How does Instant AI automatically import all of my contacts?

Instant AI will automatically import your existing contacts through 3 methods:

1. Shopify Integration
2. Klaviyo Integration
3. Our own identification

For most merchants, these methods cover every scenario and there is no need for any manual data migration. If you still think you need to import a manual CSV, check our guide further below. 

Shopify Integration

When you connect Shopify, we automatically start syncing all of your contacts into Instant AI.
We import any shoppers who have Marketing Consent = Yes in your Shopify Profiles.
If a contact doesn’t have marketing consent, or has unsubscribed, we’ll skip them automatically. If new contacts subscribe or unsubscribes from either us or Shopify, we update both sides automatically.

Klaviyo Integration

When you connect Klaviyo, we also sync all contacts into Instant AI.
We import any shoppers who have Email Marketing Consent = Subscribed in your Profiles.
We continue checking subscription status with every send to keep both systems in sync.
If new contacts subscribe or unsubscribes from either us or Klaviyo, we update both sides automatically.

If you’re using Klaviyo, we also import key events from your contacts, such as opened and clicked, as part of our integration.

This means that once you’ve onboarded to Instant AI and connected your Klaviyo integration, you can immediately send a campaign using a filter like Engaged Last 60 Days. Even if you haven’t been using Instant AI for that long, we’ll bring in up to 60 days of engagement data from Klaviyo so you can start with accurate, ready-to-use filters.

Multiple Integrations

If you have multiple integrations live (e.g. both Shopify and Klaviyo) then we will sync both records automatically. If the same contact exists in both systems with different subscription statuses, we use the most recent update as the source of truth.

For example:
In Shopify, Mary Jones is Subscribed 2025-01-01 but
In Klaviyo, Mary Jones is Unsubscribed 2025-02-02
Then we will honour the unsubscribe in Klaviyo because it is the most recent information. 

Our own Identification

Instant AI can also identify new subscribers after our pixel is installed.
If someone subscribes through your site (for example via a welcome flow) we’ll automatically capture that data and add it as a new contact. Even if the sign-up form or flow is powered by Klaviyo, Alia or Shopify, Instant AI will still save the new subscriber to your database. 

If you're using Instant Audiences alongside Instant AI, you will have advanced identification to to remember returning shoppers that already exist in your contacts. The of saving a new shoppers, and new shopper identification is the same. 

When you may need a manual import of contacts

You’ll only need a manual import if:

• You’re using a platform other than Klaviyo and
• Your Shopify contacts aren’t kept in sync with that platform.

If you're using an alternative platform (e.g. Mailchimp, Sendlane) and your contacts are being automatically updated to Shopify through these platforms then you won't need to manually import any data and the existing Shopify integration will pick them up. To maintain a neat ongoing sync, we recommend ensuring that your alternative providers are set up to accurately sync subscription status' to Shopify.

If this is not possible, you can import a CSV of contacts as a once off activity so that Instant has the most accurate starting point. Follow our step-by-step guide here to complete your CSV import.