8 data-backed ways to improve the customer experience

No matter how differently each segment of your business operates, it’s important to create one seamless experience for all shoppers. Providing customers with the full range of shopping experiences and knowing where they are in their journey can help you send the right communication at the right time, while making it easy for customers to switch between channels.

Apparel brand Marine Layer wanted to create a cohesive brand experience across both their sales channels: brick-and-mortar stores and ecommerce. By consolidating customer data in Klaviyo, they developed a seamless omnichannel experience for in-store, online, and SMS interactions—and grew Klaviyo revenue 40.4% YoY in the process.

Marine Layer now activates their email sign-up data in real time, with two welcome flows: one for people who subscribe online, and one for people who do it IRL. To help customers understand the full range of shopping experiences available, each flow features slightly different creative:

• The welcome flow for in-person shoppers highlights the extensive online selection, and Marine Layer’s free shipping and returns policy.
• The welcome flow for DTC shoppers is more focused on boosting awareness of Marine Layer’s retail stores and encouraging repeat online purchases.

“Thank goodness we’ve been able to put all our data in Klaviyo, so we can use that information to inform how we’re contacting buyers,” says Renee Halvorsen, CMO at Marine Layer.

Sometimes things will go wrong during the customer lifecycle. That’s unavoidable. But when they do, quick support and meaningful action can help enhance customer loyalty.
After a negative experience with a brand, most customers (32%) go to the customer support team first—except for Gen Z consumers, who are more likely to cut right to leaving a review or feedback.

And when a customer does reach out to your support team, they understandably want a quick reply: 43% expect a response within 24 hours, and 22% expect a response within the first hour.

The data also shows that good customer service can help you retain customer loyalty. Half of customers would give a brand a second chance if they received compensation, while 27% would do so if the brand asked them for feedback.

Make it easier for customers to get help by offering a CRM-powered self-service portal where they can manage orders, browse recommended products, and get support when they need it. When they do reach out, make them feel heard and prioritized. This can keep issues from escalating.

When officewear brand Ministry of Supply wanted a more sophisticated, on-brand customer account experience that complemented the shopping experience and showed account information beyond a static order history, they turned to Klaviyo Customer Hub.

Customer Hub displays a wide variety of account information in one place: the customer’s recently viewed items; their order history, with product-page links for convenient repurchasing; their order tracking information; personalized product recommendations, powered by Klaviyo AI; and more.

“The most common things we see customers want in a bespoke shopping experience are details on what they got last time and what we think they should get this time,” says Ministry of Supply CEO Aman Advani. “With Klaviyo Customer Hub, they have one-click access to both of those things.”

It works, too: in less than 4 months since starting with Customer Hub, Ministry of Supply account holders performed 650+ self-serve support interactions.

Gain trust with consumers by communicating data policies openly and sharing how your brand upholds your values. If relevant, showcase your brand’s ethical sourcing, fair labor practices, and sustainability initiatives. Leverage storytelling in marketing campaigns to highlight real-world impact.

Values-based messaging is part of the marketing strategy for health and wellness non-profit Balanced Rock, which switched to Klaviyo from another email marketing tool to build their subscriber list and engage their community.

Now, a Klaviyo welcome pop-up on Balanced Rock’s Squarespace site offers visitors a free yoga video if they sign up for marketing emails. Balanced Rock then sends a weekly newsletter campaign that blends educational content, like blog posts and recipes, with program promotions. Engagement is rising as a result, with 35.8% YoY email list growth and a 53.7% QoQ increase in active-on-site rate from campaigns.

“As a nonprofit that is all about human connection, it’s important that the systems we use don’t feel robotic or cold,” says Meaghan O., operations manager at Balanced Rock. “Klaviyo is helping us create a better, more personalized user experience.

Promoting customer loyalty with smart loyalty programs can increase customer lifetime value and lower customer acquisition costs.

Use data to determine which type of loyalty program your audience would prefer. Consider experiential rewards like early access to sales or exclusive content in addition to discounts. Integrate loyalty programs seamlessly into your omnichannel experience, ensuring customers can earn and redeem rewards whether they shop in-store, online, or via mobile apps.

Women’s health brand Happy V pulls loyalty data into Klaviyo via a pre-built integration to create 7 different loyalty-triggered flows. Additionally, they run quarterly campaigns targeting subscribers with 100+ points, encouraging them to redeem their rewards.

The results speak for themselves: 6.6x YoY growth in loyalty points redemptions attributed to Klaviyo flows. “Klaviyo integrations are very seamless,” says Lydia Di Capua, head of retention and CX at Happy V. “We didn’t need developer support to set them up, and we were able to clone all our loyalty flows into our Klaviyo, and build off of that.”.

Optimize marketing and customer service messaging by channel, audience, and customer journey or recent actions. You don’t have to cast a wide net—you can use data to drill down to the most effective channels for each consumer and send a personalized message to speak to them at their unique stage.

When heritage apparel brand Filson centralized customer data in Klaviyo, they were able to improve the customer experience for people who subscribed to both email and SMS. Now, the ability to segment on behavioral data from both channels means fewer redundant sends and lower unsubscribe rates. Incorporating SMS into core email flows has contributed to 3.5x YoY SMS revenue growth.

“It’s essential to avoid messages that make our subscribers think, ‘Filson doesn’t know me,’” says Mike Swanson, retention marketing manager at Filson.

“If we have all the data across systems in Klaviyo, and we know how people are interacting with the brand both positively and negatively, whether that’s through customer service or a retail store, we can create a seamless omnichannel experience that feels personalized—and drive more revenue,” Swanson explains.

Offer personalized promotions based on customer purchasing behavior, or remind consumers to revisit their abandoned cart when they’re ready to buy. Limited-time offers can also drum up a sense of urgency and drive conversions.

Reduce friction at check-out to avoid abandoned carts. Clearly display all fees upfront and offer incentives, like free shipping for loyalty members or discounts on bundled products.

Data can help you get discounts or promotions to customers that are more likely to churn. Dog gear brand Ruffwear, for example, uses Klaviyo to send RFM-triggered re-engagement flows: if a customer enters the “Needs attention” or “At risk” RFM segments, it triggers a retention flow that recommends bestsellers the customer hasn’t yet bought.

In just 6 months, Ruffwear’s discount rate—the ratio of discounts to sales—dropped 10% YoY, while overall revenue grew 9%. “Getting the right discounts to the right people at the right time gives us better margins,” explains Ernie Kucera, digital marketing manager at Ruffwear.

Ongoing engagement with customers helps reinforce long-term customer value. Send customer feedback check-ins at key post-purchase touchpoints to show you’re listening.

Follow-ups and thank-you notes, along with personalized recommendations, can help customers feel valued and understood. You can also start VIP programs for high spenders with exclusive perks and discounts.

Jones Road Beauty, for example, grew their Klaviyo-attributed BFCM revenue 167% YoY with limited-edition holiday drops and relevant communications for different buyer segments, including tailored outreach to VIP repeat buyers with messaging about gifting their favorite product.

“The ease of creating segments in Klaviyo and spinning up personalized emails plays a big part in our BFCM strategy,” says Cody Plofker, CMO of Jones Road Beauty.

Personalization should extend beyond simply using a customer’s first name in an email. Instead, leverage AI and machine learning to analyze browsing behavior, past purchases, and engagement patterns. Set up demographic-based and behavior-based segments, like recency, frequency, and monetary value (RFM).

With Klaviyo Data Platform, men’s underwear brand 2xist launched an RFM-based promotion strategy with highly targeted messaging through retention flows, Meta campaigns, and direct mail. For the direct mail campaign, the brand sent a targeted promotion to over 6,000 members of their “Needs attention” segment who had opted out of email and were at risk of churning. The campaign earned a ROAS of 3.4x.

“The fact that we can have email, SMS, and CDP all under one hood with Klaviyo helps with aligning data, pulling reports—everything,” says Christopher Peek, digital marketing director at The Moret Group. “I’m not pulling 3 different reports from 3 different platforms and trying to connect the dots. I love being able to go in and see how each message performed with each RFM segment.”