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If you’re searching for how to migrate from Mailchimp to Omnisend, here’s the direct answer: it’s a manual multi-step process — no one-click importer exists — but a focused ecommerce store owner can complete it in a single working day. The core tasks are exporting your Mailchimp contacts as a CSV, cleaning that list, connecting your store to Omnisend, importing contacts, and rebuilding your automations from scratch.
This guide walks you through each step with real configuration detail, flags the mistakes that derail most migrations, and includes a decision table so you can confirm the switch makes sense for your specific situation before you commit time to it.
Who this is for: Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or Wix store owners who want email and SMS in one ecommerce-native platform.
Who this is NOT for: Bloggers, B2B businesses, or content creators with no transaction history — Mailchimp is likely a better fit for those use cases.
What to Audit Before You Touch Anything
Migrating messy data just relocates the problem. Spend 30–45 minutes in Mailchimp before you export a single file.
Document the following:
- Subscribed contact count — Go to Audience > All contacts > Filter by Status: Subscribed. This is the only group you’ll import into Omnisend. Unsubscribed and cleaned (bounced) contacts stay behind.
- Tags and groups — List every tag in use and what it signals (e.g., “VIP,” “wholesale,” “contest-entrant”). Inconsistent tags create messy segments in any platform.
- Active automations — Screenshot every live sequence: trigger condition, delay timing, and email count. You’ll rebuild these manually.
- Signup form locations — Note every page on your site with an embedded Mailchimp form or popup. Each one needs to be replaced.
- Custom merge fields — Any custom fields (birthday, preferences, loyalty tier) must be created in Omnisend before you import.
Screenshot moment: In Mailchimp, navigate to Audience > All contacts, then filter by status. Capture the subscribed count on screen — this becomes your import benchmark for Step 5.
How to Migrate from Mailchimp to Omnisend: 7 Steps
Step 1: Export Your Mailchimp Contacts
- In Mailchimp, go to Audience > All contacts.
- Filter contacts by Status: Subscribed.
- Click Export audience (top-right of the contacts table).
- Select Export as CSV. Mailchimp will email you a download link or make the file immediately available on-screen.
Your CSV will contain columns for Email Address, First Name, Last Name, subscription status, tags, and any custom merge fields.
Screenshot moment: The export confirmation screen shows the file size and total contact count. Verify this matches the subscribed figure from your audit.
For detailed export instructions, refer to Mailchimp’s official export contacts documentation.
Step 2: Clean Your List Before Importing
Open the CSV in a spreadsheet application and work through this checklist:
- Delete non-subscribed rows. Filter by the Status column. Remove anyone not marked “subscribed.” Importing unsubscribed addresses violates consent rules and harms your sender reputation.
- Remove junk addresses. Delete internal test emails, role-based addresses (info@, support@), and obvious typos.
- Consolidate tags. If you have “VIP,” “vip,” and “VIP Customer” as separate tags, pick one spelling and standardize. Do this in the spreadsheet; fixing it post-import is painful.
- Clean column headers. Omnisend’s importer will match your CSV headers to its fields. The cleaner and more consistent your headers, the faster the mapping step goes.
- Save as UTF-8 encoded CSV. In Excel: File > Save As > CSV UTF-8. In Google Sheets: File > Download > CSV. This preserves special characters in international names.
Step 3: Create and Configure Your Omnisend Account
Omnisend offers a free plan, so you can set up the account and explore the interface before any payment decision. Check current plan details and limits on the Omnisend website — plan terms change and this guide will not quote figures that may be stale.
Once logged in, complete these three configuration tasks before importing anything:
1. Fill in your sender profile.
Go to Account Settings > Store Settings. Enter your business name, physical address, and reply-to email. This information appears in every email footer and is legally required under CAN-SPAM and GDPR.
2. Authenticate your sending domain.
Omnisend will prompt you to add SPF and DKIM DNS records to your domain. This is non-negotiable for deliverability. If DNS feels unfamiliar, your domain registrar or web host’s support team can add the records for you. Do not skip this step.
Screenshot moment: The domain verification panel shows a checklist with greyed-out status indicators that turn green as each DNS record propagates. Wait until all records show “Verified” before moving on. Propagation typically takes a few minutes to a few hours.
3. Set timezone and currency.
Found in Store Settings. Accurate timezone settings ensure automation timing (e.g., “send 1 hour after cart abandonment”) behaves as expected.
Step 4: Connect Your Ecommerce Store
This step unlocks Omnisend’s ecommerce-specific features — purchase-based segments, order confirmation triggers, and browse abandonment automations — none of which are available until your store is connected.
Shopify:
1. Visit the Shopify App Store and search for Omnisend.
2. Install and authorize the app.
3. Omnisend syncs your product catalog, customer data, and order history automatically.
WooCommerce:
1. Install the Omnisend plugin from the WordPress plugin directory.
2. Connect it using your Omnisend API key (found at Account Settings > Integrations).
BigCommerce / Wix:
Install via the respective platform’s app marketplace and follow the authorization flow.
Practical note (informed analysis, not personally tested): Once your store is connected, Omnisend will sync customers who have placed orders directly from your store data. The CSV import in the next step is most relevant for contacts who are on your newsletter list but have never purchased — those won’t appear in the store sync.
Step 5: Import Your Contacts
- Go to Audience > Lists & Segments > Add contacts > Import contacts.
- Upload your cleaned CSV file.
- Map your fields. Omnisend shows a two-column mapping screen: your CSV headers on the left, Omnisend fields on the right. Match Email → Email, First Name → First Name, and map any custom fields to corresponding Omnisend custom properties.
- Apply a batch tag. Add a tag like “mailchimp-migration-[date]” to every contact in this import. If issues arise later, this tag lets you identify and filter the batch instantly.
- Confirm consent. Omnisend requires you to confirm these contacts subscribed with proper consent. This is a legal and ethical requirement — only proceed if it’s true.
- Review the import summary and click Import.
Screenshot moment: The field-mapping screen is where most import errors originate. Double-check that the Email column is mapped to the Email field — not First Name or a custom property — before confirming.
For file format requirements and troubleshooting, refer to Omnisend’s Help Center.
Step 6: Rebuild Your Automations
Omnisend cannot import Mailchimp automations. You rebuild them. This is the most time-intensive part of the migration, but Omnisend’s pre-built ecommerce automation templates significantly reduce the work.
To access templates: Go to Automation > New Workflow and browse the library. Pre-built options include:
– Welcome series
– Abandoned cart
– Browse abandonment
– Order confirmation and shipping updates
– Customer win-back
For each automation you documented in your audit:
1. Select the closest template (or start from scratch for unusual flows).
2. Set the trigger — cart abandonment, form subscription, order placed, etc.
3. Configure timing delays.
4. Add your email content.
5. Optionally, add an SMS step to the same workflow sequence — Omnisend lets you combine email and SMS in a single automation.
6. Set the workflow status to Paused — do not activate until Step 7.
Rebuild priority order:
1. Welcome series (fires for every new subscriber)
2. Abandoned cart (typically the highest revenue automation for product stores)
3. Post-purchase flows
4. Remaining sequences
Step 7: Replace Your Forms and Go Live
- Build Omnisend forms. Go to Forms in the Omnisend dashboard and create replacements for every Mailchimp popup and embedded form currently on your site. Shopify users can manage form placement through the Omnisend app block in the theme editor.
- Pause Mailchimp automations. Do not delete them — pause them. You’ll want the reference for 30 days.
- Activate Omnisend automations one by one, starting with the welcome series.
- Send a test campaign. Use Omnisend’s test send function to check rendering across email clients before sending to your live list.
- Monitor for 48 hours. Review automation trigger counts, open rates, and click rates in the analytics dashboard. A new sending domain typically takes 2–4 weeks to establish its full reputation, so early metrics may run slightly lower than your Mailchimp baseline — this is normal.
Once everything checks out, you can downgrade or cancel your Mailchimp plan.
Common Mistakes That Derail Migrations
| Mistake | Why It Hurts | How to Prevent It |
|---|---|---|
| Importing unsubscribed contacts | Spam complaints, deliverability damage | Filter CSV to subscribed contacts only |
| Skipping domain authentication | Emails land in spam or promotions | Complete SPF/DKIM before first send |
| Cancelling Mailchimp immediately | Lose automation logic and historical reports | Keep it paused for at least 30 days |
| Forgetting to replace web forms | New subscribers continue going to Mailchimp | Audit every page with a signup element |
| Running both automations simultaneously | Contacts receive duplicate emails | Pause all Mailchimp automations on day 1 |
| Importing without cleaning first | Bounces spike, reputation drops | Follow the Step 2 checklist before uploading |
Should You Make This Switch? A Decision Checklist
| Your situation | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| You run a Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or Wix store | Strong case for Omnisend — ecommerce triggers are built in |
| You want email and SMS managed in one workflow | Omnisend handles both natively |
| You rely heavily on abandoned cart and browse abandonment automations | Omnisend’s templates cover these directly |
| You send mostly newsletters with no transactional flows | Either platform works; evaluate on price and ease of use |
| Your audience is B2B or non-transactional (blog, SaaS, nonprofit) | Stay on Mailchimp or consider alternatives designed for those use cases |
| You need landing pages as a core feature | Omnisend focuses on forms, popups, and email/SMS — not landing pages |
Worked Example: A 2,000-Contact Shopify Candle Brand
Scenario: A DTC candle brand has 2,000 subscribed contacts in Mailchimp. Active automations: a 3-email welcome series and a 2-email abandoned cart sequence. Platform: Shopify.
| Task | Realistic Time Estimate |
|---|---|
| Audit Mailchimp, document automations | 45 min |
| Export and clean CSV | 30 min |
| Create Omnisend account + domain authentication | 45 min |
| Connect Shopify app | 15 min |
| Import 2,000 contacts via CSV | 20 min |
| Rebuild welcome series (3 emails) | 2–3 hours |
| Rebuild abandoned cart sequence (2 emails + optional SMS) | 1–2 hours |
| Replace signup forms on-site | 30 min |
| Test sends and go live | 30 min |
| Total | ~7–9 hours |
What changes post-migration: The brand can add SMS to their abandoned cart flow without a separate SMS tool or integration. The Shopify connection means segments like “purchased in the last 30 days” update automatically from order data — something Mailchimp required manual list management to approximate.
What doesn’t change overnight: Open rates and engagement metrics take 2–4 weeks to stabilize on a new sending domain. The first week’s numbers should not be used to judge the platform.
Final Tips Before You Flip the Switch
- Warm up your sending domain. For your first Omnisend campaign, send to a segment of 200–300 highly engaged contacts before mailing your full list. This gives your new domain a reputation baseline.
- Keep Mailchimp on pause for 30 days. Treat it as read-only reference material, not an active sending tool.
- Verify pricing before you cancel Mailchimp. Omnisend’s pricing scales with contact count. Visit the official Omnisend pricing page to confirm current plan costs against your contact size — do not rely on any figures in third-party articles, including this one.
Done properly, this migration takes less than a full working day. The upfront rebuild cost is real, but for ecommerce stores that want purchase-triggered automations, combined email and SMS workflows, and native integrations with major cart platforms, it’s a reasonable investment of time.
Sources: Mailchimp Export Contacts Help | Omnisend Help Center
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