12 Shopify Flow Examples and Templates, Including Workflows Your AI Agent Can Trigger
Twelve Shopify Flow examples: eight classic store-event workflows every shop can use, plus four that start in a customer conversation, where an AI agent verifies the request and hands it to Flow or the right API to finish.
ByWhat are the best Shopify Flow examples?
Shopify Flow is Shopify's free, no-code automation tool. Every workflow is built from a trigger (what starts it), conditions (when it should run) and actions (what it does). The best Shopify Flow examples automate repetitive tasks such as tagging customers, flagging high-risk orders, reordering stock and routing orders to fulfillment. An AI agent adds a new starting point: a verified customer request from a chat.
Most Shopify Flow examples start with something that happens in your store: an order is created, inventory drops, a customer reaches a spending threshold. That covers a lot of repetitive work. But many of the tasks that eat your team's day start somewhere else: in a customer message. "Can I change my address?" "Can I still cancel?" "Do you have a discount?"
This guide covers both. First, what Shopify Flow is, which plans include it and how templates differ from examples. Then eight classic Shopify Flow examples every store can use, and four workflows that start in a customer conversation, where an AI agent verifies the request and hands it to Flow or the right API to finish.
What is Shopify Flow and how does it work?
Shopify Flow is an automation tool built into the Shopify admin. You create workflows with three building blocks:
- Trigger: the event that starts the workflow, such as "Order created" or "Inventory quantity changed".
- Condition: the check that decides whether the workflow continues, for example "order total is over 200 USD".
- Action: what happens when the conditions are met, such as adding a customer tag, holding an order, sending a notification or updating a product.
Flow also works with other apps. The integration runs through Flow connectors, which let apps like Klaviyo, Gorgias, Slack or Google Sheets add their own triggers and actions, so a workflow can move data between your Shopify store and the rest of your stack. For more advanced automated workflows, Flow supports scheduled triggers, "Get data" actions that pull lists of orders, products or customers, and "For each" loops that process them one by one.
Which Shopify plans include Shopify Flow?
Shopify Flow is free to install and available on the Basic, Shopify (Grow in some regions), Advanced and Plus plans. Most features work on every plan, with a few differences:
- The Send HTTP Request action, which lets a workflow call external systems, requires the Shopify plan or higher.
- Actions from custom partner apps are limited to Shopify Plus merchants.
- Usage limits follow the API limits of your plan, so very high-volume stores on higher plans can run more.
Flow is currently available in English only. For the latest details, check the Shopify Help Center, since plan features change from time to time.
Shopify Flow templates vs examples: what's the difference?
Shopify Flow templates are pre-built workflows in the Flow template library. You install one in a few clicks, then adjust the conditions and actions to your business needs. Shopify Flow examples are patterns, like the ones below, that show what's possible; you can build them from a template or from scratch.
In practice, start from a template whenever one exists, because it saves setup time and uses the right triggers. Build a custom workflow when your process has rules that no template covers. Templates are fully customizable, and you can run as many workflows side by side as your process needs.
8 classic Shopify Flow examples every store can use
These are the best Shopify Flow examples to start with, roughly from easiest to most advanced. They tag customers, protect you from bad orders, keep stock healthy and streamline fulfillment.
1. Tag VIP customers automatically
Identify your best customers without exporting spreadsheets. Once tagged, they can get early access, exclusive discount codes or priority customer service.
Trigger: Order created → Condition: customer's total amount spent is over your VIP threshold → Action: add the customer tag "VIP" and, optionally, add them to a VIP list in Klaviyo.
2. Flag and hold high-risk orders
Fraudulent orders cost you the product, the shipping and a chargeback fee. Let Flow catch the obvious ones before they ship.
Trigger: Order created → Condition: order risk level is high → Action: hold fulfillment, add an order tag and notify your team to review it.
3. Low-stock alerts and reorder reminders
Running out of a bestseller is a revenue problem that shows up too late. A simple workflow keeps an eye on inventory levels for you.
Trigger: Inventory quantity changed → Condition: product variant inventory quantity drops below your reorder point → Action: send an email to purchasing or your supplier, and post a Slack message.
A second version of the same workflow hides products when they sell out and republishes them when stock returns, which keeps collection pages clean.
4. Hold or release orders for fulfillment
Some orders need a check before they go to the warehouse: pre-orders, personalised items, orders with specific shipping methods or a certain postal code.
Trigger: Order created → Condition: order contains a specific product or shipping method → Action: hold the fulfillment order and notify the responsible person; release it automatically when a tag is added.
5. Reward customers with loyalty points
If you use a loyalty app with a Flow connector, you can award loyalty points for actions beyond a purchase, such as a first review, a birthday or a second order within 60 days.
Trigger: Order created → Condition: this is the customer's second order → Action: award bonus loyalty points and add the customer tag "Repeat".
6. Route B2B orders to the right account manager
For wholesale on Shopify Plus, B2B orders often need a human touch. Flow can make sure they never sit unnoticed.
Trigger: Order created → Condition: order belongs to a B2B company location → Action: tag the order, notify the account manager and add an internal note with payment terms.
7. Celebrate big orders in Slack
A small one, but teams love it, and it's a good first custom workflow for learning how Flow works.
Trigger: Order created (every new order) → Condition: order total is over a set amount → Action: send a Slack message to your team channel with the order data.
8. Find stuck orders on a schedule
Orders that stay unfulfilled for days usually turn into "Where is my order?" tickets. A scheduled workflow finds them first.
Trigger: Scheduled time (every morning) → Action: Get order data for unfulfilled orders older than three days → For each: add a tag and send a daily summary to the operations team.
4 Shopify Flow examples that start in a customer conversation
The workflows above react to store events. But a large share of repetitive tasks starts when a customer asks for something. Traditionally, that means a ticket, a human reading it, and a manual change in the Shopify admin, often too late.
An AI agent changes the starting point. It understands the request, identifies the customer and order, checks your business rules, and then triggers the change through Shopify Flow, the Shopify Admin API or the API of the target system. The customer gets a confirmation in the same conversation. These four examples are live with Shopify brands using Flyweight AI Process Automation.
9. Change a shipping address before fulfillment
A customer notices a wrong address minutes after checkout. The AI agent verifies the order, confirms it hasn't been fulfilled, asks for the new address and updates it immediately. Australian Bodycare uses this to cut unnecessary shipments and returns.
Customer request → order verification → eligibility check (not yet fulfilled) → Shopify Flow or Shopify API → confirmation in chat.
10. Cancel an eligible order
Accidental or duplicate orders are cheapest to fix before they leave the warehouse. The agent checks your cancellation rules and the fulfillment status, then cancels only when the order qualifies. Everything else goes to your team with full context.
Customer request → order verification → eligibility check against your rules → cancellation via Shopify Flow or API → confirmation.
We've covered the setup for both order automations in detail in Automate Order Changes & Cancellations with Flyweight AI.
11. Newsletter signup straight into Klaviyo
A shopper asks about a first-order discount. Instead of sending them to a separate form, the agent shows a signup form in the chat, captures consent, creates the contact in Klaviyo and starts the welcome and double opt-in flow. Venen Engel uses this to remove a step between interest and signup. The same pattern works for WhatsApp subscriptions and back-in-stock alerts.
Customer interest → in-chat signup form → consent capture → Klaviyo API → welcome email and double opt-in.
12. Hand a high-value lead to your sales team
Detailed questions about customisation or premium materials signal high purchase intent. The agent recognises the moment, offers a lead form and forwards the customer's details and the full conversation to your team. Jewellery brand VEYNOU uses this so valuable requests don't disappear when the shopper closes the tab.
High-intent conversation → intent recognition → in-chat lead form → lead enrichment → sales-team handover.
What makes these safe is the check in the middle. The agent works from your store data, connected in a Commerce Knowledge Graph, and only runs actions you've approved. Higher-risk workflows can start with a human approval step.
How to create a custom workflow in Shopify Flow
- Install Shopify Flow from the Shopify App Store, then open it from the Apps section of your Shopify admin.
- Browse templates first. Search the template library for your use case; if one fits, install it and skip to step 5.
- Create a workflow and choose a trigger. Pick the event that should start it, such as "Order created".
- Add conditions and actions. Define when the workflow should continue and what it should do when the conditions are met.
- Test before you turn it on. Place a test order or use a test product so you can see the workflow run end to end.
- Turn it on and monitor it. Check the workflow's run history regularly, especially in the first week.
Shopify Flow doesn't require coding skills. Liquid variables and the Run code action are there if you need them, but most workflows are built with the visual editor alone.
Best practices and troubleshooting
Stores that use Flow well tend to follow a few simple habits:
- Name workflows clearly and give each one an owner, so everyone knows who to ask when something changes.
- Start small. One reliable workflow beats five overlapping ones. Consolidate when two workflows share the same trigger.
- Watch for loops. A workflow that adds a tag can trigger another workflow that reacts to that tag.
- Review run history for errors and for workflows that haven't run in weeks; both are signs something changed.
- Re-check after app updates. Connector triggers and actions can change when a third-party app updates.
Benefits of Shopify Flow
The benefit of Shopify Flow is simple: it takes decisions your team makes the same way every time and makes them automatically. That means fewer manual tasks, faster order handling, fewer mistakes during peak periods like Black Friday, and more time for work that actually needs a person. Combined with an AI agent on the customer side, the same logic extends to requests that start in a conversation, not just in the admin.
