Klaviyo vs Mailchimp for an Online Store's Email Marketing

Klaviyo and Mailchimp are among the most popular ESPs used for ecommerce email marketing. Our experts compared Mailchimp vs Klaviyo and explained all the pros and cons one might face when setting up email marketing campaigns. 

1. Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: Pricing

Klaviyo and Mailchimp have different pricing systems. Have a look at them to understand which one suits you best. 

Free Plans in Klaviyo and Mailchimp 

Both Klaviyo and Mailchimp have free plans. Klaviyo.s free plan gives you:

• 500 email sends per month, 
• access to all its functions besides the tech support chat (all the other contacts with the support are still available). 

Mailchimp’s free plan offers the following features: 

• 1000 email sends per month;
• 10.000 emails/month (with a 2.000 emails/day limit).

Pricing Systems in Klaviyo and Mailchimp: What’s the Difference? 

Mailchimp offers a rather simple pricing system. It gives you three pricing options:

• Essentials ($13/month for 500 contacts);
• Standard ($20/month for 500 contacts);
• Premium ($359/month for 500 contacts).

If you look at Mailchimp’s pricing, you see that it's an easy pricing system where if you pay more, you get more.

Klaviyo’s pricing system is a bit more complex. The pricing depends not only on the number of contacts, but also on the channels you want to use: only email or email and SMS.

Let’s take 500 contacts in the base, just as we did with Mailchimp. Klaviyo offers us two paid plans:

1. Emails only ($20/month);
2. Emails & SMS ($35/month).

Generally, Klaviyo is more expensive than Mailchimp (besides chimpo’s Premium plan). Also, mind that some features that come with the $13 and $20 packages in Mailchimp are also available in Klaviyo’s free plans. 

2. Analytics & Customer Segmentation in Klaviyo vs Mailchimp

Analytics is an essential part of a marketing strategy: be it ecommerce, real estate, or any other business, analytics is essential for customer acquisition and retention. Let’s compare analytics in Klaviyo and Mailchimp to see which one would suit your goals most. 

Analytics in Mailchimp: Simple and Easy-to-Use 

First of all, Mailchimp offers standard metrics such as open and click rates, as well as basic segmentation options based on subscriber activity and location. Also, it provides a basic analytics dashboard that tracks these standard metrics.

The platform also offers basic segmentation options that allow you to target subscribers based on their location, purchase history, and email engagement. Mailchimp's reporting features provide the basic insights into the performance of your email campaigns, so if you’re a beginner or don’t need advanced analytics, Mailchimp suits you best. 

What’s Special About Analytics in Klaviyo?

Besides the regular metrics like click rate, bounce rate, spam complaints, etc., Klaviyo also provides advanced segmentation, customized dashboards, and complex A/B testing.

The most interesting feature in Klaviyo’s analytics is advanced customer segmentation & cohort analysis: Klaviyo allows you to segment your customers depending on very specific criteria like types of products they usually buy, usage of discounts, purchase frequency, and so on. This way, you can segment your customers depending on their loyalty or products they buy and create highly personalized email campaigns based on buyer behavior.

Klaviyo’s segmentation also includes the following segments that will be highly effective for ecommerce businesses: 

• Cross-sell segments;
• Location-based segments;
• Item and brand-specific segments;
• Engagement tiers;
• Churn risk segments;
• Holiday shopper segments.

The killer feature of Klaviyo’s analytics is that the data is automatically updated: for example, you could create a segment of customers who have abandoned their shopping cart in the last 24 hours, and then send them a targeted email with a discount code to encourage them to complete their purchase.

One more useful feature is Klaviyo's predictive analytics: the platform uses machine learning algorithms to predict which customers are most likely to make a purchase. This can help you identify high-value customers and tailor your email campaigns to target them.

Overall, Klaviyo's advanced analytics and segmentation features provide more customization options and insights into customer behavior, making it a more powerful tool for businesses looking to optimize their email marketing strategy. If you want to segment your customers, create forecasts, and support users on every stage of their customer journey, Klaviyo is a great option.

3. Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: Email Automations

Both Klaviyo and Mailchimp have email automations allowing you to set up triggered campaigns based on specific customer actions or behaviors. Let’s quickly compare email automations in Klaviyo vs Mailchimp. 

Mailchimp has basic automation features allowing you to create simple triggered campaigns based on subscriber activity or behavior. The platform is a good option for those who are new to email automation and want to get started quickly. Mailchimp provides you with ready-made automations, so you won't have to create them from scratch.

However, Klaviyo's automations (Flows) are more advanced, allowing you to create complex workflows and personalized experiences based on customer interactions with your brand. Just like Mailchimp, Klaviyo has ready-made Flows, so you won’t have to build everything from scratch.

Klavio’s flows editor doesn’t limit you in any way: you can edit any step and any condition. Is there a mistake in an email? Changed your mind on sending an email to a certain segment? Fix anything you want: the series will keep on going and you won’t need to relaunch everything.

4. User Experience in Mailchimp vs Klaviyo: Which One Is Easier to Use? 

In general, Mailchimp and Klaviyo have rather standard UI, so if you ever used an ESP, you’ll get around both of them. 

Still, if we compare Mailchimp and Klaviyo, Mailchimp has a more straightforward and user-friendly interface, making it a better option for beginners. Of course, Mailchimp provides complex features for advanced users as well: for example, it allows you to upload your own emails and cut them into blocks to build more emails using Mailchimp Template Language. However, generally, Mailchimp is an easy tool for any skill level.

Klaviyo's interface is more complex, requiring some technical knowledge to use it effectively. On the other hand, Klaviyo's interface is more customizable and flexible. 

Klaviyo offers an opportunity to take a study course on using the platform. However, if you need all the features of Klaviyo and plan to use them in your everyday work projects, this learning process will probably be worth it. 

“When you start on a new platform, it always takes a little bit of time to get used to it but I’d say that Klaviyo’s UI wasn’t too difficult to navigate. Prior to using Klaviyo I took their product certification and that gave me a very good understanding of how the platform works. It allowed me to find my way around pretty quickly and reduce the amount of time I’d spend looking for things.” — Jerome Bonneville, Email Marketing Consultant 

Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: Summary

In conclusion, both Klaviyo and Mailchimp are great options for email marketing, but the choice depends on your needs and goals. 

If you're a beginner marketer looking for an easy-to-use platform with basic features, Mailchimp is a good option. It’s generally cheaper and provides a range of pre-built templates and automation workflows that make it easy for beginners to get started with email marketing. The platform is also very user-friendly and intuitive, making it a good option for businesses that don't have a dedicated marketing team.

However, if you're looking for a more advanced platform with in-depth analytics, segmentation, and automation features, Klaviyo is the better choice. Additionally, Klaviyo may be the better option due to their more advanced customer support options. Also, Klaviyo gives you more features designed specifically for online stores which makes it a perfect tool for ecommerce.