Yotpo exits email and SMS, names Attentive as preferred partner

Yotpo has announced a major shift in its product strategy, officially closing down its email and SMS offerings. In their words, this move represents “a new chapter for Yotpo and a renewed focus on our core products.”

According to Yotpo, the decision is about focusing resources on what they do best, namely their reviews and loyalty products. Building and maintaining a competitive email service provider (ESP) and SMS platform is resource-intensive, and the company has decided to redirect those efforts.

Attentive becomes the preferred vendor for Yotpo customers

As part of this shift, Yotpo announced that Attentive will be the preferred vendor for their customers seeking SMS and email solutions. Attentive, in its own announcement, framed the partnership as a natural fit: “As Yotpo exits the email and SMS space, we’re honored to be named their preferred partner.”

The Attentive team emphasized that their platform will integrate seamlessly for Yotpo customers who want to transition, highlighting advanced personalization features, strong Shopify integrations, and an established track record in SMS-driven revenue growth.

Our analysis

Shopify as the core sales pipeline

Yotpo, Klaviyo, and Attentive all sell primarily into the Shopify ecosystem. This ecosystem has historically been very comfortable with a multi-app stack. Even as “all-in-one” solutions become more popular, Shopify brands tend to prefer using best-in-class apps for each need, rather than relying on a single vendor for everything.

Why Yotpo struggled in email and SMS

Despite Yotpo’s broad platform ambitions, merchants frequently chose Klaviyo or Attentive for email and SMS, while continuing to use Yotpo for reviews and loyalty. This reflects a key reality in software: it is incredibly difficult to be excellent at many things at once. Yotpo built a strong reputation in reviews, but competing head-to-head with established ESPs required the same level of focus and investment that Klaviyo and Attentive were putting into their core offerings.

The result was that Yotpo’s email and SMS products never reached parity in quality. For some merchants, this may have even been distracting or disappointing, souring their perception of Yotpo’s brand. At some point, the unit economics of maintaining those products likely no longer made sense.

The road ahead

For merchants, this change will not be disruptive. Shopify-first businesses already favor Klaviyo and Attentive for email and SMS, and those platforms offer excellent integrations. At the same time, Yotpo will now focus on doubling down where they are strongest: reviews, loyalty, and customer advocacy.

Klaviyo and Attentive remain top choices for Shopify merchants, but brands can still successfully run their marketing with any ESP of choice.