Blog
Celerant’s Customer Engagement Suite vs. Klaviyo
December 12, 2025 / 10 minute read / By Zoya Naeem
Blog
Is Celerant’s Customer Engagement Suite better than Klaviyo for your retail business? Here’s everything you want to know for choosing the right platform.
If you’re a retailer trying to sort out whether you should rely on Celerant’s Customer Engagement Suite (CES) or switch to a standalone tool like Klaviyo, the choice can feel a little foggy. Both can help you send better emails and connect with shoppers, but they were built for slightly different worlds. One is designed to work seamlessly within your retail system, with your POS and eCommerce data flowing in real-time. The other shines as a strong marketing platform for brands that live mostly online.
In this blog, we’ll talk all about these tools, breaking things down and walking you through:
What Is Celerant’s Customer Engagement Suite Capable of?
A lot of retailers hear ‘Customer Engagement Suite’ and assume it’s another standalone marketing platform.
It isn’t!
CES is an add-on inside the Celerant ecosystem, built for retailers who already use Celerant POS or eCommerce. Since it sits inside the same system that runs your sales, inventory, CRM, and loyalty data, it avoids the syncing problems that come with third-party apps.
In simple words, CES gives you one place to manage the marketing tasks that matter most to retailers. You can send emails and SMS campaigns, schedule social content, manage reviews on Google and Yelp, and even chat with customers on your site.
Because everything is connected, all your marketing efforts can be driven by real store behavior. If a customer earns loyalty points at the register or buys something online, Celerant’s Customer Engagement Suite can trigger the right follow-up automatically.
Capabilities in Celerant’s Customer Engagement Suite include:
What is Klaviyo and What Makes It Different?
Klaviyo is a popular marketing automation platform built mainly for eCommerce. Most retailers choose it because of its strong relationship with Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce. It pulls in customer behavior through API connections so you can build automated flows like abandoned cart reminders, browse-based messages, and post-purchase sequences.
Klaviyo is popular for its segmentation and long-term automation capabilities.
You can predict customer lifetime value, run behavior-specific campaigns, and build complex flows with a visual editor. What it does not do natively is tie into your in-store POS data unless you add extra tools or middleware. If you run a true omnichannel operation with physical stores, this can sometimes create gaps in customer history that impact your marketing accuracy.
Head-to-Head Comparison Between Klaviyo and Celerant’s Customer Engagement Suite
Both platforms help retailers communicate with customers, but what powers them behind the scenes is very different.
Klaviyo was designed for eCommerce first.
CES is designed for retailers who already operate their stores on Celerant and want marketing to connect directly to real in-store and online behavior. The right choice depends on where you sell, how you operate, and the number of systems you want to manage.
Below is a comparison to help you understand what each tool does best:
| Feature | Celerant Customer Engagement Suite (CES) | Klaviyo |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Focus | Designed for retailers already using Celerant's POS, eCommerce, and Inventory Management. | Built for sophisticated, data-driven e-commerce email and SMS marketing. |
| Data Integration | Directly connected to the Celerant POS and eCommerce data. You have a single source of truth for all sales (in-store and online), inventory, and customer loyalty. | API/Integration-Based. Connects to your existing POS/e-commerce platform (like Shopify, WooCommerce) and pulls data in. |
| Core Channels | Email, SMS, Live Chat, Social Media Scheduling/Management, Reputation Management (Google/Yelp Reviews) | Email, SMS, Mobile Push, WhatsApp. Primarily focused on marketing channels. |
| Retail Environment | Excels at using in-store POS data for marketing automation (for example, triggered messages after a loyalty points change or in-store purchase) | Strong e-commerce event triggers (Abandoned Cart, Product Viewed). |
| Ease of Use | Modern, unified interface includes drag-and-drop tools. Ease-of-use is high if you already use Celerant. | Highly visual flow builder. Excellent drag-and-drop email editor. Has a steeper learning curve to master the advanced segmentation and flows. |
| Pricing | Flexible pricing based on total contacts. It’s an add-on for existing Celerant users. (Pricing details require contacting your Celerant rep). | Tiered pricing based on the number of contacts/active profiles for email and number of sends/credits for SMS or type of transactional messages. Offers a Free Plan for small lists (under 250 contacts). |
| Advanced Features | Personalized, data-driven campaigns, abandoned cart flows, loyalty triggers, and mobile app access for management. | Predictive Analytics (CLV, churn risk), A/B testing, AI-powered features for content generation, and optimized send times. |
So, How Do You Decide Which Platform is Right for Your Retail Business?
At this point in the comparison, the choice usually becomes clearer once you match each platform to the way you already operate. Both tools are strong in their own lanes, but are built for different retail environments. The goal is to pick the one that fits the way you sell, not the other way around.
So, if you already use Celerant for your POS or eCommerce, Celerant’s Customer Engagement Suite is the natural next step. The biggest advantage is the native connection to your sales, inventory, and loyalty data, which gives you one accurate source of truth across your stores and website. CES lets you run email, SMS, social scheduling, and review management from the same dashboard that already powers your retail operations. It also triggers marketing based on in-store buying behavior, without requiring any extra syncing or external tools.
On the other hand, Klaviyo suits a different kind of retailer. If most of your revenue comes from eCommerce and you lean heavily on a platform like Shopify, Klaviyo gives you a wide range of advanced automation options and deep segmentation. Its predictive modeling tools are strong, and the platform connects to a big ecosystem of third-party apps. If you rely on a full stack of plugins for pop-ups, reviews, loyalty, or on-site personalization, Klaviyo provides the flexibility to continue expanding. Smaller online brands also appreciate the ability to start on a free plan while building their first flows and audiences.
In simple terms, if you want a marketing tool that sits inside your existing retail system with direct access to your POS and eCommerce data, CES is the logical choice. If you want a flexible marketing platform designed primarily for online businesses and are willing to manage multiple integrations, Klaviyo is one of the strongest standalone platforms available.
Ready to Bring Your Marketing and Retail Data Together? Start with Celerant.
Choosing between Celerant’s Customer Engagement Suite and a platform like Klaviyo comes down to one thing. Where does your business actually live?
If most of your sales still come through your store and you want your marketing to follow the same data your staff sees at the counter, CES is the easier and more practical next step. You get email, SMS, social scheduling, live chat, and review management in one place, all fueled by real purchase behavior from your POS and eCommerce site.
If you want to see how CES fits into your current workflow, or you are ready to add it to your Celerant platform, reach out to your Celerant rep, and they will walk you through the details.
