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Mailchimp Transactional Integration

Flexsee sends AI-ranked product recommendations through Mailchimp Transactional (Mandrill). Use it for abandoned-cart, post-purchase, and Wizard Flow email campaigns that need per-recipient product blocks.

Transactional, not Marketing API

This integration uses a Mandrill API key, not the standard Mailchimp Marketing API. Templates are Mandrill templates with Handlebars merge vars.

1. Get a Mandrill API key​

  1. Log in to Mailchimp.
  2. Open Transactional (Mandrill) — Settings → API Keys.
  3. Create an API key with permission to send and list templates.

2. Connect in Flexsee​

  1. Go to Integrations → Email & SMS (/integrations/marketing/email-sms).
  2. Under Mailchimp, click Connect.
  3. Paste your Mandrill API key.
  4. Flexsee validates the key and stores it encrypted.

3. Map templates to detected flows​

After connect, Flexsee auto-detects Mandrill templates and common flow hooks (post-purchase, abandoned cart, etc.).

For each detected flow:

  1. Choose a Mailchimp template from the dropdown (or Use fallback HTML).
  2. Optionally assign a completed model for recommendations.
  3. Toggle the flow on when ready.

4. Template merge variables​

Add this Handlebars block to your Mandrill template so recommendations render (image, title, price):

{{#if flexsee_has_recommendations}}
  {{#each flexsee_recommendations}}
    <table role="presentation" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="margin:12px 0;">
      <tr>
        <td width="120" valign="top" style="padding-right:12px;">
          {{#if url}}<a href="{{url}}">{{/if}}
            {{#if imageUrl}}
              <img src="{{imageUrl}}" alt="{{title}}" width="120" style="display:block;border-radius:6px;" />
            {{/if}}
          {{#if url}}</a>{{/if}}
        </td>
        <td valign="top" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">
          <div style="font-weight:700;font-size:16px;line-height:1.4;margin-bottom:6px;">
            {{#if url}}<a href="{{url}}" style="color:#111;text-decoration:none;">{{title}}</a>{{else}}{{title}}{{/if}}
          </div>
          <div style="color:#444;font-size:14px;line-height:1.4;">
            {{price}} {{../flexsee_properties.currency}}
          </div>
        </td>
      </tr>
    </table>
  {{/each}}
{{/if}}

Each recommendation includes productId, title, imageUrl, url, price, and rank.

5. Wizard Flow campaigns​

To send a one-off predictive campaign:

  1. Complete Wizard Flow through Destination → Mailchimp.
  2. Select product, audience, template, and send options.
  3. Activate the flow.

Track results on Campaigns — Campaigns & attribution.

6. Disconnect​

  1. Integrations → Email & SMS → Mailchimp → Disconnect.
  2. Confirm — stored credentials and flow mappings are removed from Flexsee.

Troubleshooting​

  • Invalid API key — Use a Mandrill key from Transactional, not Marketing.
  • No templates in dropdown — Create at least one template in Mandrill; refresh the integration page.
  • Empty recommendations in email — Assign a completed model to the flow; ensure recipients exist in training data.

Next steps​