Build a launch list from pre-orders with merge fields filled in
Pre-order signups arrive in Mailchimp with merge fields populated, ready for a launch email that names the product they asked for.
New submission on a pre-order or waitlist form
Add/Update Subscriber and populate merge fields such as FNAME, LNAME and ADDRESS, plus a waitlist tag
One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.
A launch list is only useful if it can be written to properly. Names, addresses and the variant someone reserved have to be on the contact record before you draft the announcement, not sitting in a spreadsheet you plan to merge later. This flow fills those merge fields as each pre-order comes in.
Shops and small product teams use it in the weeks before stock arrives, when the list is growing daily and the announcement is already half written.
Setting it up
- 1
Publish the pre-order form in formformform and keep Notifications on it as an explicit opt-in. Reserving a product is not consent to be marketed to.
- 2
Create the merge fields on the Mailchimp audience before building the Zap: FNAME, LNAME, ADDRESS and one for the product. A merge tag that does not exist yet is quietly dropped.
- 3
Set the Zap's trigger to formformform's New Submission event on the pre-order form.
- 4
Add a Zapier Formatter step that splits Full Name into first and last, then map those two outputs to FNAME and LNAME in the Mailchimp action.
- 5
Choose Add/Update Subscriber, select the launch audience, and map Shipping Address into ADDRESS as separate parts — street, city, postcode, country — rather than one blob.
- 6
Type waitlist as a fixed tag, then add a second tag mapped from Product or Variant so each variant can be written to on its own.
- 7
Add a filter so the Mailchimp step only runs when Notifications shows the buyer opted in. The order itself is captured either way.
- 8
If you want PHONE filled too, add a phone question to the form — the pre-order template does not ask for one — and map it across.
What maps where
Using the Pre-Order Form as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.
| Form field | Mailchimp |
|---|---|
| Full Name | FNAME and LNAME merge fields, split by a Formatter step before the Mailchimp action |
| Email Address | Subscriber email address on the launch audience |
| Shipping Address | ADDRESS merge field, which lets you segment a shipping-delay email by country |
| Product or Variant | A merge field the launch email reads, plus one tag per variant |
| Notifications | Decides whether the waitlist tag is applied at all — no opt-in, no tag |
Variations worth knowing
The tag mapped from Product or Variant lets you write only to people waiting on the colour that actually shipped. A single launch email to the whole list produces replies from everyone whose variant is still weeks away.
Send the same submission to two places in one Zap: the audience for the launch email, and a spreadsheet or order system for fulfilment. The pre-order and payment status are captured in formformform; the connected systems handle fulfilment and follow-up.
If something isn't arriving
Mailchimp discards values sent to merge tags that do not exist, and merge fields belong to a single audience rather than the whole account. Create FNAME, LNAME and ADDRESS on the audience you selected, then replay the affected runs from Zapier's history.
Mailchimp's ADDRESS field expects separate components. One free-text Shipping Address answer has to be broken up before mapping, so either ask for the address in separate questions on the form or store it in a plain text merge field instead.
Frequently asked questions
Does the form take payment for the pre-order?
Yes. Add products and priced options to the form, then collect payment through secure hosted checkout with Stripe, PayPal, or Square. Payment status is tracked alongside the response.
Should waitlist signups sit on the same audience as my newsletter?
Usually yes. A contact is counted once per audience, so a second audience means paying twice for the same person. Keep one audience and separate the two groups with the waitlist tag and an interest group.
What happens when the same person pre-orders twice?
Add/Update Subscriber matches on the email address, so the second submission updates the existing contact rather than duplicating it. Newer merge field values overwrite the older ones, including the variant, which is worth knowing before a launch send.
Related automations
- Add newsletter signups to your Mailchimp audience
A signup on your site becomes a subscribed Mailchimp contact straight away, topics and all, with no list maintenance between campaigns.
- Attach survey scores to the subscriber as a note
The score and the comment land on the contact record in Mailchimp, where whoever writes the next campaign will actually see them.
- Start a Mailchimp journey when someone registers for a webinar
A registration applies a dated tag, and that tag is what starts the Mailchimp journey sending the confirmation and the reminders.
- Tag new leads with the offer they came from
Each lead joins the audience carrying a tag for the offer they filled in the form for, so segments stay honest without manual clean-up.
- Unsubscribe people who ask to stop hearing from you
An opt-out request reaches Mailchimp on its own, so the member stops receiving the mail they asked to leave behind.
- Add buyers to a customers list after each order
Each order form submission adds the buyer to a Customers list in Constant Contact for updates and repeat-purchase emails.
Build the form first
The automation needs somewhere to fire from. Publish a form, connect it once, and every submission from then on runs this flow.
Start free