When you upload a CSV of shoppers, you can tag everyone in that file with a label so you can find them again later as a group. This is useful when you collect contacts from one place, like an in-person event, and want to retarget just those people rather than your whole shopper list. The label is saved as a profile attribute, not a separate list, so all your normal segmentation, flows, and campaigns work with it.

There are two ways to group shoppers like this. You can tag them in Shopify, or you can tag them in Instant as you upload them. This article covers tagging on upload. If you already organise customers with Shopify tags, or you would rather manage the group in Shopify, see Use Shopify Flows to score and tag shoppers for segmentation instead.

A common use case

Say you run an event and collect a stack of names and email addresses on the day. You want to email that exact group a follow-up, without mixing them into the rest of your shoppers. You upload the event contacts as a CSV, tag them with a label like “Summer Market 2026” during the upload, then build a segment for that label and send a campaign to it. The steps below walk through the whole flow.

To tag shoppers with a label as you upload them:

  1. Go to Instant AI > Shoppers
  2. Click Import CSV
  3. On the first step, choose Tag with a label
  4. Enter a name for the label, for example Summer Market 2026
  5. Click Next
  6. Upload your CSV file and map the columns as usual
  7. Start the import and wait for it to finish

Both options add the shoppers to your master list. If you choose All shoppers, the upload runs exactly as before and no label is applied. If you choose Tag with a label, they are added to your master list and tagged with your label. The choice only appears on this first step, so set it before you move on.

How the label works

The label is saved as a custom profile attribute on every shopper in the upload, with a value of true. Instant creates this attribute for you automatically, and it lives only on your site. Because it is a standard profile attribute, you can segment on it, save that segment, and use it anywhere you already use segments.

Tip: Pick a label name you will recognise later, tied to where the list came from (the event, the campaign, or the date). You will search for this exact name when you build the segment.

The import is only complete once tagging is done

The upload and the tagging run as one job. The loading time you see includes the time to create the profiles and apply the label to all of them. When the import shows as complete, every shopper in the file has been created and tagged, so you can go straight to segmentation.

To segment and send a campaign to your tagged shoppers:

  1. Go to Instant AI > Shoppers
  2. Open Filters and choose Profile Attributes
  3. Select the field with your label name, for example Summer Market 2026
  4. Set the value to true
  5. Save the result as a segment
  6. Create a campaign and select that segment as the audience

This gives you an end-to-end flow: collect contacts at an event, upload them with a label, segment on that label, and send a campaign to just that group.

Another way to do this: Shopify tags

If you would rather manage the group in Shopify, you can tag the customers with a Shopify tag and segment on that tag in Instant instead. This is a well integrated approach and works well if you already organise customers with tags in Shopify. For the full steps, see Use Shopify Flows to score and tag shoppers for segmentation. Tagging on upload is the alternative for when you want to stay inside Instant and think in terms of segments rather than lists.

FAQ

Is this a separate contact list? No. Instant manages contacts as profiles rather than lists, so the label is a profile attribute saved against each shopper. You find the group by filtering on that attribute, which keeps all your existing segmentation and campaign features available.

Can I add more shoppers to the same label later? Yes. Run another upload and enter the same label name on the first step. The new shoppers are tagged with the same attribute set to true, so they appear in the same segment.

What happens to shoppers who are already in Instant? Their consent state from the CSV is preserved. A subscribed row stays subscribed and an unsubscribed row stays unsubscribed. The label is applied on top of their existing profile.

Can I remove the label later? The label is a profile attribute like any other, so you manage it through profile attributes. It is not deleted automatically after a campaign.