The 3 Best Newsletter Platforms for eCommerce Store Owners

eCommerce email marketing is one of the most powerful ways to engage your audience and generate repeat sales. It nicely complements your website and social media efforts; unlike the latter, you own your audience. Moreover, email marketing lets you speak to an audience that wants to hear from you.

However, email marketing isn’t as easy as typing a message in your web client and BCC’ing everyone. You must choose a newsletter platform that lets you segment your audience and manage your content more effectively. With so many tools out there, knowing which one to pick is a challenge; at the same time, it’s one of the most important business decisions you’ll make.

I’ve tried several email marketing platforms over the past few years to manage my blog audience and those interested in buying my art. Based on my experiences, you’ll discover my top three eCommerce newsletter platform recommendations today.

The Best Newsletter Platforms for eCommerce Store Owners: An Overview

Klaviyo

In my opinion, Klaviyo is by far the best email marketing software for eCommerce store owners. With a free plan, you can send up to 500 monthly emails; if you’re a small brand and don’t have a big audience yet, this will be perfect for your needs.

Klaviyo Features

Klaviyo has comprehensive segmentation tools, including an AI feature that lets you divide your audience in a way that makes sense to you. If you plan to send SMS messages and push notifications, you can use your segments across these and not just email. Your data will update in real time, too, allowing for a more accurate overview.

A/B testing is a crucial aspect of any marketing campaign, and within Klaviyo, you’ll find tools that help you split-test with minimal problems. Moreover, you can view data related to customer lifetime value (CLV) and other elements for better mail personalization.

To help you produce aesthetically pleasing newsletters and build your mailing list, Klaviyo has more than 100 templates. You can also start from scratch if you’d prefer.

Klaviyo Pricing

Klaviyo’s pricing depends on how many active user profiles you have. You can only use one active profile with a free plan.

You can pay for just email or email and SMS. Below is a breakdown of some pricing options:

Klaviyo has fixed prices for up to 250,000 active profiles (which costs $2,300/mo for just email and $2,315/mo for email and SMS). Beyond that, you can get custom pricing by contacting Klaviyo’s sales team.

Klaviyo Pros and Cons

To help you get a better understanding of whether Klaviyo is the right eCommerce newsletter solution for you, consider the pros and cons listed below.

Pros

Send up to 500 monthly emails on a free plan

Comprehensive segmentation features, including AI-powered tools

Logical and reasonable pricing based on your number of active profiles

100+ easy-to-customize templates

Comprehensive analytics to personalize emails (e.g. CLV)

Cons

Free plan users only get email support for the first 60 days

The initial learning curve is difficult

Who Is Klaviyo Best For?

Klaviyo is the best tool for eCommerce store owners who want comprehensive analytics. It’s also helpful if you’ve got a broad range of products and, as a result, customers with different interests. You should also consider using this tool if you plan to do SMS marketing at the same time as your newsletters.

Kit (Formerly ConvertKit)

Kit, formerly known as ConvertKit, is another fantastic newsletter platform. I use it primarily to manage one of the blogs in my portfolio, but it’s also excellent for eCommerce. After signing up, you’ll tell Kit what you’re using the platform for; you should get approved as long as you’re genuine.

Kit Features

Kit lets you create visual automations, which will make it much easier for you to generate sequences for new subscribers. If you have a flagship product that you want to push more, I strongly recommend using this tool.

If you regularly use similar aspects in your emails (e.g. calls-to-action), you can save these as snippets. Rather than having to manually type them each time you send a message, you can send your newsletters more quickly and ensure that more people complete your desired action.

Kit also has a handful of templates to use for your emails. These are more limited than Klaviyo, but they’re fine if you’re just starting out or want something with fewer bells and whistles. Also handy is the option to directly manage your products within the Kit app. However, you’ll need to keep in mind the 3.5% + $0.30 fee for each transaction.

You can also integrate Kit with WooCommerce, WordPress, Shopify, and various other platforms. Managing your contacts and campaigns will become even easier, as will capturing new emails.

Kit Pricing

Kit has a comprehensive free plan that lets you send newsletters to as many as 10,00 subscribers per month for free. You get unlimited landing pages, round-the-clock support, and the option to sell digital products. Tagging and segmentation, along with unlimited broadcast messages, are also included in a free Newsletter plan.

Pricing for other plans depends on how many subscribers you have. Rather than paying for subscriber allowances, you’re paying for additional features. For both paid plans, you can have up to 500,000 subscribers; after that, you need a custom plan.

Kit Pros and Cons

Pros

Send newsletters to up to 10,000 people with the free Newsletter plan

Sell digital products and subscriptions directly within Kit

Set up tip jars for additional revenue

Paid newsletter campaign options

Free migration from other platforms for paid plans

24/7 support for all plans

Cons

Aesthetically-minded brands might need more template customization than what Kit offers

Only 2 users allowed on the Creator plan

Who Is Kit Best for?

Kit is the best eCommerce newsletter marketing platform for brands that focus heavily on content creation. It’s also an excellent tool for individual creators who run an eCommerce store on the side of their blog, YouTube channel, or other creative pursuit. However, since its features are mainly geared toward creators, you should consider going for Klaviyo if you focus mainly on selling rather than content creation.

If you aren’t sure where to start with your newsletter design, consider checking out some of the many eCommerce email marketing examples that convert.

Flodesk

Flodesk is one of the newer email marketing platforms around, but it’s an excellent Klaviyo alternative if you want to send beautiful and personalized newsletters. If you’re new to sending newsletters and just want something simple, I think that Flodesk is well worth looking at.

Flodesk Features

Flodesk has simple drag-and-drop features, and you can pick a newsletter template to get started. Its interface is quite responsive; this is a big contrast to many other email marketing platforms that I’ve tried and didn’t include on this list.

You can choose from numerous fonts to customize your newsletter text, and the app integrates with a handful of popular tools. These include Facebook, WordPress, Shopify, and Instagram.

To measure the success of your campaigns, you can gain access to some handy analytics. For example, you can see your open rates broken down by day. When you have this information, you can make a better-educated decision for future newsletters.

Flodesk Pricing

Flodesk has a free plan that lets you manage an unlimited number of subscribers. You also get basic features like audience segmentation. However, upgrading to a paid subscription will give you more flexibility and eCommerce-specific tools.

Here’s a breakdown of Flodesk’s pricing:

Flodesk Pros and Cons

Pros

Flat subscription price, regardless of how many subscribers you have

One-month free trial; no credit card required

Beautiful templates and designs

Very responsive and user-friendly

No platform fees (apart from Stripe’s processing fee)

Cons

Basic features if you don’t upgrade to a paid plan

Some users might need more customization and templates than what Flodesk can offer

Analytics tools aren’t as comprehensive as other platforms

Who Is Flodesk For?

Flodesk is a handy tool for eCommerce store owners who don’t need lots of features and want a responsive interface. It’s also a great option if you’re a complete beginner to email marketing and don’t have the budget to hire someone else.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a free eCommerce newsletter platform?

Many newsletter platforms have free plans, including Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and Kit. Sometimes, you’ll have to pay as your subscriber base grows; in other instances, you might need to get a subscription for additional features.

What key features should I look for in a newsletter platform for my eCommerce brand?

eCommerce-specific features are important if you want more options to promote your products and generate revenue. You should also think about integration with other tools you use (e.g. WordPress). Pick something that’s easy for you to use, too; many solutions have free trials.

Can I automate my newsletter sign-ups?

Yes – many tools help you automate segmentation and newsletter sign-ups. For example, you can use “if > then” commands to make everything easier to manage.

Which newsletter tools are compatible with WordPress?

Many newsletter platforms have official plugins or third-party tools that let you use them with WordPress. Flodesk and Kit are two examples.