Why clients choose Custobar over Klaviyo

We're sometimes asked why should someone choose Custobar over Klaviyo. Here are some of the most important reasons our clients have told us they've chosen Custobar over Klaviyo.

Klaviyo is designed for online businesses, Custobar is designed for omnichannel and online

Klaviyo says that it is a software platform for marketing any business that sells online (Klaviyo.com / Sep 24, 2020). Custobar, on the other hand, has been designed for omnichannel as well as online B2C businesses right from the start.

Custobar's story started together with Record Shop X, nowadays the biggest record store chain in the Nordics. They're a pioneer of hyper-targeted marketing campaigns and have made a success out of that. A rarity in the record store business nowadays, Record Shop X runs brick-and-mortar stores and sells records worldwide in their online store. The record store's sales data from the shops as well as their online store moves to Custobar in real-time. Then, Record Shop X's sales staff can use any single piece of data for creating customer segments and triggering campaigns in Custobar.

Now, the Custobar interface has changed since we filmed this video, but if you're to watch one video about Custobar - let it be this one!

Summary: Klaviyo is a marketing platform designed for online web stores; Custobar is a customer data and marketing automation platform designed for online or omnichannel B2C businesses.

Klaviyo does email marketing and SMS, Custobar specializes in a multitude of marketing channels

Klaviyo has traditionally been an email marketing tool but is now highlighting SMS in addition to email. They say they are an “Email Marketing and SMS Marketing Platform For Ecommerce” (Klaviyo.com / Sep 24, 2020).

Custobar is a CDP with many marketing automation tools. We provide an email marketing tool and template builder, just like Klaviyo. However, some say Klaviyo’s email editor seems a bit more sophisticated than ours - but there’s no significant difference. On the other hand, our clients say that Custobar’s SMS campaigns and automations are more advanced than Klaviyo’s.

Custobar’s marketing channels

Custobar enables you to get in touch with your customers via

Email (with the possibility to embed product recommendations or any other individual customer data)
One-way and two-way SMS
Browser, in-app and mobile-push notifications
Display advertising (Google Ads and Facebook Ads integrations)
Web banners
Direct mail

Summary: Klaviyo and Custobar have nearly equally strong tools for email marketing. Custobar is more potent in other increasingly important channels like display advertising integrations and its ability to connect with virtually any website or app for creating notifications.

Klaviyo’s set data model vs Custobar’s flexible data model

A data model defines the structure of data and what kind of data you can bring into a service like Klaviyo or Custobar. Both Klaviyo and Custobar have ready-made data models to get you going without having to start from scratch. But Klaviyo’s data model is fixed, whereas you can customize Custobar’s data model with custom properties - and even entire data types - through an easy to use interface.

Custobar’s extendable data model is precisely what you need to send relevant messaging to your customers based on any piece of information you have on them. For example, pet stores might collect information about the house pets that their customers own.

To create, for example, a marketing plan based on the house pet, the pet store needs to know the birth date and breed of the dog. Now, they can develop a highly targeted marketing plan for the pet owner. To execute their plan, the pet shop owner can extend their Custobar data model to include the pet-related fields. And just like that, the new customer data is searchable and targetable in Custobar for campaigns and automations.

Summary: In Klaviyo, the data model is set in a certain way that your business has to adapt. Custobar’s data model is fully customizable.

The flexible data model is available for Custobar Plus clients only.

Only iOS app push notifications with Klaviyo, any push notifications with Custobar

Klaviyo states that “you must have your own native mobile iOS app” to enable push notifications from Klaviyo (help.klaviyo.com / Sep 29, 2020).

In Custobar you can send and automate push notifications to virtually any app or software that provides an API. Custobar does this by using webhooks, and you can send the push notifications to your app’s back-end from Custobar’s user interface - and your app takes care of the rest, as the look and feel of your message. Custobar’s visual audience building tool and the possibility to trigger messages to any app or software are a powerful combination for reaching your customers on any channel.

Finnish fast food restaurant chain Hesburger has a super popular app for iOS and Android (1M+ downloads for Android only). Their customers can pre-order and pay for their meals and get targeted offers within the app. Hesburger uses Custobar to create customer segments based on their behaviour and can easily target, for example, vegetarians with push notification campaigns promoting their new veggie options.

Summary: Klaviyo’s push notification abilities are minimal - it enables push notifications to iOS apps only. Custobar can send push notifications to most apps and software with an API.

Klaviyo's customer view vs Custobar's in-store and customer 360° view

Klaviyo and Custobar both offer a view of every single customer and their history with your business. Both include a timeline of the customer's activities and personal information.

Klaviyo's customer view can automatically collect data from eCommerce platforms and fulfil that data with online forms that customers need to fill in. It seems that integration and customization capabilities are not as flexible as Custobar's. However, it is possible to integrate Klaviyo with many other apps. Klaviyo does not have an in-store view for sales staff, as it's a service for online businesses.

Custobar's in-store and customer 360° view is very visual and customizable. It has been designed and developed together with our retail and eCommerce clients. Marketing can use it to improve customer understanding. Customer service and in-store sales can see valuable insights when serving the customer, for example, their upsell potential.

In Custobar, you can show the KPIs that matter to you most. For example,

All eCommerce and shop customer data
Customer's level and points in a loyalty program
Shop your customer purchases from the most
Customer's favourite category of products
Tickets from customer service app like Zendesk

Summary: Klaviyo has a good customer view, but it's designed for showing eCommerce data about the customer. Custobar's in-store and customer 360° view supports all functions and can display data from all points along the customer's journey with your business.

How can Custobar help your business grow? Book a demo

Let’s schedule 20-30 minutes of private online customer data and marketing consultation. We’ll show you what you can do with your customer data and how to improve your marketing!