When it comes to streamlining operations and automating tasks that foster overall management efficiency of your Shopify store, Shopify Flow is the right tool to use.
While Shopify Flow is a great tool for workflow automation, it can be a real task to generate and ideate workflows. In order to help you, we have curated 20 Shopify Flow examples that can give you a clear idea on how you can create workflows, what goes into building one, and how you can use them to the fullest.
Before we delve into it, one must be aware of the common terminologies used while using Shopify Flow.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s go with the flow!
Table of Contents
- Triggers, Conditions, & Actions In Shopify Flow: A Glossary
- 20 Shopify Flow Examples You Must Include In Your Workflow
- Get Notifications When Your Product Inventory Is Low
- Tag Customers To Display Promotional Discounts Based On Email Address
- Award Loyalty Points After Purchase
- Send Fulfillment Request For Paid Orders With Specified Fulfillment Service
- Monitor & Act On Fraudulent Orders
- Capture Payment If Order Is Not High-Risk Fraud
- Manage Customers By Lifetime Spend Tiers
- Analyze Your Order Returns & Refunds
- Receive A Daily Summary Email With A List Of Out-Of-Stock Products
- Notify Customer Service About A New Draft Order
- Overdue Payment Reminders
- Check Customer’s Orders From The Last 4 Months When A New Order Is Created
- Automated Applicant Approval
- Receive Email Notifications When Workflow Errors Occur
- Enable Ordering For Companies Created Through Company Account Requests
- Upon A New Order, Check If The Customer Made Any Purchases In The Past 24 Hours
- Hide & Republish Products Based On Inventory Level
- Enable Tagging B2B Orders
- Tag Orders With Specific First Visit Landing Page URL Path
- Receive Alerts When Demand Rises For Out-of-Stock Items
- Conclusion
- FAQs
Triggers, Conditions, & Actions In Shopify Flow: A Glossary
Let’s take a look at what these terms mean as we will be using them in the following examples:
1. Triggers: It is an event that initiates a workflow, and it can occur either in your store or within an app.
For example, a customer field is generated in your Shopify store.
2. Conditions: It determines if an action is taken based on the rules you set.
For example, a condition is created to check if an order is eligible for free shipping or not.
3. Actions: It is the change made to your store or app when the condition is met.
For example, an action is created that if the condition of free shipping is met, the customer will not be charged for shipping.
Now that you have a grasp of these terms let’s get straight to the 20 Shopify Flow examples.
20 Shopify Flow Examples You Must Include In Your Workflow
Here are the Shopify Flow examples:
Get Notifications When Your Product Inventory Is Low
This example uses an inventory workflow where you have full control over your products.
Here, generate workflows to get notified when your inventory levels (or Shopify product feed) drop low.
For this, use ‘Product variant inventory quantity changed’ as the trigger from the Shopify Admin API. Create a condition by setting a ‘Less than’ variable using ‘InventoryQuantityPrior.’ In this example, we have used 10 as the integer value. In the action, use Flow’s logic ‘Send internal email’ to execute the final output.
So, when the inventory level reaches below 10, you will receive an email at the provided email address to check the product inventory level. Here’s how the workflow will look:
Tag Customers To Display Promotional Discounts Based On Email Address
Customer workflows let you tag customers when they create an order, place an order, or cancel it based on attributes like postal code, email, or order history.
For example, you can easily create a workflow to tag customers for promotional discounts.
Use ‘Customer created’ and use the condition – Shopify API > Customer > email. Add the criteria you wish to use. Finally, use ‘Add customer tags’ as the final action, with ‘Promotional Discount’ as the tag.
Optional action: You can even create a condition for other email extensions apart from .com, based on your customer data.
Award Loyalty Points After Purchase
Loyalty workflows enable you to monitor discount codes and reward customers for their loyalty. Numerous rewarding and loyalty apps can be integrated with Shopify flow and provide Flow connectors to offer rewards based on customer spending, actions, etc. in your store.
For this example, we are using the LoyaltyLion app which will help add the points to the existing customers and premium members’ accounts.
This loyalty points workflow example has been created by using the ‘Order Paid’ trigger, with the condition that if the existing customer or the premium member makes a purchase worth $45, they’ll be rewarded with extra points. An extra action, built by using LoyaltyLion, helps add the points.
Here is an example template from Shopify:
Send Fulfillment Request For Paid Orders With Specified Fulfillment Service
Fulfillment workflows can help you manage order fulfillment based on factors like location or order specifics. For example, you can use Flow to pause fulfillment based on risk level, create draft shipping labels, or receive alerts for large orders.
In this example, you generate the ‘Fulfillment order ready to fulfill’ with specific conditions and expand on those conditions using the AND statements. These statements add extra criteria to your existing conditions.
So, multiple AND statements can help you narrow down how the action will be implemented.
Here is the Shopify Flow example template for this use case that you can use:
Monitor & Act On Fraudulent Orders
Oftentimes, scamsters and fake buyers tarnish the reputation of sellers, especially during the e-commerce holiday sales. To fix this, merchants must take extra measures from their end too, in order to evade such fraudulent orders
In this example, the workflow is triggered when an order’s risk is analyzed. If the order’s risk level is “Medium” or “High,” the fulfillment is held until the risk is reviewed.
Other actions include notifying the team by sending an email to fraud@yourcompany.com with the order details, tagging the order with a “Fraud Risk” order tag for future reference, and automatically canceling high-risk orders.
Capture Payment If Order Is Not High-Risk Fraud
In the previous example, you observed how you can create alerts and notify the internal team when a fraudulent order occurs. Conversely, you can even retrieve payment when the order is not a high-risk fraud.
Similar to the previous example, you can use the ‘Order risk analyzed’ trigger and follow the flow to capture payment when the order risk is not high:
| Also read: Understand Shopify audiences and find customers across multiple channels. |
Manage Customers By Lifetime Spend Tiers
This example helps you identify high-value customer accounts and foster long-term loyalty by organizing them into lifetime spend tiers.
The data provided helps your sales and marketing teams spot high CLV and low CAC cohorts, allowing for more tailored campaigns that attract valuable customers.
You can also send targeted offers, like exclusive discounts, for special customers or those who are part of some loyalty club.
This is an example from Shopify’s blog:
Analyze Your Order Returns & Refunds
Returns can also be tracked and managed using Flow. You can easily segregate conditions based on return type [broken/misplaced/not as expected/etc.] or create multiple actions like ticket generation, refund status, etc.
There are several ways to create this workflow. Let’s create it in a simpler way.
In this example, we create the “Refund created” trigger with the condition that if the customer is the reason for canceling the order, then order tags “returned” and “refunded” will be added. Then, an order note will be updated, stating to create a receipt.
Receive A Daily Summary Email With A List Of Out-Of-Stock Products
This one is pretty straightforward. This workflow has run daily at 11:30 p.m. every two days since July 19th, 2022, using the Get Product Data action to find out-of-stock items. The Count action calculates the total, and the results are emailed with a list of the products.
Note: You can add additional queries to modify your workflow further.
Here is an example:
Notify Customer Service About A New Draft Order
Easily notify your customer service about a newly created draft order. This can be done by going on the wholesale channel and creating a draft order (this can be done manually, too), which then notifies the customer service team.
This way, they can collect payment, add shipping fees, and review the particular order.
It adds tags to the draft order for organization and reporting and updates the draft order note with the order process status.
Here is a Shopify workflow template that best describes it:
| Further Reading: Learn how you can start selling internationally on Shopify! |
Overdue Payment Reminders
You can send an automated payment reminder to a customer if the payment date has passed the original due date.
Here, the trigger is generated for the payment schedule. Wait for two days (this is customizable) after the due date. If the payment is not made (check condition: “Payment schedule completed at does not exist”), send the reminder.
Check Customer’s Orders From The Last 4 Months When A New Order Is Created
This one may look long and confusing, but fret not, it is easy to understand. We have explained this one in pointers for clarity and better understanding. Here is how the workflow works:
- The workflow runs every time a new order is created.
- It retrieves a list of orders from the past 4 months using the Get Order Data action.
- The Count action calculates the number of orders placed.
- The Sum action calculates the total order value.
- A tag is added if the customer has placed 7 or more orders.
- Another tag is added if the total value of the orders is $200 or more.
We have added an extra query to calculate the order data for the last 4 months (17 weeks approx). This query has been added in the ‘Get Order Data’ condition:
Automated Applicant Approval
The best part about using Shopify Flow is that you can automate your workflows by integrating other apps. One way is to use Shopify Collabs, which helps create repetitive affiliate program tasks, and easily get in touch with creators.
In the workflow below, if the applicant has 10,000 followers, they will be approved automatically and assigned the Jackpot club tier. Once the tier is assigned, they’ll receive a gift card worth $100. With the help of Shopify Collabs, they will receive an email.
Receive Email Notifications When Workflow Errors Occur
You can easily trace and detect errors in workflows. Create a ‘Workflow error occurred’ trigger that contains a special query that helps you track where the error occurred.
Here is the workflow:
Here is the query:
Enable Ordering For Companies Created Through Company Account Requests
This example uses a B2B workflow, which assists in updating company location settings, like catalogs and payment terms, automating notifications for both internal and external parties, and looking after B2B orders.
The workflow below explains the company location set via the following criteria:
In this template, Shopify uses the following query inside the ‘Send Admin API request’ –
| Further reading: Understanding Shopify Markets For Global Expansion |
Upon A New Order, Check If The Customer Made Any Purchases In The Past 24 Hours
This workflow triggers whenever a new order is created. It uses the “Get Order Data” action to pull a list of orders made by the customer in the past 24 hours. The Count action then checks the number of orders.
If the same customer places two or more orders on the same day, fulfillment is set to hold, and the order tags are placed accordingly.
Below, you will see how this Shopify workflow template identifies if a customer has made multiple orders within the same day and places a hold on fulfillment to consolidate shipping:
| Further Reading: Explore different ways to set up free shipping on Shopify. |
Hide & Republish Products Based On Inventory Level
You can create workflows that automatically hide products when the inventory is low, or they go out of stock. Conversely, within the same workflow, you can also add an action to republish products when they are in stock.
This way, you can run Shopify ad campaigns or even share retargeted ads in order to advertise about your latest products to your potential customers.
Here’s how Shopify’s template displays the workflow:
Enable Tagging B2B Orders
This is a simple B2B workflow that helps add order tags to B2B orders based on the set condition(s):
Tag Orders With Specific First Visit Landing Page URL Path
This example contains a buyer experience workflow, where you can add customer tags to analyze their actions and overall buying experience on your Shopify store.
The example here, upon an order creation, adds an order tag when the customer clicks the landing page with a specific URL path. The tag will prompt the product name to appear when the customer reaches the landing page.
| Also read: Understand the supplier-retailer relationship, collaborate, and utilize Shopify Collective to . |
Receive Alerts When Demand Rises For Out-of-Stock Items
This example utilizes inventory and merchandising workflows, which assist merchants in managing their stock and controlling the display of products to customers.
These workflows use the following triggers and conditions:
- Inventory quantity changed (trigger): Tracks stock changes.
- Product variant inventory quantity/Product variant inventory quantity prior (conditions): Activating the workflow only the first time the two conditions are met.
This workflow is integrated with AMP, which helps by sending notification alerts when stocks are low. Here is how the workflow template looks:
Conclusion
To summarize, Shopify Flow not only automates tasks but also simplifies the process of internal and external store management. The best part about these workflows is they are customizable, add additional code and can be easily integrated with an app.
The aforementioned examples will help you ideate future workflows, and the templates can help you kickstart creating workflows with ease!
FAQs
What are flows in Shopify?
Flows in Shopify refer to automated workflows that help streamline repetitive tasks, such as managing orders, customer segmentation, and inventory updates. They enable merchants to create rule-based actions triggered by specific events.
Does Shopify Flow cost money?
Shopify Flow is free for merchants on the Basic, Advanced, Grow, and Shopify Plus plans.
What is the benefit of Shopify Flow?
Shopify Flow saves time and reduces errors by automating repetitive tasks, improving efficiency, and allowing merchants to focus on growth activities like marketing and customer engagement.
Can you fully automate a Shopify store with workflows?
While you can’t fully automate every aspect of a Shopify store, you can significantly streamline processes using tools like Shopify Flow, apps, and integrations for tasks such as order fulfillment, email marketing, and customer management.
How to create custom workflow automation on Shopify Flow?
To create custom workflow automation on Shopify Flow, access the app from the Shopify Admin or App Store. Use the visual editor to design a workflow by selecting a trigger (such as a new order), setting conditions (like an order value exceeding $100), and defining actions (for example, sending an email or tagging a customer). Once done, save and activate the workflow to automate the specified process.
How can Shopify Flow automate customer segmentation?
Shopify Flow can tag customers based on criteria like purchase history, average order value, or location, automatically segmenting them for targeted marketing.
What triggers can I use in Shopify Flow?
Triggers include events like new orders, inventory changes, customer creation, fraud analysis, or specific app-based events.
Can Shopify Flow help with inventory management?
Yes, it can notify you when stock levels are low, automatically reorder items, or tag products as “out of stock” on your store.
How do I create a workflow to prevent fraud using Shopify Flow?
Set a trigger for orders flagged as high-risk, followed by actions like notifying the team or canceling the order automatically.
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