Privy helps online stores capture email addresses, recover abandoned carts, and run email and text campaigns.
All of that can work.
The problem is that these are also the tools behind some of the most irritating behavior on the internet. You know the site where you arrive and three boxes demand your email before you have even read the headline? Do not do that.
Used intelligently, Privy can help turn traffic you already paid for into customers and repeat visitors.
Used badly, it can make a perfectly respectable brand feel desperate.
Pros
Cart recovery. List growth. Useful automation. Can improve the value of existing traffic.
Cons
Very easy to overuse. Aggressive popups and messages can hurt trust.
My take
Good technology. The person operating it determines whether customers appreciate it or hate it.