Martech stacks are changing fast—tools like Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems keep popping up with more and more features. You’re starting to wonder: CDP vs CRM? Which one fits my needs?

To answer these in 2025, when customers are flooded with offers and move faster than ever, you must understand what each tool does. That’s how you choose a solution that supports your unique goals.

But it doesn’t have to be either-or. Some platforms, like Loadstone, combine the strengths of CDP and CRM in a single platform.

Keep reading to learn what CDP and CRM are, how they differ, and how Loadstone unifies them to help you drive more conversions, boost retention and simplify customer data management.

What is CRM software (Customer Relationship Management tool)?

CRM software helps businesses manage customer journeys, interactions and communications. It supports marketing, sales and service teams by automating workflows—sending email campaigns, assigning lead scores and handling support tickets. 

CRMs help track how customers interact with the brand across touchpoints (e.g., messengers or web). These tools also store contact details such as customers’ names, emails and purchases.

Some CRM software examples include platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot and Zoho CRM.

See also: Types of CRM Software: Which Should You Choose?

What is a Customer Data Platform (CDP)?

CDP collects customer data from all the company’s channels to create 360° profiles with information about each person who came in contact with the brand.* It offers real-time audience segmentation, tagging people based on factors like recent purchases or engagement with email campaigns. 

CDP supports analytics insights such as customer churn risk. It can also feed data into CRMs, recommender engine algorithms and loyalty platforms. That way, businesses can manage customer data across those tools to create personalized experiences.

Some examples of CDPs are Segment, Treasure Data and BlueConic.

*Note: If a person makes a purchase, the CDP stores their personal details (name, email and bought products). When someone hasn’t made a purchase or shared their info (e.g., just browsing your site), the CDP assigns them an anonymous ID and showcases available data, e.g., which products they clicked on. Once that person shares their details (e.g., makes a purchase), the CDP connects all their past activity to their profile.

CDP vs CRM: Key differences

As you can see, CDP and CRM both help you track how people interact with your brand. However, they do it in different ways and with distinct purposes.

Here’s an overview of the key differences in CDP vs CRM.

CRM vs CDP: Do you need both?

In many cases, yes, you need both CDP and CRM—but not always as separate tools. CDP and CRM serve different but complementary purposes:

• CDP supports personalization and audience segmentation, providing businesses with detailed customer profiles. 
• CRM focuses on automating customer-facing workflows, such as moving customers through the sales pipeline, handling follow-ups and managing targeted marketing campaigns. 

When paired, you get one system that collects and segments customer information. Then, you can use that data within the same platform to send personalized messages that engage customers and encourage them to interact with your brand.

Storing data and managing outreach in one place helps avoid silos. Disconnected tools lead to issues like duplicated efforts and inconsistent messaging. For example, sales and marketing teams might send conflicting offers to the same customer. It can also mean missing opportunities to follow up with leads or send personalized offers that motivate the audience to buy.

Combining CDP and CRM gives you a clear view of your customer journey—from first touch to retention. It helps align marketing and sales around shared data and ensures every message, campaign and follow-up feels consistent and timely.

Loadstone: Combine your CDP and CRM

If you want the smartest way to combine CDP and CRM in one system, look no further than Loadstone. It’s a martech ecosystem offering unique products that help you improve customer engagement and get more conversions.

Loadstone stands out from other martech solutions with its built-in Customer Data Platform. You don’t need separate purchases or complicated integrations. The moment you sign up for any Loadstone product, you automatically get the comprehensive CDP.

The Loadstone product that focuses on customer relationship management is called CRM and Communications. And, of course, it comes with an embedded CDP.

Loadstone CDP collects your first-party data and third-party data from every touchpoint—offline and online—and feeds it into CRM. You get a full view of each customer, updated in real time. Know what they buy in-store and online, what they browse, and which loyalty programs they’re in.

You get real-time audience segmentation and omnichannel capabilities in one system, letting you send messages that resonate with customers wherever they are—through email, SMS or mobile push. Send a limited-time discount to a customer who abandoned their cart. Offer early access to a new collection for customers who’ve spent over $500 in the last six months.

Use Loadstone CRM and marketing automation platform to send mass outreach campaigns as well. Share brand updates, such as opening a store or starting a new collaboration. You can also set up automated transactional messages, such as receipts and order confirmations with upsell offers, like suggesting socks to a customer who just bought sneakers.

Automate all your flows in a visual builder—just drag and drop triggers and actions in the order you want them to run. Loadstone CRM and Communications lets you design compelling messages in a no-code WYSIWYG editor and perform A/B/n tests on different subject lines and content to see what works best with your audience.

When you need to see exactly how each campaign performs, access real-time analytics to track metrics, such as open rates and conversions.

Plus, Loadstone lets you extend your CRM and Communications with other retail marketing products like the AI Recommender System, Loyalty Management or Promotional Marketing. 

Mix and match Loadstone products to manage all your customer engagement efforts in one place. Set up personalized product recommendations based on what each customer browses and buys. Run loyalty programs with points and membership levels. Launch promotions like limited-time discounts or free shipping. There’s no need for third-party connectors—all your martech tools work together in one system.

Ready to get one system “to rule them all”?

Book a call with the Loadstone team to get started.  

Traditional CDP + CRM vs Loadstone unified platform: Comparison table

**With Loadstone, you get support from a team of experts with years of experience helping e-commerce businesses get the most out of their martech stack. They help you choose the right e-commerce tools, set them up, and ensure you use them in ways that bring the best results.

CDP, CRM… or both?

CRM and CDP arm your business with valuable capabilities.

CDP gives you a complete view of your audience, helping you understand and segment them based on their preferences and behavior. CRM helps you manage and automate communication on your channels.

All those capabilities—personalization, segmentation and omnichannel reach—are must-haves for commerce businesses. To stay competitive, you need both CRM and CDP.

While you need both, it doesn’t mean you must juggle them as separate tools. Instead, you can have CDP and CRM in one system.

The Loadstone enterprise CRM solution—CRM and Communications—comes with a built-in CDP, so you get both tools natively connected. The CDP collects audience data from all your online and offline touchpoints, feeding real-time insights and segments to the CRM. This lets you adjust and automate your messaging to match what your customers want to see and buy. 

Loadstone is a composable commerce platform. So, when you’re ready to expand your CRM capabilities, easily do so with other Loadstone products. Manage communications, recommendations, loyalty programs and promotions—all within one platform.

If at any point you need help implementing your Loadstone solution and strategies, the Loadstone team of experts is always here for you.

Book a demo with our specialists to see what the Loadstone all-in-one martech ecosystem can do for you.

FAQs

What is the difference between a CRM and a CDP?

The difference between CRM and CDP is how they support your customer engagement efforts. CRM manages and automates customer communications. CDP collects and segments data from all touchpoints to give a complete view of each audience member.

Can a CDP replace a CRM?

No, a CDP can’t replace a CRM. CDP helps you understand and segment the audience, but you need CRM to manage communication with customers. It’s best to use them together in one system, such as Loadstone. 

Is HubSpot a CDP or CRM?

HubSpot is a CRM. It lets businesses manage customer interactions. 

What does CDP stand for in CRM?

In CRM, a Customer Data Platform (CDP) collects data from your channels (website, social media), and feeds it into your CRM platform. It also creates 360° customer profiles so that you can personalize customer communications through your CRM.

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