What Is Shopify Flow
Shopify Flow is a visual automation builder available on Shopify Plus that lets you create automated workflows — triggered by events in your store, taking actions based on conditions, without writing any code. Think of it as an “if this, then that” system for your Shopify store’s operations: “When a customer makes their 5th purchase, add a ‘VIP’ customer tag and send them a loyalty email.” “When an order comes in that’s over $500, notify a team member to review it.” “When a product’s inventory drops below 10 units, automatically publish a ‘Low Stock’ badge.”
Flow is included with Shopify Plus at no additional cost. For non-Plus stores, some automation can be achieved through third-party apps, but Flow’s native integration and sophistication is unmatched within the Shopify ecosystem.
Understanding the Flow Workflow Structure
Every Flow workflow has three components:
- Trigger — the event that starts the workflow. Examples: “Order created,” “Customer tagged,” “Product inventory changed,” “Order fulfilled,” “Customer created,” “Risk assessment updated.”
- Conditions — optional filters that determine whether the workflow continues. “Only if the order total is greater than $200.” “Only if the customer tag does not include ‘VIP’.” Multiple conditions can be added with AND/OR logic.
- Actions — what happens when conditions are met. “Add tag to customer,” “Send HTTP request,” “Create metafield,” “Add order tag,” “Send internal email.”
A single workflow can have multiple conditional branches and multiple sequential actions. Complex workflows can handle sophisticated logic: “If order is over $500 AND customer is new, then add ‘high-value-new-customer’ tag AND send to high-priority fulfillment team AND send welcome gift email.”
Step 1: Access Shopify Flow
On Shopify Plus: go to your Shopify Admin. Flow appears in the left navigation under Apps → Flow, or navigate directly to the Flow section. If you don’t see it, go to Settings → Apps and sales channels and ensure Shopify Flow is enabled.
Flow comes with a library of templates — pre-built workflows for common use cases that you can activate and customize without starting from scratch. Browse the template library before building custom workflows; many common needs are already templated.
Step 2: Set Up Customer Tagging Automation
Customer tagging is one of Flow’s most valuable automations — tags enable Klaviyo segmentation, loyalty tier assignments, and wholesale account management without manual intervention.
Example workflow: VIP customer tagging
- Trigger: Order created
- Condition: Customer’s order count is greater than or equal to 5 AND customer tag does not contain “VIP”
- Action: Add tag “VIP” to customer
- Action (optional): Send internal email to customer success team “New VIP customer: {{customer.email}}”
Once a customer has the “VIP” tag, Klaviyo segments update automatically — the customer enters any VIP email flows, receives VIP discount codes, and is excluded from new-customer campaigns. Flow automates the work of tracking lifetime purchase count and applying the tag.
Step 3: Set Up Inventory Management Automation
Inventory alerts and actions are high-value automations for stores managing stock across multiple products:
Example workflow: Low stock alert
- Trigger: Product variant inventory changed
- Condition: Variant inventory quantity is less than or equal to 10 AND variant inventory quantity is greater than 0 (not already zero)
- Action: Send internal email “Low stock alert: {{variant.product.title}} – {{variant.title}} has {{variant.inventoryQuantity}} remaining”
More sophisticated version: Add “low-stock” tag to product → theme displays “Only a few left” badge for tagged products → remove tag when inventory restocks above threshold. This creates automated low-stock urgency displays on product pages without manual management.
Step 4: Automate Order Risk Review
For stores with higher fraud risk, automating the risk review process reduces fraud losses without manually reviewing every order:
Example workflow: High-risk order flagging
- Trigger: Order created
- Condition: Risk level equals “High” OR (order total greater than $500 AND customer’s order count equals 1)
- Action: Add tag “manual-review” to order
- Action: Send internal email to fraud team “High-risk order requires review: Order #{{order.name}} for ${{order.totalPrice}}”
- Action: Cancel automatic fulfillment for this order (hold for review)
Step 5: Build Loyalty Tier Automation
If using LoyaltyLion or Smile.io, Flow can automate tier upgrades based on lifetime purchase value rather than managing them manually:
Example workflow: Gold tier upgrade
- Trigger: Order created
- Condition: Customer’s total spend (lifetime) exceeds $1,000 AND customer tag does not contain “gold-tier”
- Action: Add tag “gold-tier” to customer
- Action: Remove tag “silver-tier” from customer
- Action: Send HTTP request to Klaviyo trigger API to fire “tier upgrade” email flow
This automates what would otherwise require weekly manual reporting and bulk tag updates — customers move tiers automatically as they cross spend thresholds.
Step 6: Automate Post-Purchase Thank You Flows
Flow can trigger Klaviyo or other email platforms for specific customer segments immediately after purchase, enabling more granular post-purchase communication than standard purchase confirmation emails:
Example: First-order welcome vs. returning customer thank you
- Trigger: Order created
- Condition branch A: Customer order count equals 1 → HTTP request to Klaviyo API to trigger “First Order Welcome” flow
- Condition branch B: Customer order count greater than 1 AND customer has tag “VIP” → HTTP request to Klaviyo to trigger “VIP Returning Customer” flow
This granularity is difficult to achieve through Klaviyo’s native triggers alone — Flow’s Shopify-specific context data enables more precise triggering conditions.
Step 7: Use Flow for Fulfillment Routing
For stores with multiple fulfillment locations or third-party logistics partners (3PLs), Flow can automatically route orders to the correct fulfillment location:
Example: Route international orders to international fulfillment
- Trigger: Order created
- Condition: Shipping address country code is NOT “US”
- Action: Add tag “international-fulfillment” to order
- Action: Assign order to specific fulfillment location (via HTTP request to fulfillment API, if using a 3PL with an API)
Step 8: Connect Flow to External Services via HTTP
The “Send HTTP request” action in Flow connects Shopify to virtually any external service with an API: Slack channels, internal warehouse management systems, Google Sheets, CRM platforms, or custom business logic tools. This makes Flow much more powerful than its Shopify-native actions alone suggest:
- Post order notifications to a Slack channel when high-value orders arrive
- Update a Google Sheet with new customer data for tracking
- Trigger a Zendesk ticket when a customer requests a return
- Send order data to a custom warehouse system for fulfillment routing
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Shopify Flow available on all Shopify plans?
Shopify Flow is included with Shopify Plus at no additional cost. For standard Shopify plans (Basic, Shopify, Advanced), Flow is not available. Non-Plus stores can achieve some automation through third-party apps: Mechanic (a scripting-based automation app), LiquidTags, or individual apps with their own automation features. For high-volume stores where automation has significant ROI, the gap in automation capability is one of the most meaningful differences between Shopify and Shopify Plus pricing tiers.
Can Shopify Flow send automated emails?
Flow doesn’t send marketing emails directly — it sends internal emails (to store staff/teams) and can trigger external email platforms (Klaviyo, Omnisend) via HTTP requests. For customer-facing automated emails, the standard approach is: Flow triggers a Klaviyo flow via HTTP API → Klaviyo sends the branded email. This combination gives you Flow’s Shopify data context and trigger precision plus Klaviyo’s email design and deliverability capabilities.
What’s the difference between Shopify Flow and Klaviyo flows?
Klaviyo flows are email/SMS marketing automation triggered by customer behavior (checkout started, order placed, viewed product). They’re optimized for communication workflows with contact timing controls, A/B testing, and email builder integration. Shopify Flow is operational automation within Shopify itself — modifying orders, tagging customers, updating inventory, routing fulfillment, and connecting to external services. They’re complementary: Flow handles the operational Shopify automation; Klaviyo handles the customer communication automation. Using both together creates more sophisticated and automated store operations than either tool alone.
How do I trigger Klaviyo from Shopify Flow?
Use Flow’s “Send HTTP request” action to call Klaviyo’s Track API or Profile API. In Klaviyo: set up a flow triggered by a custom metric (you define the metric name, e.g., “vip_tier_achieved”). In Flow: when your condition is met, send an HTTP POST to Klaviyo’s Track API endpoint with the customer’s email, the custom metric name, and any relevant properties. Klaviyo receives the event and triggers the associated email flow. This integration requires some API familiarity but is well-documented in both Klaviyo’s and Shopify Flow’s documentation.
Are there pre-built Flow templates I can use?
Yes — Shopify maintains a library of Flow templates accessible within the Flow app. Common templates: tag customers after their 5th purchase, archive old unpublished products, send internal email for high-risk orders, auto-tag orders by product type, and more. Shopify Partners and the developer community also share custom workflows. The template library is the best starting point — most stores’ automation needs are covered by existing templates that can be activated and customized without starting from scratch.
Final Thoughts
Shopify Flow transforms manual, repetitive operational tasks into automated workflows that run without staff involvement. For Shopify Plus stores, the ROI on investing time to build flows for customer tagging, inventory alerts, risk review, and loyalty tier management is among the highest available — each workflow saves staff time daily while improving operational consistency. Start with the template library, implement the 3-4 workflows most relevant to your specific pain points, and add automation incrementally as you identify new manual processes worth automating.
For more on Shopify Plus features and store operations, explore our guides on B2B and wholesale setup, analytics and reporting, and email automation for marketing.
