Precision sportswear brand Castore has leveraged Klaviyo’s AI to optimise pop-ups, helping to drive a +14% uplift in sign-ups over a six week period, boosting customer acquisition to grow owned, first-party data.

Castore sells its range of performance sportwear Direct To Consumer (DTC) as well as operating a B2B division which partners with major sporting brands, supplying kit to the likes of Andy Murray, England Cricket Club, Premier League football clubs and F1 motorsports teams like Red Bull Racing. As well as selling via its B2B channel, it also directly manages the ecommerce journey on behalf of some of its B2B brand partners.

Castore already uses Klaviyo across its segmentation to target customers with relevant products based on shopper behaviour and browsing habits. This allows the brand to understand customer intent and use data to build segments for retargeting and personalisation to drive click through (CTR), conversion and retention.

“We market direct using Klaviyo to our own customers, but we also use it for our brand partners, so we have a huge amount of data that sits within the platform,” Max Holland, Senior CRM Manager at Castore, explained.

Stitching together customer data for seamless shopping

Speaking at Klaviyo’s K:LDN event last week, Holland confirmed that Castore will use Klaviyo Data Platform (KDP) to “stitch together” its individual customer networks and data. This will provide a unified view of the customer across both channels and its DTC and B2B brands, supporting enhanced personalisation and seamless shopping experiences.  

Currently, its data set up means that it could be looking at multiple versions of the same customer. However, going forward, KDP will unify that into a single view. “This will allow us to cross-pollinate and understand customer data better,” Holland explained.  In turn, this will allow Castore to adapt its messages across the campaigns its runs for its brand partners as well as its mainline DTC offering.

AI optimisation drives up customer acquisition 

Castore already optimises its content output with Klaviyo AI, using it to build subject lines, define customer segments and test the effectiveness of on-site engagement and sign-up tools, such as pop-ups. “For every hour that I put in with my team, I know the Klaviyo AI is doubling that,” Holland said.

Holland described how the AI in Klaviyo had recently prompted its team to optimise the on-site pop-up experience. “We were going through some routine testing and the AI in the Klaviyo platform proactively alerted us that we should optimise how and when the pop-up content was served.”  

Having dug into the prompt further, Castore’s CRM team then deployed a series of tests to optimise pop-up load times. This used intent and browsing based behaviours, from scroll propensity to exit hover, to determine when and where the pop-up was served. 

“Over a six-week period, the refinements delivered a +14% uplift in sign-ups,” Holland said, effectively turning what was originally a routine ‘hygiene’ measure into a value generating exercise.  

“It’s an exciting indication of what’s to come as AI becomes more proactive, accelerating how we as a team can then choose to use the technology to drive performance and customer value,” he said.

Showing up, where – and when – your customers are

Klaviyo also announced new platform enhancements at K:LDN, all aimed at helping unify CX, using AI-powered insights to deliver personalised, omnichannel buying experiences based on individual shopper preferences.

Its new Channel Affinity feature, for example, uses AI to automatically learn each customer’s unique channel preferences and the times they’re most likely to engage. It then delivers messages where and when they’re most likely to convert, helping brands show up in a compelling way where – and when – their customers are.

“Customer discovery and considerations times are getting longer and are involving more than one channel – and that means there’s no longer one, single point of sale,” Jamie Domenici, Klaviyo’s CMO told Retail Rewired at K:LDN. “So customer journeys need to be nurtured and that thread of customer engagement needs to run silo-free through every team – from product to brand and marketing – so each touchpoint and customer conversation is geared towards conversion.”

Looking ahead to Q3, Klaviyo will also launch its Omnichannel Campaign Builder, which enables marketers to plan, launch, and measure complex, multi-day campaigns across email, SMS/RCS, push and WhatsApp.  It will leverage built-in insights and AI-optimised delivery, helping retailers execute faster, reduce costs and increase ROI.

Q3 will also see the go live for its Native Support for WhatsApp and RCS feature, which allows brands to deliver rich, interactive in-app messages that enhance engagement.