Sync customers, products, and order data to nurture customers with Mailchimp newsletters, social retargeting, automated abandoned cart or re-engagement emails.
Mailchimp Email SMS Marketing is one of the best free email marketing automation apps for Shopify stores in 2025. It offers a comprehensive free plan with email marketing, marketing CRM, creative assistant, sign-up forms, landing pages, social posting, surveys, and reports. The seamless Shopify integration automatically syncs customer and order data, making it easy to create targeted campaigns that drive repeat purchases and recover abandoned carts.
Looking for free alternatives to Mailchimp for Shopify? Consider Klaviyo, which offers a free tier for up to 250 contacts with email and SMS marketing features. Attentive provides a free plan with basic email and SMS capabilities. AfterShip Email Marketing also offers a robust free option with email and SMS automation tools. All three integrate seamlessly with Shopify and provide automation features to help you recover abandoned carts and engage customers effectively.
To connect Mailchimp to your Shopify store, go to the Mailchimp for Shopify app page and click 'Get started'. Log in to your Shopify store, install the app, and review the privacy details. Link your existing Mailchimp account or create a new one. Review connection settings, adjust audience sync preferences if needed, and click 'Sync now'. Enable the Mailchimp app embed in your theme settings and save. The process typically takes a few minutes to complete the initial data synchronization.
After connecting Mailchimp to Shopify, navigate to the Marketing Automations section. Create a new automation flow and select 'Abandoned Cart' as the trigger. Set up the timing (typically 1-2 hours after cart abandonment) and create your email content with a compelling subject line and product recommendations. Add a discount code to incentivize completion and test the automation. Make sure to pause any existing abandoned cart automations before setting up the new one to avoid duplicate messages.
During the Mailchimp-Shopify connection process, scroll to the 'Sync customer tags' section and check the 'Sync all tags' checkbox to sync all Shopify customer tags to Mailchimp. Alternatively, for selective syncing, click 'Edit' in the Data fields section and manually map specific Shopify tags to corresponding Mailchimp tags or segments. This allows you to maintain precise customer segmentation based on purchase behavior, preferences, or other custom attributes in your Mailchimp campaigns.
