What is Dotdigital?
Dotdigital is a customer experience and data platform for email, SMS, push and web messaging. It captures customer data, then uses it to send automated, personalized messages across the channels your shoppers already use.
With this integration, push from your Tapcart app becomes a connected channel inside Dotdigital, sitting next to the email and SMS programs many brands already run there. The same connection can also feed in-app browse, cart, checkout and purchase activity into the Dotdigital Tag, so your abandoned cart and abandoned browse programs work for app shoppers the way they do for website shoppers.
Why Dotdigital + Tapcart?
Tapcart powers the app experience. Dotdigital sends the messages. Together, they let you treat push like an extension of the app and coordinate it with email and SMS instead of running push in a separate tool.
With this integration you can:
Send push notifications to logged-in app shoppers from Dotdigital campaigns and programs
Match app shoppers to the contacts you already have in Dotdigital (by email)
Deep link shoppers into a product, collection or other in-app destination when they tap a notification
Track push opens in Dotdigital
Trigger Dotdigital abandoned cart and abandoned browse programs from activity in the app
Attribute app sessions to the email, SMS or push campaign that opened the app
Availability: The Dotdigital integration requires a Dotdigital account with Push Notification enabled. Abandoned cart and browse (Tag events) are enabled per app by Tapcart. If you do not see Dotdigital under Integrations, reach out to your Tapcart CSM or email [email protected].
How it works
The integration has two parts. Push works on its own; abandoned cart and browse are an optional add-on.
Tapcart runs the app. Shoppers download your app, grant push permission, log in and shop as they normally would.
You create a Push Notification profile in Dotdigital and upload your APNs and FCM credentials so Dotdigital can send through Apple and Google.
You connect Dotdigital in the Tapcart dashboard by pasting the profile's API space ID and authentication values. Tapcart runs new builds to install the Dotdigital SDK.
Logged-in shoppers sync to Dotdigital. When a shopper logs in on a device with push permission, the app registers that device with the shopper's Dotdigital push profile and attaches their email. The shopper appears in your Dotdigital contacts with a device listed. When they log out, the device is removed from their profile.
You send from Dotdigital. Push campaigns and programs in Dotdigital reach those devices. Tapping a notification opens the deep link you set, and the open is tracked back in Dotdigital.
Optional: in-app activity feeds the Dotdigital Tag. When Tag events are enabled, the app sends the same browse, cart, checkout and purchase events the Dotdigital Tag collects on your website, so abandoned cart and abandoned browse programs trigger for app shoppers too.
What you send from where
Channel | Where you create it | What Tapcart does |
Push | Dotdigital campaigns and programs | Hosts the app, collects push permission and registers logged-in shoppers' devices. Dotdigital sends the notification. |
Email and SMS | Dotdigital (your existing programs) | The app is a place to shop and, when you use deep links, a destination after the tap. Campaign links that open the app carry their attribution into the app session. |
Abandoned cart and browse | Dotdigital programs triggered by the Dotdigital Tag | Sends the app's browse, cart, checkout and purchase events to the Tag (when Tag events are enabled). |
Push reaches logged-in shoppers only. A device that has never logged in has no Dotdigital profile, because a profile without an email can never be matched to a contact or targeted by a campaign. Use the app's login prompts and account benefits to grow your reachable audience.
Before you start
Make sure you have:
A Tapcart app that is live or in development
A Dotdigital account with Push Notification enabled, plus your Dotdigital account manager or onboarding contact
Access to your Apple Developer account (for iOS push)
Access to the Firebase Console project tied to your Android app (for Android push)
For abandoned cart and browse: the Dotdigital Tag already connected to your website
Credentials you will collect
iOS (Apple Push Notification service):
Key ID
Team ID (the Apple team your app belongs to)
Private key (.p8 file). You can download this file only once, so store it securely.
Android (Firebase Cloud Messaging):
FCM HTTP v1 service account JSON key file (the package name must match your Android app ID)
These files go into Dotdigital, not Tapcart. Tapcart only needs the values Dotdigital generates after you save the push profile (next section).
How to connect Dotdigital + Tapcart
Step 1: Create the push profile in Dotdigital
In Dotdigital, go to Connect → Digital marketing channels → Push Notification and select New profile.
Upload your APNs .p8 key with its Key ID and Team ID, and your FCM service account JSON file.
Set the profile status to Enabled and Save.
From the saved profile, copy these four values. Dotdigital assigns the Issuer and Audience; copy them exactly as shown. Leave ID claim set to
sub.
Value | Where it is in Dotdigital |
API space ID | Bottom of the push notification profile |
Issuer | Under Authentication on the profile |
Audience | Under Authentication on the profile |
Shared secret | Under Authentication on the profile |
Step 2: Connect the integration in Tapcart
In the Tapcart dashboard, go to Integrations and select Connect Integration for Dotdigital.
Paste the API space ID, Issuer, Audience and Shared secret from your Dotdigital push profile, then select Save & Enable. The Issuer, Audience and Shared secret are stored securely on Tapcart's servers and never shipped inside the app.
Notify your Tapcart CSM or support that the integration was connected so new builds can be run to install the Dotdigital SDK.
Once the new builds are live, shoppers who log in on a device with push permission appear in Dotdigital under Audience → Contacts. Search by email and open the Devices tab to confirm.
Save & Enable in Tapcart only connects the account. New builds have to be run to finish the SDK install, and Dotdigital cannot send push until the APNs and FCM credentials are in your push profile. Once both are done, you can start sending.
Abandoned cart and browse (Tag events)
Dotdigital's abandoned cart and abandoned browse programs are triggered by the Dotdigital Tag, the script you already run on your website. The app can send the same events to your Tag, so those programs work for app shoppers without a separate setup in Dotdigital.
How to enable it
In Dotdigital, go to Connect → Connect website and open your site's Tag connection.
Copy the Tag profile ID. It looks like
DM-1234567890-01and appears in the script URL of the generated Tag snippet.Note your site's web domain exactly as it is listed under Domains on the Tag connection (for example
www.yourstore.com).In the Tapcart dashboard, open your Dotdigital integration and enter the Tag profile ID and the Tag site domain, then save.
Ask your Tapcart CSM to turn on Tag events for your app. Tag events are enabled per app by Tapcart.
If the Tag site domain is left blank, events are reported against your .myshopify.com domain instead. Use your real web domain so Dotdigital groups app and web activity under the same site.
Timing after you enable
After you enable the event hub on your Tag in Dotdigital, it can take up to about 2 hours for the app to start sending events, because the Tag's configuration is cached. The Tag profile ID is public (it is in the script URL on every page of your site), so it is safe to share with Tapcart.
Tracking consent
By default, Tag events follow the app's tracking permission: on iOS the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompt, on Android the in-app tracking dialog. If a shopper declines, no browse or cart events are sent for them. Push and push open tracking are not affected by this setting.
Your integration can be set to send Tag events regardless of the tracking permission (Respect tracking consent off). With that setting, a logged-in shopper's email, phone, cart and browse activity go to Dotdigital even when they declined tracking. Whether that is appropriate depends on your legal basis for the Tag and Dotdigital's role as your data processor, so this is your decision as the merchant, not Tapcart's. Leave it on unless your legal team has confirmed otherwise.
What data is shared with Dotdigital
Push
What | When | Details |
Device push token | A shopper logs in on a device with push permission | Registered to the shopper's Dotdigital push profile. Removed when they log out or turn off notifications for the app. |
At login | Attached to the push profile so Dotdigital matches the shopper to an existing contact. | |
Push opens | A shopper taps a Dotdigital push | Reported back to Dotdigital for campaign reporting. |
Each shopper has one Dotdigital push profile, shared across their devices. Logging out on one device leaves their other devices registered.
Tag events (when enabled)
In-app activity | Sent to the Dotdigital Tag as |
Login or account creation |
|
Product viewed | Product page view and |
Collection viewed | Collection page view |
Search | Search page view with the search term |
Cart updated, item added or removed |
|
Checkout started |
|
Purchase completed |
|
Logout | Nothing is sent; the shopper's app session, cart and visitor history are cleared on the device |
The app re-sends the open cart periodically while the shopper keeps browsing, so abandoned cart messages do not go out while they are still active. An empty or purchased cart is reported with a zero subtotal, which exits the shopper from the abandoned cart program.
Campaign attribution
When a Dotdigital email, SMS or push link opens the app, its utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign and Dotdigital contact reference (dm_i) are sent with the Tag events of that app session, the same way the Tag attributes a website visit. UTMs last for the session (20 idle minutes); the contact reference lasts 1 hour after the link.
After you are connected
Once the new builds are live and Dotdigital has your push credentials, you work in Dotdigital:
Campaigns: Compose push the same way you compose other Dotdigital messages. Add a title, body and a destination URL.
Programs: Add a push step to automated programs for moments like a drop, a loyalty perk or a cart reminder. Shoppers who are not reachable on push continue through email or SMS if you add those steps next.
Audiences: Segment the contacts who have a registered device instead of maintaining a separate push list.
Reporting: Review push opens next to email and SMS.
Deep links in push
Use your store's website URL as the destination. When native deep linking is enabled, tapping the notification opens the matching screen in the app right away; the open is reported to Dotdigital afterwards.
Product:
https://yourstore.com/products/product-nameCollection:
https://yourstore.com/collections/new-arrivalsCart:
https://yourstore.com/?tcr=route/cart
Replace yourstore.com with your real store domain. For other in-app pages (account, custom screens, discount URLs), use the examples in the deep linking article.
Testing before launch
On a test device running the new build, log in to the app as a test shopper and allow notifications.
In Dotdigital, go to Audience → Contacts, search for the test shopper's email and open the Devices tab. The device should be listed.
Send a test push to that contact from Dotdigital and confirm it arrives and deep links correctly.
Log out in the app and confirm the device disappears from the contact's Devices tab.
If you are testing a debug or TestFlight build, see the APNs environment note under Troubleshooting.
Troubleshooting
Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
No shoppers ever appear in Contacts | The new builds with the Dotdigital SDK are not live yet, or the integration is disabled in Tapcart | Confirm the integration shows as enabled in the Tapcart dashboard and that your latest builds have shipped. Contact your Tapcart CSM. |
Shoppers log in but still do not appear | The Issuer, Audience or Shared secret in Tapcart do not match the push profile | Re-copy all three from the Dotdigital push profile. They must match exactly. |
A contact shows but has no device listed | The shopper denied push permission, or the device registration failed | Have the shopper enable notifications for the app in their phone settings, then reopen the app. |
Pushes never arrive on iOS, with no error in Dotdigital | APNs environment mismatch | Debug builds use the APNs development environment; TestFlight and App Store builds use production. Test with the same kind of build you are sending to. |
Pushes arrive on one platform only | Only one platform's credentials are in the push profile | Add both the APNs key and the FCM JSON file to the profile. |
Push opens show as zero but the deep link works | The open tracking request failed on the device | Navigation is unaffected by design. If it persists across devices, contact Tapcart support. |
A logged-out device still receives a shopper's campaign | The device was offline when the shopper logged out | The app retries the removal on its next launch. |
Abandoned cart or browse programs do not trigger from the app | Tag events are not enabled, the Tag profile ID is wrong, the Tag's event hub was enabled less than 2 hours ago, or the shopper declined tracking | Check the Tag profile ID format ( |
Considerations
Push reaches logged-in shoppers only. Anonymous app users have no Dotdigital profile and cannot receive Dotdigital push. If you need push to every app user, including guests, talk with your Tapcart CSM about Tapcart's own push tools.
You typically send mobile push from one provider at a time. If you already send push through Klaviyo, Attentive, Bloomreach or another partner, talk with your Tapcart CSM before you switch so tokens and builds are handled cleanly.
Shoppers must opt in to notifications on the device. Push will never reach 100% of app users. Grow opt-ins with a strong prompt and app-only value. See The Power of Push.
iOS and Android each need their own credentials in the Dotdigital push profile. If you only add one platform's files, push will only work on that platform.
New builds have to be run to install the Dotdigital SDK in the iOS and Android apps.
Enabling Dotdigital adds the App Tracking Transparency prompt to your iOS app, even if you only use push. Review your App Store privacy answers accordingly.
If a shopper turns off notifications for the app in their phone settings, the change is applied the next time they open the app, not at the moment they change it.
If a shopper's Dotdigital session expired before they logged out (for example the app sat unused for a long time), their old device token may remain on the profile until Dotdigital expires it.
FAQs
Do I send the push keys to Tapcart? No. Upload the APNs .p8 key and FCM JSON file to the push profile in Dotdigital. Tapcart only needs the API space ID, Issuer, Audience and Shared secret that Dotdigital generates.
Why don't guest shoppers get push? Dotdigital matches push profiles to contacts by email. A device that has never logged in has no email to match, so it would never be targetable by a campaign. The integration only registers logged-in shoppers by design.
Does connecting Dotdigital turn off Tapcart's other marketing tools? No. This connection lets Dotdigital send push to your Tapcart app and, optionally, receive app activity for abandoned cart and browse. Your email and SMS programs still live in Dotdigital.
Do I need a developer to add Dotdigital's SDK? No. The SDK is installed when new builds are run after the integration is connected in Tapcart.
When can I send my first push? After the integration is enabled in Tapcart, new builds are live, and the push profile in Dotdigital has your APNs and FCM credentials.
Do abandoned cart emails work for app shoppers? Yes, once Tag events are enabled for your app and your Tag profile ID is entered in Tapcart. The app sends the same cart, browse and purchase events the Dotdigital Tag collects on your website, so your existing programs trigger without changes in Dotdigital.
A shopper is logged in on two devices. What happens? They have one Dotdigital profile with both devices registered. Logging out on one device removes only that device.
What happens to a shopper's data when they log out? The device is removed from their push profile, and any in-app browse or cart history held for Tag events is cleared from the device. The next shopper who logs in on that device starts fresh.
Need help?
For the Tapcart dashboard connection (Integrations, API space ID and authentication values, Tag profile ID, enabling Tag events), reach out through LiveChat on your Tapcart dashboard, email [email protected], or contact your Tapcart CSM.
For push credentials, the push profile, campaigns, programs and your Dotdigital Tag, work with your Dotdigital account manager or onboarding contact.