How to Setup Mailchimp with Shopify (2026 Guide)

How to Connect Mailchimp to Shopify

Mailchimp and Shopify have had a complicated history. The two companies severed their official integration in 2019 due to disputes over data sharing, forcing merchants to rely on third-party workarounds. However, Mailchimp relaunched an official integration with Shopify, and there is now a first-party Mailchimp for Shopify app available in the Shopify App Store. This guide covers setting up the official integration and using its key features.

Installing the Mailchimp for Shopify App

1. Log in to your Shopify admin.
2. Go to the Shopify App Store (apps.shopify.com) or click Apps in the left sidebar and search for "Mailchimp."
3. Find the official Mailchimp: Email & SMS Marketing app (published by Mailchimp).
4. Click Add app and then Install app when redirected to your Shopify admin.
5. You will be prompted to connect your Mailchimp account. Click Connect account and log in to Mailchimp.
6. Authorize the connection by granting Mailchimp access to your Shopify store data.
7. Select the Mailchimp audience (list) you want to sync your Shopify customers to. If you only have one audience, it will be selected automatically.
8. Complete the setup wizard. Mailchimp will begin syncing your customer and product data.

The initial sync may take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours depending on the size of your customer database and product catalog.

What Data Syncs Between Shopify and Mailchimp

Once connected, the integration syncs the following data from Shopify to Mailchimp:

• Customer data: Email addresses, names, and contact information for customers who have opted in to marketing.
• Purchase history: Order data including products purchased, order value, order date, and order count. This powers Mailchimp's ecommerce segmentation and automation features.
• Product catalog: Your Shopify products (including images, descriptions, prices, and URLs) sync to Mailchimp, enabling product recommendation blocks in emails and abandoned cart content.
• Cart data: Information about items customers have added to their cart, which is used for abandoned cart email automations.

Data syncs automatically on an ongoing basis. New customers, orders, and products are synced as they are created in Shopify.

Important Note on Marketing Consent

Mailchimp only syncs customers who have opted in to email marketing. Customers who made a purchase but did not check the marketing consent box at checkout will appear in Mailchimp as non-subscribed contacts. You cannot send marketing emails to non-subscribed contacts. This is by design and in compliance with anti-spam regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR.

Abandoned Cart Email Automation

One of the most valuable features of the Mailchimp-Shopify integration is abandoned cart email automation. To set it up:

1. In Mailchimp, go to Automations (or Customer Journeys).
2. Look for the Abandoned Cart automation template. Mailchimp provides a pre-built template for Shopify stores.
3. Click to create the automation. The trigger is already set: it fires when a customer adds items to their cart and leaves without completing checkout.
4. Customize the email content. Mailchimp automatically includes a product content block that shows the specific items the customer left in their cart, pulled from the synced product data.
5. Set the timing. A common approach is to send the first abandoned cart email 1 hour after abandonment, with a follow-up 24 hours later if the customer still has not completed the purchase.
6. Activate the automation.

Abandoned cart emails typically have high open rates and can recover a meaningful percentage of otherwise lost sales. Mailchimp reports that abandoned cart automations can generate significant revenue for ecommerce stores.

Product Recommendation Emails

Mailchimp uses your synced Shopify purchase data and product catalog to power product recommendation emails:

• Product recommendation content block: When building an email campaign or automation, add a Product Recommendations block. Mailchimp uses purchase history and browsing behavior to suggest products each individual customer is most likely to buy.
• Post-purchase follow-ups: Create an automation that sends a product recommendation email a set number of days after a purchase, suggesting complementary products.
• Best sellers: You can also manually feature your best-selling products by using the Product content block, which pulls product details directly from your Shopify catalog.

Product recommendations work best when Mailchimp has enough purchase data to identify patterns. For newer stores with limited order history, the recommendations may be less accurate.

Customer Segmentation by Purchase Behavior

With Shopify purchase data in Mailchimp, you can create powerful customer segments for targeted email campaigns:

• Total amount spent: Segment customers who have spent above or below a certain threshold. Target your highest-value customers with exclusive offers or loyalty rewards.
• Number of orders: Identify repeat customers versus one-time buyers and tailor your messaging accordingly.
• Specific products purchased: Target customers who bought a specific product with related upsell or cross-sell campaigns.
• Purchase recency: Find customers who have not purchased in a set number of days and send win-back campaigns to re-engage them.
• Average order value: Segment by spending patterns to create different messaging tiers.

To create segments, go to Audience in Mailchimp, click Segments, and use the segment builder with ecommerce conditions. These segments can be used as recipients for one-off campaigns or as entry conditions for automations.

Pop-Up Signup Forms on Shopify

Mailchimp provides embeddable signup forms and pop-ups that you can add to your Shopify store to grow your email list:

1. In Mailchimp, go to Audience, then Signup forms.
2. Choose Subscriber pop-up to create a pop-up form.
3. Customize the design, timing (e.g., show after 5 seconds or on exit intent), and fields.
4. Mailchimp generates a code snippet. Copy this snippet.
5. In Shopify, you can add this snippet to your theme. Go to Online Store, then Themes, then Edit code. Paste the snippet into your theme.liquid file before the closing body tag.

Alternatively, the Mailchimp for Shopify app may handle pop-up form installation automatically through its settings. Check the app's settings for a pop-up form option, which simplifies the process by not requiring manual code editing.

New subscribers who sign up through these forms are automatically added to your Mailchimp audience and tagged as coming from your Shopify store.

Email Campaign Creation

With your Shopify data in Mailchimp, you can create rich ecommerce email campaigns:

• Product blocks: Drag a Product content block into your email template. Mailchimp pulls product images, titles, prices, and descriptions directly from your Shopify catalog.
• Discount codes: While Mailchimp does not generate Shopify discount codes directly, you can create discount codes in Shopify and include them in your Mailchimp emails. Some Mailchimp plans include a promo code content block that can connect to your Shopify store.
• Order notifications: Note that Mailchimp is for marketing emails. Transactional emails (order confirmations, shipping notifications) are handled by Shopify's built-in email system, not Mailchimp.

Limitations and Considerations

• One audience recommended: Mailchimp recommends using a single audience (list) for all your contacts and using tags and segments to organize them, rather than creating multiple audiences. The Shopify integration syncs to one audience.
• Sync delays: While the sync is ongoing, there can be slight delays. A new customer may not appear in Mailchimp instantly. Allow up to an hour for new data to sync in most cases.
• Pricing: Mailchimp's pricing is based on the number of contacts in your audience. As your Shopify customer base grows, your Mailchimp costs will increase. Non-subscribed contacts still count toward your contact limit on most Mailchimp plans.
• Historical data: When you first connect, Mailchimp syncs existing customers and their purchase history. However, very old or large datasets may take time to fully sync.

Troubleshooting

• App not connecting: Ensure you are using the official Mailchimp app (not a third-party connector). Clear your browser cache and try again if the authorization flow fails.
• Customers not syncing: Check that customers have opted in to marketing. Non-subscribed contacts sync but cannot receive marketing emails.
• Products not appearing in emails: Verify that your product catalog has finished syncing. Check the app's sync status in your Shopify admin under Apps, then Mailchimp.
• Duplicate contacts: If you previously used a third-party Mailchimp-Shopify connector, you may have duplicate contacts. Clean up your audience in Mailchimp before relying on the official app's sync.