Mailchimp continues to add new features with the goal of becoming a business hub – an all-in-one feature set. A service that not only provides marketing but e-commerce as well with the introduction of Mailchimp Store.
Mailchimp Store is in a beta rollout with availability only in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How it Works
The Mailchimp store resides on your Mailchimp website. You can use the free version of the website with the domain yourstorename.mailchimpsites.com or you can you use a custom domain. However, using a custom domain involves purchasing a new separate plan called Websites & Commerce.
To get started click the Website icon from your Mailchimp dashboard. Starting with a published Mailchimp website, click on Store.
Next, add a product. Adding a product to your store includes a high-resolution image, price, product name, and description. In the upper right of the page, you can see a preview of your product page. When you’re all set with your product, click Save Product in the top right.
Shipping Options
At this time you can only offer physical products. The Mailchimp Store shipping has 3 options. They are Standard, Expedite and Rush. Mailchimp suggests checking with your carrier of choice to decide the appropriate shipping cost.
Payment Processing
At this time you can only use Stripe as a payment gateway for your Mailchimp store. During the store setup, Mailchimp will guide you through the process of either connecting to your Stripe account or creating one.
Processing Fees
Both Mailchimp and Stripe take a percentage of the total order value. Mailchimp takes 2% and Stripe takes 2.9% in the U.S. So approximately 5% of fees off the order value. By the way, if you do purchase a Commerce & Website plan Mailchimp’s percentage drops to 1.5% or .5% depending on the plan. These numbers are comparable to Shopify.
Publish Your Store
With your product(s) all set, Shipping options selected, and Stripe connected you can publish your store to your Mailchimp website.
Taxes
Mailchimp uses the business address associated with your Stripe account to apply the appropriate tax percentage. In my case, Massachusetts sales tax is 6.25%.
Other Points
- You can change your store settings at any time by going to the Manage Store Settings link.
- The order notifications that a customer receives are uneditable.
- You can hide products from customers
- You can send automated abandoned cart emails
After Purchase Continue the Journey
Continue the engagement with email through a Customer Journey.
Helpful Links