Shopify Flow is a Shopify plus-specific functionality that lets you set up automated processes for your Shopify store. It enables you to establish rules and operations that will be carried out automatically after certain occurrences, such as adding new items or completing orders.
This post will cover the following topics: what is Shopify flow, why use Shopify flow, setting up an automation workflow in Shopify Flow, and some ideas on what can be done with Shopify Flow.
Table of Contents
What is Shopify Flow?
Shopify Flow is a Shopify app that allows businesses to automate routine operations. Workflows, which are automated activities, maybe handpicked from a library of pre-made templates or created from scratch in your browser.
Shopify Flow is a drag-and-drop application that does not require any technical expertise. It works through an easy-to-use interface that is intuitive and user-friendly.
Popular uses of Shopify Flow
- Customers with coupons are classified based on whether their order comprises of them.
- Customers who order at a certain amount will have their loyalty tags updated.
- When an order’s risk level is critical, tag the customer.
We’ll cover how to create a workflow in detail below.
Implementing a workflow
Workflows are made up of three phases:
Triggers, conditional statements, and actions.
A certain occurrence must first activate the automation, and subsequent conditions must be satisfied before the action is outputted. If the criteria are not satisfied, the activity is not emitted.
Triggers
A trigger is a specific occurrence that, when detected, activates the Shopify Flow workflow as set forth in the user interface. There are nine built-in triggers, but this number may rise with the usage of third-party applications.
The trigger order risk analyzed is visible at the top of the workflow in this example. This will activate when an order is marked as having a new risk level regardless of whether it’s low, medium, or high.
Conditional statements
Conditional statements are rules that must be satisfied as to either true or false in order to result in the output. There are over 100 distinct conditions to select from, each with several variations. Multiple conditional statements can be combined together, allowing all assertions to pass if any of them is true.
Underneath the aforementioned trigger, an example of two statements combined can be seen below. These are “Order risk level = high” and “Order billing address matching shipping address = false.” If either of these assertions is untrue, the process will check if any new criteria or activities have been added (positioned below). Even if the procedure finds no actions or extra conditional statements, there are none in this example.
Actions
Shopify has pre-installed actions for 10 Shopify-related tasks and 6 that integrate third-party productivity apps, such as Google Sheets, Slack, Asana, and Trello.
In the example below, two operations are added, dubbed Cancel order’ and ‘Add customer tags.’ If both conditions are satisfied, the two actions will be performed. However if at least one of the conditions is false,
Incorporating multiple conditions and actions
Workflows in Shopify Flow may be as simple or complex as you want them to be. Some simply need a trigger and an action, while others might require a variety of different outcomes.
In the example below, the second set of conditions has been added to the process in order to provide extra functionality. These will only be attempted if the first two outputs are false.
If the workflow reaches the second set of conditional statements and they are all true, the procedure will end with no outputs as there are no additional activities or conditions defined.
What can (and cant) Shopify Flow do?
The workflow above shows how Shopify Flow may quickly automate a crucial risk analysis operation. The app, on the other hand, has many more capabilities.
Some of Shopify Flows most popular uses include:
Inventory
- Tag products that are low or out-of-stock
- Set up internal notification emails to send when the stock price drops below a certain level.
- Temporarily remove out-of-stock products from your store
Loyalty and promotions
- Track the use of discount codes
- For added usefulness, connect third-party loyalty apps.
- Set up internal reminder emails to send when big purchases are placed.
Customers
- Customers may be tagged based on their purchasing patterns, zip code, email address, purchase history, IP address, and so on.
- Organize customers by lifetime spend tiers
- Customers who receive large reimbursements are tracked.
Orders
- Get notified about irregularly large orders
- When an order is placed or refunded, send notification emails to staff.
- Tag orders paid with gift cards
Products
- New items are automatically added to collections based on keywords found in the product’s title.
Shopify Flow in Action (Use cases)
Shopify Flow is a tool for organizing automated actions inside your Shopify admin. Imagine if Zapier was bigger… but built within Shopify. It’s really incredible, and we think it’s the most exciting thing Shopify has introduced in a long time.
The purpose of the app is straightforward. There’s no need for coding or programming knowledge – yes, that’s correct! In a few clicks, businesses may use the three-step visual builder to construct unique processes using the trigger, condition, and action logic.
Lets dive into a few examples and see how you might use them with your shop:
- Creating urgency for items low in stock
- Email Campaign Tracking
- Monitor and act on fraudulent orders
#1: Email Campaign Tracking: Track and cater to your best customers
Flow’s ability to label customers is one of its most amazing features. This is useful for a variety of purposes, but it’s especially helpful when monitoring purchases through an email marketing campaign. Customers may be labeled by the amount of money they spent, opening the door for future marketing possibilities.
Flow is compatible with many email marketing platforms since it uses UTM codes as attributes, which means it can link with a variety of them.
Here’s how to use a campaign to keep track of customers who make large purchases from your business and tag them for future offers or discounts.
First, a trigger must be chosen. On the right side, after this button is pressed, a list of potential triggers will appear. For this example, we’ll choose “order created” as the trigger.
The next step is to establish a condition. Because Shopify Flow allows for a lot of customization, this is where you can truly have fun. In this scenario, there are just a few conditions that must be met. The first one, which will be described in detail later, is: order price – greater than – 500)
Take note of the UTM parameter – it must match the one used in your marketing campaign for the action to be effective.
Then, as an action, “add customer tag” will be added. On the right side, a tag box will appear; here you may name the tag.
We will tag customers who spent more than $500 for a future discount” since this example focuses on consumers who have spent over $500.
Finally, we have the choice of another action, “send an HTTP request,” which will transmit the client’s information to an external location (in this theoretical case, an email marketing platform).
Create a list of those who responded favorably to your email campaign and apply the code to send out deals and discount codes to these customers.
#2: Last Chance! Creating urgency for items low in stock
Consumers will respond more swiftly and with greater devotion to purchasing if they feel that the product is urgent or essential. After all, words have force.
Shopify Flow automatically records inventory changes. Not only that but when the product quantity is running low, it can be added to a collection called “Last Chance” (or whatever name you choose).
You can also add a message to the product description stating that it is “low in stock,” which will notify customers that they only have a short amount of time to buy.
Check it out!
Set your trigger to “inventory quantity changed.”
Create a condition named “product total inventory – less than – 10” (the amount will vary based on what you believe is low in stock).
Next, choose “add product to collections.”
You may also select the Last Chance collection after clicking on Add to Collection.
Since you may add numerous activities, we’ll label it “low-in-stock” so that we can use the tag on the shop’s front end to display a label.
A variety of reports are accessible through the dashboard, including a list that allows you to compare different products or SKUs.
#3: Fraud Detection: Monitor and act on fraudulent orders
While most businesses focus on optimizing their websites and making them more user-friendly, detecting fraudulent orders is one of the (rather) unpleasant aspects of any ecommerce business.
Flow, on the other hand, allows store owners to establish objectives for potentially fraudulent transactions.
The app’s strong Slack integration, for example, allows you to know immediately if a possible fraudulent order is detected. It may notify your sales staff that an order is high-risk, allowing them to inspect it before taking payment – useful, isn’t it?
Here’s how to quickly set up your process for detecting possible fraudulent purchases.
The trigger will be set to order risk analyzed.
Then, a condition must be established. This is when you can truly get creative because Shopify Flow allows for a great deal of customization. The condition should be set to “order risk level – equals – high.”
Finally, you must create an action. Here, you’ll want to configure an email or a Slack message (or both!) to notify your fraud department so they’re aware of the situation as quickly as possible.
There’s a lot to take in here, but it’s good to reflect on the fact that Etsy is not only an outlet for sellers who want to sell their handmade items. It also allows you as a buyer to examine orders that aren’t considered “high risk,” but may still be of interest to you as a merchant.
Perhaps you believe it’s a risk if the billing address is different from the shipping address. You may use Flow to notify your customer service staff that an order should be reviewed before being accepted.
Here is how you can do that.
The first step is for us to pick “order created” as a trigger. As you move your cursor over the condition button, Flow will show a list on the right side of the page. Choose “order billing address matches shipping address – is not equal to – false.”
Then, you must add an action to send an email. Your customer support staff may be referred to in this email.
When you click on send an email, a form will appear on the right side of the screen, asking you to add an email address (the person reviewing the order). Then, choose a message. A pop-up window will appear. Select “customer email.” The customer’s information will then be sent to the email address you provided.
You can also label this workflow as high-risk by adding a customer tag to it.
Simply follow the steps below to set up two workflows to monitor possible fraudulent orders:
Flow enables businesses to adjust to the changing ecommerce climate because it allows them to automate social media messages, as well as notify their employees when an item is out of stock.
Flow allows merchants to adapt by allowing them to automate social media postings, as well as alert their team when new goods are available.
Conclusion
Shopify Flow is yet another of Shopify Plus’s features that come with some special perks. Shopify Flow, like Shopify Scripts (introduced in the previous article of this series), is geared toward automation and can potentially make life simpler for store owners.
Given the many different kinds of triggers, conditional statements, and actions accessible, the number of conceivable combinations is staggering.
