What it really means to be a CRM built for B2C

When I talk to growing brands—whether they’re shipping candles from a garage or expanding into national retail—one thing comes up again and again: the tools they use weren’t built for them. Especially their CRM.

Too many CRMs are built for long sales cycles and manual data entry. They’re made for sales reps and pipelines, not marketers and service teams. And most of all, they weren’t designed for the high-volume, high-velocity, high-expectation customer journeys that define today’s B2C brands.

Last month, Klaviyo was recognized by IDC for launching the first CRM purpose-built for B2C. Not a bolt-on to a sales tool. Not a stitched together “Frankenstack” of marketing and service software. A single platform that unifies marketing, service, analytics, and customer data with speed, simplicity, and flexibility baked in from the start.

Why this moment matters for every brand

We’re in the middle of a major shift in how consumer businesses grow. It’s not about who can shout the loudest—it’s about who listens best. The brands that will win are the ones that can build relationships, not just campaigns, and do it across every touchpoint, in real time.

But most teams aren’t set up for that. They’re juggling 10, 15, even 20 different tools. That fragmentation slows them down, hides insights in disconnected data, and ultimately creates a disjointed experience for customers.

In our latest B2C CRM assessment, nearly 60% of brands said their tools “don’t mingle.” And only 9% said their data flows perfectly in real time. That’s not just inefficient—it’s unsustainable in today’s market.

What makes a CRM truly built for B2C?

IDC’s research summed it up well: Klaviyo is reframing what CRM means for consumer brands. It’s not about sales reps. It’s about systems that work together—marketing, service, and data—all in one place.

Here’s what that looks like in action:

• Unified customer data via Klaviyo Data Platform (KDP). Here, marketers and service teams share a single view, and insights turn into actions in real time.
• Smarter service that drives results like our Customer Hub and AI Agent. These give shoppers instant answers and support that feels personal, not transactional.
• Marketing that learns and adapts with AI-powered suggestions, omnichannel orchestration, and built-in attribution to guide every decision.
• Analytics that everyone can use, from high-value customer insights to predictive lifetime value.

When all of this is built into one system—not tacked on—it doesn’t just make work easier. It unlocks entirely new ways to grow.

Service is no longer a cost center. It’s your competitive edge

For too long, service has been boxed in as a cost center. We’re flipping that script and treating it like the strategic advantage it is. In the B2C world, service is the experience. And it often determines whether a customer comes back.

That’s why we built service and marketing to work together from day one. It means:

• Answering questions before customers ask
• Sparking new product discovery after a purchase
• Resolving issues faster, with full customer context

In IDC’s words, we’re making it possible for brands to treat every touchpoint, whether pre-sale or post-purchase, as an opportunity for loyalty and growth.

What comes next

Being the only CRM built for B2C is our product philosophy, our customer commitment, and our belief that when you connect your teams, your data, and your experiences, you grow faster, smarter, and more sustainably.

If you haven’t read the full research note yet, I highly recommend it. It’s a powerful validation of the unique needs the B2C companies have, and it’s a glimpse into the future of how B2C businesses will build customer relationships from here on out.

We’ve built for the future of CRM for B2C—now it’s time to lead the way forward, together.