It's crystal clear that email marketing is undeniably one of the best tools for driving sales and bonding with your customers. Over the years, Email Marketing has been established as one of the best ways to grow a loyal community around your brand and generate more revenue, which is why we consider it worth sharing our thoughts about how Shopify store owners can benefit from it. For Shopify merchants, choosing the right tool to craft effective email campaigns is crucial for boosting engagement and sales.
If you’re looking for something that won't break the bank or require a PhD in tech, then let me introduce you to Shopify Email, a tool explicitly designed by Shopify themselves to integrate seamlessly with Shopify stores, streamlining the email marketing process. At Purple Shopify, with over 5 years of experience in the Shopify ecosystem, we've extensively tested Shopify Email alongside other leading platforms, such as Klaviyo, to offer an unbiased comparison. Shopify developed Shopify Email intending to provide a straightforward, efficient marketing campaign platform for its users. While Shopify Email offers more affordable costs and ease of use, it definitely lacks some of the advanced features available in platforms like Klaviyo.
What is Shopify Email and when should be used:
Shopify Email shows up as a compelling solution for eCommerce entrepreneurs seeking to use the power of email marketing without the complexity and high costs often associated with it. As a direct extension of the Shopify platform, Shopify Email is ingeniously designed to simplify the email marketing process, making it accessible for businesses of all sizes to engage with their audience effectively and efficiently.
Disclaimer: Look at Shopify Email as a smart solution to send campaigns - not as a complex Email Marketing platform. There is no space for lists, flows, sign-up newsletters or other tools you’d usually find in a platform like Klaviyo.
What I love at Shopify Email:
Affordability and Access
Let's talk costs. Shopify Email is pretty much a dream come true if you're watching your budget. It’s integrated into the Shopify ecosystem and the costs for each campaign are super low. What might cost $100 in Klaviyo can be reduced to $5 to $10 in Shopify Email. This approach not only democratizes email marketing for smaller businesses but also ensures that growing stores can scale their marketing efforts without worrying about escalating costs.
Great Segmentation
One of Shopify Email's most valuable benefits is its native ability to leverage Shopify's rich customer data for segmentation. Merchants can easily segment their audience in the “Customers” Tab and use the newly-created segments for the campaigns. You can use all sorts of information - shopping behavior, purchase history, customer preferences and more - directly within Shopify. If you’re not looking for something too advanced, then the targeted and personalized email campaigns you can create in Shopify Email are more likely to resonate with your actual needs.
User-Friendly Interface
Shopify Email provides a straightforward, ready-to-use platform that removes the technical barriers often associated with launching email campaigns. Because there are only a couple of things you can actually change, the whole Campaign setup became way easier. Shopify Email has pre-designed templated and classic blocks you can use to build your own template. One more thing I love about the interface is how easily you choose the collections and products you want to have inside the campaign. When there’s no need for extensive design, the ease of this app will help.
What I don’t like at Shopify Email:
Limited Customizations
One area where Shopify Email falls short is its Template Builder's limited customization options. It has its charm with simplicity and ease, but you need to rely on a different platform to create more extensive design templates - and this is where Klaviyo gains advantage. Take fonts, for example. With Shopify Email, you might find yourself wishing for more variety. It would have been great to have at least all the fonts available in the Theme Customizer. Klaviyo, on the other hand, distinguishes itself by offering a comprehensive suite of design options, including a wide variety of fonts, templates, and customization capabilities. For people interested in creating emails that showcase their personality every time, I recommend Klaviyo rather than Shopify Email.
Integrations
Let's talk about how Shopify Email and Klaviyo play in the sandbox with others, especially those handy apps we all love and use. Shopify Email, while offering a streamlined experience within the Shopify ecosystem, presents limitations in its integration capabilities with external applications. That’s because they are interested in Email Campaigns more than Automations & Flows, so Shopify’s interest is to offer a Ready-to-Go tool to all its merchants rather than a sophisticated platform that can take care of everything email-related. Klaviyo has established a robust network of partnerships across a wide spectrum of public apps, positioning it as a highly adaptable and flexible option for marketers seeking comprehensive integration solutions. In short, if you're all about making your tools work together in perfect harmony, Klaviyo's network of integrations is like having a universal key.
Campaign ideas you can implement in Shopify Email:
- Promotions, such as Black Friday
- Black Friday
- Exclusive deals
- Back-in-stock products
- General announcements
When to use Shopify Email and when to use Klaviyo:
Shopify Email it’s a tool, not a platform. It has been tailored for Shopify store owners looking for an integrated, straightforward solution that is cost-efficient and can help small and mid-sized businesses scale up through Email Marketing.
Klaviyo it’s a complex platform designed as a toolkit for marketers seeking depth and granularity in their email marketing strategies.
If you're just embarking on your eCommerce journey and eager to explore the potential of email campaigns, Shopify Email comes highly recommended. It's the ideal choice for those in the experimental phase, testing various email campaigns without yet knowing their profitability. Especially if you're navigating these waters solo, without the guidance of an agency or specialized individuals in email marketing, and find yourself unsure about the intricacies of what you're doing. Shopify Email stands out as an exceptionally user-friendly tool, designed to facilitate the quick and secure dispatch of emails to a broad audience. This simplicity and efficiency make it perfectly suited for newcomers and self-starters in the world of eCommerce email marketing.
In all other cases, use a dedicated Email Marketing platform that comes with the right tools and features, just like Klaviyo does.
A Tip from us: You can use both platforms and get the best out of both worlds. If you’re not on a high budget and looking for affordable solutions, consider Shopify Email for campaigns and Klaviyo for flows, automation, integration and sign-up forms.
Need more help?
For more tailored advice or if you're pondering the best way to integrate Shopify Email or Klaviyo into your marketing mix, don't hesitate to reach out. At Purple Shopify, we're all about empowering your store with the right tools and strategies to thrive.
Interested in optimizing your Shopify store further? Consider booking a free Discovery Call with us. We're here to help you navigate the nuances of email marketing, ensuring you make the most informed decisions for your business's unique needs.
