One of the most important comparisons to check out when you’re running a store on Shopify is whether you should use Klaviyo or Shopify Email for email marketing and especially automation flows. To run campaigns smoothly and efficiently, you have to choose the platform that is best suited to your business. It’s important to consider long-term goals as well, as the easier solution might not always be the best one.

Main Features Comparison

Both of these tools come with the basic features an e-commerce brand needs when running email marketing. You’ll be able to create an abandoned cart and post-purchase emails, track your customer’s journey, get in-depth reporting, send personalized newsletters, etc.

Klaviyo and Shopify Email come both with easy integration with Shopify and have user-friendly dashboards.

One of the main advantages of using Shopify Email is that you don’t have to worry about whether or not it will integrate perfectly with your store. On top of that, it would also be more cost-efficient since your store is built on Shopify.

One of the downsides of Shopify Email is that, in comparison with Klaviyo, it is not fully developed yet and it doesn’t compare to what Klaviyo has to offer. Shopify Email is more of a tool to get started as a business with basic email automation and campaigns without investing too much money or time into it.

Klaviyo’s Main Features: fully automated email sequences, the most advanced list segmentation, easy setup, easy integration, tracking tools, popups, and SMS marketing.

Shopify’s Main Features: email marketing without coding knowledge (best for startups or beginners that want to get things up and running), branded emails, well-covered data reports, and analytics

 

Pricing Comparison

When it comes to pricing, Shopify Email built for Shopify takes the lead with 10.000 free emails for your Shopify store. Additional emails will cost only 0,001$/email, which means you can send 1000 emails for 1$. Extremely competitive pricing and for new stores or e-commerce brands that want a low-cost way to get started with email marketing, this is a great option. It is even the best option if you don’t want or need advanced email marketing automation.

As far as Klaviyo concerned, they have a subscription-based system in which you have to pay not only for the number of emails you’re going to send but also for your list of contacts. For example, an email-only package will let you send 15.000 emails per month with a maximum of 1500 contacts. This will cost 45$/month and is especially worth it for brands that are serious about email marketing. Let’s not forget that you will be able to run SMS and email marketing at the same time, so it’s definitely an advantage.

 

Email Automation

One of the unfortunate facts about Shopify Email is that you cannot create advanced automated email sequences. The basic flows are still available and they’re a good option for someone that’s starting up with email marketing, but as your business grows, you may want to consider Klaviyo’s advanced email automation sequences. 

 

Segmentation

Creating segments is available on both Shopify Email and Klaviyo. However, while Shopify offers only the basics of list segmentation and is automated, therefore not allowing you to go into deep segmentation, Klaviyo has it all. You’ll be able to segment your Klaviyo list on all kinds of customer behaviour both on and off-site. Furthermore, you can use Klaviyo to create Audiences for Google and Meta.

This is why Shopify Email is best for a smaller business that is just starting out with email marketing. Klaviyo really stands out as the to-go option for larger Shopify stores and more established e-commerce brands.

 

Ease of Use

According to the reviews, Shopify Email has gathered, it is a user-friendly application that’s easy to use and create beautiful emails. However, many have stated that the issues start happening once your list of subscribers is greater than 10.000 subscribers. It is, however, much easier to learn than Klaviyo as the features it offers are basic and you don’t need to spend extra time with integration since it’s already integrated with Shopify.

When it comes to Klaviyo, the platform can be user-friendly once you learn the basics, however, it is definitely harder than Shopify Email. When it comes to Klaviyo, it has so much more to offer for email marketing that it’s worth spending those extra hours learning how different things work, especially because they offer a lot of learning materials on Klaviyo’s Help Center.

 

Design Features and Templates

Regarding templates and design features, both Shopify Email and Klaviyo have a set of options to choose from. As Klaviyo has been on the market for a longer period of time, it has gathered a lot of customizable templates so the user has more flexibility in terms of creating branded emails.

Klaviyo outshines Shopify Email with its email design features as you can build your perfectly branded emails from scratch and customize them for desktop and mobile separately. This means you have better options for mobile optimization.

 

Analytics and Data

Shopify Email has more in-depth analytics and data as it has the full picture of everything that happens on your website, but Klaviyo doesn’t fall far behind. With basic analytics based on open rates, click rates, campaign, flow, and performance metrics, you have all you need in terms of data. Klaviyo also has smooth integrations with many other tools, so reporting and analytics are even easier. And it’s also worth mentioning that Klaviyo does plan to include data on SKU levels and customers.

 

Signup Forms

Signup forms and popups are your number 1 tool when it comes to collecting email addresses for your list.

Shopify Email doesn’t have this feature, but you can always install a separate application for that, there are lots of those available on the app store. Depending on your needs, you can always install a free basic one to get things up and running, but it’s also worth considering those that have more functionalities for a monthly fee.

Klaviyo, on the other hand, comes with its own signup forms and popups feature with over 60 templates to choose from. In addition to that, you can always build something custom from scratch.

 

Which email marketing application to use? As mentioned at different points in this article, it all depends on your brand’s needs, however, as of now, Klaviyo is the clear winner when it comes to email marketing automation.

Still not sure what to choose? Reach out to us for a complete audit and assessment of your email marketing plan and our experts will be more than happy to help!