Email marketing has a high ROI. A quarter of US consumers suggest that they are more likely to purchase a product after receiving an email newsletter. 

However, creating an email marketing campaign is no easy task. A number of components go into the process, such as customer segmentation, creating subject lines, email copy, graphics, and engaging CTAs. Email is a channel that relies the most on automation.

With ecommerce email marketing automation, you can engage with customers effortlessly. The right emails reach the right people at the right time automatically. This frees up your team, allowing you to focus on strategy–a goal shared by 48% of marketing professionals.

In this blog, we discuss how to get started with email marketing automation and maximize your ROI. 

What is Ecommerce Email Marketing Automation?

Ecommerce email marketing automation simplifies the process of sending personalized messages to subscribers. It's all about setting up specific triggers that send the right message to the right person at the right time, making your marketing efforts more efficient and effective.

For instance, when someone signs up for a newsletter, they will receive a series of welcome emails introducing the brand. These emails will be followed by valuable content, discount codes, and offers to encourage further interaction. 

How Does Email Marketing Automation Work?

Email marketing automation works with a series of set-up automated email workflows and sequences that get triggered based on specific actions.

The core process typically involves:

1. Integrating customers' data into automation software

You start by importing your email lists or contacts from sources like Shopify or your CRM tool. The tool consolidates subscriber information from multiple sources into information-rich, unified profiles. 

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This gives the automation tool visibility into your contact database. It also provides insights into customer behaviors and preferences to allow customer segmentation. 

2. Creating segments 

Creating customer segments is important for delivering personalized emails to your customers. With email automation, you can segment customers based on demographics, age, gender, purchase value, or specific events. 

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3. Building automated workflow sequences 

In this step, you visually map out your automated sequences using the workflow or drag-and-drop builder. 

For example:

• Welcome email sequence after signing up
• Abandoned cart reminders based on site behavior
• Purchase follow-up sequences after buying
• Re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers

This defines the rules for each automated campaign. Each workflow has pre-defined triggers that initiate the sequence. Common triggers include subscribing to a list, purchasing, abandoning a cart, specific dates, interacting with emails, etc.

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4. Designing emails 

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With email marketing automation, you can create visually appealing, on-brand emails that can be used for multiple email campaigns. An email marketing automation tool also comes with customizable templates. 

You can include dynamic elements like product recommendations, social links, etc, and optimize emails for different devices and inboxes.

5. Personalize messages 

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To personalize the automated emails, you use custom fields and dynamic placeholders that pull in subscriber-specific details like name, location, products browsed, and products purchased.

Plivo CX comes with an AI assistant that lets you personalize your emails based on the objective, brand length, and occasion.

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6. Monitoring campaign performance 

To maximize the ROI of your email marketing automation, you should continually optimize content, segmentation, and cadences based on performance analytics. 

Benefits of Using Email Marketing Automation

1. Personalized customer experience

Email personalization is the leading priority for 55% of marketers, and automation makes it easier to achieve. Email marketing automation includes features like segmentation and triggers that help you send personal messages. 

For example, you can trigger an abandoned cart email whenever someone leaves a product in the cart or use AI to send a personalized email wishing them on events like birthdays and anniversaries.  

2. High ROI

Email marketing has unparalleled ROI compared to other marketing channels. Marketers witnessed a doubling of their ROI from email marketing in 2023. In this scenario, automating this channel acts as a cherry on top. Automation eliminates manual tasks in the process of email marketing. It also reduces staffing needs, removes the risk of human error which increases your bottom line.

3. Engaged customers 

52% of customers in the US prefer email to engage with brands' incentivized messages. Ecommerce email automation helps you maintain this engagement. It enables you to send targeted messages based on individual preferences and behaviors.

To enhance the overall experience, you can nurture leads over time with drip campaigns and respond timely to customer actions. By setting up automated workflows, you can reach a larger audience consistently across various touchpoints. 

4. Perfect for upselling and cross-selling

Through ecommerce email automation, you can recommend similar products whenever someone makes a purchase. 

Take the email below as an example. When a customer purchases honey from this brand, the company shares other organic products that may interest them. This way, you can retain more customers and increase their lifetime value. 

7 Ecommerce Email Marketing Automation Workflow Examples

Here are seven crucial email flows to engage customers from lead capturing to post-purchase engagement:

1. Welcome emails 

Welcome emails are sent to new subscribers or customers shortly after they sign up or make their first purchase. These emails aim to introduce the brand, set expectations, and provide relevant information or offers. 

Example workflow: 

• New customer signs up/makes a purchase
• Send a welcome email with a discount code or incentive
• If there is no purchase in 7 days, send a follow-up email with product recommendations
• If purchased, move to a regular marketing sequence.

2. Abandoned cart emails 

Abandoned cart emails Brief explanation: Abandoned cart emails are triggered when a customer adds items to their online shopping cart but doesn't complete the purchase. These emails aim to remind customers of the items left in their cart and encourage them to complete the purchase. 

Example workflow: 

• The customer adds items to the cart but doesn't checkout
• Send abandoned cart email after 1 hour with cart contents and incentive 
• If there is no purchase in 24 hours, send a second email with a stronger incentive 
• If there is no purchase in 72 hours, remove it from the sequence

3. Order follow-up email 

Order follow-up emails are sent after a customer makes a purchase. These emails can include order confirmations, shipping updates, product care instructions, or cross-selling/upselling recommendations. 

Example workflow: 

• The customer makes a purchase 
• Send order confirmation email 
• When the order ships, send a shipping confirmation with the tracking number 
• Seven days after delivery, send a follow-up email with product care tips and related product recommendations.

4. Lead nurturing campaigns

Lead nurturing campaigns are designed to convert leads into customers by providing relevant content and offers based on their interests and behaviors. 

Example workflow: 

• Lead signs up for a newsletter or downloads a content offer 
• Send a series of emails with educational content and product information 
• If engaged (opens/clicks), send a special offer or incentive 
• If there is no engagement after three emails, move to the re-engagement sequence.

5. Re-engagement campaigns

Re-engagement campaigns aim to re-activate inactive subscribers or customers who haven't engaged with the brand for a certain period. 

Example workflow: 

• Subscriber hasn't opened or clicked an email in 90 days 
• Send a "We miss you" email with an incentive or content 
• If there is no engagement, send a second email with a stronger incentive or content 
• If there is still no engagement, move to a win-back campaign or remove it from the list

6. Birthday/Anniversary emails

Birthday or anniversary emails are sent to customers on or around their birthdays or the anniversary of their first purchase. These emails often include personalized offers or discounts. 

Example workflow: 

• The customer's birthday or purchase anniversary is approaching 
• Send a personalized email with a special offer or discount code 
• Follow up with a thank you email and related product recommendations if they purchase.

7. Event-based emails

Event-based emails are triggered by specific events or actions taken by the customer, such as browsing a particular product category, attending a webinar, or leaving a review. 

Example workflow: 

• The customer leaves a product review 
• Send a thank you email with a discount code for their next purchase 
• If no purchase is made within 30 days, send a follow-up email with related product recommendations and the discount code.

Start Ecommerce Email Marketing Automation 

Plivo CX’s end-to-end automation helps you nurture stronger customer relationships through personalized communication. The automation capabilities save you time, letting you focus on crafting strategies that drive engagement and growth. 

Ready to see how your email marketing can evolve? 

Book a demo today.

Every marketer knows the struggle. You're often drowning in daily tasks, with no time left to actually grow your business. Leads slip through the cracks as you're too busy just keeping up. 

Worse yet, you're wasting precious hours on repetitive marketing work. Follow-up emails, social posts, and so on—the grunt work seems unending. 

If this sounds familiar, it could be the best time for e-commerce marketing automation. It handles the marketing tasks, from personalized content to timely follow-ups and insightful analytics. Now, you can peacefully focus on strategy and drive those leads and conversions.

In fact, Business 2 Community data suggests that businesses employing marketing automation to nurture prospects see a 451% increase in qualified leads.

This detailed guide reveals how e-commerce marketing automation will streamline your business and generate incredible ROI.  Let's turn automation into your secret weapon!

What is E-commerce Marketing Automation?

At its core, ecommerce marketing automation harnesses the power of software tools to automate repetitive marketing tasks like content creation and customer segmentation. 

Marketing automation includes A/B testing, omnichannel engagement, and AI assistance. It can be used to personalize customer experiences across various channels, such as emails, social media, and SMS. This saves time and cultivates stronger customer relationships through targeted messaging and timely follow-ups.

Marketing automation platforms also offer analytics to help you track metrics, measure performance, and refine strategies for continuous improvement. 

Key aspects of e-commerce marketing automation

1. Email marketing automation

With email marketing automation, you can send abandoned cart emails, product recommendations, discount codes, celebratory coupons, and promotional offers to your customers automatically. 

The automation software analyzes customer interactions to send tailored messages to the right customers at the time.

2. Behavioral tracking 

Behavioral tracking is important to understand your customers’ unique needs. An ecommerce marketing software monitors customer behavior to track:

• How customers interact on your website
• Which products do they like or wishlist
• Which products do they leave in the cart
• Which pages are receiving the most traffic

This data gives you a bird’s eye view of your customers' likes and dislikes. You can create customer groups with similar behaviors for more targeted marketing, bringing us to our next point.

3. Segmenting customers

With ecommerce marketing automation, you can segment customers based on demographics, purchase history, and behavior on your website. Then, you can create targeted messages for each customer segment to deliver a more personalized experience. 

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4. Personalized messages 

96% of customers have reported feeling annoyed by SMS marketing messages. 

Why? Because without personalization, the messages could appear irrelevant to customers. 

So, you can use behavioral tracking and customer segmentation to create more personalized messages. 

Take a clothing brand, for example. In April, they can share an offer on summer clothes for Texas and winter clothes for New York because the weather is different in both places. Such messages have a better chance of response as those are more relevant to your customers in both regions. 

5. Analytics and reporting 

With ecommerce marketing automation, you can track the performance and ROI of your marketing campaign. An efficient ecommerce marketing automation tool shares the status of your campaigns, revenue, and other metrics to iterate your marketing efforts and make data-driven decisions. 

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6. Workflow automation

Once in place, marketing automation functions independently. It automates manual tasks and builds workflows for various marketing tasks. 

For example, when one of your customers leaves a product in the cart, the automation will trigger a follow-up email with offers to nudge that customer to complete the purchase. The automation can also write personalized emails for your customers.

The Benefits of Marketing Automation Software for E-commerce Businesses

1. Improved customer segmentation

Marketing automation lets you divide your customers into granular groups based on various factors such as purchase history, browsing behavior, demographics, and engagement levels. You can send highly personalized and relevant messaging, offers, and promotions to each segment to increase the chances of conversion. 

2. Better customer engagement 

You can leverage automation workflows and triggers to send timely and contextual communications. These help you nurture customer relationships and promote long-term loyalty. Also, you can use automated re-engagement campaigns to reactivate lapsed customers.

3. A/B testing opportunities

Many marketing automation platforms offer built-in A/B testing functionalities. So, you can test different variations in subject lines, calls-to-action, and visual elements. With A/B testing, you can continuously optimize your marketing efforts by identifying and using the most effective options to gain maximum ROI.

4. Omnichannel engagement 

Marketing automation software enables you to deliver consistent customer experience across multiple channels. You can streamline creating and executing targeted campaigns across various channels, such as email, SMS, push notifications, and social media. 

5. AI to optimize your marketing efforts

Ecommerce marketing automation leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize campaigns and provide data-driven insights. AI can analyze customer data, identify patterns, and predict future behavior. 

With this data, AI creates personalized content to increase the efficiency of marketing campaigns.

Types of E-commerce Marketing Automation

You can automate your marketing strategy across three channels:

1. Email marketing automation

52% of customers still prefer emails for marketing messages. It makes email automation a powerful tool to have in your arsenal. Email automation allows you to create and send highly targeted and personalized emails based on customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history. 

You can segment your email list based on customer behavior, purchase history, and engagement levels. Then, set up workflows and triggers to send abandoned cart reminders, welcome series, product recommendations, and post-purchase follow-ups – all without manual intervention.

This will help you offer the most relevant emails to your customers.

2. Mobile marketing automation

60% of US adults believe mobile shopping is necessary for convenience. Also, m-commerce sales are estimated to reach ​​$558.29 billion in 2024, which is a good enough reason to invest in mobile marketing automation. 

Mobile marketing automation allows you to meet customers where they are–on their smartphones. You can deliver timely and personalized messages to create a seamless omnichannel experience that drives engagement and sales for your business.

First, build your mobile subscriber list by implementing SMS opt-in forms at strategic touchpoints, such as checkout or account creation. Then, create automated SMS campaigns for cart abandonment, back-in-stock notifications, and limited-time offers tailored to individual preferences.

For example, Plivo CX creates triggers based on events and actions to send timely and relevant messages to customers. It also lets you incorporate media and emojis into your messages so they stand out and capture attention. 

3. On-site marketing automation

45% of respondents in a McKinsey survey agreed that on-site display advertising provides high ROAS. On-site marketing automation focuses on enhancing the customer experience on your e-commerce website. 

With this automation, you can deliver exit-intent pop-ups to capture abandoning visitors, product recommendations based on browsing history, and dynamic content that changes based on the visitor's location, device, or previous purchases.

Design landing pages in a way that captures the most attention and includes high-converting CTA to gain maximum ROI from on-site marketing. You can also leverage AI-powered product recommendation engines to suggest relevant items based on your customer's browsing history and purchase patterns.

Effective Marketing Automation Strategies for E-commerce Brands 

Use email triggers to send personalized content

Email triggers are a powerful way to deliver timely and relevant content to customers based on their behaviors and interactions with your brand. For instance, you can trigger abandoned cart emails whenever a customer leaves items in their shopping cart. 

Similarly, you can trigger shipping confirmation and order update emails to keep customers informed and engaged throughout the delivery process. 

Re-engage old customers with incentive emails

It's common for customers to pause engagement with a brand over time. Incentive emails can be highly effective in re-engaging these customers. You can share exclusive discounts, limited-time promotions, or loyalty rewards to entice customers back to your store.

For example, offer a percentage discount or free shipping on their next purchase or provide a special coupon code for a specific product category they've shown interest in previously. 

You should personalize these incentives based on past purchase behavior and preferences to significantly increase the chances of conversion.

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Use lead scoring for higher conversion

Lead scoring is a technique that assigns a numerical value to each lead or potential customer based on their interactions with your brand, such as website visits, email engagement, and social media activity. You can prioritize your marketing efforts for high-scoring leads and target those most likely to convert.

For example, segment your email list based on lead scores and send personalized product recommendations, exclusive offers, or invitations to webinars or events. This targeted approach can significantly improve conversion rates and ROI compared to blanket marketing campaigns.

Reward loyal customers with offers and discounts

Retaining existing customers is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, and rewarding loyalty is a powerful way to retain long-term relationships. 

Analyze customer purchase history and engagement levels to identify your most loyal customers and offer them exclusive discounts, early access to new products, or loyalty program rewards.

These rewards not only incentivize repeat purchases but also create a sense of appreciation and exclusivity for your customers.

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Engage on mobile with SMS marketing

52% of customers purchased a product after being influenced by brand messaging received via SMS or other messaging platforms. SMS campaigns have high open and engagement rates, making them an effective channel for delivering time-sensitive promotions, order updates, and personalized recommendations.

You can leverage SMS automation to send cart abandonment reminders, back-in-stock alerts, or limited-time offers tailored to individual preferences and behaviors. SMS can also be integrated with other channels, such as email and push notifications, to create a seamless omnichannel experience for your customers.

Upsell and cross-sell by displaying complementary products

Upselling and cross-selling are powerful strategies for increasing average order value and customer lifetime value. You can analyze customer purchase data and browsing behaviors to display complementary or related products that customers may be interested in.

For example, if a customer purchases a camera, recommend compatible lenses, camera bags, or tripods as upsell opportunities. You could cross-sell matching accessories or shoes if a customer adds a dress to their cart.

Use chatbots to engage customers

Chatbots provide instant, 24/7 customer support and engagement. They use conversational AI to assist customers with product recommendations, order tracking, and addressing common inquiries or concerns.

Well-designed chatbots can enhance the customer experience and gather valuable data on customer preferences and behaviors, which you can use in future marketing strategies to personalize content. Chatbots can also be integrated with other channels, such as email and SMS, to create a cohesive omnichannel customer experience.

The AI chatbot in Plivo CX handles common questions automatically so customers can self-serve and find quicker answers. 

E-commerce Messaging Templates to Power up Marketing Automation

Here, we’ve compiled email marketing templates for various use cases that you can steal for your next marketing campaign:

Get Started with E-commerce Marketing Automation

Now that you know the power of e-commerce marketing automation, you can get started right away. But you need a robust marketing automation tool by your side. 

Plivo CX is a top-notch e-commerce marketing automation platform that lets you attract your target audience. It provides end-to-end marketing automation from customer segmentation to creating personalized content and analyzing metrics to optimize your campaign. 

Plivo CX also comes with AI assistance to write content for you, so you don’t need a huge team to get started. When it comes to data security, the platform is GDPR, SOC2, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS compliant. 

Redefine your e-commerce marketing workflow with Plivo CX’s comprehensive automation. 

Book a demo today.

Competing in eCommerce can feel like a David versus Goliath situation when you’re up against the big names with even bigger budgets. It’s tough for small to medium-sized shops to make every marketing dollar count without the deep pockets of larger rivals.

This often leaves you feeling outpaced and overshadowed, struggling to make a mark and turn browsers into buyers. 

Thankfully, there are top-notch marketing tools tailored for smaller businesses that level the playing field. These tools help stretch your budget further, allowing you to connect with customers more personally and drive meaningful sales. 

In this post, we will cover the top eCommerce marketing automation software, the benefits of using one, and how you can identify the right tool for your business. 

What Is Ecommerce Marketing Automation?

eCommerce marketing automation involves using a tool to automate manual and repetitive marketing tasks. Beyond automation, eCommerce automation software helps you integrate multiple marketing channels like email, SMS, WhatsApp, and in-app notifications into one platform. 

Combining all channels and data into one platform allows you to make strong data-driven decisions to optimize your marketing strategies.

4 Benefits of Ecommerce Marketing Automation

Now, let us go over some of the key benefits of ecommerce marketing automation: 

1. Improves marketing team productivity 

According to an Adobe report, 98% of marketers suggest that marketing automation is important or extremely important to success. 

And why not? It comprehensively automates routine tasks and increases overall productivity. 

HubSpot's data shows that 72% of business leaders saw productivity gains after implementing AI and automation. This allows your marketers to tackle bigger strategic challenges rather than get bogged down in the day-to-day grind.

2. Supports omnichannel marketing

With eCommerce automation, you can support multiple channels, meet customers where they are most active, and provide a consistent customer experience at every touchpoint. 

3. Provides customer insights and boosts personalization

79% of buyers are more likely to purchase a product from a brand that offers personalized experiences. Brands are already addressing all the aspects of great personalization, including centralized customer data. 

Having all the data in one platform provides better customer insights to personalize the marketing efforts and improve strategy.

4. Boosts return on investment (ROI)

With automation, you can regularly nurture leads, leading to increased conversation. It optimizes the overall marketing spend. 

71% of businesses report a positive ROI on using automation.

7 Best Marketing Automation for Ecommerce

Here are the top picks of marketing automation tools you can leverage: 

1. Plivo CX

Plivo CX boosts your marketing efforts with advanced automation, personalized campaigns, and deep analytics. The best part is that it is also extendable to customer support teams, so you can bring entire customer data into one platform. 

Features:

• Campaign management: With Plivo CX, you can build relationships with your contacts by planning personalized SMS, MMS, Email (upcoming), and WhatsApp (upcoming) campaigns. 
• API support: Plivo CX offers API support to import contacts and manage opt-outs (upcoming). 
• Pre-defined templates: You can leverage existing templates to expedite the creation and execution of campaigns.
• AI support: With AI, you can auto-create and iterate your campaign content in minutes.
• Integrations: You can integrate Plivo CX with Shopify, Zoho, Freshdesk, Salesforce, Zendesk, HelpScout, Hubspot, Zapier, etc, and easily fit into the entire ecosystem.
• Reporting: Avail insights from customer interactions to make data-driven decisions.
• Customer service support: You can also take advantage of the Plivo CX service module to handle interactions with customers via chatbots (AI-supported), live chat, voice, SMS, and WhatsApp.
• Compliance: Plivo CX is compliant with data protection standards like GDPR and CCPA

Pricing:

Free trial available with limited features. Paid plans for marketing engagement start at $19 per month, and details of Enterprise plans are available on request.

Pros:

• Integrates both marketing and customer functions into a single platform and provides centralized data
• Supports all key channels: SMS, email, AI-powered live chat, voice, and WhatsApp 
• Affordable pricing
• High deliverability rate as Plivo has its messaging network

Cons:

• Currently works for Shopify eCommerce brands only

What do Plivo users say?

2. Klaviyo

Klaviyo is an ecommerce marketing automation platform that automates marketing efforts for eCommerce businesses. It stands out for its smart segmentation, omnichannel support, and data consolidation.

Features

• Campaign management: You can build customized marketing campaigns for email, SMS, and push notification channels. 
• API support: Klaviyo offers API support for importing data. 
• Pre-defined templates: You get built-in templates for email, SMS, forms, and automation.
• AI support: Klaviyo AI helps you find the best time to email customers and display the time to show forms.
• Integrations: You get 300 pre-built integrations for marketing, shipping, sales, loyalty, and subscription programs.
• Reporting: Visualize data for all your digital marketing campaigns in one view.
• Compliance: Klaviyo is compliant with data protection standards like GDPR and CCPA. 

Pricing:

Free trial available with limited features. Paid plans start at $45 per month, supporting 15,000 email credits and 150 SMS credits.

Pros:

• Extensive features and integrations 

Cons:

• Expensive for small and mid-size companies
• Users complain of slowness in the platform.

What do Klaviyo users say?

3. Omnisend

Omnisend is an omnichannel marketing automation platform built for eCommerce businesses. It is an all-in-one marketing automation solution supporting SMS, push notifications, WhatsApp, pop-ups, segmentation, and dynamic Facebook and Google ad integrations.

Features:

• Campaign management: With Omnisend, you can bring multiple marketing channels to one platform: SMS, push notifications, WhatsApp, pop-ups, segmentation, and dynamic Facebook and Google ads.
• API support: You get AI support to write personalized emails, predict customer behavior, and analyze campaign data.
• Pre-defined templates: You can use existing templates for emails, landing pages, notifications, and forms.
• AI support: With AI features, you get support to write personalized emails, predict customer behavior, and analyze campaign data.
• Integrations: Omnisend offers 130+ integrations with marketing, automation, Customer relationship management (CRM), and eCommerce platforms.
• Reporting: You can find detailed revenue and engagement reports of campaigns.
• Compliance: Omnisend is compliant with data protection standards like the GDPR, CCPA, and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Pricing:

Free trial available with limited features. The standard plan starts at $16 per month for 500 contacts and 6,000 emails. For more contacts, pricing is available on request. 

Pros:

• Excellent customer support
• Fully integrated with all major eCommerce platforms–no third-party connectors required
• Easy to use

Cons:

• Limited pre-defined templates
• Slight learning curve

What do Omnisend users say?

4. Braze

Instead of positioning itself as a marketing automation platform, Braze calls itself a customer engagement platform. It engages customers with personalized messages via email, SMS, push notifications, and in-app messaging.

Features:

• Campaign management: Braze supports all the usual marketing channels, such as SMS, MMS, Email, and WhatsApp campaigns. It also supports in-app messaging and push notifications.
• API support: Can use API to export data, send messages, and connect Braze with other platforms. 
• Pre-defined templates: Benefit from pre-defined templates with a media library, content ideas, color profiles, CSS templates, and more.
• AI support: Get AI support to create/edit content and generate images. 
• Integrations: 140+ integrations are available for messaging, analytics, and top eCommerce platforms.
• Reporting: Get automated reports to track campaigns, understand user behavior, and optimize future marketing strategies.
• Compliance: Compliant with data protection standards like the GDPR, CCPA, and SOC2. 

Pricing:

• Not mentioned on their website.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Supports in-app messaging and push notifications beyond usual marketing channels.

Cons:

• Limited reporting features. 

What do Braze users say?

5. Avada

Avada is a marketing platform designed for eCommerce businesses, especially Shopify brands. It enables omnichannel marketing by supporting various channels, including email marketing, SMS, push notifications, and WhatsApp. 

Features:

• Campaign management: Avada supports all the marketing channels, such as SMS, MMS, Email, WhatsApp, and push notifications. It currently doesn't support in-app messaging.
• Pre-defined templates: Pre-made templates are available for email campaigns.
• Reporting: Provides an app dashboard tracking all important KPIs: open rate, click-through rate, revenue, and conversion rate.
• Compliance: Compliant with data protection standards like the GDPR, CPRA, SOC2, and PCI-DSS. 

Pricing:

• Free trial up to 14 days. Advanced plans start at $47 per month.

Pros:

• Excellent customer support

Cons:

• Limited customization options.

What do Avada users say?

6. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a popular email marketing software with automation features to drive personalized marketing messages. It has now expanded to SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications, and in-app messaging.

Features

• Campaign management: You can build customized marketing campaigns for email, SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications and in-app messaging 
• API support: Mailchimp offers API support to import data and automate campaigns. 
• Pre-defined templates: Mailchimp has 100+ free and paid email templates.
• AI support: Mailchimp AI helps you write email content and find the best time to email customers.
• Integrations: You get 250 pre-built integrations with top eCommerce platforms, design, payment platforms, etc.
• Reporting: You get campaign reports tracking open rate, click rate, click maps, revenue, etc. 
• Compliance: Mailchimp is compliant with data protection standards like GDPR and CCPA.

Pricing:

The free plan has only 1000 monthly emails, and the premium plan has 500 contacts, 1,000 SMS credits, 6,000 monthly emails, starting at $40. 

Pros:

• Extensive and easy-to-use email marketing capabilities  

Cons:

• Limited design features for landing pages and email
• Expensive for small and mid-size companies.

What do Mailchimp users say?

7. Sendlane

As a cloud-based marketing automation tool, Sendlane supports omnichannel marketing. While it started as an email marketing platform, it now supports SMS as well.

Features

• Campaign management: You can design marketing campaigns for email and SMS channels. 
• API support: Using Sendlane API, you can import customer data and track customer activity. 
• Pre-defined templates: You get built-in email templates for win back, abandoned carts, loyalty programs, and more.
• Integrations: You can integrate Sendlane with top eCommerce platforms.
• Reporting: You get dashboards showcasing campaign details with revenue, open rate, top products, and more.
• Compliance: Sendlane is compliant with data protection standards like GDPR and CCPA. 

Pricing:

For 500,000 email and SMS credits, the pricing would be $4,955 per month

Pros:

• Excellent customer support
• Good email deliverability

Cons:

• Expensive for small and mid-size companies

What do Sendlane users say?

What should you look for in eCommerce marketing automation tools?

Here are seven key factors to check in an ideal eCommerce automation platform:

1. Ease of use: Is the platform user-friendly to adapt to, or will there be a big learning curve?
2. Supported channels: Does the platform support your required channels?
3. Automation capabilities: Does it have features to automate campaigns based on specific triggers?
4. Integrations: Can it be integrated into your current tech stack?
5. Pricing: Is the pricing in your budget?
6. Customer support: How much is the turnaround time for customer support?
7. Reporting and analytics: What automated reports are available?

Five eCommerce marketing automation strategies to boost sales

Let's evaluate how brands can leverage automation to boost sales:

1. Cart abandonment reminders

You can encourage the users to complete their pending purchases. Sometimes, this could be just a nudge. However, you can also create a sense of urgency with price drops and low inventory alerts. 

2. Automate customer feedback collection

Getting customer feedback on product and delivery experience is a key to more customer sales. As per a survey, 77% of shoppers specifically seek out websites with ratings and reviews. You can design automated campaigns that ask for customer feedback after every delivery. 

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3. Dynamic and personalize content

Another benefit of having eCommerce marketing software is you have ample data to personalize campaigns by:

• Suggest products that are relevant to them
• Giving offers on birthdays and anniversaries
• Offer exclusive discounts for loyal customers

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4. Win-back emails

You can rebuild relationships with customers who haven't opened the eCommerce app/website recently. It could be:

• Offering exclusive discounts
• Informing their most-purchased product is back in stock
• Announcing new collection launches

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5. Loyalty programs

You can plan loyalty programs to build long-term relationships with your customers. Inside loyalty programs, customers can get exclusive discounts, offers, the first sneak peek into new product launches, etc. 

But how do you communicate to customers about loyalty programs? 

The answer is campaigns. Plan campaigns for the customers in the loyalty program to send updates, offers, launches, etc.

Update to customer on becoming an elite customer with exclusive perks | Source: Author

Automate your marketing workflow with Plivo CX

Plivo CX is not just a simple and affordable way to automate your marketing efforts; it's a versatile tool that extends seamlessly to your customer success team. 

This integration brings all your customer data together on one platform, allowing you to craft personalized campaigns that truly resonate.

Whether you’re a small team looking to grow or a larger entity seeking efficiency, Plivo CX is designed to scale with your needs, making it easier to connect with your customers impactfully.

Start a free trial and run your marketing campaigns on autopilot.

If you’re looking for ActiveCampaign alternatives, chances are you’re tired of its clunky UI, high prices, and recurring bugs. Also, some integrations on ActiveCampaign —especially Typeform—can be difficult to use, and the platform has a lot of bugs that hinder your automation workflow. (link)

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These limitations hamper your customer engagement and marketing efforts. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of ActiveCampaign alternatives that help you convert high-intent shoppers, retain your present customers, drive revenue from them, and build brand loyalty. 

In this blog post, we compare every feature, pricing, and integration to help you decide better. 

6 Best ActiveCampaign Alternatives 

1. Plivo CX

Plivo CX Engage is customer experience software for e-commerce brands that allows you to acquire, engage, and service your customers. The platform is suitable for end-to-end marketing campaigns and offers personalization options to connect deeply with your target audience. 

What makes it a great ActiveCampaign alternative?

• One platform to manage the entire CX lifecycle - from acquiring and engaging to servicing
• Text channels for customer support, retention, and engagement.
• A personal delivery platform and network for direct carriers connects with multiple fallbacks and automatic failover
• AI-assisted customizations and message templates 
• Easy user interface

Why choose Plivo CX? 

• The code-free segment builder lets you create laser-focused customer groups.
• The “Journey” feature analyzes the customer journey to trigger communication so you always send the right follow-up message to the right person at the right time.
• You can import contacts from Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento stores.
• Access AI-generated message suggestions based on your goals and urgency, customizable templates, and support for various channels like SMS, email and WhatsApp.  
• Plivo CX ensures reliable message delivery and offers lower prices while directly working with carriers.  
• You can automate your marketing campaigns by writing messages with AI, customizing them with variables, seeing real-time previews of how they will look on the recipient’s screen and scheduling them.
• Use cart abandonment automation, back-in-stock alerts, and flash sales messages to engage with possible buyers. 
• Seamless integration with Shopify, with advanced features such as journey building and event tracking.
• Embedding chat in your app or use an AI chatbot to help your customers solve queries themselves in minutes  
• Track your campaign performance with live dashboards and historical reports that share insights into average wait time, average handle time, average abandonment rate, active agents, and more. 

What’s the catch? 

• The engagement capability is built for e-commerce brands and currently works only for Shopify stores
• Plivo CX has many advanced features, so there’s a small learning curve

Pricing 

Plivo CX Engage offers several plans:

• The free plan allows 300 SMS a month
• Paid plans start from $19/month (and allow the brand to send 1500 texts a month).

Customer ratings & reviews 

‍G2: 4.5/5 (700+ reviews)

Capterra: 4.3/5 (80+ reviews) 

2. Omnisend

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Omnisend is an e-commerce marketing platform that helps with sending emails, SMS, and push notifications. 

What makes Omnisend a great ActiveCampaign alternative? 

• Easy user interface
• Omnichannel marketing
• Great customer service 

Why choose Omnisend?

• Create branded and shoppable emails with images and customizable discount codes in minutes. 

• Design campaigns with the drag-and-drop builder with dynamic content blocks, especially made for e-commerce stores.

• Leverage customer profile data and shopping history to create segments based on average order value, purchase recency, and more.

• Use sales dashboards with metrics like campaign reports and store revenue, and click maps to find the best-performing email templates and reuse them.

• Employ omnichannel marketing, i.e., email, SMS, web notifications, Facebook ads, MMS campaigns and Google ads from one platform.  

What’s the catch? 

• You don’t get segment-based reports.  (Link)
• AI writing is only available to create the email subject line.

Pricing 

• Basic plan: Free
• Standard: $16
• Pro: $59

Customer ratings & reviews

• G2 review: 4.6/5 (879 reviews)
• Capterra review: 4.7/5 (714 reviews)

3. Attentive

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Attentive is an AI marketing platform that uses SMS and emails to help you connect with your target audience. 

What makes Attentive a great ActiveCampaign alternative?

• The revenue calculator forecasts revenue based on existing traffic, average order value, monthly traffic, and conversion rates. 
• Easy user interface
• AI-assisted live agents to reply to customers 

Why choose Attentive?

• Smart Sending and Quiet Hours pick the best times to send messages and avoid busy or night hours to avoid annoying customers.

• LiveSMS lets customers engage with brands on-site. It uses customer data to provide real personalized support. 

• Attentive Customer Passport acts as a card for each customer. It contains their contact information, activities, and attributes. 

• Smart dashboards show list growth, message revenue, and customer engagement to monitor campaigns and A/B tests.  

• Attentive provides a customizable kick-off plan to launch SMS campaigns. 

What’s the catch?

• The email design is glitchy. (link)
• Analytics is very basic. (link)
• The price quickly goes up as you start using moderate features, making it expensive for small businesses. (link)

 Pricing 

• Pricing isn’t available on request.

Customer review

• G2 review: 4.8/5 (491 reviews)
• Capterra review: No reviews 

4. Postscript 

Postscript is also an SMS marketing platform that helps you market your product through text messages. 

What makes Postscript a great ActiveCampaign alternative? 

• Text channels for customer support, retention, and engagement on top of promotions
• Offline lead generation with QR codes 
• Text-to-join keywords 
• Easy user interface

Why choose Postscript?

• Pop-ups to collect new phone numbers and emails that are designed to match your brand aesthetics and offer incentives
• Enables you to create unlimited text-to-join keywords and share them across various marketing channels. These keywords serve as valuable tools for tracking opt-ins. 
• Seamlessly bridge online and offline interactions by generating unique QR codes for product packaging, signage, and other physical locations. With these QR codes, you can effortlessly convert in-person engagements into valuable SMS subscribers, expanding your reach and customer base.
• Offers over 65 trigger events and more than 45 segmentation filters. The Intuitive Flow Builder uses these events to create SMS campaigns and automations. 
• Opt-in forms to collect SMS subscribers at crucial touchpoints such as checkout pages, including popular platforms like Shopify, Recharge, and Carthook

What’s the catch? 

• Postscript only provides SMS. (link)
• Only Shopify integration (link)

Pricing 

• Starter: Free ($0.015/SMS, $0.045/MMS + Carrier fees)
• Growth: $100/month ($0.01/SMS, $0.03/MMS + Carrier fees)
• Professional: $500/month ($0.007/SMS, $0.024/MMS + Carrier fees)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing 

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Customer ratings & reviews

• G2 review: 4.9/5 (159 reviews)
• Capterra review: No reviews 

5. Klaviyo

Klaviyo is SMS and email marketing software that manages conversations and helps you send personalized and relevant messages to your customers at the right time. 

What makes Klaviyo a great ActiveCampaign alternative?

• Color-coded performance charts 
• Predictive analytics 
• AI customer segmentation
• Dynamic web experience for customers 

Why choose Klaviyo?

• Offers omnichannel marketing with SMS, emails, push notifications and reviews

• Segments customers based on specific purchases, discount code usage, and predicted customer lifetime value using historical data, APIs, and native integrations

• Offers a pre-built flow template that you can customize with your branding in a few clicks. Add triggers to these flows, and you can connect with your customers at the most relevant time. 

• Visualizes all marketing data from multiple channels into one dashboard. You can also watch campaign performance by segment. 

• Offers predictive analytics that can forecast the next order date, lifetime value, average time between orders, and churn risk. 

• You can personalize page content based on site visitors' history and tailor pricing and promotions based on their behavior and preferences.
  

What’s the catch?

• Too expensive for small businesses (link)
• Subpar customer service (link)
• Unnecessary features in some plans (link)
• Steep learning curve; not beginner-friendly (link)

Pricing 

• Starter: Free
• Email: $45/month
• Email and SMS: $60/month

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Customer review

• G2 review: 4.6/5 (1028 reviews)
• Capterra review: 4.7/5 (416 reviews)

6. Sinch MessageMedia

Sinch MessageMedia simplifies customer engagement by offering conversational messaging across various channels, including SMS, email, and chat. 

What makes Sinch Message Media a great Active Campaign alternative?

• Integrates with CRM, marketing tools, ERP, and e-commerce tools
• Easy user interface 

Why choose Sinch MessageMedia?

• A unified inbox that lets you interact with their customers seamlessly

• Offers robust audience segmentation, custom fields, and personalized SMS templates, allowing you to create highly relevant and engaging messages

• You can send automated messages in bulk to reach a wider audience with minimal effort. 

• Option to send messages from a dedicated number. You can use toll-free numbers and 10-digit long or short codes to deliver your messages effectively.

• The platform offers robust reporting and analytics tools such as reporting dashboards, short trackable links, and mobile landing pages, allowing businesses to track engagement metrics and gain valuable insights into campaign performance.

What’s the catch?

• Sometimes, the message delivery is slower than expected. (link)
• Hubspot integration can be clunky. (link)

Pricing

• Basic: $49/month
• Conversations: $99/month
• Pro: $249/month

Customer ratings & reviews

• G2 review:  No reviews 
• Capterra review: No reviews 

Pick The Best ActiveCampaign Alternative

These were the best alternatives to ActiveCampaign. If you want to make the switch immediately, try Plivo CX Engage. It offers easy UI, AI-assisted customizations, in-app customer service and fully customizable IVR with personalized automation. These features allow you to customize your promotions and convert your audience to customers. 

You can engage your customers with multiple channels, such as SMS, Whatsapp, and email. Additionally, you can service them via SMS, WhatsApp, email, voice, and live chat. Plivo CX helps segment and target the right customers at the right time, so your brand becomes their first choice whenever they think of buying. 

Let’s supercharge your marketing efforts with Plivo CX Engage. Check out Plivo now. 

Call spoofing is a growing challenge for businesses worldwide. This type of fraud involves the perpetrator using technology to make it look like they’re calling their target from a local number, a well-known company, a government agency, or even a real contact. The scammer then tricks their target into answering their calls and steals their personal information or money.

Call spoofing is a global problem: it’s estimated that Americans alone lost an estimated $87 billion to phone scams last year. It’s also damaging to legitimate businesses who often suffer reputational and financial losses when a scammer impersonates their brand.

Plivo’s introduction of the Verified Caller ID feature is designed to tackle security challenges by bolstering the platform’s security measures. The Verified Caller ID feature plays a pivotal role in enhancing the authenticity of outbound calls made within Plivo’s ecosystem. By authenticating and verifying caller numbers, businesses can establish a more credible presence through Plivo. This feature is especially beneficial for resellers, adding an extra layer of authentication that strengthens security throughout the communication landscape.

How do Verified Caller IDs work?

A spoofed caller ID is when someone alters the information displayed on their caller ID to make it look like they’re calling from a different number or even a different name than they are. It’s like wearing a disguise for their phone number.

With Verified Caller ID, Plivo ensures that calls are placed using authorized numbers and caller IDs, thereby preventing any calls originating from unknown caller IDs. Notably, if the number is rented or ported to Plivo, caller ID verification is bypassed as Plivo already authenticates these numbers. However, this verification step becomes essential only if a customer wishes to use their own non-Plivo number for making outbound calls. Here’s how the verification process works at a high level.

1. Add Number: Include a number you intend to utilize as an outbound caller ID within the verified caller ID screen on the Plivo Console or through API integration.
2. Authentication: Plivo will send a one-time passcode using SMS or voice.
3. Confirmation: Enter the code to prove you have control of the number.
4. Verification: Once your phone number is verified, you can use it as the caller ID when you make calls

Plivo makes it easy to verify your number. You can verify your numbers with Plivo using the Plivo console, APIs, and SDKs.

Get started with Plivo Verified Caller ID

Plivo’s Verified Caller ID is built to seamlessly integrate into your existing workflow. We make it easy to verify your numbers quickly and reliably using the console, REST APIs, and SDKs. Learn more about the verification process in our FAQs, guide and API reference.

While Klaviyo has all the much-needed features for e-commerce businesses, it's not a good fit for everyone.

Firstly, it's expensive. Michele V, a Klaviyo user, says, "Recent price increase is making it hard for smaller businesses to enjoy Klaviyo's services. Many smaller e-commerce businesses find Klaviyo too expensive."

Then, it's not easy to understand and use. Jasmine M, another Klaviyo user, says, "The learning curve of the platform is really steep. Before using the platform seamlessly and getting effective data outputs for analysis, I had spent enough time understanding the platform by going through different videos and document files related to it."

Lastly, its customer support is not extensive. Chin J, a small business user, speaks of limited customer support in case of issues. 

So, what are the possible Klaviyo alternatives? In this post, we have listed the top 7 alternatives to Klaviyo, highlighting key features, pricing, pros, and cons. 

1. Plivo CX

Plivo CX is a complete customer engagement and support platform handling all customer touchpoints with your business. You can launch marketing campaigns to acquire & engage your customers and also service them. The capability to integrate both marketing and customer support into one platform makes Plivo CX the best Klaviyo alternative.

Key highlights:

Pros:

• Brings both marketing and customer service into a single platform
• Supports all key channels: AI-powered live chat, voice, SMS, and WhatsApp 
• Affordable pricing
• High deliverability rate as Plivo has its own messaging network.

Cons:

• There could be a slight learning curve while exploring all the features
• Currently works for Shopify e-commerce brands only

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2. Braze

Braze is a customer engagement platform that enables businesses to create personalized and effective marketing campaigns. It makes omnichannel marketing possible by integrating all major marketing channels, such as email, SMS, push notifications, and in-app messaging, into one platform.

Key highlights:

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Extensive features for marketing

Cons:

• Limited and difficult-to-use reporting features 

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3.Omnisend

Omnisend is an email marketing and SMS automation platform for e-commerce businesses to engage with customers. With Omnisend, you can send personalized messages to customers to boost their shopping experience. 

Key highlights:

Pros:

• Excellent customer support
• Easy to use

Cons:

• Limited pre-defined templates

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4. Attentive

Attentive, one of Klaviyo competitors, is a personalized messaging solution for businesses. It enables businesses to engage with their audience through SMS and email campaigns.

Key highlights:

Pros:

• Excellent customer support

Cons:

• Limited integrations. Currently, it doesn't support many email providers and CRMs. 
• Pricing is on the higher side.

5. Postscript

Postscript is an SMS marketing platform helping e-commerce brands, particularly Shopify brands, build strong customer relationships through SMS campaigns. 

Key highlights:

Pros:

• Affordable solution

Cons:

• Limited integrations to fit into the complete tech stack

6. Automizely

Automizely is an email and text marketing platform that helps brands automate their campaigns. It currently targets Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce brands.

Key highlights:

Pros:

• AI-powered personalization for campaigns 

Cons:

• Limited advanced features.

7. Avada

Avada, another Klaviyo competitor, is a marketing platform for Shopify brands. It supports campaigns on email, SMS, push notifications, and WhatsApp channels.

Key highlights:

Pros:

• Excellent customer support

Cons:

• Limited customization options.

Ready to make a switch?

If you are looking for a complete solution to bring your entire customer outreach, marketing, and customer service into one platform, Plivo CX Engage is your solution.
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‍Book a demo today!

Are you searching for the perfect SMS marketing platform to take your ecommerce business’s communication to the next level? Studies have shown that 45.9% of e-commerce businesses use SMS marketing as a pivotal aspect of their marketing strategies. 

While there are numerous powerful SMS marketing platforms available, it can be challenging to find the right SMS campaign tool that will seamlessly deliver high engagement, effective integration with your existing marketing automation systems, and streamlined workflows. 

This article will explore the features, pricing structures, and use cases of some of the most popular SMS marketing platforms currently available and how your Shopify brand can choose the solution that will transform your SMS marketing strategies from a communication strategy to a revenue-boosting powerhouse. By the end of this detailed guide, you will be empowered to choose the right tool that is customized to your business’s long-term goals and technical setup.  

The Top 6 SMS Marketing Platforms For Shopify Businesses

1. Plivo CX Engage

Plivo CX Engage has a powerful SMS marketing platform that can help your brand leverage audience segmentation, messaging capabilities, and campaign management. Your business doesn’t need multiple tools to manage, acquire, engage and service your customers. Plivo CX Engage is a single platform that Shopify brands need to manage their customer experiences and operations while keeping costs low. 

Plivo CX Engage Best Features:

• Use “Journeys” to track user activity on the storefront and automatically trigger customer journeys
• Group your customers based on demographic data and specific characteristics
• Import contacts from numerous different sources
• Access AI-generated message suggestions, customizable templates, and support for various SMS channels 
• Seamless integration with Shopify, with advanced features such as journey building and event tracking
• WhatsApp marketing to build customized outbound campaigns
• Easily upgrade to provide customer service from the same platform 
• Global messaging coverage and high reliability 

Plivo CX Engage Limitations

• Designed for e-commerce brands and currently only works for Shopify stores
• Businesses in highly regulated industries may need to still monitor and evaluate regulatory requirements for their sector.

Plivo CX Engage Pricing

• Plivo CX’s customer service solutions range from $0.0095 - $0.013 per SMS and $0.029 - $0.039 per MMS. 

Plivo CX Engage Ratings and Reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (724 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.3 / 5 (83 reviews)

2. Klaviyo

Klaviyo is an SMS marketing app and tool that is designed to help small and medium-sized businesses use cross-channel SMS marketing to increase customer retention and e-commerce revenue. It contains over 300 integrations and supports plans for efficiency campaign delivery. 

Klaviyo Best Features

• Test different versions of SMS messages using A/B testing to determine which is more likely to perform better.
• Segment your audience based on different demographic criteria to send more targeted messages.
• Send and receive SMS messages with your leads and customers.
• Customize your brand’s SMS messages using customer information such as historical purchase behavior, name, and location.

Klaviyo Limitations

• Klaviyo has a limited free plan, which only allows users to send 150 SMS messages per month, which is not sufficient for growing Shopify brands.
• Its advanced features may be overly complex and difficult to understand, especially for brands without prior experience with SMS automation tools. These advanced features also require users to contract an agency to adopt them. 

Klaviyo Pricing:

• Depending on the number of contacts your business needs to contact on a monthly basis, Klaviyo’s monthly pricing can vary from $45 to $3,870 per month. 

Klaviyo Ratings and Reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 (1014 reviews)
• Shopify App Store 4.0/5 (1,861 reviews)

3. Attentive

Attentive specializes in conversational SMS solutions that allow businesses to send product updates, promotional offers, and more. It is equipped with more than 100 integrations and is popular for its customer service solutions. 

Attentive Best Features

• Send targeted SMS messages to communicate product updates and announcements.
• Have two-way conversations with your potential and existing customers through SMS.
• Set up automated SMS messaging timelines based on specific customer behavior. This can include welcome messages, order updates, and more. 

Attentive Limitations

• Attentive smart-sending time period is 8 hours. This means that SMS contacts who have received a message from your brand within the previous 8 hours will be skipped. This can limit the total number of messages you are able to send a customer or lead per day.
• This platform has limited customization options, particularly for its free plan.

Attentive Pricing

• Pricing information is not publicly available.

Attentive Ratings and Reviews

• G2: 4.8/5 (482 reviews)
• Shopify App Store 3.7/5 (21 reviews)

4. Postscript

Postscript is a Shopify-integrated SMS campaign tool designed to help e-commerce platforms execute their SMS marketing strategies. It offers four distinct plans with varying features and platform fees. 

Postscript Best Features

• Grow your subscriber list efficiently to be able to send the right message to specific customers at the right time. 
• Build campaigns and add external media.
• Set up automation to increase efficiency. 
• Integrate SMS strategies with email, loyalty programs, and reviews. 

Postscript Limitations

• Postscript has a limited number of custom fields that users can use.
• This platform uses a credit pricing system, which means that international SMS require additional credits.

Postscript Pricing

• Postscript offers four distinct tiers of pricing plans. The first tier is free with limited features. The other three tiers include various services such as customer success management, onboarding, support channels, and more. 

Postscript Ratings and Reviews

• G2: 4.9/5 (159 reviews)
• Shopify App Store 4.9/5 (1937 reviews)

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5. Omnisend

Omnisend is an SMS marketing solution popular for its effective customer service and intuitive user interface. One of its most unique features is its seamless migration from competitors such as Klaviyo and Mailchimp.

Omnisend Best Features

• Resend SMS campaigns without manual interference.
• Use pre-configured SMS messages, subject lines, and workflow settings.
• Leverage two-way SMS communication with contacts.

Omnisend Limitations

• Omnisend’s free plan only allows users to send up to 60 SMS messages per month.
• This platform lacks the advanced automation features present in other SMS marketing tools.

Omnisend Pricing

• Depending on the number of contacts your Shopify brand has, the pricing of this platform can vary from $59 per month to $1914 per month. 

Omnisend Ratings and Reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (849 reviews)
• Shopify App Store 4.8/5 (5502 reviews)

6. Recart

Recart is an SMS platform that focuses on helping Shopify businesses access efficient SMS marketing services. It is popular for being relatively more cost effective than other SMS marketing solutions.

Recart Best Features

• Set up automated campaigns that send messages based on triggers and pre-defined schedules
• View real-time analytics for your Shopify SMS marketing campaigns. 
• Leverage AI tools to develop and improve SMS content
• Take advantage of stringent regulatory compliance measures.

Recart Limitations

• Recart does not provide users with the ability to track customer journeys. 
• Recart is only available for Shopify ecommerce stores.
• Recart’s SMS features are only available through a bundle with its email marketing solutions. This is not ideal for businesses with established email marketing strategies and tools.

Recart Pricing

• Recart’s starter 3-month plan starts at $345 per month and can go up to $1149 per month.

Recart Ratings and Reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (6 reviews)
• Shopify App Store 4.8/5 (5477 reviews)

How to Choose an SMS Marketing Platform

1. Define Your Objectives

Before you choose from the available SMS marketing solutions available in the market, you need to decide if the platform you select aligns with your brand’s short-term and long-term goals. 

Is your primary goal to increase Shopify leads or to retain your existing customers? How often do you plan to use the platform? Digital transformation goals and the right SMS marketing software can help your business achieve are improving employee experiences, improving scheduling, optimizing reporting and more. 

Researching common objectives pursued by businesses using such marketing platforms can aid you in two ways:

1. Connecting to an objective if you already have one in mind.
2. Borrowing an objective if you haven't defined one yet.

Research has shown that 29.46% of companies have cited efficiency as their main goal for purchasing operational software. From increasing website visits to your e-commerce platform to shortening your sales team response time, setting specific and measurable goals will help you decide which SMS campaign tool is the right fit.  

2. Evaluate Features and Functionality

What will your business be using the SMS platform for? Will you use it to send abandoned cart reminders or to update your customers about order and delivery statuses? Only 13% of businesses allow customers to respond to SMS messages? Is this one of your business’s priorities?

Common features and use cases for your ideal SMS marketing platform include: 

• Segmentation and Targeting
• Opt-out management 
• Analytics and reporting 
• Abandoned cart emails

Once you know what the various use cases for your ideal SMS platform are, you will be able to select a tool that provides the capabilities to achieve your long-term objectives. 

Prepare a list of features and functionalities that your business needs to achieve your overall SMS marketing goals. What features will make or break your Shopify brand’s success in the long term? You should also consider the level of support that each platform provides and to what degree each tool is able to operate without requiring manual intervention. 

This step will help you compare the features and pricing that each solution provides and choose one that aligns best with your exact needs and preferences. 

3. Assess Your Budget

The pricing of different SMS marketing software can vary significantly based on different subscription plans and available features. Consider the scale and exact requirements of your Shopify brand, as well as the features you need to drive successful SMS marketing campaigns. 

Retail e-commerce brands can experience a return of up to 300% on their investment in SMS marketing. Specify your business’s available budget and narrow down available SMS platforms based on different price ranges. 

Consider these factors to create a budget that drives results:

1. Brand Size: SMS marketing budgets typically vary depending on your business stage. Smaller brands might allocate a smaller percentage of their marketing budget to SMS, while larger brands with established audiences may dedicate a higher percentage.
2. Campaign Goals: Are you focused on driving sales, increasing customer engagement, or promoting brand awareness? Understanding your goals will help you prioritize features within your chosen SMS platform.
3. Target Audience Size: The number of subscribers you have directly impacts your budget. Platforms often offer tiered pricing based on subscriber volume.

Here's a breakdown of how budget allocation might differ based on brand size:

1. Emerging Brands: Focus on core features like sending basic text messages and managing subscriber lists. Look for cost-effective platforms with pay-as-you-go options or low monthly fees.
2. Growing Brands: As your audience expands, consider features like segmentation, automation, and analytics. Look for platforms with features that support growth and budget for a mid-tier subscription plan.
3. Established Brands: Prioritize advanced features like two-way messaging, rich media messaging (MMS), and integrations with other marketing tools. Invest in a premium platform with robust features to maximize campaign effectiveness.

By understanding these factors, you can narrow down your SMS platform options based on features and price range, ensuring you get the most value for your budget.

Start SMS marketing with Plivo CX Engage 

Plivo CX Engage is a powerful SMS marketing software that can provide your Shopify brand with everything it needs to achieve tangible success through SMS marketing. Our platform is equipped with powerful and industry-leading features such as customer segmentation, AI-generated messages, intelligent SMS sending, and much more. 

Partnering with Plivo CX Engage for your SMS marketing needs will help you communicate with existing contacts, grow your marketing list, scale and optimize lead generation cycles, and more. This will help your e-commerce business craft and deliver powerful messages that leave a long-lasting impact on your audience and translate to increased revenue. 

Ready to finally use the best SMS marketing tool currently available? Book a demo to learn more about Plivo CX Engage’s powerful features and capabilities.

The ability to swiftly and effectively support customers is paramount for business success. An efficient customer support team improves brand reputation, boosts customer retention, generates referrals, and increases long-term profitability.

Intercom is a popular AI-driven customer service solution. Apt for large enterprises, SMBs, and startups, and has features like AI chatbots and automation, CRM integrations, custom agent workspaces, and robust knowledge base creation. 

Despite its many advantages, Intercom’s effectiveness depends on factors such as the size of your customer support team, short-term and long-term goals, and budget. Intercom might not be the right solution for every business and falls short in many areas:

• Does not offer enhanced monitoring and supervision capabilities
• Fails to deliver the expected level of customer support
• Does not integrate with home-grown systems
• Pricing can be prohibitive, especially as the number of agents increases

As a customer service operations manager, keep reading if you're well aware of Intercom’s limitations and looking for alternatives in the market that align with your customer service goals. 

This blog post delves into 10 Intercom alternatives, their features and limitations, and pricing plans to help you find the best fit for the job.

What are the key features to consider in Intercom alternatives?

When reviewing your options:

• Look for transparent, scalable pricing solutions to fit your budget without sacrificing quality
• Choose a tool known for its intuitive interface, user-friendly design, and customization options
• Consider whether a platform specializes in your industry or offers niche-specific features
• Identify essential features you genuinely need without being overwhelmed by unnecessary functionalities
• Evaluate the level of support provided, including availability, responsiveness, and resources like knowledge bases

10 Top Intercom Alternatives to Consider 

1. Plivo CX Service

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Plivo CX Service is a cloud contact center solution that elevates customer service with AI. It allows you to integrate email, voice, live chat, SMS, email, and WhatsApp into a single platform—working multiple channels to support your customers simultaneously.

Powered by Plivo, it offers reliable calling and messaging capabilities, enhancing agent productivity and enabling real-time coaching opportunities.

Plivo CX Service reduces the need for live agents by over 50% with OpenAI-powered chatbots, making it a strong contender for Intercom alternatives. What sets it apart as the best Intercom alternative is the easy-to-use web-based application for Mac and Windows, a drag-and-drop customer journey builder, and local and toll-free numbers in 50+ countries. 

Plivo CX Service best features

• Allows you to use customer data to automatically route customers to the most appropriate agents with Contacto Voice; also enables self-select for quicker routing, shorter wait times, and faster resolution 

• Enables agents to send a photo or link while on a call to the customers with Contacto SMS/text messaging; resolves issues faster

• Contacto Whatsapp helps deflect common questions to automated responses with powerful bots in WhatsApp

• Natively integrates live chat with your mobile app to help your agents give the best response every time with snippets using Contacto Live Chat

Plivo CX Service limitations

• Does not have features related to quality assurance and workforce management 
• Does not have a mobile version for support agents

Plivo CX Service pricing

• Growth: $32/user/month
• Business: $59/user/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing 

Plivo CX Service ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (700+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.3/5 (80+ reviews) 

Plivo CX Service is best suited for

Midsize businesses looking for a scalable and affordable solution for SMS messaging and telephony services

2. Cloudtalk

Cloudtalk is a VoIP business calling solution used by sales and support teams that automates workflows and increases your team’s calling efficiency and performance with built-in analytics.

Moreover, your customer support team can speak to the callers first and determine what they need, routing them based on agent skills, custom fields, and CRM or helpdesk info.

This Intercom alternative operates in 160+ countries, allowing you to improve your pick-up rates by making local calls from anywhere globally.

Cloudtalk best features

• Helps agents structure their calls with customizable notes, call scripts, and questionnaires
• Allows labeling phone calls and tracking metrics like interactions, goals, and outcomes
• Disconnects and blacklists unwanted spam calls immediately

Cloudtalk limitations

• Unstable performance noticed in the Cloudtalk iOS app, widespread crashes in using features like "callback"
• Difficult to access live support due to time zone differences
• Customer service is supported only through voice channels

Cloudtalk pricing

• Starter: $25/user/month
• Essential: $30/user/month
• Expert: $50/user/month
• Custom: Custom pricing 

Cloudtalk G2 rating

• 4.3/5 (800+ reviews)

CloudTalk is best suited for

Small teams with basic call routing needs, customer service centers, and sales teams

3. Avaya

Avaya’s Experience Platform is a cloud contact center solution that supports customer communication across multiple touchpoints, from voice and video calls to chat messaging.

It gives your agents a 360-degree view of the customers from both your on-premises and cloud interactions. This Intercom alternative offers a simple, flexible, secure cloud experience with worry-free upgrades, support, and administration. 

Avaya is used by businesses in the healthcare, education, financial services, and public sectors for their remote contact centers to manage customer interactions. 

Avaya best features

• Flexible cloud deployment models match varying business needs, whether it’s entirely cloud-based, hybrid, or an on-premises solution
• Offers collaboration tools like instant messaging, video conferences, ring groups, and file sharing, maximizing contact center performance
• Empowers agents and supervisors to be the best at what they do with in-call monitoring and live coaching tools.

Avaya limitations

• Innovation and feature roll-out is slow
• Setting up, customizing, and managing the platform can be complex and may require specialized skills or resources
• There can be challenges when interfacing with older systems or third-party applications not directly supported by the platform
• Since the platform is not built cloud-first, a lot of features available in the on-premise software are unavailable in the cloud version

Avaya pricing

• Custom pricing 

Avaya G2 rating

• 4.1/5 (100+ reviews)

Avaya is best suited for

Enterprises that need a customizable and sophisticated communication solution

4. Aircall

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Aircall is a phone and communication platform for improving productivity, customer service, and team collaboration.

On top of common features like call routing and recording, queue callback, and AI-generated call summaries, your contact center agents can create and share select contacts with their team so everyone can follow the conversation.

Benefit from the one-click setup from this Intercom alternative’s admin dashboard and manage all settings in one place.

Aircall best features

• Hosts up to five people in the same live conference call with Aircall’s VoIP calling solution
• Streamlines internal communication and better assigns tasks to your agents with Aircall’s shared inbox
• Allows you to send, receive, and manage SMS text messages between you and your contacts for personalized conversations

Aircall limitations

• Does not have additional support capabilities like helpdesk, knowledge base
• The platform lacks flexibility since the rudimentary workflow designer cannot be used to create custom journeys
• Text integration in Aircall with Hubspot CRM could be improved with the automatic ticketing system that Aircall generates
• Occasional call quality issues, where calls can be choppy or experience dropped connections, have been reported

Aircall pricing

• Essentials: $30/license
• Professional: $50/license
• Custom pricing: 25-licenses minimum 

Aircall G2 rating

• 4.3/5 (900+ reviews)

Aircall is best suited for

Medium-sized businesses looking for an easy-to-use cloud-based call center solution with excellent CRM integrations

5. RingCentral

RingCentral Contact Centre is an easy-to-use cloud-based communications system for customer support teams and contact centers. It is equipped with the most standard features, including audio conferencing, unlimited calling, and video meetings.

This Intercom alternative has a centralized portal for agent activity to manage inbound and outbound conversations easily. RingCentral is ideal for large businesses with multichannel communication.

RingCentral best features

• Enables you to gamify incentives to boost agent performance and encourage learning and development
• Shares reports summarizing agent availability, call traffic fluctuations, and training progress
• AI-powered tools like automated call scorecards, feedback modules, and keyword tracking

RingCentral limitations

• Limited to generic calling usage across functions
• Slow at innovating and rolling out new features
• Delayed customer support due to differences in the time zones
• The system is complex and requires training for setup
• Lacks features that cater to the needs of the support team, like a customer’s past interaction history

RingCentral pricing

• Custom pricing 

RingCentral G2 rating

• 3.9/5 (700+ reviews)

RingCentral is best suited for

Midsize businesses that want comprehensive cloud communication platform with an extensive feature set and reliability

6. Genesys Cloud

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Genesys is a cloud platform that provides enterprise-grade communications, collaboration, and contact center management capabilities on a global scale.

This Intercom alternative helps you transform your customer experience, no matter where the conversations start or end, across digital channels like email, text, chat, and social media. Genesys offers AI-powered agent assistance and native CRM integrations for business optimization.

Genesys Cloud best features

• Delivers deep analytics and reporting features built into the user interface
• Integrates all critical apps with off-the-shelf functionality or custom-built solutions when needed
• Comes with self-service options like speech-enabled IVR, voice bots, and chatbots, empowering customers to interact with you when and how they choose

Genesys Cloud limitations

• Requires engaging an implementation partner, so setup and maintenance are expensive
• Customizing customer journey workflows is a complex and time-consuming process
• The default application capabilities, such as agent assistance, voice transcriptions, surveys, and reports, are limited
• Eventually costly due to numerous add-ons added for system customization
• Since the platform is not built cloud-first, a lot of features available in the on-premise software are unavailable in the cloud version

Genesys  pricing

Genesys offers five types of pricing plans:

• Genesys Cloud 1 (Voice): US$75 per month
• Genesys Cloud 2 (Digital): US$95 per month
• Genesys Cloud 2 (Digital + Voice): US$75 per month
• Genesys Cloud 3 (Digital + WEM): US$75 per month
• Genesys Cloud 3 (Digital + WEM + Voice): US$75 per month

Genesys G2 rating

• 4.3/5 (1300+ reviews)

Genesys Cloud is best suited for

Enterprises looking for a robust, scalable cloud contact center solution

7. Zendesk

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Zendesk is one of the oldest customer service platforms in the market, with a unified agent workspace. It enables customer support reps to converse with customers on any channel, whether email, chat, WhatsApp, or Apple Business Chat.

Shared inbox tracking, knowledge base management, and comprehensive reporting are the other capabilities offered by Intercom alternative. From large enterprises to startups, Zendesk serves 160,000 global customers in 30+ languages. 

Zendesk best features

• AI-powered bots support customers with natural, human language in a tone set by you
• Allows you to easily customize a live chat widget to match your brand colors, get access to unlimited chat history, and format direct messages the way you like
• Robust tools like routing, CSAT ratings, time tracking, and service level agreements ensure your agents never miss any request

Zendesk limitations

• Slow response times from the support team, taking hours or even days for basic inquiries
• Zendesk does not offer conversational support - the outdated ticketing system makes customer service cumbersome
• Complicated processes for adjusting subscription levels, such as adding or removing users, with up to 60 days notice required for some changes

Zendesk pricing

Zendesk offers four pricing plans:

• Suit Team: $55 per agent per month
• Suit Growth: $89 per agent per month
• Suit Professional:$115 per agent per month
• Suit Enterprise: Talk to sales

Zendesk G2 rating

4.3/5 (5799 reviews)

Zendesk is best suited for

Midsize businesses seeking a strong customer service software with seamless integration into their support and sales pipelines

8. Talkdesk

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Talkdesk is an AI-powered cloud contact center platform that transforms customer experiences, dramatically reduces costs, and supercharges operational efficiencies. Enable multichannel communication and personalize and automate workflows for your agents.

This Intercom alternative comes with 70+ pre-built CRM and collaboration tool integrations. Customize and scale your platform with AI apps within Talkdesk to boost agent productivity and optimize customer journeys.

Talkdesk best features

• Delivers high reliability and call quality, backed by an enterprise-grade uptime SLA
• Comes with 30+ security certifications, including SOC 2 and 3, ISO 27001, PCD DSS Level 1, HIPAA, and GDPR
• Offers flexible cloud contact center deployment options; store key data in the region of your choice for compliance

Talkdesk limitations

• Needs an additional primary helpdesk software to manage and capture customer interactions
• Lacks features to provide omnichannel support
• Lacks the flexibility to customize workflows and ticket organization to accommodate unique operational styles
• Does not provide sufficient guidance and resources during the onboarding and setup process

Talkdesk pricing

• CX Cloud Digital Essentials: $85/user/month
• CX Cloud Essentials: $85/user/month
• CX Cloud Elevate: $115/user/month
• CX Cloud Elite: $145/user/month

Talkdesk G2 rating

• 4.4/5 (2100+ reviews)

Talkdesk is best suited for

Midsize companies requiring a cloud contact center solution with strong AI and analytics capabilities to improve customer service efficiency

9. Five9

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Five9 is a cloud-based contact center solution integrating advanced features such as an automated dialer, comprehensive lead management, and detailed reporting tools.

With a focus on optimizing call management processes, Five9 aims to improve efficiency and effectiveness in handling customer interactions. 

This Intercom alternative’s cloud software architecture delivers flexible application and storage capacity and can scale rapidly on demand.

Five9 best features

• Enables agents to be more effective on the phone by giving them more time with live prospects
• Helps maximize agent productivity by increasing the amount of connections they can make with customers with predictive dialing solutions
• Real-time and historical reporting, recording, workforce management (WFM), quality monitoring, and CRM integrations creates consumer-centric omnichannel experiences 

Five9 limitations

• Has an outdated UI
• Needs an additional primary helpdesk software to manage and capture customer interactions
• Lacks features to provide omnichannel support
• Users have reported a rise in unwanted or unclear calls since switching to Five9, indicating potential issues with call filtering or management
• Defaults to a callback option that provides insufficient information for the user to understand the context of the callback

Five9 pricing

• Digital: $1499/month
• Core: $149/month
• Premium: $169/month
• Optimum: $1999/month
• Ultimate: $229/month

Five9 G2 rating

• 3.9/5 (300+ reviews)

Five9 is best suited for

Midsize contact centers that need a comprehensive, cloud-based solution

10. Dixa

Dixa is a customer service platform that enhances how businesses interact with customers by providing a unified view of multichannel communications, including phone, email, chat, and social messaging.

This Intercom alternative includes popular call functionalities such as IVR (Interactive Voice Response), click-to-call, call recordings, intelligent routing, and analytics.

Dixa also provides tools for tracking team performance, analyzing and auditing customer interactions, and coaching agents when necessary.

Dixa best features

• Smart algorithms and agent priority feature automatically ensure the most qualified agents handle the most critical conversations first
• Helps track and improve team performance with easy-to-read dashboards and built-in QA
• Gives access to customer account information, historical conversations, and company documentation in one unified, detailed view

Dixa limitations

• Does not offer native support for text/SMS channels
• The current system for transferring calls or interactions appears to be restrictive, as users cannot communicate with someone in a different queue without transferring the customer call directly to them
• When customers use the chat feature on a website, agents currently cannot see what part of the website the customer is viewing

Dixa pricing

• Essential: $49/month
• Growth: $109/month
• Ultimate: $169/month
• Custom: Contact sales

Dixa G2 rating

• 4.2/5 (300+ reviews)

Dixa is best suited for

Medium to large businesses focusing on customer friendship platforms

Maximize Your Customer Service Capabilities with Contacto

Selecting the right Intercom alternative could improve your customer support capabilities, optimize workflows, and yield insightful data.

Book a complimentary demo with our team if you are specifically keen to learn about Plivo CX and whether it aligns with your immediate requirements and can scale as your business grows. We will take you through all its features and answer your queries.

Businesses must effectively manage customer interactions across channels while keeping costs low.

As a customer support leader, the challenge lies in finding the perfect inbound contact center software that can evolve and meet the requirements of the modern-day customer. 

With customers expecting seamless interactions, omnichannel customer engagement solutions are the need of the hour. However, integrating new inbound call software with existing CRM systems can be a complex and time-consuming process that often increases implementation costs and potential disruptions. 

So how can you deliver exceptional CX while optimizing business revenue and keeping overhead costs low? 

Using comprehensive market research, industry data, and data-driven insights from actual customers, we’ll explore the top inbound contact center solutions to find which platform works best for you. 

What is Inbound Contact Center Software? 

Inbound call center software allows companies to manage their incoming customer calls efficiently without having a physical call center space. Your customer support team needs a laptop, headphones, and a reliable internet connection to solve your customers’ queries. 

Advanced inbound call center solutions can route calls to the appropriate agents or departments based on the customer's inquiry, whether it's a support query, sales inquiry, or any other customer interaction. This ensures that your customer’s needs are addressed promptly and efficiently. 

Happy customers equal higher net promoter score (NPS), customer satisfaction score (CSAT), agent handle time (AHT), and first call resolution (FCR). These core key performance indicators (KPIs) will result in loyal customers, increased revenue, and better customer service, influencing customers' purchasing decisions and helping you outwin competition.

The inbound call software you choose will be the first point of contact for most customers, which means it plays a vital role in shaping their perceptions of a brand. The right software will improve customer satisfaction and loyalty and become a business-critical growth driver. 

Must-Have Features of Inbound Contact Center Software

When choosing an inbound call center solution, you should look for several key features:

• Interactive Voice Response (IVR): It allows customers to interact with the company’s system via voice or touch-tone keypad. It can provide automated responses to common inquiries or route calls to the appropriate department, thereby reducing wait times and improving customer support  
• Call Queuing: This ensures incoming calls are directed to the most suitable agent or team based on pre-established rules and criteria. An effective call-routing process can speed up call resolution times and improve customer satisfaction

• Omnichannel interactions: Customers expect seamless omnichannel interactions across multiple channels, including voice, email, chat, social media, and SMS. An inbound contact center software that enables efficient management and integration of disparate customer channels is a must for customer-centric brands

• Workforce management system (WFM): It helps with forecasting call volumes, scheduling staff, tracking key performance metrics, and managing real-time compliance. WFM can significantly improve operational efficiency and agent productivity

• Analytics and reporting: Allows customer support leaders to collect real-time data about the performance of their call centers. It can help identify trends, monitor agent productivity, and make informed decisions to improve operations
• Third-party integrations: Choose software that integrates well with your existing systems and tools such as the CRM you use 
• Support: Reliable customer support is essential. Make sure your inbound call software provider offers responsive and helpful support

Metrics that Skyrocket When you Invest in the Right Inbound Call Center Software

Investing in inbound contact center software can bring numerous benefits to your business:

1. Improves customer retention: By providing quick and efficient customer service, you can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, leading to higher customer retention rates
2. Enhances agent efficiency: Features like call routing and IVR can reduce the agent workload, allowing them to focus on more complex tasks that require human intervention and improve overall efficiency
3. Streamlines operations: Inbound call center solutions can automate many routine tasks, leading to more streamlined operations and lower operating costs
4. Enhances inbound call management: With features like call recording and real-time analytics, gain valuable insights into your inbound call traffic and improve your call management strategies

5 Best Inbound Contact Center Software Solutions 

1. Plivo CX

Plivo CX’s inbound call center software is designed to revolutionize your customer interactions. Effortlessly manage high call volumes, route calls to the right agents, and deliver exceptional service across all channels. Additionally, the seamless integration of data from different platforms solves a big challenge customer support leaders often face—data silos. 

It can be a useful tool in your CX arsenal with the power to delight customers across multiple channels without losing the human touch. 

Plivo CX key features

• Consistent and personalized customer support service across multiple channels, including voice, email, chat, social media, and SMS; with all platforms in sync
• Smart call routing ensures that calls reach the most qualified agent reducing wait times and boosting customer satisfaction 
• Reduced wait times and improved customer satisfaction during peak hours with Plivo CX's call queuing feature, decreasing customer wait time and call abandonment
• Leverage real-time call center data to identify trends, monitor agent productivity, and make data-driven decisions that optimize operations
• Streamline your workflow by integrating business systems into a unified communications screen, putting essential data at your fingertips
• Access and update relevant customer information seamlessly within Contacto, thanks to two-way API integration
• Empower your agents to multitask seamlessly with Contacto's concurrent messaging capabilities
• Uncover valuable growth insights by leveraging internal notes and conversation dispositions within Plivo CX's reporting dashboard

Plivo CX limitations

• Lacks features related to quality assurance and workforce management

Plivo CX pricing

• Growth: $29/user/month
• Business: $69/user/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Plivo CX ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (700+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.3/5 (80+ reviews) 

2. LiveAgent

LiveAgent tackles high-volume customer interactions across multiple channels with its versatile software suite. Ticketing systems, knowledge bases, search widgets, and mobile apps, empower businesses to deliver exceptional service. 

LiveAgent key features

• Build interactive voice response (IVR) systems with LiveAgent's IVR Designer Tool, even without technical expertise. This tool allows you to record or upload audio directly within the IVR tree for a seamless creation experience
• Store and analyze past interactions for training resources with unlimited call recordings 
• Gain valuable customer insights with the screen pop feature, which automatically displays relevant information when a live agent receives a call 

LiveAgent limitations (taken from G2)

• LiveAgent's interface can be a bit complex, with a learning curve 
• Issues with the mobile app's functionality impacting the ability to manage tasks efficiently. This hinders responsiveness and flexibility in customer service delivery
• Lack of direct integrations with popular CRM systems and other applications creates a gap in the user workflow. This requires workarounds or additional tools that don’t work well with the inbound contact center software

LiveAgent pricing

• Small: $9/agent/month
• Medium: $29/agent/month
• Large: $49/agent/month
• Enterprise: $69/agent/month 

LiveAgent reviews and ratings

• G2: 4.5/5 (1000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (1000+ reviews) 

3. Zendesk

Zendesk stands out in the inbound call center software market, emphasizing simplicity and efficiency and making customer service operations smooth and hassle-free. The preferred inbound call center solution for enterprise-level businesses. 

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Zendesk key features

• Distribute calls based on agent skills, availability, and workload with Zendesk's smart call distribution feature 
• Make data-driven decisions that go beyond providing real-time data with insightful reporting and analytics 
• Omnichannel agent workspace to organize customer data 

Zendesk limitations (taken from Capterra) 

• Occasional bugs within the call functionality impacts call quality and user experience
• Cumbersome admin panel management due to separate systems for managing tickets and automations/workflows

Zendesk pricing

• Suite Team: $55/user/month
• Suite Growth: $89/user/month
• Suite Pro: $115/user/month
• Suite Enterprise: Custom pricing
• Suite Enterprise Plus: Custom pricing

Zendesk reviews and ratings

• G2: 4.3/5 (5000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (3000+ reviews) 

4. Nextiva

Nextiva is an AI-powered inbound contact center software. Users save up to 50% of the time per interaction with the AI-powered voice and chatbot. The auto transcription feature reduces agent note-taking, allowing your agents to focus on high-priority tickets. 

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If your customer support team caters to customer communications through SMS, voice, chat, email, video, and social media, Nextiva’s unified platform simplifies agent experiences and interactions across channels. 

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Nextiva key features

• Replace multi-level phone menus with automated call flows using advanced IVR technology featuring speech recognition and text-to-speech
• Gain rich customer insights with the screen pop feature that automatically provides relevant information when a live agent receives a call
• Transform routine interactions into natural exchanges with Nextiva's conversational AI add-on

Nextiva limitations (taken from G2 & Capterra)

• Lacks diverse integration options with other third-party apps
• Users experience difficulty with account management. Grasping the nuances between various account types (user, team, extensions) and their relationship to phone numbers is complex

Nextiva pricing

• Custom pricing

Nextiva reviews and ratings

• G2: 4.5/5 (3000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (90+ reviews) 

5. Aircall

If you’re looking for a call center solution that integrates with your helpdesk and CRM to fetch customer/user details and take away manual labor, Aircall is the solution for you. Get weekly analysis on customer wait times and keep track of the activity fee in real time to see the calls coming through. 

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Aircall key features

• Collaborate seamlessly with Aircall's shared call inbox feature that ensures no customer query goes unanswered 
• Effortlessly manage customer relationships with Aircall's contact management features—easily assign, tag, and add comments to contacts
• seamlessly integrates with popular CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot, providing a unified customer service experience

Aircall limitations (taken from G2)

• Stability issues with the application requires agents to close and reopen to resolve problems, thus disrupting workflows and impacting customer service delivery
• Lacks call handling flexibility as it doesn’t direct incoming calls to employee voicemails

Aircall pricing

• Essentials: $30/user/month - minimum 3 users
• Professional: $50/user/month - minimum 3 users
• Custom: Custom pricing

Aircall reviews and ratings

• G2: 4.3/5 (900+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.3/5 (400+ reviews) 

Use an Inbound Contact Center Software to Manage Customer Interactions at Scale 

An inbound call center solution is like a Swiss Army Knife—it improves customer satisfaction and customer support agent’s productivity. 

We recommend signing up on Plivo CX if you’re a small or mid-sized business or an e-Commerce/Shopify brand. 

With its human-centric and intuitive platform, agents can provide scalable customer service, and customer support managers can improve CX KPIs.