If you’ve ever found yourself doing the same tasks over and over—like tagging orders, managing customer segments, or following up with emails—then this is going to be a game-changer for you.
We’ll be going over Shopify Flow. A super handy automation tool, and the best part? You don’t need to write a single line of code. We’re going to walk through what Flow is, how it works, and how you can start using it right away—even if you’re new to it.
So, if you’re ready to save time and streamline your store with some smart automation, let’s get into it!
What is Shopify Flow?
Alright, so what is Shopify Flow?
At its core, Shopify Flow is a free automation tool that helps you streamline all sorts of repetitive tasks in your Shopify store. It’s kind of like your personal assistant, working in the background to handle the boring stuff so you can focus on bigger problems.
Flow consists of three simple building blocks: Triggers, Conditions, and Actions. Let’s break those down with some quick, real-world examples.
▶️ Trigger: "When should the workflow start?"
A trigger is what kicks off your automation. It tells Shopify Flow, “Hey, something happened—time to do something about it.”
Example: When a new order is placed.
So, as soon as someone places an order in your store, that can trigger your workflow to start doing its thing.
🔀 Condition: "Should we take action?"
A condition is like a checkpoint. It asks, “Does this meet the rules we set? If yes, we’ll move forward. If not, we’ll stop or do something else.”
Example: Check if the order total is more than $100.
So maybe you only want to take action on big orders—conditions help you set that filter.
🏁 Action: "What should we do?"
An action is the actual task you want Shopify Flow to complete.
Example: Add a tag to the customer like “VIP”.
This action will then add the "VIP" tag to the customer who placed the order.
Together, these three steps—Trigger → Condition (optional) → Action—make up a Flow. It’s honestly super intuitive once you get the hang of it. And once you do? You’ll wonder how you ever ran your store without it. 💪
Use Cases for Shopify Flow
So now that you know what Shopify Flow is and how it works, you might be wondering, “Cool, but what can I do with it?”
Well, good news—there are tons of ways to use Shopify Flow to make your life easier. Whether you're managing orders, keeping tabs on customers, or staying on top of inventory, Flow has your back.
Here are some real-world use cases and how they can help you run your store more efficiently:
✅ Tag high-value customers
You can automatically tag customers who spend over a certain amount—say $1000—with a label like “VIP”.
Why it’s useful: It makes it super easy to create segments for exclusive emails, rewards, or early product drops.
📩 Send low-stock notifications
Set up a workflow to alert your team (or yourself!) when stock for a product drop below a certain number.
Why it’s useful: You’ll never be surprised by a sold-out product again—and you can restock before it becomes a problem.
🏷️ Tagging orders that contain specific products
Let’s say someone buys a special item like a limited-edition T-shirt. You can automatically tag that order.
Why it’s useful: It helps you keep track of special promotions, limited releases, or custom packaging needs.
💬 Notify your team of high-risk orders
Use Flow to flag and notify your team whenever a high-risk order comes through.
Why it’s useful: It protects your store from potential fraud before it becomes an issue.
🚚 Auto-tag orders based on shipping methods
If a customer selects express shipping, you can tag the order as “Express” to prioritize it in fulfillment.
Why it’s useful: It keeps your shipping workflow organized and ensures fast delivery promises are met.
📦 Canceling unfulfilled orders after a certain time
If an order hasn’t been fulfilled after, say, 30 days, you can cancel it automatically.
Why it’s useful: It helps clean up old or stuck orders so your backend stays tidy and accurate.
🧍♀️ Creating internal workflows for staff
You can build custom processes that notify staff or trigger internal steps when certain things happen, like new wholesale orders or B2B purchases.
Why it’s useful: It keeps your team in the loop without having to manually message them every time.
These are just a few ideas to get the wheels turning. And honestly, the more you explore Shopify Flow, the more opportunities you’ll find to automate the busywork and free up your time.
If you’ve got a task that gets repetitive, chances are you can automate it with Shopify Flow. 💡If you're lucky, Shopify flow templates might've got you covered already!
Building A Fraud Prevention System with Shopify Flow
Now that we’ve explored Shopify Flow and some use cases, let’s try to use it by creating a simple Fraud Prevention system.
Our fraud prevention system will work like the following:
- Whenever there’s a new order, trigger the flow
- Check if the order’s total value exceeds $1000
- If so, send a Slack message to the team with the order details
This should be a lot of fun, so let’s dive right in (watch the video, starting at 2:37)
In a nutshell, we’ve:
- Installed Shopify Flow to our Store
- Created a new flow with the trigger: “Order Created”
- Added a condition to check if the order value is greater than or equal to a certain number.
- Connected Slack and Flow and added the flow-bot to our Slack channel.
- Used the action “Run Code” to get additional details of the Order
- Finally, use the action “Send Slack Message” to send the order details to our Slack channel
That’s it! 🎉 You just built your first automation with Shopify Flow.
Final Thoughts
And that’s a wrap on Shopify Flow! 🚀
We’ve covered quite a bit today, starting with:
- What Shopify Flow is
- How it works behind the scenes
- How it can help you automate repetitive tasks in your store.
We also explored real-life use cases like tagging high-value customers, notifying your team about low inventory, and even building a simple fraud prevention system that cancels suspicious orders before they become a problem.
The beauty of Flow is that, though you are a beginner, you can get started automating repeating tasks. Just pick your trigger, add some conditions, choose your actions, and boom! Your store will be a little smarter, a little faster, and a whole lot more efficient. Combine that GraphQL and Liquid, you can make it do anything in the background.
If you found this helpful and you’re hungry for more tutorials, be sure to check out the other posts on our blog. I break things down just like this, so you can feel confident whether you’re just starting or leveling up your Shopify dev game.
Until next time—happy coding! ✌️