How Kaylin + Kaylin Pickles Increased Engagement by Switching to Mailchimp

Pickles have long been a snack and sandwich-top staple. But Kaylin + Kaylin Pickles has turned them into a full-on experience, making them the star of the plate.

Founded by Scott Kaylin in 2020, Kaylin + Kaylin Pickles has shaken things up with their bold flavors inspired by classic New York-style pickles, selling them online and at a pickle tasting bar at Los Angeles’ Original Farmer’s Market. They also dreamed up a totally unique concept called TOPPED, which is exactly what it sounds like. There, you can find pickles loaded with toppings that range from spicy and savory to sweet, including a peanut butter, Nutella, and pretzel pickle boat. 

Kaylin + Kaylin’s quirky approach to pickles has made them go viral, and their social media presence has helped them grow, leading to frequent sellouts of their products online. They’ve built a considerable list of fans who look for the email saying their favorite flavors are back in stock, so they can grab a jar (or 5) before they sell out again. 

Email marketing is essential for them to keep their e-commerce sales steady. They need it to maintain and grow daily orders, and they track success through email metrics like open rates and click rates.

In early 2025, they decided it was time for a change in their email platform, so they made the jump from Klaviyo to Mailchimp. They wanted to find more effective ways to connect with their customers so they could drive higher engagement, which translates into more sales.  

The challenge: Rising costs and lack of strategic support from Klaviyo, and switching to Mailchimp quickly 

Kaylin + Kaylin Pickles faced growing pains as their email list grew, making their costs on Klaviyo creep higher and higher. "Klaviyo was just getting so ridiculously expensive and about to pass another cost threshold,” said their Social Media and Brand Manager, Ali Mann. They also weren’t using Klaviyo’s full suite of features, and they didn’t have the kind of strategic support they needed to make the most of the platform—including how to target customers effectively.

But switching to an entirely new platform presented its own set of risks. They worried about the time it would take to figure out the new system, and how quickly they could start sending emails through a new platform without losing momentum or engagement. 

The tools: Onboarding support, popup forms, tagging and segmentation, automation flows, AI

As they transitioned from Klaviyo, Mailchimp’s Customer Success team worked closely with Ali, offering hands-on help and step-by-step guidance, making sure Kaylin + Kaylin Pickles didn’t experience interruptions in their email marketing.

With the onboarding support and a custom solution for their audience growth, they’re able to tag and segment their new contacts using a popup form with a quiz. Once they collect new contact information, they can send emails targeted to people who are interested in spicy pickles, sweet ones, or all of them.

They also use marketing automations, like welcome flows for new subscribers, abandoned cart reminders sent to people who may need that last little push to purchase, and follow-up emails to nurture relationships.  

The results: Cost savings, fast implementation, audience growth, and increased engagement

Moving from Klaviyo to Mailchimp gave them better results, and did it fast. “We’ve saved a ton of money, and we’ve gotten a really good amount of value,” Ali says.

Ali says they never connected with a person at Klaviyo, but with Mailchimp, they were able to get the most out of the platform with the help of our Customer Success team. “I was so blown away. I felt like I had a private tutor that was teaching me how to use Mailchimp and really cared about our success,” she said. 

Thanks to the work the onboarding team did with popup forms, Kaylin + Kaylin is able to grow their audience with personalization in mind. They can find the right message for ‌people interested in specific pickle flavors, which increases engagement, too.  

In their final month on Klaviyo back in February 2025, their open rate was 20.5%. By July 2025, after 5 months on Mailchimp, their open rate had increased to 54.4%—more than double their rate on Klaviyo. Their click rates also increased more and more as they started using Mailchimp’s tools. 

Ali says that the improvements in engagement can be attributed to better targeting. “On Klaviyo we were having much lower open rates, because we weren't segmenting.”

They didn’t want to lose any time during their transition, and with the Mailchimp onboarding team they were able to get up and running to send their first email campaign in 1 month. Additionally, Ali says the interface is user-friendly and they’re able to save time using AI tools like the subject line helper. 

Ali has plans to continue to grow the customer experience through Mailchimp. She wants to ensure that they continue to increase personalization so that customers get emails catered to their preferences.  

"I feel super confident that we will be able to have our best shot at reaching all our goals with the support we have from your team," Ali says. With Mailchimp supporting them, Kaylin + Kaylin Pickles is ready to keep growing, one pickle lover at a time.