WhatsApp Marketing on Klaviyo: Integrating It Into Your Omnichannel Ecommerce Strategy

WhatsApp marketing functionality has launched on Klaviyo – a significant milestone for ecommerce brands seeking to consolidate their customer communications within a single, data-driven platform.

For retailers already using Klaviyo to power personalised email and SMS journeys, the addition of WhatsApp provides a new opportunity to engage customers as part of a unified omnichannel marketing strategy.

This article will explore:

• why WhatsApp belongs in an omnichannel ecommerce marketing strategy;

• how WhatsApp and email can work together to create seamless customer journeys (including common use cases);

• the differences between WhatsApp and SMS, and how to decide which channel to prioritise;

• what Klaviyo’s new native WhatsApp functionality includes; and

• key considerations for implementing WhatsApp marketing on Klaviyo.

Benefits of WhatsApp marketing for retailers

With over 3 billion active users worldwide, WhatsApp is the most widely adopted messaging app globally. Its ubiquity makes it a valuable marketing channel for retailers looking to expand their international reach and strengthen direct relationships with customers.

Key benefits of WhatsApp for ecommerce brands include:

• High reach and engagement: WhatsApp messages achieve some of the highest open and response rates of any digital channel. In fact, WhatsApp boasts a 98% open rate, with 90% of messages being read within three minutes. What’s more, users reportedly check WhatsApp 23-25 times per day, resulting in 85% higher response rates than email. This makes the channel ideal for brands sending time-sensitive updates.

• Instant delivery: Customers receive notifications in real-time, making WhatsApp well-suited for order updates, delivery alerts and promotional reminders.

• Two-way communication: WhatsApp naturally facilitates real-time conversations, allowing customers to respond, ask questions and interact with brands more fluidly. This enables retailers to build deeper relationships and foster long-term loyalty.

• Global reach: WhatsApp is available in 180 countries and in 60 languages. It has particularly high penetration in EMEA, LATAM and APAC – making it a powerful channel for reaching audiences at scale and ensuring that communications feel natural and accessible to local audiences.

How to use email & WhatsApp together in your ecommerce marketing strategy

Whilst WhatsApp offers retailers a range of benefits, email remains an essential channel for ecommerce marketing. Each plays a distinct role in the customer journey, and the most effective strategies use the two channels in tandem.

Email provides scope for rich creative content, detailed product recommendations and longer-form storytelling. WhatsApp, by contrast, excels in immediacy and brevity. It is best deployed for time-sensitive nudges, order updates or succinct campaign reminders.

Leveraging both channels allows retailers to create a layered strategy that ensures customers receive the right message in the right format and the right moment.

The synergy between email and WhatsApp becomes evident when applied to the following use cases.

Promotional campaigns: Tell stories with email, spark action on WhatsApp

Promotional campaigns often require a combination of rich creative assets, detailed storytelling and value-driven messaging – all areas where email excels. Email is a fantastic canvas for high-quality product and lifestyle imagery, engaging copy and compelling offers, making it ideal for showcasing new collections, seasonal sales or loyalty program perks.

WhatsApp, by contrast, can enhance campaign performance by delivering concise and highly targeted reminders that cut through the noise. Short, time-sensitive nudges such as “Sale ends at midnight” or “Your size is nearly sold out” play to WhatsApp’s immediacy and higher open rates, ensuring customers don’t miss key opportunities. These messages are particularly effective in the final stages of a campaign, when urgency is a critical driver of conversion.

In addition, brands can take advantage of WhatsApp Status, a feature similar to Instagram Stories, to broadcast flash offers, product drops or exclusive promotions. This enables brands to create a sense of excitement and scarcity without overloading customer inboxes with additional emails. By appearing within a channel customers already use daily, WhatsApp Status can drive incremental engagement and keep campaigns top-of-mind.

A layered approach like this ensures that customers receive the depth and narrative of email alongside the timeliness and visibility of WhatsApp. Together, they increase the overall impact of promotional campaigns, boosting conversions while avoiding customer fatigue.

Abandoned cart recovery: Persuade with email, close sales with WhatsApp

Email can be leveraged to share persuasive cart recovery content – including product imagery and reviews. Rich visuals and social proof help to remind customers of the value of the products they left behind, while also addressing potential hesitations. By including trust signals such as star ratings, shipping information or returns policies, brands can rebuild confidence and encourage the customer to complete their purchase.

In addition, cart recovery emails provide space to recommend complementary items, potentially increasing average order value when the customer does return to checkout.

WhatsApp complements this by introducing immediacy into the recovery sequence. A short, well-timed reminder delivered directly to a customer’s messaging app is far more likely to be opened and read within the critical decision window. For example, a WhatsApp message sent a few hours after cart abandonment could include a direct link back to the checkout, paired with a conversational tone such as, “Still thinking it over? Your items are waiting.”

In some cases, retailers may also use WhatsApp to layer on urgency by highlighting limited stock availability or a promotion deadline.

When email and WhatsApp are used together in this way, they create a multi-touch cart recovery journey that balances persuasion with urgency. This combination increases the likelihood of recapturing lost revenue, whilst providing a customer experience that feels both helpful and personalised.

Customer service & post-purchase engagement: Solve big issues by email, provide quick fixes on WhatsApp

Email is best suited for managing more complex customer service interactions that require detailed, carefully structured responses – such as those related to billing discrepancies, warranty claims or multi-step returns processes.

Beyond problem resolution, it is also an effective channel for nurturing customers through the post-purchase journey, supporting them in getting the most value from their purchase. For example, brands often use email to deliver targeted content like product care guides and styling inspiration.

WhatsApp, on the other hand, excels at facilitating rapid, one-to-one conversations that resolve simple queries quickly. Customers who want to check delivery status, confirm a discount code or clarify basic product details may prefer the immediacy of WhatsApp. The conversational nature of the channel mirrors the way customers interact with friends and family, making it a natural choice for short, informal interactions.

This ease of access can reduce the volume of customer service tickets handled via email or phone, while also increasing satisfaction by meeting customers in the channel they already use daily.

By offering both options, brands provide customers with flexibility and control over how they interact with support teams. Together, these two channels ensure that post-purchase communication is both comprehensive and responsive, enhancing the overall customer experience and building stronger long-term loyalty.

Transactional communications: Save details for email, with concise updates on WhatsApp

Email is well-suited for sending detailed order confirmations, receipts and shipping documentation. These longer-form messages provide customers with important information that they may want to reference later, such as payment details, itemised order summaries or instructions for returns and exchanges. This gives customers confidence that they have all the necessary details at hand should they need them later in the purchase journey.

WhatsApp, meanwhile, adds value by delivering concise, real-time updates that keep customers informed in the moment. For example, a short message confirming that an order has been dispatched – accompanied by a clickable tracking link – reassures the customer that their purchase is progressing smoothly. Notifications such as “Your package will arrive tomorrow” or “Your delivery is out for arrival today” help to manage expectations and reduce the likelihood of service enquiries.

The combination of detailed records and instant notifications provides a comprehensive transactional experience. This dual-channel approach not only enhances transparency, but also builds trust by showing customers that the brand is proactively communicating at every stage of the fulfilment process.

WhatsApp vs SMS marketing: Choosing the right channel

With Klaviyo having introduced WhatsApp into its marketing platform, many retailers will be wondering how it differs to SMS as a marketing channel. Both channels enable direct, immediate communication, but there are some important distinctions to consider:

• Business identity: WhatsApp allows you to create a business account and send messages from your company’s official profile, rather than your audience receiving an SMS from an unknown number. This could help to build trust in your brand and encourage engagement.

• Message content: SMS is typically text-only, while WhatsApp supports rich media (images, videos, audio, documents, links, forms), allowing for more engaging experiences.

• Interactivity: WhatsApp enables direct actions in-app (e.g. watching a video or completing a form), unlike SMS.

• Message length: SMS limits promotional texts to ~160 characters per message, whereas WhatsApp allows unlimited text length.

• Reach: SMS can be delivered to any mobile phone, regardless of internet connection. This makes it particularly valuable in markets where internet access is inconsistent. WhatsApp requires a smartphone and data or a Wi-Fi connection, though it’s widely adopted globally.

• Analytics and tracking: SMS offers limited analytics (mainly delivery and click-through if a link is included), while WhatsApp provides richer reporting on message status (delivered, read, clicked, replied).

• Location: SMS isn’t widely used in the UK and Europe because of high direct message charges, but WhatsApp is. Conversely, SMS is popular in the US, whereas WhatsApp is not widely adopted.

• Customer expectations: SMS has traditionally been viewed as functional and transactional, often reserved for critical updates. WhatsApp is generally perceived as a more conversational, personal and interactive channel.

The decision between WhatsApp and SMS should be guided by customer behaviour and market context. In many cases, using both channels strategically will deliver the strongest results.

WhatsApp marketing on Klaviyo: What you need to know

Klaviyo now offers native channel support for WhatsApp, making it easy for brands to integrate WhatsApp into their marketing strategy and deliver personalised, real-time messages across the customer journey.

All customer interactions and data automatically sync to your unified profile for smarter segmentation and personalisation, whilst built-in reporting and attribution enable full visibility into performance and ROI.

Users can leverage three types of WhatsApp messaging:

1. Marketing: This refers to messages that are promotional in nature, including sale announcements, product recommendations, or welcome messages.
2. Utility: Transactional updates like order confirmations, shipping notifications or payment reminders.
3. Service: Messages initiated by the customer, which are used to support two-way conversations for resolving enquiries.

Note that to use WhatsApp messaging through Klaviyo, you’ll need a verified WhatsApp Business Account.

Next steps: Preparing for WhatsApp on Klaviyo

To prepare for WhatsApp on Klaviyo, ecommerce teams should:

• Set up the technical foundation:  You’ll need a verified Facebook Business Manager account, as Meta manages WhatsApp Business API access. You’ll also need to secure a dedicated phone number for WhatsApp messaging that isn’t already tied to an existing WhatsApp account.

• Audit current automations: Review existing flows and identify where WhatsApp could add value. Focus on areas where immediacy matters most, such as cart recovery, delivery updates or limited-time promotions.

• Identify your audience: Segment your Klaviyo lists to identify which customers are most likely to engage on WhatsApp – e.g. high-intent shoppers, frequent buyers, or SMS subscribers.

• Define channel roles: Establish clear rules about when to use WhatsApp, email and SMS. Avoid duplication across channels, as this risks overwhelming customers and reducing engagement.

• Update consent collection: Modify sign-up forms, checkout processes and loyalty program enrollments to capture WhatsApp permissions. Clearly explain how this new channel will be used and what type of messages customers can expect to receive. We also recommend reviewing WhatsApp’s Business and Commerce policies to ensure you are compliant.

• Create content tailored to WhatsApp: Craft short, conversational copy that feels natural within the app. Avoid repurposing email content without adaptation, as WhatsApp users expect brevity and relevance. Remember to plan a few Status updates (WhatsApp’s ‘stories’ format) for product drops or flash sales, for example.

• Set KPIs: Decide how success will be measured, whether through engagement metrics, conversion rates or customer satisfaction. Establishing benchmarks early will make it easier to evaluate performance and refine strategies.

Following these steps ensures that WhatsApp is integrated into your omnichannel ecommerce strategy thoughtfully.

Swanky’s in-house Klaviyo experts are able to provide support around any of these areas to help achieve a successful WhatsApp implementation.

Integrate WhatsApp into your Klaviyo strategy with Swanky

As an official Klaviyo Platinum Agency, we help ecommerce teams design, implement and optimise omnichannel marketing strategies using Klaviyo.

If you’re looking for trusted Klaviyo experts to help integrate WhatsApp into your existing Klaviyo setup, contact our team today.

Image source: Klaviyo