We have big news from the land of ecommerce automation. Starting on March 22, 2022, we’re rolling out availability of Shopify Flow to all of our merchants on the Advanced plan.
This means less time spent on time-consuming manual tasks, and more time building your business the way you want. We’re also looking at rolling out availability to other plan levels in the future, so more and more merchants have access to the best ecommerce automation solution available.
So what’s the big deal?
Ecommerce automation is an absolute game changer for businesses with their sights set on scaling. Looking to turn that hobby into a hustle, or build a million-dollar enterprise? Shopify Flow is our industry-leading ecommerce automation solution that can simplify your day-to-day by putting complex, manual tasks on autopilot. Don’t spend another minute scanning inventory levels or reviewing each order for fraud. Quickly create the custom automations that your business needs, so you can focus on the bigger picture.
Flow is based on a simple, no-code “trigger, condition, and action” format. So what does that mean? In its simplest form, a “trigger” is an event that Flow looks out for and which sets an automation in motion, a “condition” must then be met, and the “action” is the task that is completed when the condition is met. Cool, right? Want an example? You got it.
- Trigger:An order is placed.
- Condition:The order total must be $500 or more.
- Action:The customer is tagged as a VIP in the system.
Thanks to Flow, no one had to lift a finger to make all of this happen (well, except for setting up the actual workflow, of course).
How about a few examples of Flow in action?
Inventory Management
没有人喜欢maki越来越兴奋ng a new purchase, only to find out the thing they were going to buy is no longer in stock. Flow makes it easy to set up a workflow that hides, pauses, and republishes products, based on preset rules around quantity.
So when a product goes below say 10 items left in stock, the workflow can attach a “low quantity” message to the item on your site, and then send a Slack notification to your fulfillment team to reorder the item. Then when the last item is purchased, it will automatically remove it from your storefront. And when you finally get more of it in stock, it republishes the item back onto your site.
Fraud Protection
Unfortunately, not every buyer has the right intentions. Fraudulent activity is something every merchant has to be on the lookout for. Whether it’s canceling an order with a suspicious address or blocking a known reseller, you can create a workflow that takes all that arduous work off your plate.
There’s no need to comb through thousands of orders to pick out the handful of bad apples anymore—that’s Flow’s job. Flow safeguards your operations against bad actors, while you concentrate on running your business.
There are even some new features to try out
In conjunction with making Flow available to businesses on the Advanced plan, we’re rolling out two incredibly exciting new features: time delays and Flow in the Admin.
“Wait” actions
Not only can a workflow do a task for you, with “Wait” actions (time delays) you can now also determinewhenthe workflow does the task. From waiting mere seconds to hide an item from your site, to delaying a full seven days before sending an upsell email, this option gives you complete control over not just the what, but the when.Read more about “Wait” actions and see some great use cases in our blog.
Flow in the Admin
With the ability to run Flow automations from the Admin, you can now run workflows retroactively, giving you more flexibility and control over your business. For example, you can now complete tasks such as bulk canceling orders that should not have been allowed. Or if you decide to create a new “Platinum” tier to your VIP program, you could now bulk select customers and run a workflow that removed the old “Gold” VIP tags and replaced them with the new “Platinum” tag. Flow in the Admin is just one more way we’re giving merchants like yourself more power.Learn more about running a manual workflow here.
Ready to go with the Flow? Start automating in seconds
Get started with Flow in a flash with our popular pre-built templates. They’re designed to tackle common, tedious tasks, so you don’t have to. We’ve put together a list of the top10 workflow templatesthat help automate your day-to-day, from canceling high-risk orders to showing your valued customers some love.
If your business needs a customized, multifaceted solution—you guessed it—there’s a Flow for that too. When we say your automation options are endless, we mean it. Dive deeper into all the waysFlow can automate anything, so you can take care of business.
Start automating your day-to-day, and stop sweating the small stuff. Flow will take care of that.