What Is Shopify Flow and Why Should You Use It?
Shopify Flow is Shopify’s built-in automation platform that lets you create custom workflows without writing code. Think of it as an “if this, then that” engine for your store — when specific events happen (a new order is placed, inventory drops low, a customer makes their fifth purchase), Flow automatically executes predefined actions (tag the customer, send a notification, pause a product, create a task).
Available on Shopify (and higher plans), Flow eliminates hours of manual work per week that would otherwise require staff attention for repetitive, rule-based tasks. This guide covers the most powerful ways to use Shopify Flow to automate your store operations.
Understanding Shopify Flow’s Structure
Every Flow workflow has three components:
- Trigger — the event that starts the workflow (order created, product updated, customer tagged, inventory quantity changed)
- Condition — optional filters that determine if the action runs (“only if order total is over $500” or “only if customer is tagged ‘VIP'”)
- Action — what happens when the trigger fires and conditions are met (send email, add tag, create draft order, update inventory, post to Slack)
Flows can have multiple conditions (AND/OR logic) and multiple sequential actions. They run automatically 24/7 without requiring staff oversight.
Workflow 1: High-Value Customer Flagging
Automatically identify and tag your most valuable customers for special treatment. Set up a Flow triggered by “Order paid” with condition “Customer’s total orders amount is greater than $500 (or your LTV threshold).” Action: Tag customer as “VIP.”
Once tagged as VIP, other systems kick in automatically — Klaviyo sends VIP-exclusive emails, Smile.io unlocks VIP loyalty tier, and your customer service team knows to prioritize VIP inquiries. This creates an automatic customer segmentation system that requires zero manual work.
Workflow 2: Fraud Risk Flagging
Shopify’s built-in fraud analysis scores orders, but acting on high-risk orders manually is slow. Create a Flow triggered by “Order created” with condition “Order risk level is HIGH.” Action: Add order note “HIGH FRAUD RISK — review before fulfilling,” tag order “fraud-review,” and send an internal email to your fraud review team.
This pauses high-risk orders automatically while still allowing them to proceed through normal order processing. Your review team gets alerted immediately without monitoring every order manually.
Workflow 3: Inventory Reorder Alerts
Never run out of stock again. Create a Flow triggered by “Inventory quantity changed” with condition “Product variant inventory quantity is less than [your reorder point, e.g., 10].” Action: Send an email to your purchasing team with the product name, SKU, current quantity, and a link to the product.
For critical products, add a second action to add a tag “reorder-needed” to the product — this appears in your Shopify product list as a visual flag. You can also use the Slack action to post reorder alerts directly to your inventory management channel.
Workflow 4: Post-Purchase Customer Tagging
Create automatic customer segments based on what they buy, without manual tagging. Set up Flows for each product category:
- Trigger: Order paid → Condition: Order contains product from collection “Premium” → Action: Tag customer “premium-buyer”
- Trigger: Order paid → Condition: Order contains product tagged “subscription-eligible” → Action: Tag customer “subscription-prospect”
- Trigger: Order paid → Condition: Customer has placed 3+ orders → Action: Tag customer “repeat-buyer”
These tags then power Klaviyo segmentation for hyper-targeted email campaigns without any manual list management.
Workflow 5: Out-of-Stock Product Management
When a product sells out, you often want to take automatic action — hide it from collections, mark it as sold out, or create a back-in-stock notification. Create a Flow triggered by “Inventory quantity changed” with condition “Inventory quantity equals 0.” Actions:
- Add tag “sold-out” to the product
- Add an internal note “Sold out [date]”
- Optionally: send email to your merchandising team
When inventory is restocked (trigger: “Inventory quantity changed” → condition: “Quantity is greater than 0” → “Product has tag ‘sold-out'”), automatically remove the “sold-out” tag and send back-in-stock notifications.
Workflow 6: B2B Order Handling
For stores with both B2B and retail customers, automate the different handling each requires. When a B2B customer places an order (condition: customer tagged “wholesale”), automatically: add order note “WHOLESALE ORDER — net30 terms,” tag order “net-30,” and send invoice confirmation email with payment terms details.
This ensures every wholesale order gets consistent handling without relying on staff to recognize and apply special treatment manually.
Workflow 7: Subscription Churn Prevention
If you use Recharge or Appstle for subscriptions, Flow can integrate to detect churn signals. When a subscription is paused or payment fails, Flow can tag the customer “churn-risk” and trigger a Klaviyo win-back automation with a discount offer to re-engage before they fully cancel.
Some subscription apps trigger directly into Flow; others require webhook integrations. Check your subscription app’s Flow integration documentation for setup specifics.
Workflow 8: Order Review Automation
Request reviews at the perfect moment — not immediately after purchase, but after the customer has had time to use the product. While Klaviyo handles email timing, Flow can assist by tagging orders “review-requested” after a set time to prevent duplicate review requests.
Create a Flow with a time delay action (available in Flow): Order paid → Wait 14 days → Add tag “review-requested” to order. Your review system checks this tag before sending requests, ensuring each customer is only asked once.
Workflow 9: Gift Order Identification
Customers sending gifts often add gift messages and ship to addresses different from their billing address. Automatically identify gift orders: Trigger: Order created → Condition: “Order note contains ‘gift'” or “Shipping address differs from billing” → Action: Tag order “gift-order” and add note “Ensure gift message is included.”
This simple flow prevents the most embarrassing fulfillment error — shipping a gift without its message card — by flagging gift orders for extra attention during packing.
Workflow 10: Abandoned Checkout Follow-Up Tagging
Flow can tag customers who reach checkout but don’t complete purchase, enabling more targeted win-back campaigns. Trigger: “Checkout abandoned” → Action: Tag customer “abandoned-checkout.” Then in Klaviyo, send a targeted flow to these tagged customers with a specific incentive to return and complete their purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Shopify Flow free?
Shopify Flow is included free in Shopify, Advanced Shopify, and Shopify Plus plans. It’s not available on Shopify Starter or Basic Shopify plans. If you’re on Basic, consider upgrading to Shopify ($79/month) to unlock Flow — the automation savings typically justify the plan upgrade cost.
How many workflows can I create in Shopify Flow?
There’s no official limit on the number of workflows you can create. However, complex workflows with many conditions and actions may hit rate limits during high-volume periods. Monitor your workflow run history and execution logs to ensure all automations are completing successfully.
Can Shopify Flow send Slack messages?
Yes, Shopify Flow has a native Slack integration action. You can send customized Slack messages to specific channels when workflows trigger — useful for team alerts like inventory notifications, high-value order alerts, or fraud flags. Connect your Slack workspace in the Flow interface.
Can I use Shopify Flow with third-party apps?
Yes — many Shopify apps include Flow triggers and actions. Klaviyo, Recharge, Gorgias, Loyalty apps, and others add their own triggers/actions to Flow, enabling cross-platform automation without custom code. Check the Flow templates library for pre-built workflows that integrate your apps.
What’s the difference between Shopify Flow and Zapier?
Shopify Flow is natively built into Shopify and works directly with your store data without API calls. Zapier connects external apps (Gmail, Google Sheets, HubSpot) beyond what Flow supports. For Shopify-internal automations, Flow is faster, more reliable, and has no per-task pricing. For cross-platform automations with non-Shopify tools, Zapier fills the gaps Flow doesn’t cover.
Final Thoughts
Shopify Flow is one of the most underutilized features in the Shopify ecosystem. Merchants who invest a few hours setting up the workflows above typically save 10+ hours per week of manual, repetitive work — time that redirects to marketing, product development, and customer relationships.
For more on automating and scaling your Shopify operations, explore our guides on customer account management, inventory management, and tax settings automation.
