Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: which email tool is right for your webshop?

Email marketing returns an average of 36 euros for every euro you invest. That makes it by far the most profitable marketing channel for e-commerce. But to realize that return, you need the right platform. The two names that come up most often: Klaviyo and Mailchimp.

Short answer: it depends

If you run a D2C webshop with more than 1,000 orders per month and you want to get serious about segmentation, flows, and personalization, then Klaviyo is almost always the better choice. If you run a smaller business or email isn't your primary channel, Mailchimp can work just fine.

But let's dig deeper, because the details make the difference.

Integration with your webshop

Klaviyo is built for e-commerce. The integration with Shopify is native and deep: products, orders, customer behavior — everything is automatically synchronized. You can set up an abandoned cart flow within minutes that dynamically displays the products someone left in their cart.

Mailchimp also has a Shopify integration, but it's more superficial. After the breakup between Mailchimp and Shopify in 2019 and the subsequent reunion, the integration never became as deep as Klaviyo's. For WooCommerce, the story is similar: Klaviyo offers a richer dataset to work with.

Segmentation and personalization

This is where the biggest difference lies. Klaviyo allows you to build segments based on virtually any data point: purchase history, browsing behavior, email engagement, predicted customer lifetime value, and more. You can create a segment of "customers who purchased more than twice in the past 90 days but haven't opened an email in the past 30 days." Try doing that in Mailchimp.

Mailchimp's segmentation has improved, but remains limited to basic characteristics. For a newsletter, it's sufficient. For a personalized e-commerce experience, it falls short.

Flows and automation

Klaviyo's flow builder is powerful and intuitive. The standard flows that every webshop should have — welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase, win-back, browse abandonment — are easy to set up in Klaviyo with the right triggers and conditions.

With our clients, we see that a well-configured Klaviyo setup can generate 20-30% of total revenue via email, largely on autopilot. That's revenue coming in without you actively working on it — as long as your flows are properly set up.

Mailchimp also offers automation, but the options are more limited. Conditional splits, A/B testing within flows, and advanced timing options are standard in Klaviyo but not available — or only available in the most expensive plans — in Mailchimp.

SMS marketing

An area where Klaviyo increasingly differentiates itself is SMS marketing. Within the same platform, you can set up SMS campaigns, segmented on the same data as your emails. This makes it possible to run an integrated communication strategy across email and SMS.

Mailchimp offers limited SMS functionality, but it's not on the same level as Klaviyo's offering.

Pricing

Mailchimp is cheaper — that's a fact. For a list of 10,000 contacts, you'll pay around 100 euros per month with Mailchimp; with Klaviyo, you're quickly looking at 150-200 euros. But the relevant question isn't what it costs, but what it delivers. If Klaviyo generates 25% more revenue from email, the price difference is an investment, not an expense.

Our recommendation

For D2C brands with revenue above 500,000 euros per year, Klaviyo is the logical choice. The deeper integration, better segmentation, and more advanced flows make the difference. For smaller webshops or businesses just starting with email marketing, Mailchimp can be a great starting point.

At Wrkt, we are an official Klaviyo Partner. We help D2C brands set up and optimize their complete email strategy. Curious? Check out our cases or get in touch.