Synchronize customer, product, and order data to Mailchimp and verify that the campaign gets the information it needs.
The guide applies to Abicart's built-in Mailchimp connection under Settings → External connections → Mailchimp. The described standard connection is included at no extra Abicart fee in Plus and Pro. The store needs to have the Mailchimp feature available. The Mailchimp account, its sending limits, and fees are separate.
1. Prepare Mailchimp and the store's contact information
Create or open your account at Mailchimp.
Create the recipient list, now called an audience, that the store will be connected to. It doesn't need to have recipients yet.
Check the company's email address, address line, city, postal code, and country under Settings → Store information. This information is needed for the Mailchimp store and mailings.
Check Mailchimp's current plans and limits for the number of contacts, mailings, and automations. Do not rely on older free limits.
Also check Mailchimp's acceptable use policy. The presence of an email address in a customer registry does not in itself mean the recipient should receive marketing.
2. Connect the right account and audience
Open Settings → External connections → Mailchimp.
Click Connect to Mailchimp and log in to the correct account at Mailchimp.
Verify that the admin shows that the correct Mailchimp account is connected.
Select the intended audience/list, language, and currency in the store settings. In multi-store systems, check the settings for each affected store.
Check if the option to only export newsletter subscribers is enabled and that this matches your intention. The setting can also affect which previously exported contacts remain in Mailchimp.
Save.
3. Select which events to export
Under the event settings, select Activation and Execution for each data flow. Select Inactive if a flow is not to be used. For desired change events, you normally use Update directly as execution. This queues the work for processing; it is not a guarantee that everything will already be in Mailchimp when you save.
Export customer list: new customers and changes to customer cards can be transferred according to selected rules.
Export product list: new products and product changes can be transferred.
Export order: completed orders and subsequent changes, for example, paid, shipped, or canceled, can be transferred.
4. Check the initial export and subsequent changes
The first export of customers and/or products starts when a relevant customer or product change occurs after the connection is complete and activated. Follow the status message for the initial export in the connection. If you need to trigger it with a change, use a designated test record or an actual editorial update; do not change prices, stock, consent, or other business data just to start the export.
Then, check an expected record in the correct Mailchimp audience and store. A completed initial export of products and customers does not mean that all old orders have been imported. Older orders are not transferred just by enabling the integration; they may be included when a supported order change occurs. Do not change a real order's payment or delivery status just to export history.
Does the connection support abandoned cart reminders?
The built-in connection exports completed orders, not a continuous flow of unclosed carts to Mailchimp's cart feature. Therefore, the fact that customer and product data is synchronized, or that you see completed purchases in Mailchimp, is not enough for an abandoned-cart automation to work.
Such an automation needs a supported source for abandoned carts, identified recipients, the correct return link, and a Mailchimp subscription that supports the feature. A separate custom integration may have different capabilities than the standard connection. Check its actual data flow before activating mailings; creating more campaigns or changing customer consents will not solve the problem of missing cart data.
If something is missing in Mailchimp
Check the correct account, audience, language, currency, and store.
Verify that the relevant export event is active and that the initial export has been completed.
Check if the subscriber filter excludes the contact.
Distinguish a completed order from an incomplete cart.
If you have recently added an audience that is not displayed, or if the connection shows an error, contact support with the store ID and error message. Do not disconnect and recreate the integration randomly; it may affect previous connections and exports.
Once the data flow is verified, you can create mailings according to Mailchimp's getting started guide.
Quickstart
Prepare your account, audience, and company contact information.
Connect and check the correct store, language, and currency.
Activate the data flows to be used.
Check the initial export and a representative record in Mailchimp before building the campaign.
Subscriptions and costs
The standard integration is included at no extra Abicart fee in Plus and Pro and requires the feature to be available in the store. Mailchimp's own plans, number of contacts, sending limits, and automations have separate terms. An embedded Mailchimp signup form in the theme is not the same as this data export.
