Sync Klaviyo lists and merge repeat profiles

You send a clean list to Klaviyo, then merge two customers in Shopify, and wonder what Klaviyo does about it. The answer depends on which of two separate paths you started: syncing a list, or merging profiles. Each has its own trigger and its own result, and the page below follows both in order.

Two things MergeGuard does with Klaviyo

You start it

Audience list sync

Growth and up

Sequence

1

Choose a list

Pick a list in Audiences.

2

Sync or export

Press sync to send the list to Klaviyo, or export it as a CSV.

3

Nothing else changes

Nobody is unsubscribed or deleted, and subscriptions stay as they were.

What you can see afterwards

Connected

Connecting Klaviyo starts no sync.

Synced

The list is in Klaviyo. It went there because you chose to sync it.

Keep in sync

Off until you switch it on for a list. On Scale and up.

Follows your Shopify merges

Klaviyo profile merging

Growth and up

Sequence

1

Shopify merge finishes

After MergeGuard finishes merging a duplicate group in Shopify, whether you confirmed it or automatic merging made it.

2

MergeGuard asks Klaviyo

Each merged-away customer’s Klaviyo profile is merged into the kept customer’s Klaviyo profile, one pair at a time, over the next few minutes.

3

Klaviyo applies its rules

Klaviyo’s merge rules decide the merged profile’s consent and suppression.

What you can see afterwards

Setting off

Off by default. Turn on "Merge repeat profiles in Klaviyo" in Settings, Integrations.

Merged in Klaviyo

Each merge in History shows its Klaviyo outcome (Merged in Klaviyo, Merging in Klaviyo, Waiting to merge in Klaviyo, Not merged in Klaviyo with a reason) and an ‘Open in Klaviyo’ link.

Not merged in Klaviyo

History shows the reason; you can merge by hand in Klaviyo.

Permanent. Klaviyo profile merges can’t be undone.

Syncing a list

1. Connect Klaviyo from Settings in MergeGuard. MergeGuard reads your Klaviyo profiles and syncs a list only when you choose.
2. Pick a list from Audiences, such as Newsletter cleanup, Win-back or VIP.
3. Sync it to Klaviyo, or export it as a CSV. On Scale, you can switch on Keep in sync for up to 20 lists on a monthly plan, or unlimited on a yearly plan.

You can disconnect Klaviyo from Settings.

Merging Klaviyo profiles

Turn on Merge repeat profiles in Klaviyo in Settings, Integrations, and MergeGuard merges the matching Klaviyo profiles after it merges customers in Shopify. It does this whether you confirmed the merge or automatic merging made it. The setting stays off until you turn it on, and it’s on the Growth, Scale and Enterprise plans.

1. MergeGuard finishes the Shopify merge. It waits until it has finished merging the whole group in Shopify.
2. MergeGuard asks Klaviyo to merge. The Klaviyo profile of each merged customer goes into the profile of the customer you kept, one pair at a time, over the next few minutes.
3. History shows the result. Each merge says whether it merged in Klaviyo, and Open in Klaviyo takes you to the profile. Read more about History.

Klaviyo’s own merge rules decide what the merged profile looks like, including its consent and suppression. For profiles that use the same email address, Klaviyo’s help documents two cases:

• If only the profile merged away has an email consent record, Klaviyo uses it on the kept profile.
• If both profiles have a consent record with the same status, Klaviyo keeps the earlier consent date.

Email suppression records follow the same two cases. Klaviyo’s help doesn’t describe profiles whose statuses differ, so open the kept profile in Klaviyo after a merge and review its consent and suppression before you send.

Klaviyo’s help also describes these changes:

• The kept profile joins the other profile’s lists and takes its place in flows.
• Flow emails in progress can stop.
• Coupon codes assigned to the old profile are not reassigned to the kept profile.

Klaviyo describes these rules in its help articles on merging profiles and how Klaviyo works out which profiles are the same person. MergeGuard doesn’t copy or change subscriptions or suppressions in Klaviyo.

Klaviyo profile merges can’t be undone. Before the merge, MergeGuard saves a copy of both Klaviyo profiles for your records: email, phone number, external ID, created and updated dates, subscriptions, location and custom properties. Custom properties are left out when the copy is over the size limit. The copy can’t reverse a merge.

MergeGuard leaves a pair unmerged when the merged customer has no separate Klaviyo profile, when the kept customer has no Klaviyo profile, or when a phone match points to a Klaviyo profile with another customer’s email. History shows the reason, and you can merge those profiles yourself in Klaviyo. Merges you make in Shopify admin, outside MergeGuard, aren’t copied to Klaviyo.

What stays the same in Klaviyo

• Connecting Klaviyo never auto-syncs, and Klaviyo merging stays off until you turn it on.
• A sync never changes who is subscribed, and never unsubscribes or deletes anyone.
• MergeGuard never sets a Klaviyo profile’s subscription or suppression. When profiles merge, Klaviyo’s rules set both.
• MergeGuard never messages your customers. You decide what to send from Klaviyo.

Why lists need to count people

When one shopper has two customer profiles in Shopify, they can be counted twice on your list and get the same newsletter twice. For example, 1,012 subscribed contacts turn out to be 926 people, so 86 would get the newsletter twice Demo store (Northsail Supply).

Audiences in MergeGuard count people, not profiles. They join the profiles that belong to one person before they build a list.

Which audiences you can sync

Enterprise includes unlimited Klaviyo syncs. On lower plans, audiences outside your plan show their counts only. See every plan on the pricing page.

For what MergeGuard does and doesn’t change across your store, read Is MergeGuard safe?.