Connect WhatsApp to Klaviyo

What This Integration Does

A Klaviyo WhatsApp integration lets your Klaviyo segments and flows send WhatsApp messages alongside email and SMS, with delivery, replies and opt-outs coming back into Klaviyo so they shape what each customer gets next. Abandoned cart, browse abandonment, post-purchase and win-back flows can all route through WhatsApp for the customers who have opted in to it.

For consumer brands whose customers prefer WhatsApp, this extends the Klaviyo strategy you already have without rebuilding your segments in a separate messaging tool.

Klaviyo’s Native WhatsApp Channel and Where Custom Work Fits

Klaviyo now offers WhatsApp as a native channel, so for many brands the starting point is to switch it on in Klaviyo rather than build anything. It covers the three WhatsApp message types: marketing messages, utility messages such as order and shipping updates, and two-way service conversations.

The native channel still needs setting up with care. You need a WhatsApp Business account verified with Meta, a sending number, and message templates approved by Meta before any flow can use them. Opt-in has to be collected explicitly for WhatsApp, separate from email and SMS consent. Meta also charges per template message, at rates that vary by country and message type, so a flow that sends four WhatsApp messages where one would do has a cost that an extra email never had.

Custom integration work comes in where the native channel stops. The cases we see most:

• Replies need to reach your customer care team inside the helpdesk they already use, with the customer’s Klaviyo profile, order history and the message they replied to attached.
• Conversations start outside Klaviyo, from click-to-WhatsApp ads, a number printed on packaging or an existing WhatsApp provider, and those customers need to become Klaviyo profiles with the right events.
• Opt-ins are collected somewhere else, such as in-store, at a till or through a booking system, and have to reach Klaviyo with proof of consent.
• You already send WhatsApp through a provider and number you want to keep.

The Workflow

When a Klaviyo flow reaches a WhatsApp step for a customer who has opted in, the message goes out using one of your approved templates, and the delivery status is recorded against the Klaviyo profile. Where a custom integration sits in the path, it also picks the right template for the content and language and writes each status back as a Klaviyo event.

Take a skincare brand. A customer adds a £62 serum to her basket on her phone and leaves at checkout. She has opted in to WhatsApp, so the abandoned-cart flow sends a template with the product image, the price and a link straight back to checkout. Twenty minutes later she replies asking whether the serum suits sensitive skin. The integration records the reply in Klaviyo, pauses the rest of the automated flow so she doesn’t get a discount nudge in the middle of a conversation, and opens a ticket for the care team with her profile and basket attached. The team answers within the 24-hour service window, she completes the order that afternoon, and the post-purchase template with a how-to-use video goes out the next morning.

Opt-outs are absolute. A customer who replies STOP is unsubscribed from WhatsApp on their Klaviyo profile, and no further WhatsApp templates go to them, while email and SMS carry on if those channels are still consented.

Before and After

Before, WhatsApp is a customer service inbox with no marketing data behind it. Klaviyo runs email and SMS with no idea what customers have said on WhatsApp, and anyone who started a conversation there is invisible to your flows. Care agents answer product questions without seeing what the customer was sent or what is in their basket.

After, WhatsApp works like any other channel in Klaviyo. Segments include WhatsApp opt-ins, flows pick the channel per customer, replies reach the care team with full context, and your reporting compares WhatsApp, email and SMS on the same terms.

Who Needs This

Direct-to-consumer brands with strong WhatsApp engagement, typically in beauty, fashion, supplements and jewellery, that already run lifecycle marketing in Klaviyo and want WhatsApp to be a deliberate channel rather than a side conversation. The trigger is usually a peak season where WhatsApp converts well enough to justify doing it properly, or a care team receiving WhatsApp messages it can’t connect to orders.

If you are looking for an agency to write and run your WhatsApp campaigns week to week, that is a marketing agency’s job. We handle the technical side: the Meta and Klaviyo setup, the template and consent structure, and any integration the native channel can’t cover. If you send through Mailchimp instead, the same approach applies to WhatsApp and Mailchimp.

How We Build This

Where custom work is needed, we build it as a server-side integration against the WhatsApp Business Platform (the Cloud API, or your existing provider) and Klaviyo’s Events and Profiles APIs, with no Zapier in the path. Template selection, the 24-hour service window and consent records are handled in the integration layer, and every message and status is logged so a failure can be replayed. See WhatsApp Business API integration and Klaviyo API integration for the underlying capability, or our API integration services for how we run these projects.

Get WhatsApp and Klaviyo Working Together

If WhatsApp converts for your brand and Klaviyo runs your lifecycle marketing, tell us how your customers use WhatsApp today. We’ll say whether Klaviyo’s native channel covers it or what needs building around it. For high-volume SMS behind Klaviyo’s segments, we also connect Twilio to Klaviyo, and the integrations overview covers the full range.