How do I put my customers names in my email subject/email body?
Topic summary
Main issue: Personalizing mass Shopify emails with each recipient’s first name in the subject and body.
Key approach: Use merge fields (placeholders that pull customer data like First Name, Last Name, City) via the pencil icon in subject/body, and set a default value if data is missing.
Problem encountered: Test emails showed {first name} instead of a real name. Explanation provided: Shopify test emails don’t populate merge fields unless the send targets an actual customer record.
Workaround steps:
- Add yourself as a customer and ensure you’re subscribed to emails.
- Tag your profile with a unique tag (e.g., test_email).
- Create a customer segment from that tag.
- Send the test email to that one-person segment to validate merge fields.
Outcome: Original poster confirmed the workaround worked. A screenshot was shared to illustrate segment creation (image central to the steps).
Latest update: Another participant reports the issue persists in test emails (“Hi First name”) even with default text set, and asks if personalization works for all customers or only the test contact.
Status: Partially resolved for the OP; the newer report remains unanswered. Open questions: Do merge fields populate correctly on full sends, and what’s the best way to test across multiple customers?
1 Like
Hi, @MiakalaniSwim .
Thank you for reaching out!
I just need a bit more information to help you! Are you sending out a mass email to all of your customers? or is this just to one customer? Just to clarify, do you want to add the customer’s name to make the email more personalized?
Please let me know if you have any further questions! I would love to learn more about your business. What type of products do you sell?
Talk soon,
Hi!
I am sending out a mass email but I would like each one to have the
customer’s first name for it to be more personalized
Hi @MiakalaniSwim !
What you’re looking for are Merge Fields, which help you personalize emails to your recipients (such as First Name, Last Name, or other basic details you might have).
I found the following in the Shopify Help Center that might help here:
- To personalize a subject line, preview line, header, or body text, click the pencil icon in the appropriate section.
- Select the value that you want to personalize from the options that are displayed. For example, select “City” if you want your email to include the customer’s city.
- Optional: Enter a default value that is used if the customer’s information is unavailable. If you don’t enter a default value, then the space for personalized text is left blank.
- Click Save.
I hope that’s what you’re looking for,
Alice
1 Like
Hi!
Thank you for responding. I have followed the instructions you gave. I chose “First Name” for the subject line and entered alternate text for the default value. However, when I send the test email it still comes up as {first name} in the subject line.
Is there another way to get it to work?
Brittany
Hey @MiakalaniSwim
Test emails won’t show the contact names unless you choose a contact record to test it with. I don’t believe Shopify’s email campaign manager has this functionality, but you can get around it by creating a subscriber list that just contains you if you want to double, triple check it’s working.
Steps:
- Go to your Customers section
- If you aren’t on your customer list yet, add yourself
- Make sure you’re subscribed to emails
- In your customer profile, tag yourself with a new unique tag (I’ve used “t****est_email”)
- Back in the main Customer’s page, add a new customer segment based on this tag (screenshot on how to do this below)
- When sending a test email, send your email to that new segment (double check it’s only got one subscriber - you)
- Send your email - this should show your merge tag with your name!
Hope that helps!
PS for more advanced email functionality, check out Marsello, our amazing marketing app for Shopify users 
Alice
That worked!
Thank you!
1 Like
You’re welcome! Happy campaigning
1 Like
Hi @MiakalaniSwim
I am experiencing the same issue. Did it work for all customers or only for you when you added yourself as the test_email tag? I added the first name-last name variables and even set “valued customer” as a default if one of the variables isn’t available, but the issue persists. when I send a test email it sent like this : Hi First name even when the variable is available