Mailchimp remains one of the most widely used email marketing platforms for Shopify stores, trusted by hundreds of thousands of merchants for its intuitive interface, generous free tier, and increasingly powerful automation capabilities. When paired with EA Spin Wheel for email capture, Mailchimp stores get the best of both worlds: gamified, high-conversion popup capture feeding into Mailchimp's proven email automation engine. This guide covers every step of the integration — from generating your API key to building prize-segmented welcome journeys that convert subscribers into buyers.
Key stat: Mailchimp stores switching from Mailchimp's built-in popup forms to EA Spin Wheel see an average 2.4x increase in email capture rate while maintaining identical subscriber engagement and open rates downstream.
1. Why Use EA Spin Wheel with Mailchimp
Mailchimp's native embedded forms and popup forms are functional but standard — they present a static offer (usually a discount) and ask for an email address. This approach converts 2-4% of visitors. EA Spin Wheel transforms the capture moment into a gamified experience that converts 6-12% of visitors through variable rewards, interactive engagement, and the psychology of earned prizes.
The integration logic is straightforward: EA Spin Wheel handles the front-end email capture experience on your Shopify store, then sends each new subscriber directly to your Mailchimp audience through the API. Mailchimp handles everything downstream — welcome emails, automations, campaigns, and analytics. You get more subscribers entering the same proven Mailchimp email marketing system you already use.
What Mailchimp Does Best
Mailchimp's strengths for Shopify include: its visual email builder with Shopify product blocks that pull directly from your catalog, Customer Journey Builder for multi-step automations, built-in landing pages, social posting tools, and robust audience analytics. The Shopify integration syncs customer data, purchase history, and product catalogs automatically, making it easy to create product recommendation emails and abandoned cart recoveries.
What EA Spin Wheel Does Best
EA Spin Wheel's strengths are entirely focused on the capture moment: gamified spin-to-win interactions, exit-intent triggers, mobile-optimized full-screen popups, customizable prize wheels with weighted probabilities, and built-in discount code generation. The app is purpose-built for maximizing the number of visitors who give you their email address — and it does this better than any static popup form.
2. Prerequisites
Before starting the integration, verify you have:
- A Mailchimp account: Any plan works for the API integration. The free plan supports up to 500 contacts. For Customer Journey automations (welcome flows), you need the Standard plan or higher.
- EA Spin Wheel installed on Shopify: Install from the Shopify App Store. Complete the basic popup configuration (design, prizes, timing) before connecting Mailchimp.
- Mailchimp-Shopify integration active: Mailchimp should be connected to your Shopify store for order data syncing. This is separate from the EA Spin Wheel connection and handles purchase tracking and product catalog sync.
- At least one Mailchimp audience: You need an audience (list) where spin wheel subscribers will be added. Create a new audience called "Popup Subscribers" if you want to keep them separate from other sources.
3. Step 1: Generate Your Mailchimp API Key
EA Spin Wheel connects to Mailchimp using a standard API key. This key allows the app to add subscribers to your audience, assign tags, and update merge fields — all automatically when someone spins the wheel.
In Mailchimp, click your profile icon in the bottom left, then go to Account & billing. Select the Extras dropdown and click API keys. Under "Your API keys," click "Create A Key." Name it "EA Spin Wheel" for easy identification later.
Copy the generated API key immediately and store it somewhere secure. Mailchimp displays the full key only at creation time. The API key format looks like: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-us21. The suffix after the dash (e.g., "us21") is your data center identifier — EA Spin Wheel uses this to route API requests to the correct Mailchimp server.
Security note: Your Mailchimp API key grants full access to your account's audiences, campaigns, and automations. Never share it publicly. EA Spin Wheel processes the API call server-side, so your key is never exposed to store visitors or included in client-side code.
4. Step 2: Connect EA Spin Wheel to Mailchimp
Open EA Spin Wheel in your Shopify admin and navigate to the Integrations tab. Select Mailchimp from the available email platforms. Paste your Mailchimp API key into the API Key field and click "Test Connection."
If the connection succeeds, EA Spin Wheel will display your Mailchimp account name and load your available audiences. Select the audience where you want spin wheel subscribers to be added. If you have multiple audiences, choose the one specifically designated for popup subscribers.
Under "Subscriber Status," select "Subscribed" for single opt-in or "Pending" for double opt-in. With single opt-in, subscribers are immediately active in your audience and can receive emails right away. With double opt-in, Mailchimp sends a confirmation email first, and the subscriber must click the confirmation link before becoming active. Single opt-in is recommended for spin wheel capture because the interactive opt-in process (entering email + spinning) already demonstrates clear intent.
5. Step 3: Configure Your Mailchimp Audience
In Mailchimp, open your audience settings to configure how spin wheel subscribers are handled.
Audience Defaults
Under Audience > Settings > Audience name and defaults, set your "From name" and "From email" to match your brand. These are the sender details subscribers see when they receive emails from this audience. Consistent branding between your spin wheel popup and your emails improves recognition and open rates.
GDPR Fields
If you sell to EU customers, enable GDPR fields in your audience settings. Mailchimp supports GDPR consent tracking natively. In EA Spin Wheel, configure the consent checkbox text to match the marketing permissions you have enabled in Mailchimp (Email, Direct mail, Customized online advertising). The consent state is passed through the API and recorded on the subscriber profile.
Notification Settings
Under Audience > Settings > Notifications, consider enabling daily subscriber activity summaries. During the first week after launching the spin wheel integration, these summaries help you verify the connection is working and see your daily subscriber growth at a glance.
6. Step 4: Set Up Tags and Merge Fields
Tags and merge fields are how you organize and personalize communications with spin wheel subscribers in Mailchimp.
Automatic Tags
EA Spin Wheel automatically tags each subscriber when they are added to Mailchimp. The tags include:
- source:spin_wheel — Identifies the subscriber as coming from the spin wheel popup
- prize:[prize_name] — The specific prize won (e.g., "prize:10_percent_off", "prize:free_shipping")
- page:[page_url] — The page where the popup was triggered
These tags are created automatically in Mailchimp when the first tagged subscriber arrives. You do not need to pre-create them.
Merge Fields for Personalization
EA Spin Wheel can populate Mailchimp merge fields with subscriber data. In Mailchimp, go to Audience > Settings > Audience fields and MERGE tags. Add a new field called "Prize Won" with the merge tag *|PRIZE|*. Then in EA Spin Wheel's Mailchimp integration settings, map the prize field to the PRIZE merge tag.
With this merge field configured, you can use *|PRIZE|* in any Mailchimp email template to dynamically insert the subscriber's prize. For example: "Congratulations! You won *|PRIZE|* — use it before it expires." This personalization makes your welcome emails feel specific and relevant to each subscriber's experience.
7. Step 5: Build the Welcome Customer Journey
Mailchimp's Customer Journey Builder (available on Standard plan and above) lets you create multi-step automated sequences triggered by subscriber actions. For spin wheel subscribers, the welcome journey is the most important automation you will build.
Journey Starting Point
Create a new Customer Journey in Mailchimp. Set the starting point to "Subscriber joins audience." Add a tag filter: "source:spin_wheel" to ensure only spin wheel subscribers enter this journey (not subscribers from other sources like manual imports or other forms).
Email 1: Prize Delivery (Immediate)
The first email sends immediately — no delay. Subject line: "You won *|PRIZE|* — here is your code!" The email body should prominently display the discount code, explain how to use it (add products to cart, enter code at checkout), include a direct link to your store with UTM tracking (utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spin_welcome), and set clear expectations about code expiration if applicable.
Use Mailchimp's Shopify product content blocks to showcase 3-4 bestselling products directly in the email. This gives the subscriber immediate shopping inspiration alongside their prize code.
Email 2: Reminder (24 Hours)
Add a 24-hour delay, then check a condition: "Has not placed an order" (using Mailchimp's Shopify integration data). If the subscriber has not purchased, send a reminder email: "Your *|PRIZE|* is still waiting." Include the code again, a different product selection (new arrivals or trending items), and a gentle urgency message about the code expiration.
Email 3: Trust Building (3 Days)
After three days, send an email focused on social proof and brand story. Include customer testimonials, review highlights, or user-generated content. Feature the discount code as a secondary element at the bottom of the email. The goal is to build confidence in your brand for subscribers who need more trust signals before purchasing.
Email 4: Last Chance (6 Days)
On day six (if the code expires on day seven), send a final email with a clear deadline: "Your *|PRIZE|* expires tomorrow." Use Mailchimp's countdown timer content block to add a visual countdown to the expiration time. Last-chance emails with real deadlines typically convert 3-5% of remaining non-purchasers.
8. Step 6: Create Tag-Based Segments
Mailchimp segments let you group subscribers by shared characteristics for targeted campaigns. With spin wheel tags, you can create segments that would not be possible with generic email capture.
Recommended Segments
- All spin wheel subscribers: Tag = "source:spin_wheel." Use this segment for comparing spin wheel subscriber engagement metrics to other acquisition channels.
- High-value prize winners: Tag contains "prize:20" or "prize:free_gift." These subscribers received the best prizes and likely have the highest purchase intent. Prioritize them for your most compelling campaigns.
- Non-converters (7+ days): Tag = "source:spin_wheel" AND has not purchased AND subscribed more than 7 days ago. This segment needs re-engagement — they were interested enough to spin but have not bought. Consider a special one-time offer to activate them.
- Spin-to-purchase converters: Tag = "source:spin_wheel" AND has purchased. These are your success stories. Analyze their purchase behavior to understand what products and price points convert spin wheel subscribers best.
9. Advanced Campaign Strategies
Once your basic integration and welcome journey are running, leverage these advanced strategies to maximize revenue from your Mailchimp subscriber base.
Prize-Specific Product Recommendations
Create separate campaign content for each prize segment. Subscribers who won "Free Shipping" should receive emails highlighting products that normally have shipping costs, making the free shipping prize feel more valuable. Subscribers who won "20% Off" should see higher-priced products where the 20% discount creates meaningful dollar savings.
Seasonal Spin Wheel Campaigns
Update your spin wheel prizes for seasonal events (Black Friday, Valentine's Day, Back to School) and create corresponding Mailchimp journeys for each seasonal campaign. Tag seasonal subscribers with the campaign name (e.g., "campaign:bfcm_2026") so you can measure the performance of each seasonal acquisition push separately.
Reactivation Campaigns
For subscribers who received and used their spin wheel prize but have not purchased again in 60+ days, create a Mailchimp reactivation campaign referencing their original spin wheel experience: "Remember when you won [prize]? Here is a special returning customer offer." The nostalgia trigger combined with a fresh incentive reactivates 8-12% of lapsed spin wheel customers.
Referral Integration
After a spin wheel subscriber makes their first purchase, send a referral email through Mailchimp: "Share our spin wheel with friends — they will get to spin for a prize too." Include a shareable link to your store with the spin wheel pre-loaded. This turns each converted subscriber into a potential referral channel.
10. Testing Your Integration
Test every component of the integration before launching to live traffic.
Step-by-Step Test Protocol
- Open your store in an incognito browser window and trigger the spin wheel popup.
- Enter a test email address and spin the wheel. Note which prize you win.
- After the spin completes, go to Mailchimp and check your audience. The test email should appear within 30-60 seconds.
- Open the subscriber profile and verify: the correct tags are applied (source:spin_wheel, prize:[name]), the merge fields are populated (PRIZE field shows the prize name), and the subscriber status matches your configuration (Subscribed or Pending).
- Check that the welcome Customer Journey was triggered. The first email should arrive within minutes.
- Open the welcome email and verify the prize code is displayed correctly, the personalization merge tags rendered properly, the product links work, and the UTM parameters are present in the URLs.
- Test the discount code by attempting a purchase in your store.
- Repeat with 2-3 different email addresses to test different prize outcomes and confirm the journey routes correctly for each prize.
11. Troubleshooting Common Issues
Subscribers Not Appearing in Mailchimp
The most common causes: (1) API key is incorrect or has been regenerated (create a new key in Mailchimp and update EA Spin Wheel). (2) The audience ID does not match (reselect the audience in EA Spin Wheel settings). (3) The email is already on Mailchimp's suppression list from a previous unsubscribe — Mailchimp will not re-subscribe suppressed emails via API. (4) Mailchimp's compliance team flagged the request (rare, but happens with high-volume imports from new API keys).
Tags Not Applied
If subscribers appear but without tags, verify that the "Send tags" option is enabled in EA Spin Wheel's Mailchimp integration settings. Also check that your Mailchimp plan supports tags — all paid plans and the free plan support tags, but very old legacy accounts may have different tagging capabilities.
Welcome Journey Not Starting
Check: (1) The journey is in "Active" status. (2) The starting point trigger matches "Subscriber joins audience" for the correct audience. (3) The tag filter in the journey's starting point matches the tags EA Spin Wheel is sending. (4) The subscriber was not already in the audience before the journey was activated (journeys only trigger for new additions, not existing subscribers).
Merge Fields Showing Raw Tags
If your emails display *|PRIZE|* literally instead of the actual prize name, the merge field is either not created in the audience settings or the field name does not match. In Mailchimp, verify the merge tag is exactly *|PRIZE|* (case-sensitive) and that the field is populated on the test subscriber's profile.
12. Mailchimp vs. Klaviyo for Shopify
If you are choosing between Mailchimp and Klaviyo for your Shopify store's email marketing, here is a practical comparison relevant to the EA Spin Wheel integration.
Mailchimp Advantages
Lower cost for small lists (generous free tier), simpler interface for beginners, built-in landing pages and social posting, broader marketing features beyond email (postcards, ads), and wider third-party integration ecosystem. Mailchimp is the better choice for stores with smaller email lists, simpler automation needs, or teams that value an all-in-one marketing platform.
Klaviyo Advantages
Deeper Shopify integration with real-time customer behavior tracking, more powerful segmentation based on purchase history and browsing behavior, superior flow builder with more trigger options and conditional logic, and better revenue attribution reporting. Klaviyo is the better choice for stores with larger email lists, complex automation requirements, or a strong focus on email-driven revenue.
The EA Spin Wheel Works with Both
Regardless of which platform you choose, EA Spin Wheel integrates with both Mailchimp and Klaviyo through their respective APIs. The capture experience is identical — visitors see the same gamified popup. The only difference is where the subscriber data lands and how it is automated downstream. You can even switch platforms later without changing your spin wheel configuration.
