If you’re one of the many brands running Email and SMS through Yotpo, the recent shutdown announcement has probably dropped right into your busiest quarter.
Yotpo is pulling the plug on its Email & SMS products by December 2025 — less than five months from now. With BFCM around the corner, that gives you two real options: migrate before the end of September so you’re fully warmed up for Q4, or wait until mid-December and race the shutdown clock.
If I were in your seat, here’s exactly how I’d make the move — based on 3+ years of migrating 7–9 figure eCommerce brands off and on ESPs, and rebuilding “too expensive” setups into lean, high-ROI machines without losing a cent.
Who This is For:
If you’re reading this, you’re probably in one of these camps:
- “We moved to Yotpo to save money — now we’re back to square one.”
You moved to Yotpo (often from Klaviyo) to cut costs, or you’ve avoided other ESPs altogether because it felt pricey. (Although in my experience, that’s almost always down to poor list management — paying for unengaged contacts, weak segmentation, and bad hygiene.) - “SMS is our lifeline — we can’t afford to mess it up.”
Your revenue relies heavily on text for drops and promos, so you can’t risk downtime or lost opt-ins. - “We don’t care about the bill. Just point us to a better alternative.”
Your team is looking to level up with advanced segmentation, better testing, and tighter retention. The real question is, which platform will give you the most long-term growth without derailing Q4? - “Our setup is complicated — we can’t just flip a switch.”
You run multiple regions, headless storefronts, and/or rely on custom triggers, so you need a phased migration with schema mapping and parity checks so nothing breaks when you leave Yotpo.
Why You Can’t Wait:
The official shutdown is in December 2025.
On paper, that sounds generous, but in reality, you’ve got two dates that matter:
- End of September 2025 — The safe window to have migrated, warm up, and be ready before Q4 hits if you start now.
- Mid-December 2025 — Your last possible window before the lights go out (NOT Ideal.)
To give you context, every migration comes with three unavoidable realities:
- Warm-up takes time. Even with perfect deliverability, inbox providers won’t trust you on a new platform overnight. You’ll need to start small and scale sends over at least 2–4 weeks.
- You can’t rebuild everything at once. You’ll have to prioritize revenue-critical automations first, then layer in the nice-to-haves.
- Peak season is unforgiving. Mid-migration in Q4 = broken flows, lost sends, and revenue you won’t make back.
If you’re moving before BFCM, the end of September is your cut-off, provided BFCM matters to your brand. If you miss the end of September, just wait until after the holiday dust settles. The downside of that option is that it gives you just two weeks to complete the move before Yotpo shuts down.
Option 1: Move Now (Before the End of September)
Pros:
- You start Q4 on a warmed-up platform.
- Zero overlap with your peak promo schedule.
- Time to test flows before the holiday crush.
Cons:
- Compressed project timeline — you’ll need to move fast.
Option 2: Wait Until Mid-December
Pros:
- No disruption to your BFCM calendar.
- Migration tools and processes will be more polished by then.
Cons:
- Just two weeks to cut over before Yotpo switches off.
- Any slip puts you into January with no Email/SMS running.
If I were making the call, I’d take September every time.
Step-by-Step Migration Blueprint
Switching Email/SMS platforms can’t be just a “copy and paste” job.
If done wrong, it’ll hurt your deliverability and cost you a TON of sales.
Here’s how to move off Yotpo Email/SMS without losing revenue:
Step 1: Pick Your Destination (now)
Decide on your platform choice upfront. Pricing, feature fit, segmentation depth, and SMS volume should drive this call, rather than the default handoff.
- If you are heavily cost-conscious, lean toward an all-in-one platform like Omnisend or Mailchimp.
- If your brand retention strategy is SMS-first, then consider using Attentive for SMS (plus an email platform that pairs well).
- If your brand is heavily performance-driven or you’ve got a fairly complex setup, then a data-rich ESP like Klaviyo is your best bet.
Step 2: Audit & Export Everything
- Contacts: Export your full list with fields for opt-in consent (email + SMS), signup source, engagement history, and tags.
- Segments: Save (or export if possible) the logic and criteria for each customer segment. You’ll need them rebuilt in your new platform.
- Flows/Automations: Create, screenshot, and/or download flow diagrams, trigger rules, delays, etc. Screenshots are fine if exports aren’t available.
- Templates: Export HTML + images so you can re-use your designs. Or simply rebuild them in the new platform.
- Suppressed Lists: Export everyone who must not be messaged (unsubscribe, bounce, spam complaint, and SMS opt-out) from Yotpo and ensure they remain suppressed in the new platform. Essential for avoiding compliance violations and protecting deliverability.
PS: If you’re using Klaviyo’s Yotpo Email & SMS Migration integration, subscription status syncs one-time (subs + unsubs) to the lists you select. That reduces manual work by a TON, but you’ll still need to stop collecting/sending in Yotpo immediately after to avoid “drift” (new subs/unsubs won’t sync).
Step 3: Integrate Your Store and Data Sources to The New ESP
- Connect your eCommerce platform (Shopify, BigCommerce, etc.) to your new ESP/SMS tool on Day 1 so it starts capturing real-time events immediately.
- Connect any third-party lead capture tools, quiz apps, or custom forms.
- Ensure all essential events (e.g., checkout started, order placed, product viewed) are flowing — these fuel your automations.
Step 4: Implement Forms, Templates, and Core Flows
- Forms/Pop-ups: Implement your sign-up forms, pop-ups, and embedded captures so new subscribers go directly into the new system.
- Templates: Set up your master email template(s) and SMS message styles to match your brand (header/footer, modules, fonts).
- Set up the big five core flows: Welcome Flow, Browse Abandon, Abandoned Cart, Abandoned Checkout, Post-Purchase (Day 0 and Day 3 emails/SMS)
- Ensure that the copy and offers remain consistent with what was working in Yotpo, so you don’t disrupt the customer experience during the warm-up period.
Step 5: Shut Off Yotpo Collection Points
- Disable all Yotpo forms, pop-ups, and other opt-in sources immediately after importing your data.
- Remove Yotpo links from social profiles, QR codes, and any other areas where people might sign up.
- This prevents “status drift” — where new opt-ins/unsubscribes happen in a system you’re no longer using.
Step 6: Warm Up Your Sending Infrastructure
- For Email:
- Start with your most engaged 20–30% of subscribers.
- Send smaller, segmented campaigns for the first week, gradually increasing daily until you reach full volume.
- Avoid unsegmented campaign blasts for the first 4-6 weeks during warm-up.
- For SMS:
- Cut over fully to your new SMS provider once it’s ready — to AVOID parallel sending from Yotpo and your new tool.
- For compliance and trust, send a short introductory text letting subscribers know you’re messaging from a new number/short code.
- If you’re in the US, factor in 10DLC or short code registration lead times before the first SMS send on the new platform.
Step 7: Monitor and Adjust
- Double-check triggers, delays, segmentation logic, and personalization fields.
- Monitor your deliverability (inbox placement, click/open rates, spam complaints) for at least the first 14 days.
- Adjust send frequency and targeting based on engagement trends, not just list size.
Choosing the Right Platform for Your Situation:
Once you’ve exported your data and locked in your timelines, the last major decision is where to land.
Here’s how I’d match the move to the scenarios we’ve covered:
If you moved to Yotpo to save money (and want to keep costs lean):
- Go with Omnisend — all-in-one Email + SMS under one roof, simpler billing, and faster to set up for smaller teams.
- Before you import, clean your list. Suppress inactives so you don’t start paying for contacts that won’t convert.
If SMS is a core revenue driver:
- Go with Attentive for SMS — they’ll handle high-volume text like a pro and have Yotpo-specific migration paths ready.
- Pair it with Klaviyo or Omnisend for Email. Keep SMS sending live as soon as your new sender is provisioned, while you warm up the email side.
If you want more power, segmentation depth, and growth potential:
- Go with Klaviyo — the most advanced segmentation and automation options in the eCom space, plus robust testing tools.
- Pair it with Attentive, Postscript, or Klaviyo SMS if SMS is a big lever for you.
If your setup is complex (multi-region, headless, custom events):
- Klaviyo typically excels in multi-storefront data management and event flexibility.
- Migrate region by region. Map your data schema before you import so every trigger fires correctly on launch.
How to Make This a Positive Opportunity:
Forced migrations are never convenient — but they can be incredibly valuable if you treat them as more than just a lift-and-shift job.
No matter which ESP route you choose, the migration isn’t “done” the day you switch platforms. The brands that will win are the ones that use this moment to tighten targeting, cut dead weight, and improve flow logic — so you’re not just moving your problems from one place to another.
In my opinion, this is a great opportunity to rebuild smarter, encompassing everything from your email domain reputation and deliverability to email flow and campaign sending, among other aspects.
This change will force you to touch parts of your retention stack you might not have reviewed in years:
- List quality: Drop unengaged subscribers to improve deliverability and ROI with every send.
- Automation logic: Reassess every trigger, delay, and message — are they still aligned with your customers’ real buying cycles?
- Segmentation: Use the migration as a hard reset to determine who gets what and why, rather than relying on outdated audience rules, etc.
It’s also a rare opportunity to close the gaps that were quietly costing you money. Duplicate lists, messy consent records, confusing discount logic — all of that can be cleaned up during the move.
