Klaviyo Explained: What Retailers Need to Know About Costs, Benefits, and ROI

If you’re a retailer, you know the number one way to grow your business is through your existing customers. But most of that valuable data is sitting unused in your point-of-sale (POS) system.

That’s why platforms like Klaviyo exist — to connect your POS data with email and SMS campaigns that drive real sales.

At Omni Digital Group, we use Klaviyo with more than 75 retailers. In this article, I’m going to break down:

• What Klaviyo is used for

• How its pricing works (and what drives up costs)

• The benefits we’ve seen from using Klaviyo

• Why it’s our preferred email and SMS platform over others

By the end, you’ll have enough info to decide whether Klaviyo is the right fit for your retail business.

What Is Klaviyo?

Klaviyo is an email and SMS platform. It’s especially strong for retailers because it connects easily with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix, and other big e-commerce systems.

It also integrates quickly with Meta (Facebook and Instagram ads), which makes it simple to connect ads, email, SMS, and your POS data all in one place.

Our software Omni Lightning allows you to see in-store driven revenue from email and sms

How Does Klaviyo Pricing Work?

Like many email and SMS platforms, Klaviyo pricing is based on the number of contacts (profiles) you have and how often you send.

• Email pricing → Based on active email contacts + monthly sends. Klaviyo is most cost-effective if you send at least 10 emails per month.

• SMS pricing → Based on subscribers and message credits:

  • Under 160 characters = 1 credit

  • 160–320 characters = 2 credits

  • Over 320 characters OR with an image = 3 credits

Pro tip for retailers: Always include an image in SMS. From our data, SMS with an image drastically outperforms plain text.

FAQ: Is Klaviyo more expensive than others?

Yes, slightly — usually 10–20% more than Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, or Constant Contact. But the extra revenue it drives makes up for that difference.

What Are the Benefits of Klaviyo?

We use Klaviyo every day for clients, and here’s why it works so well:

1. Automations

Klaviyo comes with prebuilt templates for Shopify, Wix, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. You can set up automations in under an hour, including:

• Abandoned cart automations

• Welcome series

• Dormant customer reminders

• Thank-you automations

Create flows to drive in-store revenue, on demand.

2. Segmentation

This is one of Klaviyo’s most powerful features. It lets you slice and dice your customer data however you want:

• Dormant customers (e.g., no purchases in 12+ months)

• VIP customers who shop often or spend a lot

• Seasonal or brand-specific buyers

• Even down to colors purchased

Instead of sending a mass email, you can send highly relevant messages to the right group at the right time.

3. ROI Potential (especially with SMS)

For many of our clients, SMS is the highest ROI product we offer.

If a retailer spends $300/month on SMS, they often make $5,000–$10,000/month in extra revenue. That’s a 20–30x return.

How Does Klaviyo Compare to Other Platforms?

We’ve tested 3–5 different platforms at our agency, including:

• Mailchimp

• ActiveCampaign

• OmniSend

• Constant Contact

All have strengths, but here’s the truth:

If you want both email and SMS in the same platform, plus advanced segmentation and automations, Klaviyo is worth it.

Even if it’s 10–20% more expensive, the extra features often generate 2–3x the revenue compared to competitors.

What Should Retailers Watch Out For?

The biggest “gotcha” is auto-upgrades.

If you normally send 2 texts per month and suddenly send 10 (like during the holidays), Klaviyo will auto-upgrade your plan.

If you don’t downgrade later, you’ll keep paying the higher cost.

Tip: Turn off auto-upgrades or manually downgrade after holiday campaigns to avoid surprise bills.

Conclusion: Should You Use Klaviyo?

Here’s the bottom line:

• Resolution: Klaviyo is a powerful email + SMS platform built for retailers.

• Remind: It helps you actually use the data sitting in your POS system.

• Relevant Next Step: If you’re curious, start with Klaviyo’s free tier (up to 250 contacts) to test features.

• Reintroduce: At Omni Digital Group, we manage Klaviyo for over 75 retailers. Whether you run it yourself or with our help, we recommend Klaviyo as the go-to solution.

Ready to see how Klaviyo can drive ROI for your store? Schedule a Klaviyo demo with Omni Digital Group.