Shopify Meets Klaviyo: A Match Made in E-commerce Heaven

The Power of Shopify and Klaviyo Integration

Opening up new levels of e-commerce growth often begins with a seamless Shopify and Klaviyo integration. This powerful connection links your online store with a leading marketing automation platform.

Simply put, Shopify and Klaviyo integration connects your Shopify e-commerce store with your Klaviyo marketing platform. This setup allows customer and order data to flow automatically, enabling you to:

• Gather customer details and purchase history in one place.
• Automate personalized email and SMS marketing campaigns.
• Create targeted customer experiences based on shopping behavior.
• Drive customer loyalty and boost sales.

This partnership is trusted by over 117,000 brands, making Klaviyo the preferred email platform for Shopify Plus stores.

As an e-commerce growth specialist and founder of First Pier, I’ve seen the impact a strong Shopify and Klaviyo integration can have. My team and I help businesses like yours use these tools to grow their online presence.

Why Pair Shopify with Klaviyo? The Core Benefits

When you bring Shopify and Klaviyo together, you create a powerful system for your e-commerce business. The benefits are many, changing how you understand and talk to your customers.

Unified Customer Data: Your Single Source of Truth

This integration brings all your customer data into one place. Information from your Shopify store—what customers view, buy, and how they interact with marketing—flows into Klaviyo. This provides a complete 360-degree view of each customer. At First Pier, we see this as vital for making data-driven decisions instead of guessing.

Centralized Marketing Hub: Simplify Your Workflow

Klaviyo becomes your main marketing control center. Instead of juggling tools for email, SMS, and customer data, everything is in one place. This simplifies your work and saves time. My team has seen businesses boost efficiency and cut costs by 18% with this setup, freeing them to focus on strategy.

Deep Personalization: Speak Directly to Your Customers

With unified customer data, you can create truly personal marketing. Klaviyo uses Shopify details to understand customer preferences and behavior, allowing you to:

• Send product recommendations that fit what they've bought or looked at before.
• Change your email content for specific groups of customers.
• Create parts of your emails that change based on who is reading them.

This personal touch gets results. For instance, a tea company using this Shopify and Klaviyo integration saw an amazing 114x return on their investment.

Powerful Automation: Work Smarter, Not Harder

The Shopify and Klaviyo integration shines with its automation. You can set up automatic email and SMS messages triggered by customer actions in your Shopify store. This includes a welcome series for new shoppers, abandoned cart reminders, or post-purchase follow-ups. These automated messages connect with customers at the right moment, helping turn visitors into loyal buyers 24/7.

Increased ROI: Grow Your Bottom Line

These benefits significantly boost your return on investment. Sending targeted messages at the right time reduces wasteful marketing spend and increases sales. For example, a beauty brand grew its Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales by 167% year-over-year. Focusing on interested customers improves email deliverability and drives more sales.

Email and SMS Marketing: A Dynamic Duo

Klaviyo excels at both email and SMS marketing, and the Shopify connection makes these channels highly effective. You can collect email and SMS consent directly from your Shopify checkout and sign-up forms, feeding subscribers into Klaviyo for targeted campaigns. My team has seen fashion brands increase their global SMS click rates by 338% after switching to Klaviyo, showing the power of this combined approach.

Trusted by over 117,000 brands, Klaviyo is the preferred email platform for Shopify Plus stores, boasting over 2,600 5-star reviews in the Shopify App Store. This strong endorsement highlights its effectiveness and reliability. You can explore Klaviyo on the Shopify App Store to see what other businesses are saying.

Your Step-by-Step Guide to the Shopify and Klaviyo Integration

Connecting your Shopify store with Klaviyo is a straightforward process. I'll walk you through the essential steps for a smooth Shopify and Klaviyo integration.

Step 1: Add the Klaviyo App from the Shopify App Store

Start by adding the Klaviyo app directly from the Shopify App Store.

1. Go to the Shopify App Store: Log into your Shopify admin, go to 'Apps', then 'Shopify App Store'.
2. Search for Klaviyo: Use the search bar to find "Klaviyo".
3. Add the App: Click the Klaviyo app listing and select 'Add app'. Review the permissions Klaviyo needs to access your Shopify data.
4. Install the App: Confirm the installation. You'll be redirected to your Klaviyo account or prompted to create one.

This quick method securely connects your accounts. You can find the app here: Klaviyo's official app listing.

Step 2: Connect Your Accounts and Configure Basic Settings

After installing the app, connect your Shopify store to your Klaviyo account.

1. Enter Your Shopify Store URL: In Klaviyo, provide your store URL (e.g., mystore.myshopify.com).
2. Connect to Shopify: Follow the prompts to authorize the connection.
3. Configure Integration Settings: On the Shopify integration settings page in Klaviyo, you'll find key options:
   • Sync email subscribers: Check to sync email subscribers from Shopify.
   • Sync SMS subscribers: Check if you plan to use SMS marketing.
   • Sync profiles from Klaviyo to Shopify: I recommend enabling this. It sends data like subscription status back to Shopify, enriching your customer profiles.
   • Track behavioral events: This is key for collecting data like 'Viewed Product' and 'Added to Cart' to power your automated flows.

Before integrating Klaviyo, disconnect any previous Email Service Provider (ESP) to avoid data conflicts. For a detailed guide, see Klaviyo's setup guide.

Step 3: Set Up Subscriber Syncing for Email and SMS

Properly syncing email and SMS subscribers is a key part of the integration. This builds your Klaviyo audience based on consent from Shopify.

1. Choose Your Lists: In Klaviyo's integration settings, select the Klaviyo lists for your Shopify email and SMS subscribers. I recommend a main email list and a dedicated SMS list.
2. Understand Consent Management: New contacts who opt-in for marketing during checkout or via Shopify forms will be synced. Klaviyo also syncs historical subscribers.
3. Shopify Checkout Consent Best Practice: I advise leaving the email subscription box on your checkout page unchecked by default. This helps you gather genuinely consented subscribers, which is vital for a good sender reputation and high email deliverability.

Klaviyo's integration uses Shopify's new subscription model, not the old 'Accepts Marketing' tag, ensuring compliance. Learn more here: How to sync Shopify email subscribers.

Step 4: Enable Onsite Tracking for Deeper Insights

Onsite tracking captures customer behavior on your Shopify store, enabling highly personalized marketing in Klaviyo.

1. Activate in Klaviyo: In your Klaviyo Shopify settings, ensure "Track behavioral events" is checked. This records actions like 'Viewed Product' and 'Added to Cart'.
2. Enable Klaviyo App Embed in Shopify: For tracking to work, you must enable the Klaviyo app embed in your Shopify theme. Go to 'Online Store' > 'Themes' > 'Customize'. Find 'App embeds' and toggle Klaviyo "On". Save your changes.

This step is critical. You must re-enable the app embed if you change your Shopify theme. Without it, Klaviyo cannot track user behavior. Shopify's privacy settings (e.g., for the EU) can affect tracking, as Klaviyo respects visitor consent choices.

What Data Syncs Between Shopify and Klaviyo?

The strength of the Shopify and Klaviyo integration comes from the helpful information they share. This ensures your messages are timely and relevant.

Key Shopify Metrics Synced to Klaviyo

Klaviyo automatically syncs key customer actions from your Shopify store. This data is essential for segmenting your audience and creating automated messages. Key synced metrics include:

• Placed Order and Ordered Product: When a customer completes a purchase, Klaviyo records the order details, including what they bought. This is useful for targeted follow-ups.
• Fulfilled Order: When an order ships, Klaviyo gets an update, allowing you to send shipping confirmations.
• Canceled Order and Refunded Order: Klaviyo tracks cancellations and refunds, helping you reach out to customers or adjust your marketing.
• Started Checkout: Tracks when a customer begins checkout but doesn't finish, perfect for abandoned cart reminders.
• Added to Cart: Notes when an item is added to a cart without proceeding to checkout.
• Viewed Product: Records which products a customer looks at, useful for personalized recommendations.

Initially, Klaviyo syncs the last 90 days of Shopify data, then works to import all historical data. This can take a few minutes to a few days. You can monitor progress via the 'Placed Order' metric in Klaviyo Analytics. Ensure your Klaviyo and Shopify time zones match for accurate reporting.

Customer and Catalog Data for Your Shopify and Klaviyo integration

The integration also syncs detailed customer and product information to keep Klaviyo up-to-date.

• Customer Profiles: Every customer from your Shopify store gets a profile in Klaviyo. This includes contact info, order history, and Shopify tags, allowing for detailed segmentation.
• Product Catalog: Your Shopify product catalog, including images, prices, descriptions, and inventory levels, syncs to Klaviyo. This is great for creating emails with accurate product information.
• Consent Status: The integration syncs customer consent for email and SMS, ensuring you only market to those who have opted in.

This complete data sync ensures your Klaviyo marketing is based on current information from your Shopify store. For deeper technical details, you can learn more about Shopify's API data.

Putting the Integration to Work: Powerful Use Cases

Once your Shopify and Klaviyo integration is set up, you can turn customer data into smart marketing actions that help your business grow.

Automate Your Marketing with Essential Flows

Automated flows are like marketing assistants that work 24/7. Klaviyo's flow builder lets you set up messages triggered by customer actions in your Shopify store.

• Welcome Series: A must for new subscribers. This flow introduces your brand and can offer a first-purchase incentive to build a strong relationship.
• Abandoned Cart Recovery: A key money-maker. When a customer leaves items in their cart, Klaviyo sends automated reminders. My team has seen these flows recover significant lost sales.
• Browse Abandonment: Targets shoppers who view products but don't add them to the cart. This flow sends a gentle reminder about the items they viewed.
• Post-Purchase Follow-up: This versatile flow can send order confirmations, request product reviews, or suggest related products to encourage repeat purchases.
• Customer Winback: Reaches out to inactive customers with special offers or updates on new products, reminding them of your brand's value.

Create Hyper-Personalized Campaigns

The rich data from Shopify allows you to segment customers and send highly targeted messages.

• Segmentation: Go beyond basic demographics and group customers by their Shopify buying habits. Create segments for VIPs, first-time buyers, and repeat customers.
• Product Recommendations: Klaviyo can send personalized product suggestions in each email based on a customer's browsing history or past purchases.
• Dynamic Content: Make parts of your email change based on the recipient. For example, show different product highlights to different customer segments. This drives results, as shown by Harney & Sons, a tea company that saw a huge ROI with Klaviyo. Read their story: Case Study: Harney & Sons 114x ROI.

Boost Sales with Targeted SMS Marketing

SMS marketing is highly effective for e-commerce due to high open rates. The integration makes it easy to run smart SMS campaigns and flows.

• SMS Campaigns: Send one-time messages for flash sales or new product launches.
• SMS Flows: Automate messages for abandoned carts or shipping updates.
• Click-to-Buy Texts: Send customers directly to a product or checkout page with a single tap.
• Two-Way Conversations: Allow customers to reply for quick support.

The results are clear: Culture Kings saw a huge jump in their global SMS click rate, and PrettyLitter grew sales from automated flows significantly. You can also use Shopify discount codes directly in your Klaviyo messages.

Best Practices and Important Considerations

While the Shopify and Klaviyo integration is powerful, following best practices is key. My team and I always walk our clients through these points for long-term success.

Managing Subscribers and Consent

Proper consent is vital for email and SMS marketing. It builds trust, maintains a strong sender reputation, and ensures compliance with rules like GDPR and TCPA.

• Use double opt-in for email lists. Subscribers confirm via email, ensuring you have a list of genuinely interested people.
• Clean your lists regularly. Remove inactive subscribers who don't open your emails. A quality list is better than a large one for email deliverability. Consider a sunset policy to phase out unresponsive contacts.
• Follow privacy laws. You are responsible for how you collect and use consent on Shopify.
• Optimize Shopify checkout consent. Consent now uses Shopify's new subscription model. I recommend leaving the subscribe box unchecked by default to get truly interested subscribers. Learn more about Shopify's consent field changes.

Troubleshooting Your Shopify and Klaviyo integration

Even with a solid connection, issues can arise. Here’s how to fix common problems:

• Data not syncing: Check your Klaviyo integration settings. Ensure the integration is active, the store URL is correct, and the Klaviyo app is installed in Shopify. Re-authorizing the connection can often fix this.
• Missing historical data: The initial sync pulls 90 days of data, then works on the rest. If older data is missing, the sync may still be in progress.
• App embed not working: If you're not seeing 'Viewed Product' data, ensure the Klaviyo app embed is enabled in your current Shopify theme. You must re-enable it if you change themes.
• Coupon code problems: Make sure the discount codes used in Klaviyo are active and correctly entered in Shopify.

You need one Klaviyo account per Shopify store. For more help, the Klaviyo Community Forum and Klaviyo Live Training are excellent resources.

Understanding Pricing

It's important to understand Klaviyo's pricing for your budget. The cost is separate from your Shopify bill.

• Contact-based pricing: Your monthly fee is based on the number of contacts in your account.
• Email and SMS credits: You pay for the volume of emails and SMS messages you send.

For the most current details, always check the official Klaviyo Pricing Page. This helps you plan your marketing budget effectively.

To Sum Up: Why This Integration is a Game-Changer

The Shopify and Klaviyo integration is a powerful combination for any growing e-commerce business. It adds value by unifying your data, personalizing your marketing, and automating your work.

Key benefits include:

• Unified Data: Get a single, clear view of every customer, from browsing to purchase history.
• Personalized Marketing: Send targeted email and SMS messages at the perfect time.
• Automated Efficiency: Set up automated flows for welcomes, abandoned carts, and follow-ups, freeing up your time.
• Business Growth: Drive more sales, improve customer retention, and increase revenue.

At First Pier, we believe a solid Shopify and Klaviyo integration is essential for e-commerce success. It's a key part of any marketing automation strategy, helping brands connect with customers. We help businesses like yours build great online stores and set up these vital connections.

If you're ready to improve your e-commerce business, using the full power of Shopify and Klaviyo together is a smart step I highly recommend.