate client communication. 

However, Klaviyo's tools are more comprehensive in terms of customization, analytics, reporting, automation, and segmentation. 

Another key difference between the two platforms pertains to pricing. Like Klaviyo, a free plan is available for Mailchimp users. However, the latter’s paid plans are more affordable for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The free plan allows you to send up to 1000 emails to 500 contacts monthly and free email support for 30 days. However, you cannot automate customer journeys, undertake A/B tests, or schedule emails. Pricing ranges from $10 p/m for the Standard plan to $175 p/m for the Premium plan.

Customers can also get help through email and live chat support. However, unlike Klaviyo, Mailchimp has an advanced social media support system. 

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign has been in the market since 2003. It is a tool that helps businesses automate their sales, marketing, and transactional messaging. 

It has better automation, integration, segmentation, and reporting tools than Klaviyo. ActiveCampaign also has a simple contact segmentation feature, provides detailed reports, and allows you to migrate from another provider for free. 

However, you might find the learning curve is a bit steep once you get started.

Another downside is that ActiveCampaign has no free plan. Users must subscribe to one of the following tiers: 

• Starter plan - $15/mo
• Plus plan: $49/mo
• Pro plan: $79/mo
• Enterprise plan: $145/mo

ActiveCampaign’s ecommerce integrations are only possible in the Plus, Pro, and Enterprise plans.

Dotdigital

Dotdigital is a marketing automation software that also comes with limited CRM features. Like Klaviyo, the onboarding process is relatively straightforward. 

The company provides a support team to help users during onboarding, which makes it stand out in this area. Even after you have become a regular Dotdigital subscriber, the company will still provide top-notch customer support. 

The support team is quite helpful as they empower you to identify and resolve issues on the fly. Users also have access to customer success managers to help them analyze their campaigns and generate valuable insights.

Dotdigital's landing pages and forms come with a drag-and-drop builder, which enhances the user experience. You can use different criteria to divide your contacts into smaller segments and social media extensions to re-engage clients and drive sales.

Other notable features include advanced analytical reporting, live chat support, personalized campaigns, AI-driven recommendations, data-driven communication, and dynamic content creation. 

Regarding pricing, Dotdigital will only disclose how much they will charge you after requesting pricing information, which limits transparency and can lead to unexpected costs. 

Bloomreach

Bloomreach is an ecommerce personalization platform designed to help businesses personalize customer digital experiences, increase engagement, and improve conversion rates. Setting up and integrating with other platforms and grouping customers based on attributes is easy. 

The main difference between Klaviyo and Bloomreach is that Bloomreach offers customers service level agreements (SLAs). These contracts ensure you get what you pay for and help maintain high-performance levels.

However, like Dotdigital, Bloomreach only discloses how much they will charge you after requesting pricing information. 

HubSpot Marketing Hub

HubSpot is a robust all-in-one marketing platform businesses use for lead generation, audience targeting, and boosting conversations.

While HubSpot is more of a CRM platform, it does have some marketing automation features. Business owners can automate their marketing by segmenting contacts and sending drip campaigns.

The platform allows you to build automations from scratch or use ready-to-use templates that address common scenarios like out-of-stock product updates or sending abandoned cart emails. 

Nevertheless, we found Klaviyo's form and email templates more visually appealing than HubSpot’s. HubSpot's pricing is also relatively higher, with the lowest plan going for $20/user/p/m and the highest requiring a subscription fee of $3,600/month. Another drawback of using HubSpot is that the free plan has no customer support access. 

Should you use Klaviyo in your business?

Klaviyo is worth considering for email and SMS marketing automation, especially if you run an ecommerce store on Shopify. 

Its strength lies in robust segmentation, automated flows, and detailed analytics, making it easier to target the right customers with the right messages.

Getting started is simple: you can use the free plan initially and upgrade if you need more features. Onboarding is straightforward, and support is available via email, live chat, and the extensive Klaviyo Academy.

There’s also interactive training and community forums to help you get the most out of the platform.

That said, Klaviyo has a pretty steep learning curve.

So, take advantage of learning resources early on, especially if you want to run advanced automation or personalized campaigns.

Level up your ecommerce business with Whop

The easiest way to connect with your customers isn’t just newsletters or SMS campaigns, btw. It’s building your own online community. 

Get this: Group chats allow for two-way customer interaction, which builds trust and answers questions instantly. An email conversion rate is typically 2–5%, but chat can boost conversion rates by 20% or more. Cool, right?

With Whop, you can create a central hub for your audience where they can engage, purchase digital products like courses or ebooks, and access exclusive content.

It's simple to manage relationships with custom CRM tools, segment your audience, track engagement, and run personalized marketing campaigns. 

If you want to give your customers a space to interact directly with your brand (and turn engagement into revenue), create a whop today.

FAQs about Klaviyo

What types of businesses use Klaviyo?

Any business that wishes to improve its marketing processes can use Klaviyo for email and SMS marketing automation. Ecommerce businesses mostly use Klaviyo to track user behavior, enhance the customer shopping experience, communicate special offers, and personalize communication. 

Is Klaviyo worth the cost?

Klaviyo reports that it increases the average client business income by 45% in the first six months and a 62x return on investment. If these reports are anything to go by, Klaviyo is worth the cost.

What are some best practices for using Klaviyo?

Klaviyo is an email and SMS marketing automation software. We recommend segmenting your audience, setting up targeting campaigns, A/B testing your flows, and aligning your strategies with generated insights to get the best ROI. 

Are Klaviyo sign-up forms compliant with data privacy laws?

You can make your sign-up forms compliant by selecting the Enable Data Protect Fields box when creating them. Klaviyo will automatically attach compliance-focused messaging to help keep your marketing campaign compliant with data protection laws. 

Is Klaviyo GDPR compliant?

Yes, Klaviyo provides GDPR-compliant forms. When customizing your forms, always do so appropriately to ensure that your business operates within the confines of European data protection laws.