In early 2025, Yotpo announced it will be sunsetting its Email & SMS marketing product by the end of the year. As part of the transition, Yotpo is partnering with Attentive to provide a recommended path for SMS users. This change affects thousands of Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants who have built campaigns, automations, and compliance processes around Yotpo’s platform. For many, the decision to migrate—or wait until after peak season—carries both operational and revenue implications.
This guide takes a neutral, fact-driven approach to help you navigate the shutdown. Whether you’re considering Attentive, Klaviyo, Omnisend, or an email-first platform like Recapture (with optional SMS), you’ll find timelines, migration strategies, compliance checklists, and cost models to support an informed decision.
Table of Contents
- What’s happening & timeline
- Migrate now or after peak season?
- How to choose your next provider
- Consent & compliance portability checklist
- Data inventory & mapping worksheet
- Step-by-step migration playbooks
- Deliverability warm-up plan
- Cost comparison & TCO model
- QA & fail-safes
- Neutral quick-comparison table
- FAQ
- Conclusion & next steps
1. What’s happening & timeline
Yotpo’s Email & SMS shutdown will occur in phases, allowing merchants time to plan and execute migrations. Based on Yotpo’s public statements and merchant communications, here’s the projected timeline:
- Q3 2025 – Announcement of Email & SMS sunset and partnership with Attentive.
- Q3 2025 – New customer sign-ups for Email & SMS halted; existing customers advised to plan migrations.
- October 2025 – Feature freeze: No new enhancements to Email & SMS.
- December 31, 2025 – Final day Email & SMS services are operational. Access to historical campaign data may be restricted afterward.
Yotpo’s other products—Reviews, Loyalty & Referrals, Subscriptions—are not affected and will continue to operate.
Merchant impact:
- Potential downtime if migration is incomplete before shutdown
- Deliverability risks if warming up a new domain/IP during peak season
- Loss of automation logic if not replicated in the new platform
- Compliance gaps if opt-in proof is not ported correctly
2. Migrate now or after peak season?
For many Shopify merchants, the shutdown announcement arrives uncomfortably close to Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM). You have two main timing strategies:
Option 1: Immediate Migration
Pros:
- Stability in peak season with your new provider already in place
- Time to optimize automations before high-traffic months
- Opportunity to align with 2025 marketing plans
Cons:
- Resource strain during a busy prep season
- Deliverability warm-up may overlap with high-stakes sends
- Risk of breaking automations or campaigns during migration
Option 2: Post-BFCM Deferral
Pros:
- Minimizes disruption during Q4
- More time for due diligence on new providers
Cons:
- Shorter runway before December 31 deadline
- Risk of rushed migration and overlooked compliance items
- Risk of missing automations after Yotpo platform has shut down
Alternate Approaches:
- Freeze + Shadow: Keep Yotpo live for campaigns while setting up the new provider in parallel.
- Rollback Ready: Maintain the ability to revert to Yotpo until cutover is final.
3. How to choose your next provider
When migrating from Yotpo SMS, you can choose between:
- All-in-one platforms like Attentive, Omnisend, or Klaviyo — integrated email and SMS with advanced segmentation and reporting.
- Modular / email-first platforms like Recapture — specialize in email, with SMS optional via integrations, offering leaner costs and reduced complexity for merchants where SMS is secondary.
Key evaluation criteria:
- Consent Handling: Can you import and verify opt-in proof?
- Deliverability Tools: Support for dedicated sending domains/IPs, ramp-up plans.
- Pricing Predictability: Transparent message costs and billing models.
- Analytics: Granular campaign and automation reporting.
- Onboarding SLAs: Guaranteed timelines for setup and support.
4. Consent & compliance portability checklist
Before leaving Yotpo SMS, ensure your compliance data is complete and exportable. This is critical for TCPA (U.S.), CASL (Canada), and GDPR (EU) adherence.
- Export full opt-in timestamps
- Include opt-in source (form, keyword, checkout)
- Capture keyword history for SMS joins
- Download double opt-in logs (if used)
- Export suppression lists and import into new provider
General guidance only; consult your legal team for jurisdiction-specific requirements.
5. Data inventory & mapping worksheet
Conduct a data inventory before migration:
- Audience lists — master lists, segments, tags
- Campaign history — past sends, engagement metrics
- Automation triggers — abandoned cart, welcome, post-purchase
- UTM tagging — source/medium consistency
Mapping example:
| Yotpo Field | New Platform Field | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Opt-in Source | Consent Method | Preserve verbatim for compliance |
| Segment Name | Segment Name | Match targeting logic |
| Cart Recovery Trigger | Automation Workflow | Recreate timing and conditions |
6. Step-by-step migration playbooks
6.1 Pre-Migration Audit
Start with a full audit of your current setup:
- Flows and Automations: List every active automation (e.g., welcome series at T+0, abandoned cart at T+1h/24h/72h, back-in-stock alerts, etc.).
- Asset Export: Download all email templates, SMS copy, pop-up designs, suppression lists (unsubs, bounces, spam flags).
- Trigger & Timing Map: Make a visual flowchart with timing and conditional splits.
6.2 Choose Your Migration Destination
Use this comparison to guide your platform choice:
| Platform | Key Features | Best Fit |
|---|---|---|
| Recapture | Email + SMS, Shopify integration | Brands up to $5M/year, simplicity-focused |
| Omnisend | Email + SMS, automation suite | Mid-sized e-commerce ($10M +) |
| Attentive | SMS-first, enterprise compliance | SMS-heavy strategies |
| Klaviyo | Deep analytics, segmentation | Data-driven brands, Enterprise-level |
6.3 Execute Migration
- Export Data: Subscriber lists (with explicit consent flag), segments, campaigns, suppression data.
- Import & Map: Carefully upload into the new platform; test mapped segments.
- Recreate Designs: Replicate email and SMS template designs, ensuring mobile responsiveness.
- Rebuild Automations: Set up flows with same timing and logic; include triggers and filters.
6.4 Testing & Deliverability Prep
- Create a staging list and send test messages to internal testers.
- Implement domain/IP warming:
- Day 1–2: low volume test sends.
- Day 3–5: ramp up to 25% of normal volume.
- Day 6–7: full normal send volume.
6.5 Soft Launch (Parallel Testing)
Run both Yotpo and new platform flows simultaneously:
- Compare opens, clicks, conversions.
- Address any discrepancies quickly.
- Once new flows match performance, pause Yotpo automations.
6.6 Cleanup & Optimization
- Deactivate Yotpo flows (“Draft” instead of delete to preserve historical data).
- Monitor deliverability, engagement, and conversions.
- Use A/B tests on subject lines, timing, and content.
- Revamp list growth (pop-ups, cart sliders) using the new tool’s strengths.
6.7 Additional Platform-specific items to check
Yotpo → Attentive
- Export contacts with consent metadata
- Submit toll-free verification forms
- Rebuild flows and campaigns
Yotpo → Klaviyo
- Import lists with suppression data
- Warm up dedicated sending numbers
- Map automation triggers
Yotpo → Omnisend
- Consolidate email/SMS templates
- Sync ecommerce platform data
- QA automations in sandbox
Yotpo → Recapture (email-first with optional SMS)
- Contact Recapture’s migration team for free full-service migration and 3 months free.
- Export all Yotpo email campaigns and flows.
- Rebuild automations using Recapture’s pre-tested templates.
- Integrate SMS only if needed.
- Review success stories for real-world results.
7. Deliverability warm-up plan
Ramp-up schedule example (email + SMS):
| List Size | Day 1–7 | Day 8–14 | Day 15–30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25k | 5k/day | 10k/day | Full list |
| 100k | 10k/day | 25k/day | Full list |
| 500k | 25k/day | 50k/day | Full list |
8. Cost comparison & TCO model
Costs vary based on volume and feature use:
| Provider | Email Cost | SMS Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attentive | Incl. in plan | $0.015–$0.04/SMS | High focus on SMS |
| Klaviyo | Tiers by contacts | $0.015–$0.03/SMS | Integrated |
| Omnisend | Tiers by sends | $0.015–$0.03/SMS | Omnichannel |
| Recapture | From $39/mo | $0.015–$0.04/SMS | Omnichannel, email-focused solution |
9. QA & fail-safes
- Test sends to internal seed lists
- Verify suppression list imports
- Document rollback process
10. Neutral quick-comparison table
| Provider | Consent Import Depth | Deliverability Tools | Templates | Pricing Transparency | Best Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attentive | High | Advanced | Yes | Moderate | SMS-centric brands |
| Klaviyo | High | Advanced | Yes | Moderate | Mid–large omnichannel |
| Omnisend | High | Moderate | Yes | High | Mid-Enterprise Stores |
| Recapture | High | Moderate | Yes | High | Mid market Stores with light SMS use |
FAQ
- Can I keep my short code?
- It depends on your new provider’s policies; most require re-registration.
- Will my pricing be honored?
- Pricing with the new provider is based on their terms, not Yotpo’s legacy plan.
- How long is toll-free verification?
- Typically 2–3 weeks; start early to avoid delays.
- What happens to suppressed numbers?
- They should be imported to prevent accidental messaging.
- Can I migrate just email?
- Yes — with email-first providers like Recapture, SMS can be optional.
- Do I need to re-collect consent?
- No, if you have valid proof and the new provider accepts it.
- Will my automations break?
- They won’t transfer directly; you must rebuild them in the new platform.
- Is there downtime during migration?
- Not if you use a shadow or phased migration approach.
Conclusion & next steps
With Yotpo SMS set to shut down by year’s end, now is the time to audit your data, evaluate providers, and plan a migration that preserves revenue and compliance. Whether you choose an all-in-one or a leaner email-first stack like Recapture (with optional SMS), the key is preparation.
To explore if Recapture fits your needs, book a migration review or claim your free migration + 3 months free offer today.