Omnisend: Complete Email and SMS Marketing Guide for eCommerce

What is Omnisend

Omnisend is a marketing automation platform designed for eCommerce that combines email, SMS, and web push notifications into a single workflow. Founded in 2014 under the name Soundest and rebranded in 2017, it targets mid-sized brands looking for more capabilities than Mailchimp but without the price point and complexity of Klaviyo.

Its key differentiator is the ease of setting up omnichannel flows where a single workflow can send an email, wait a set time, and if there is no interaction, continue with an SMS or push notification — all within the same automation and through an accessible visual interface.

Core features

Omnichannel flow automation

Omnisend's flow builder is its primary strength. It lets you design sequences combining multiple channels in a visual drag-and-drop workflow. The most commonly used flows in eCommerce are:

• Abandoned cart: multi-layer sequence with email plus optional SMS.
• Welcome series: introductory sequence with progressive discount.
• Post-purchase: review request and related product recommendations.
• Winback: reactivation campaigns with conditionals based on inactivity period.
• Order confirmation: personalized transactional emails with shipping status.

Each step can include conditional splits based on whether the user opened the previous email, clicked a specific link, or completed a purchase.

Contact segmentation

Omnisend allows segmenting by purchase behavior (products purchased, categories, order value), email engagement (opens, clicks), and profile properties. Segments are dynamic and update automatically. For eCommerce conversion optimization strategies, this segmentation enables sending the right message to the right segment at the moment of highest intent.

Integrated SMS

SMS in Omnisend is fully integrated with email flows. SMS pricing varies by country and is managed through prepaid credits. Consent management complies with GDPR and TCPA regulations. Omnisend includes pre-approved SMS templates for the most common use cases, reducing setup time.

Web push notifications

Push notifications allow reaching users who have not left their email but have accepted browser notifications. This extends owned channel reach beyond the email list, especially useful for recovering high-intent visitors.

Forms and pop-ups

Omnisend includes a form builder for lead capture: exit intent pop-ups, spin-to-win, inline forms, and subscription landing pages. These forms include segmentation logic to automatically tag contacts based on the page where they subscribed or the product they were viewing.

Omnisend vs alternatives

Feature	Omnisend	Klaviyo	Mailchimp	Brevo
eCommerce focus	Yes	Yes	No	Partial
Integrated SMS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Push notifications	Yes	No	No	Yes
Predictive analytics	Basic	Advanced	No	No
Segmentation	Advanced	Very advanced	Basic	Medium
Free tier limit	500 contacts	500 contacts	500 contacts	300 emails/day
Ease of use	High	Medium	High	High

Omnisend is more accessible than Klaviyo in price and learning curve, especially for teams without dedicated email marketing technical resources. Mailchimp falls behind in eCommerce capabilities. Brevo is competitive on price but more limited in omnichannel flows.

CRO applications

Marketing automation and CRO share the same objective: increasing the probability that users complete the desired action. Omnisend contributes three direct inputs to a conversion optimization process:

1. Funnel abandonment recovery. Abandoned cart and browse abandonment flows recover users who have exited the funnel at the most critical steps. Combined with behavioral data captured before the exit (which tools like PostHog record), they allow understanding why abandonment occurred and personalizing the recovery message.

2. Message testing with split testing. Omnisend includes A/B testing in campaigns and flows to test subject lines, content, or timing. While more limited than a dedicated A/B testing tool, it enables data-driven iteration on the email channel.

3. Engagement data for hypothesis prioritization. Open rates by segment, clicks by content block, and attributed revenue by flow are signals that help identify which value propositions resonate with which segment. This information feeds the prioritization of your CRO audit.

Basic setup

Store integration

Omnisend connects with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix, and other platforms via native apps. The integration syncs contacts, products, and behavioral events (product viewed, cart added, purchase completed) without additional configuration.

First flows to activate

The recommended order is: welcome series, abandoned cart, and order confirmation. These three flows can be configured and launched in less than a day using Omnisend's pre-built templates.

Consent management

To comply with GDPR, Omnisend manages consent states granularly per channel (email, SMS, push). Capture forms include default checkboxes and legal copy, though the operator is responsible for reviewing them for their specific market.

Limitations

Omnisend has less depth than Klaviyo in advanced segmentation and predictive analytics. For high-volume stores that need micro-segmentation based on CLV models or purchase propensity, Klaviyo offers more capabilities.

Omnisend's support is heavily oriented toward paid plans. The free tier has limitations that make it insufficient for stores with significant contact volumes or frequent sending needs.

Conclusion

Omnisend is a solid choice for eCommerce teams that want to go beyond basic email without the complexity and cost of Klaviyo. Its native omnichannel capability, ease of flow configuration, and competitive pricing make it a reference tool in the mid-market segment.

Integrated into a CRO strategy, Omnisend can be the channel that recovers users abandoning the funnel and provides the data needed to prioritize on-site experiments. If you want to review whether your marketing automation stack is properly configured for conversion, start with a CRO audit. At Boost we help eCommerce teams connect their marketing tools with optimization processes. You can also analyze your website for free with Scan&Boost.

Adrià Vidal — Boost