How to Connect BigCommerce with Mailchimp (2026)

Why Connect BigCommerce and Mailchimp

BigCommerce is a leading SaaS e-commerce platform used by growing brands and mid-market retailers to power their online stores. Mailchimp is the most widely used email marketing platform for small and mid-sized businesses. Connecting BigCommerce with Mailchimp enables store owners to leverage customer purchase behavior to drive targeted email marketing campaigns, from abandoned cart recovery to personalized product recommendations and customer win-back sequences.

This integration is particularly valuable for BigCommerce store owners, e-commerce marketers, and retention marketing specialists who want to move beyond batch-and-blast email marketing and instead create automated, data-driven campaigns that respond to real customer behavior. Email marketing consistently delivers the highest ROI of any digital marketing channel for e-commerce, and this integration is the foundation that makes sophisticated email campaigns possible.

What This Integration Does

The BigCommerce-Mailchimp integration syncs your store's customer and purchase data to Mailchimp, enabling powerful e-commerce marketing capabilities:

• Customer data sync: BigCommerce customer profiles (name, email, address, account creation date) are automatically synced to your Mailchimp audience with relevant merge tags populated.
• Order and purchase data sync: Every BigCommerce order is sent to Mailchimp with full details — products purchased, order total, tax, shipping, coupon codes used, and order status.
• Product catalog sync: Your BigCommerce product catalog (with images, prices, descriptions, and URLs) syncs to Mailchimp, enabling product recommendation blocks, product retargeting emails, and dynamic content in campaigns.
• Abandoned cart tracking: When a customer adds products to their cart but does not complete checkout, Mailchimp can trigger an automated recovery email series.
• Purchase-based segmentation: Create audience segments based on purchase history — first-time buyers, repeat customers, customers who bought from specific categories, high-value customers, and lapsed customers.
• Revenue tracking: Mailchimp attributes revenue to specific campaigns and automations, showing which emails drive the most sales.

Native Integration vs Third-Party

Mailchimp offers an official BigCommerce integration available through the BigCommerce App Marketplace. This native connector is the recommended approach for most stores.

Step-by-Step Setup

Step 1: Install the Mailchimp App from BigCommerce Marketplace

Log in to your BigCommerce admin panel. Navigate to Apps > Marketplace (or visit the BigCommerce App Marketplace). Search for "Mailchimp." Find the official Mailchimp integration and click Install (or Get This App). Follow the installation prompts to add the app to your BigCommerce store.

Step 2: Connect Your Mailchimp Account

After installation, the app will prompt you to connect your Mailchimp account. Click Connect and you will be redirected to Mailchimp's login page. Sign in with your Mailchimp credentials and authorize the BigCommerce app to access your account. Grant the required permissions (read/write access to audiences, campaigns, and e-commerce data).

Step 3: Select Your Mailchimp Audience

After authorization, choose which Mailchimp audience (list) should receive your BigCommerce customer data. If you have multiple audiences, select the primary one for e-commerce customers. Best practice is to use a single audience and rely on segments and tags for targeting rather than maintaining separate audiences for different customer groups.

Step 4: Configure Sync Settings

Configure the data sync parameters:

• Customer sync: Choose whether all BigCommerce customers are synced to Mailchimp, or only customers who opt in to marketing emails.
• Subscription opt-in: Configure the checkout opt-in experience. BigCommerce allows you to add a newsletter subscription checkbox at checkout. For GDPR compliance (if you serve EU/UK customers), this should be unchecked by default and clearly labeled.
• Product catalog sync: Enable product catalog syncing so Mailchimp has access to your product data for recommendation blocks and retargeting.
• E-commerce tracking: Enable the Mailchimp tracking pixel on your BigCommerce store to enable revenue attribution for email campaigns.

Step 5: Map Fields

Review the field mapping between BigCommerce customer fields and Mailchimp merge tags. Standard mappings include:

• BigCommerce First Name > Mailchimp FNAME
• BigCommerce Last Name > Mailchimp LNAME
• BigCommerce Email > Mailchimp EMAIL
• BigCommerce Phone > Mailchimp PHONE

Add custom merge tags in Mailchimp for any additional BigCommerce customer fields you want to use in email personalization (customer group, total spend, account creation date).

Step 6: Wait for Initial Sync

After configuration, the app begins syncing your existing BigCommerce data to Mailchimp. Depending on the size of your store, this may take from a few minutes to several hours. Monitor the sync status in the app's dashboard. The sync includes existing customers, historical order data, and your product catalog.

Step 7: Create Your First E-Commerce Automation

In Mailchimp, navigate to Automations and explore the pre-built e-commerce automation templates. Start with these high-impact automations:

• Abandoned cart: Automatically email customers who leave items in their cart
• First purchase: Welcome and thank new customers after their first order
• Product follow-up: Send care instructions, usage tips, or cross-sell recommendations after specific products are purchased

Best Automation Workflows

1. Three-Email Abandoned Cart Sequence

Email 1 (1 hour after abandonment): Simple reminder with cart contents and images. Email 2 (24 hours): Add urgency ("Items in your cart are selling fast") and social proof (reviews of the abandoned products). Email 3 (48-72 hours): Offer an incentive — free shipping or a percentage discount with a time-limited coupon code. This three-step approach typically recovers 10-15% of abandoned carts.

2. Post-Purchase Product Review Request

14 days after order fulfillment, send an automated email asking the customer to review the products they purchased. Include direct links to the product review sections on your BigCommerce store. Product reviews boost SEO, build trust, and increase conversion rates for future visitors.

3. Customer Reactivation Campaign

Create a Mailchimp segment for customers who made a purchase 90-180 days ago but have not returned. Send a three-email win-back series: first email highlights new arrivals or bestsellers, second email offers a personalized discount based on their purchase category, third email creates urgency with a limited-time offer. Customers who do not engage after the third email can be tagged for future suppression to protect deliverability.

4. Customer Lifetime Value Tiers

Segment your audience by total purchase value into tiers (Bronze: under $100, Silver: $100-500, Gold: $500+). Create tier-specific email content: Gold customers receive exclusive early access and VIP offers, Silver customers receive loyalty rewards and upgrade incentives, Bronze customers receive nurture content designed to drive a second purchase.

5. Browse Abandonment Emails

When Mailchimp's tracking pixel detects that a known customer browsed specific products but did not add them to cart, trigger a browse abandonment email showing the products they viewed. Include a "Still interested?" message with product images and a direct link to purchase. This captures interest earlier in the funnel than abandoned cart emails.

Data Sync Details

Conflict handling: BigCommerce is the system of record for customer and order data — updates in BigCommerce overwrite Mailchimp merge field values. Mailchimp is the system of record for subscription/marketing consent status — unsubscribes in Mailchimp are respected and prevent future marketing emails regardless of BigCommerce settings. This split authority model is standard for e-commerce email integrations and aligns with compliance requirements.

Common Issues and Troubleshooting

1. Customers Not Syncing to Mailchimp

New BigCommerce orders process successfully but the customers do not appear in your Mailchimp audience. Fix: Check whether the customer previously unsubscribed from your Mailchimp audience — Mailchimp will not re-add unsubscribed contacts. Verify the checkout opt-in settings (if opt-in is required and the customer did not check the box, they may not sync as subscribed). Check the app's sync status in BigCommerce for error messages. Ensure your Mailchimp account has not reached its audience member limit.

2. Abandoned Cart Automation Not Triggering

Customers abandon carts but do not receive recovery emails. The most common cause is that the customer was not identified (not logged in and email not yet captured during checkout). Fix: Mailchimp can only send abandoned cart emails when it has the customer's email address. Implement email capture as early as possible in the checkout flow. Consider adding a pop-up email capture for visitors before they reach checkout. Also verify the automation is active (not paused) in Mailchimp and that the delay settings are configured correctly.

3. Product Images Not Appearing in Emails

Product recommendation blocks or abandoned cart emails show missing images. Fix: Verify that your BigCommerce product images have public URLs (not behind authentication). Check that the product catalog sync completed successfully by reviewing the synced products in Mailchimp's Connected Sites section. Re-sync the product catalog if images are stale or missing. Ensure images are not being blocked by your CDN or security settings.

4. Revenue Attribution Showing Zero

Campaigns are sending and customers are purchasing, but Mailchimp reports show $0 in revenue. Fix: Verify that e-commerce tracking is enabled in the app settings and that the Mailchimp tracking pixel (mc.js) is loading on your store's pages. Check for script conflicts with other analytics or tag management tools. Revenue attribution requires the customer to click a link in a Mailchimp email and then complete a purchase within the attribution window (typically 30 days). Direct purchases not preceded by an email click will not be attributed.

Alternatives

• Klaviyo: The most popular alternative for e-commerce email marketing. Klaviyo's BigCommerce integration is deeper than Mailchimp's, with more advanced segmentation, predictive analytics, and behavioral triggers. Higher price point but purpose-built for e-commerce.
• Omnisend: An e-commerce marketing platform with a strong BigCommerce integration. Offers email, SMS, and push notifications in one platform, with pre-built e-commerce automation workflows.
• Drip: An e-commerce CRM and marketing automation platform with a BigCommerce integration. Focuses on building customer relationships through personalized, behavior-based campaigns.
• BigCommerce's built-in email marketing: BigCommerce offers basic email marketing capabilities built into the platform. For stores with simple email needs (promotional blasts, basic automations), this may be sufficient without a separate tool.
• ActiveCampaign: A marketing automation platform with e-commerce capabilities and a BigCommerce integration via the Deep Data integration. Stronger on automation workflows than Mailchimp, with CRM features included.