How to add historical Shopify SMS subscribers to your list

You will learn

Learn how to add historical Shopify SMS subscribers to your Klaviyo SMS list. While historical email subscribers automatically sync through Klaviyo’s Shopify integration, historical SMS subscribers do not. Instead, they must be added manually via the process below.

Before you begin

If you've yet to integrate your Shopify store with Klaviyo, head to Getting started with Shopify before continuing with this article.

Only import contacts who have explicitly agreed to receive SMS marketing and have not since unsubscribed. A phone number or an email subscription alone does not establish SMS consent.

How to add historical SMS subscribers

Adding historical SMS subscribers to your SMS list requires 4 steps:

1. Download your customer list from Shopify.
2. Edit your list to only contain SMS subscribers.
3. Upload the edited list to Klaviyo.
4. Combine the uploaded list with your preferred list in Klaviyo.

Download your customer list from Shopify

For Shopify’s current export steps, see its guide to exporting customer profiles.

1. Export all customers in a CSV format you can edit in a spreadsheet. Include customer tags or supported metafields if you need them.

Shopify downloads the CSV in your browser when you export 50 or fewer customers. If you export more than 50 customers, Shopify emails the file to you.

1. Save the exported CSV to your computer.

Edit your list to contain only SMS subscribers

1. Open your CSV file downloaded from Shopify in your preferred spreadsheet program.
2. Find the Accepts SMS Marketing column.
3. Keep only rows where Accepts SMS Marketing is yes. Remove rows marked no or left blank.
4. Rename this column to SMS Marketing Consent.
5. Change each remaining yes value to Subscribe, without quotation marks or a period.
6. Check that each remaining row has the subscriber’s Phone number. Include a + and country code, such as +17823746561. If numbers do not include a country code, add a Country column with the country for each contact.
7. Save your CSV file.

Upload your list to Klaviyo

1. Navigate to Audience > Lists & segments.
2. Create a new list by selecting Create > List.
3. Name your list, then click Create list.
   

4. On the next page, select Upload contacts.
5. Click Upload, then select your CSV file for upload.
6. Select and map the following columns. You can leave other profile properties unchecked because they sync through the Shopify integration:
   • Email > Email (if present)
   • Phone > Phone Number
     
   • SMS Marketing Consent > SMS Marketing Consent
   • Country > Country (if you added this column)

7. Click Next. When asked about bulk consent, select Only import the consent in my file. This uses the SMS consent values you mapped without adding consent for other channels.
8. Click Import.

The import may take some time to process. Wait until it is marked Completed. If it is marked Completed with errors, review the skipped rows, fix the issues, and reimport those rows before merging the lists.

Combine the uploaded list with your list in Klaviyo

1. Navigate to Audience > Lists & segments.
2. Click on the list you uploaded from Shopify.
   

3. Open the Manage list dropdown.
4. Select Merge lists.
   

5. Choose the list you use for SMS subscribers as the destination. Use the same SMS list selected in your Shopify integration settings.
   

6. Choose whether to keep or delete your uploaded list from Shopify. Before deleting it, make sure no integrations, flows, or forms use it, then select the acknowledgment checkbox. Deleting the source list cannot be undone.
7. Click Merge.

The merging process may take several minutes. For more information on merging lists, consult our list merging FAQ.

Merging lists does not trigger list-triggered flows, including an SMS welcome flow.

Outcome

You've now added historical Shopify SMS subscribers to your Klaviyo list.

Additional resources