Shopify and Mailchimp have just announced that the two platforms will cease to integrate from 12th May 2019.
As an eCommerce and email marketing expert, I wanted to share my insights and advice with you to help you to navigate your pathway forwards. Especially given so many of you use both these platforms!
Here are your eCommerce email marketing options moving forwards
Shopify and Mailchimp are breaking up…
From May 12th 2019, the Shopify Mailchimp app will no longer function.
This means the automatic subscribing at checkout (if they opted into marketing emails) will no longer trigger.
Additionally, you will not have any synced up sales data being carried over to Mailchimp to trigger your automated email campaigns (like abandoned cart or post-purchase).
Nor will you be able to run reports in Mailchimp to show you how much revenue your marketing emails are generating in your store.
If you have a pop-up app like Privy or JustUno for new subscribers – these will still integrate with Mailchimp to trigger your new subscriber email campaigns.
But, without a solution to sync your store with your email platform, none of the other stuff will work. So you still need to figure out a solution.
What are my options after the Mailchimp and Shopify breakup?
As I see it, you only have two options and you need to pick one and implement it before May 12th. Do not leave this till the last minute!
1. Update your Mailchimp integration to use a third-party app or service to continue without interruption.
There is a newish app in the App Store called ShopSync that syncs your sales and customer data with your Mailchimp account.
We’re in the process of testing the ShopSync app so will definitely keep you posted on how successful it is.
Another option is to use Zapier as a third party integration app. The downfall with this option is that Zapier is basically limited to just adding a customer or subscriber as a new contact on your Mailchimp marketing list.
Zapier won’t pass any more sophisticated information from Shopify to Mailchimp. For instance, if someone purchases a product, Zapier cannot add the contact to your post-purchase email automation within Mailchimp. Nor will Zapier enable you to run any meaningful reports on revenue or conversions generated from your Mailchimp emails.
Your last option to integrate Mailchimp with Shopify is building out a manual integration. You would need to pay a developer to do this for you and would probably require ongoing maintenance from a developer as well.
These options go from quick and free, to pricey, to pricey and time-consuming.
2. Change email marketing platforms.
This comes with a couple of caveats: Using another email service provider is going to cost more than Mailchimp, AND you’ll have to migrate your data over. It’s still an option worth considering regardless.
Here’s what I recommend you do:
The hardest part of this situation is that you MUST make a decision – and you have a deadline looming! You cannot put your head in the sand on this one and hope it’ll all blow over…
The argument FOR changing platforms
If you are ready to scale your business, or you’re already turning over significant revenue, now is the time to change email platforms.
My personal favourite for eCommerce is .
Klaviyo currently has the most comprehensive, deep integration with Shopify.
Yes, it’s more expensive than Mailchimp, BUT it integrates seamlessly, and has more functionality, AND is much simpler to use than Mailchimp.
Clients of mine who have switched to Klaviyo have all experienced pretty significant sales growth.
Also, given how integral email marketing is to eCommerce sales success, it is worth investing a bit more to have this marketing channel humming along!
Download my Checklist for switching email platforms
The argument AGAINST changing platforms
Some of you are just starting out, or still in the early days of your business, and want to enjoy Mailchimp’s free version.
OR some of you already have numerous automations built out. I know how much time and effort it is to build out automations – it would be a major pain in the bum to have to re-do those!
If you’re in either of these situations, it’s worth staying with Mailchimp and simply using ShopSync to continue to integrate Shopify with Mailchimp.
If you do stay with Mailchimp, I would recommend using ShopSync over Zapier to manage your integration, as ShopSync should give you more information and control.
What will you do?
Comment below to let me know!
Or if you need some help – sing out! My team would love to help you.
