Shopify Flow Templates: 35+ Workflows to Save 15+ Hours Per Week

Running a Shopify store means juggling hundreds of repetitive tasks every week—tagging VIP orders, checking inventory levels, following up on high-risk purchases, sending review requests, and managing customer segments. These manual processes aren’t just time-consuming; they’re costing you money in missed opportunities, stockouts, and errors.

Shopify Flow templates solve this problem by automating your most repetitive tasks. These pre-built workflows act like a virtual assistant that never sleeps, handling everything from order processing to fraud prevention to customer loyalty programs. The best part? You don’t need to be a developer to use them.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll discover 35+ proven Shopify Flow templates that merchants use to save 15+ hours every week. We’ve organized these templates by category—order management, inventory control, customer engagement, fulfillment operations, and more—so you can quickly find the workflows that matter most to your business.

For each template, we’ll show you:

• How it works with Shopify Flow’s native capabilities
• What you can achieve with advanced MESA enhancements
• Real business outcomes from stores already using these workflows
• When to use which approach based on your store’s size and needs

Whether you’re just getting started with automation or looking to extend your existing workflows, this guide has you covered. We’ve included beginner-friendly templates that take minutes to set up, as well as advanced multi-step workflows for sophisticated operations.

💡 New to Shopify Flow? Start with our complete beginner’s guide to understand the basics before diving into templates.

Let’s multiply your impact without multiplying your work.

How to choose the right templates

With 35+ templates to choose from, where should you start? Follow this framework to identify the workflows that will deliver the biggest impact for your specific situation.

Step 1: Identify your biggest time drains

Start by tracking where you spend the most manual time each week. If you spend 5+ hours on:

• Order review and processing → Start with Order Management templates
• Inventory checks and reordering → Start with Inventory templates
• Customer segmentation and follow-ups → Start with Customer Engagement templates
• Fraud review and prevention → Start with Fraud Prevention template (highest ROI)

Step 2: Match templates to your business size

Not all templates make sense at every stage:

⭐ Early Stage (<$50K/month revenue)

• Focus on templates rated Beginner
• Prioritize workflows that prevent stockouts and capture reviews
• Avoid over-automation—keep some manual touch points

⭐⭐ Growth Stage ($50K-$500K/month)

• Layer in Intermediate templates
• Add fraud prevention and VIP customer workflows
• Consider MESA for CRM and support tool integrations

⭐⭐⭐ Scale Stage ($500K+/month)

• Implement Advanced multi-step workflows
• Prioritize MESA for sophisticated integrations
• Focus on operational efficiency and team coordination

Step 3: Consider your tech stack

Review which apps you already use. If you use:

• Gorgias/Zendesk → Prioritize templates that create support tickets
• Klaviyo/Mailchimp → Focus on customer segmentation templates
• LoyaltyLion/Smile.io → Implement loyalty points templates
• Recharge/Smartrr → Add subscription management workflows

Missing critical integrations? Many advanced workflows require MESA to connect external apps that don’t have native Flow connectors.

Related:

Shopify Flow Alternatives: Best Automation Apps for Shopify in 2026

Read article

Step 4: Start small, then expand

The biggest mistake is trying to automate everything at once. Instead:

1. Week 1: Implement 1-2 beginner templates
2. Week 2: Monitor results, adjust conditions
3. Week 3: Add 1-2 more templates
4. Month 2: Layer in intermediate workflows
5. Month 3+: Explore advanced multi-step automation

💡 Quick Start Recommendation: If you’re unsure where to begin, start with the Low Stock Alerts template (beginner-friendly, immediate value) and the High-Value Order Recognition template (improves customer experience). These two workflows alone can save 5+ hours per week.

Ready to explore the templates? Let’s dive into the complete library organized by category.

Featured templates: Deep dive

The following three templates represent the highest-impact automations most Shopify merchants implement first. Each delivers immediate time savings and measurable business outcomes. We’ll show you how to implement them using native Shopify Flow, then demonstrate how MESA enhances each workflow for advanced needs.

Template 1: VIP order recognition

Automatically identifies and prioritizes high-value orders to ensure your best customers receive exceptional service. This workflow tags orders above a specified threshold, notifies your team immediately, and can trigger special handling procedures like expedited fulfillment, personalized packaging, or dedicated account manager contact.

Business impact:

• Time saved: 3-5 hours/week (eliminates manual order value checking)
• Revenue impact: 8-12% increase in average order value from improved VIP experience
• Customer retention: 15-20% lift in repeat purchase rate for tagged VIP segment
• Team efficiency: Sales team responds 3x faster to high-value opportunities

Shopify Flow provides everything you need for basic VIP order recognition:

Trigger:	Order created
Condition:	Order total > $500 (adjust to your AOV)
Actions:	1. Tag order “VIP” 2. Tag customer “High-Value” 3. Send internal email to [email protected]
Setup time:	5-10 minutes
Difficulty:	Beginner ⭐
Limitations:	• Email notifications only • No CRM integration • Can’t include order details in notification • No dynamic threshold calculation • Manual customer tier assignment

How to customize:

• Adjust the $500 threshold based on your store’s average order value (aim for top 10-15% of orders)
• Change email recipient to your team’s actual address
• Add additional conditions like “Customer tag does not contain VIP” to avoid duplicate tagging
• Consider geographic variations (higher thresholds for certain markets)

Flow template example:

• Use tags to segment customers based on their orders for last 6 months

Enhanced MESA implementation:

MESA transforms basic VIP recognition into a comprehensive customer experience system:

Business value:

• Send formatted Slack message with order details + SMS to account manager + clickable email
• Automatically create/update customer record in Salesforce or HubSpot with VIP status
• Adjust VIP threshold by 20% during sale periods, different values by product category
• Automatically calculate tier (Silver/Gold/Platinum) based on lifetime value
• Different workflows for first-time VIP vs repeat VIP customers
• Assign specific account managers based on product category, region, or customer segment

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Template 2: Fraud prevention & Risk management

Automatically detects, flags, and manages potentially fraudulent orders before they ship, protecting your revenue while minimizing false positives that could alienate legitimate customers. This workflow combines Shopify’s native risk analysis with your business rules to create a sophisticated fraud prevention system.

Business impact:

• Time saved: 5-8 hours/week on manual fraud review
• Chargeback reduction: 40-60% fewer fraudulent orders processed
• Revenue protected: Average $2,400-$5,000/month in prevented fraud losses
• False positive reduction: 25% fewer legitimate customers flagged (vs manual review)
• Team focus: Frees fraud team to handle complex cases instead of obvious ones

Shopify Flow provides basic fraud detection using Shopify’s built-in risk analysis:

Trigger:	Order risk analyzed
Condition:	Risk level = “High”
Actions:	1. Hold fulfillment 2. Tag order “Fraud-Review” 3. Send email to [email protected]
Setup time:	10-15 minutes
Difficulty:	Intermediate ⭐⭐
Limitations:	• Binary risk assessment (high/medium/low only) • No customer history analysis • Can’t create support tickets automatically • No blacklist management • Manual review still required for every flagged order • Can’t auto-cancel extreme cases

How to customize:

• Add condition “Billing address ≠ Shipping address” for additional risk signal
• Create separate workflows for medium vs high risk (different notification recipients)
• Add geographic conditions (certain countries warrant extra scrutiny)
• Include order value threshold (flag all orders >$1,000 regardless of risk)

Flow template examples:

• Hold SFN fulfillments if risk is high
• Cancel high-risk orders

Enhanced MESA implementation:

MESA can create a multi-layered fraud prevention system that goes far beyond basic flagging.

Business value:

• Combines Shopify risk + order history + IP geolocation + email verification + velocity checks
• Creates detailed fraud investigation ticket in Gorgias/Zendesk with all evidence
• Maintains Google Sheets blacklist of suspicious IPs, emails, and addresses
• Routes low-risk flags to junior staff, high-risk to fraud specialist
• Can auto-cancel obvious fraud, auto-approve trusted customers
• Flags unusual buying patterns (bulk purchases, rapid reorders, mismatched data)
• Checks return rate, previous risk scores, and purchase patterns

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Template 3: Low stock inventory alerts

Automatically monitors inventory levels across all product variants and sends notifications when stock drops below your reorder threshold. This prevents stockouts, maintains product availability, and ensures you never miss sales due to inventory gaps.

Business impact:

• Time saved: 2-4 hours/week (eliminates manual inventory checking)
• Stockout prevention: 85-95% reduction in out-of-stock incidents
• Revenue protected: Prevents average $3,000-$8,000/month in lost sales
• Carrying cost optimization: Reduce excess inventory by 15-20% (reorder at right time)
• Customer satisfaction: Fewer “notify me when back in stock” frustrations

Shopify Flow provides straightforward low stock monitoring:

Trigger:	Product variant inventory quantity changed
Conditions:	1. Quantity < 10 2. AND Quantity prior ≥ 10 (prevent duplicate alerts)
Actions:	1. Send internal email to [email protected] 2. Tag product “Low-Stock”
Setup time:	5 minutes
Difficulty:	Beginner ⭐
Limitations:	• Fixed threshold (can’t vary by product) • Email notifications only • No sales velocity consideration • Can’t create reorder tasks • No supplier integration • Manual reorder process required

How to customize:

• Adjust the “10 units” threshold based on your typical sales velocity
• Add multiple workflows with different thresholds for different product types
• Include product title in email subject line for easier scanning
• Add condition to exclude products you’re discontinuing

Important: The second condition “Quantity prior ≥ 10” prevents the workflow from firing repeatedly. Without it, you’d get an alert every time inventory drops (from 9 to 8, 8 to 7, etc.).

Flow template examples:

• Initiate reorder with vendor when inventory gets low
• Get notified by email when product variant inventory is low

Enhanced MESA implementation:

MESA can transform basic stock alerts into a comprehensive inventory management system.

Business value:

• Calculate reorder point based on actual sales velocity + lead time (not fixed number)
• Slack notifications with product images + SMS for critical items + Email summary
• Auto-send reorder emails to suppliers with calculated quantities
• Automatically create Trello/Asana cards for inventory team
• Flag items trending toward stockout before they hit threshold
• Increase thresholds automatically during high-demand periods (Q4, sales events)
• Different thresholds for fast-movers vs slow-movers

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Essential templates by category

Beyond the three flagship templates, these workflows address specific operational needs across your store. Each template includes both native Shopify Flow capabilities and MESA enhancements, allowing you to start simple and scale as needed.

🛍️ Order management

Template 4: Multi-order consolidation

Customers placing multiple orders within hours waste shipping costs and create poor unboxing experiences (3-4 small packages instead of one).

	Flow	MESA
Capability	❌ Not possible	✅ Full automation
Approach	No ability to query order history or compare timestamps	Get Order Data action queries last 24 hours of customer orders
Actions	N/A	Counts orders in 24hr window → If ≥2, holds both → Tags “CONSOLIDATE” → Emails warehouse → Notifies customer of eco-friendly shipping
Time saved	0	2-3 hrs/week
Cost savings	$0	$400-600/month in shipping
Best for	N/A	Stores with frequent repeat purchasers, sale events, subscription boxes
Difficulty	N/A	⭐⭐ Intermediate

Key benefit: Reduces shipping costs 15-25% while improving customer experience (one package, less waste). Particularly valuable during BFCM when customers make multiple impulse purchases.

Setup tip: Set consolidation window to 24 hours for domestic orders, 48 hours for international. Add exception rules for perishables or time-sensitive items.

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Template 5: B2B wholesale order processing

Wholesale orders require different handling—special pricing verification, dedicated fulfillment routing, terms management, and account manager notification.

	Flow	MESA
Capability	✅ Basic B2B tagging	✅ Advanced routing + ERP integration
Approach	Tag orders from company accounts, send notification email	Same as Flow, plus automated routing, ERP sync, custom workflows
Trigger	Order created (from B2B customer)	Order created (from B2B customer)
Actions	• Tag “B2B-Order” • Email wholesale team	• Dynamic routing by account tier • Update NetSuite/QuickBooks • Assign account manager • Apply payment terms • Special shipping instructions
Time saved	2 hrs/week	4-6 hrs/week
Cost savings	Basic B2B operations	Complex wholesale with ERP, multiple tiers, volume discounts
Difficulty	⭐⭐ Intermediate	⭐⭐⭐ Advanced

Key benefit: Ensures wholesale orders receive proper handling without manual review. MESA version syncs with ERP systems to maintain unified records across platforms.

Advanced MESA features:

• Conditional pricing verification (flags if discount doesn’t match tier)
• Auto-generate packing slips with company branding
• Route to specific 3PL based on warehouse location
• Create QuickBooks invoice with net-30 terms

When to upgrade: If you process 20+ B2B orders/week or use an ERP system (NetSuite, SAP, QuickBooks), MESA’s integration capabilities justify the investment.

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📦 Inventory & Merchandising

Template 6: Auto-hide out-of-stock products

Displaying out-of-stock products frustrates customers and hurts conversion rates. Manual hiding/republishing wastes time and causes delays.

	Flow	MESA
Capability	✅ Hide when OOS	✅ Hide when OOS + Smart republishing
Approach	When inventory = 0, unpublish from sales channels	Same as Flow, plus conditional republishing, pre-order setup, waitlist
Trigger	Inventory quantity changed	Inventory quantity changed
Actions	• Unpublish product • Tag “Out-of-Stock”	• Unpublish product • Tag with timestamp • Enable “Notify when back” • Auto-republish when restocked • Send restock alerts to waitlist
Time saved	1-2 hrs/week	3-4 hrs/week
Customer impact	Fewer frustrated shoppers	Email alerts to interested customers
Difficulty	⭐ Beginner	⭐⭐ Intermediate

Key benefit: Maintains clean product catalog automatically. MESA’s republishing capability means you never forget to make items available again when stock arrives.

Pro strategy: Use MESA to create a two-tier system:

• Temporary OOS (expected restock <14 days): Hide from collection pages but keep product page live with “Back in stock soon” message
• Extended OOS (>14 days): Fully unpublish and offer similar product recommendations

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Template 7: Seasonal inventory threshold adjustment

Q4 holiday demand requires different reorder points than Q2 slower months. Manually adjusting thresholds is error-prone.

	Flow	MESA
Capability	❌ Fixed thresholds only	✅ Hide when OOS + Smart republishing
Approach	No date-based calculations or variable thresholds	Can adjust thresholds based on current date, tags, or product attributes
Trigger	N/A	Schedule
Actions	N/A	Checks current date → If Oct-Dec, multiply base threshold by 2.5x → If Jan-Mar, use base threshold → Send alerts accordingly
Time saved	N/A	5 hrs/week during transitions
Stockout prevention	N/A	95%+ during peak season
Difficulty	N/A	⭐⭐⭐ Advanced

Key benefit: Automatically increases safety stock before peak season without carrying excess inventory year-round. Prevents the “we ran out during our busiest month” scenario.

Example logic:

• Base threshold: 20 units (works for Jan-Sep)
• Q4 multiplier: 2.5x = 50 units (Oct-Dec)
• Pre-season buffer: Starts adjustment September 15 to ensure stock before demand spike
• Post-season reduction: Returns to normal January 15 after holiday returns processed

Setup requirement: Requires historical sales data analysis to determine proper multipliers for your business.

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👥 Customer engagement templates

Template 8: Review request automation

Getting customers to leave reviews requires timely outreach, but manual follow-up is impossible at scale.

	Flow	MESA
Capability	✅ Basic trigger to review apps	✅ Conditional timing + A/B testing
Approach	When order fulfilled → Trigger review app (Yotpo/Loox/Judge.me)	Same as Flow, plus smart timing, personalization, exclusions
Trigger	Order fulfilled	Order fulfilled
Actions	• Trigger review request via app connector	• Wait optimal days (varies by product type) • Exclude if previous negative review • Personalize by product category • A/B test incentive offers • Track review rate by segment
Time saved	1 hr/week	2 hrs/week
Review Rate	+15-20% vs no automation	+25-35% with optimized timing
Difficulty	⭐ Beginner	⭐⭐ Intermediate

Key benefit: Increases review volume without manual work. MESA’s conditional timing dramatically improves response rates (asking at the right moment matters).

Optimal timing research:

• Fast consumables (skincare, snacks): 7 days after delivery
• Durable goods (furniture, electronics): 14-21 days (time to use product)
• Apparel: 10 days (time to wear and wash)
• Supplements: 30 days (time to see results)

MESA advanced feature: Automatically exclude customers who previously left 1-2 star reviews from future requests (prevents review fatigue for unhappy customers).

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Template 9: Win-back campaign trigger

Identifying which customers have churned and triggering re-engagement campaigns manually is impossible.

	Flow	MESA
Capability	❌ Cannot track time since last purchase	✅ Full churn detection
Approach	No scheduled triggers or order history queries	Can run daily checks of customer purchase history
Trigger	N/A	CRM triggers
Actions	N/A	Daily: Get customers with last order 90+ days ago → Tag “At-Risk-Churn” → Trigger Klaviyo win-back sequence → Update CRM → Offer 15% discount
Time saved	N/A	3 hrs/week
Revenue impact	N/A	$800-2,000/month recovered
Difficulty	N/A	⭐⭐⭐ Advanced

Key benefit: Automatically identifies customers drifting away and triggers personalized win-back campaigns before they’re completely lost.

Segmentation strategy:

• 60 days: “We miss you” gentle reminder
• 90 days: “Here’s 15% off to come back”
• 120 days: “One last offer – 20% off”
• 180+ days: Remove from active marketing (suppress to save costs)

Integration requirements: Requires email platform (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend) and ability to trigger sequences via API.

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🏢 Fulfillment & Operations templates

Template 10: Rush Order Expedited Handling

Customers paying for expedited shipping need immediate processing, but rush orders get lost in the queue.

	Flow	MESA
Capability	✅ Basic rush tagging	✅ Multi-carrier routing + SLA tracking
Approach	Tag orders with expedited shipping, send notification	Same as Flow, plus carrier selection, priority routing, SLA monitoring
Trigger	Order created	Order created
Conditions	Shipping method contains “Express” or “Overnight”	Shipping method contains expedited keywords
Actions	• Tag “Rush-Order” • Email fulfillment team	• Tag with urgency level • Route to specific carrier • Priority queue in 3PL • SMS to warehouse manager • Create shipment label • Track SLA compliance
Time saved	2 hrs/week	4 hrs/week
SLA Compliance	85% (manual process)	98% (automated priority)
Difficulty	⭐ Beginner	⭐⭐⭐ Advanced

Key benefit: Prevents the “customer paid for overnight but we shipped it 2 days later” scenario that triggers refund requests and negative reviews.

MESA advanced features:

• Automatically selects fastest carrier based on destination
• Creates draft shipping labels to save warehouse time
• Monitors processing time and alerts if SLA at risk
• Escalates to supervisor if not fulfilled within X hours

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Template 11: International order customs preparation

International orders require customs documentation, HS codes, and country-specific compliance—manual preparation is time-consuming.

	Flow	MESA
Capability	✅ Basic international flagging	✅ Auto-generate customs docs + compliance checks
Approach	Tag international orders, notify team	Same as Flow, plus customs automation, HS code lookup, restricted item checks
Trigger	Order created	Order created
Conditions	Shipping country ≠ Store country	Shipping country ≠ Store country
Actions	• Tag “International” • Email shipping team	• Generate commercial invoice • Auto-populate HS codes • Check restricted items • Calculate duties estimate • Create customs declaration • Flag high-value shipments
Time saved	2 hrs/week	5 hrs/week
Customers delays	15% of shipments	3% of shipments
Difficulty	⭐ Beginner	⭐⭐⭐ Advanced

Key benefit: Reduces customs delays and rejected shipments. MESA’s HS code automation ensures proper classification without manual lookup.

Compliance features:

• Checks products against destination country restrictions
• Flags shipments requiring special permits (cosmetics, supplements to EU)
• Auto-generates USMCA/CUSMA certificates for North American shipments
• Warns if declared value exceeds de minimis threshold

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🎯 Marketing & Promotions templates

Template 12: Abandoned cart recovery trigger

Abandoned carts represent 70% of potential sales. Manual follow-up is impossible; automated recovery sequences need proper triggering.

	Flow	MESA
Capability	✅ Basic abandoned checkout email	✅ Advanced recovery sequences + multi-channel
Approach	Send email 10 hours after checkout abandonment (only to marketing-subscribed customers)	Customizable timing, segmentation, multi-channel alerts, integration with email platforms
Trigger	Customer abandons checkout	Checkout created (more control over timing and conditions)
Actions	• Wait 10 hours • Send recovery email (if subscribed to marketing)	• Flexible wait times (1hr, 4hr, 24hr, 48hr) • Send to all customers (not just marketing-subscribed) • Trigger Klaviyo/Mailchimp sequences • SMS for high-value carts • Dynamic discount codes
Time saved	1-2 hrs/week	2-3 hrs/week
Recovery rate	5-8% (industry standard)	10-15% (with segmentation & optimization)
Difficulty	⭐ Beginner	⭐⭐ Intermediate

Key benefit: Flow’s built-in template provides immediate abandoned cart recovery without any setup. MESA enhances this with sophisticated timing, segmentation by cart value, and multi-channel outreach.

Advanced strategy: Segment abandonment by cart value:

• $0-50: Single email at 2 hours
• $50-150: Two emails (2 hours, 24 hours)
• $150+: Three emails + SMS (2 hours, 24 hours, 72 hours with escalating discounts)

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Template 13: Seasonal campaign auto-activation

Seasonal promotions require enabling specific workflows at exact times. Manual activation risks forgetting or timing errors.

	Flow	MESA
Capability	❌ No scheduled activation	✅ Date-based workflow control
Why Flow can’t do it	No time-based triggers for activating/deactivating workflows	Can schedule workflow state changes
How MESA works	N/A	Scheduled trigger → Enable “BFCM Double Points” workflow on Nov 24 → Disable on Nov 28 → Send confirmation to team
Time saved	0	3 hrs/week during promo seasons
Error prevention	Manual errors common	100% reliable scheduling
Difficulty	N/A	⭐⭐ Intermediate

Key benefit: Set up holiday promotions in October, schedule activation for November, and forget about it. System handles timing perfectly.

Use cases:

• Black Friday double points (auto-start/stop)
• Summer sale free shipping threshold (June 1 – Aug 31)
• Birthday month discount tags (activate first of month)
• Holiday shipping cutoff notifications (enable Dec 15, disable Dec 21)

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Additional templates: Quick reference guide

The following templates expand on the featured and essential workflows covered earlier. Each table identifies which templates are available natively in Shopify Flow versus those requiring MESA’s advanced capabilities.

Order management

🏷️ Tag orders by sales channel

Save 1-2 hrs/week ⭐ Beginner | Flow template

Automatically tags every order with its source channel—Instagram, Facebook, POS, online store, or third-party marketplaces. This creates clean reporting that shows which platforms drive the most revenue and highest average order values. Use these tags to optimize marketing spend and identify your most profitable sales channels.

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🎁 Flag orders with gift messages

Save 1-2 hrs/week ⭐ Beginner

Scans every order for gift messages and automatically tags them for your fulfillment team’s attention. This ensures special packaging, gift receipts, and handwritten notes get added without anyone manually reviewing order notes. Perfect for holiday seasons when gift orders spike to 30-40% of total volume.

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📦 Multi-order consolidation

Save 2-3 hrs/week ⭐⭐ Intermediate, requires MESA

Detects when the same customer places multiple orders within a 24-hour window and automatically holds all orders to ship together in one package. This reduces your shipping costs by 15-25% while creating a better unboxing experience for customers and reducing your environmental footprint. Particularly valuable during sale events when shoppers make multiple impulse purchases.

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🔔 Notify team of cancelled orders

Save 2 hrs/week ⭐ Beginner

Sends immediate alerts to your customer service team when any order gets cancelled, including the customer’s name, order details, and cancellation reason. This enables your team to quickly reach out, investigate issues like payment failures or checkout confusion, and potentially recover 10-15% of at-risk sales. Also helps identify product issues or checkout problems that need fixing.

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🚨 Tag high-risk orders for review

Save 3-5 hrs/week ⭐⭐ Intermediate | Flow template

When Shopify’s fraud analysis flags an order as high-risk, this workflow automatically holds fulfillment, tags the order for manual review, and notifies your fraud team. Implementing this prevents most fraudulent orders from shipping while your team investigates, reducing chargebacks by 40-60%. Best paired with manual review processes to avoid false positives that could alienate legitimate customers.

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Inventory & Merchandising

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👻 Hide products when out of stock

Save 2-3 hrs/week ⭐ Beginner

Automatically unpublishes products from your online store the moment inventory hits zero, preventing frustrated shoppers from attempting to buy unavailable items. This improves conversion rates by keeping your catalog clean and reduces customer service inquiries about out-of-stock products. The workflow also tags hidden products so you can easily track what’s currently unavailable.

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🔄 Republish when back in stock

Save 2 hrs/week ⭐ Beginner

Automatically makes products visible again on your storefront when inventory is restocked, ensuring you never lose sales from forgotten items sitting unpublished in your admin. This pairs perfectly with the “Hide When OOS” workflow to create complete visibility management. The workflow can also trigger “back in stock” email notifications to customers who requested alerts.

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📊 Dynamic reorder point calculation

Save 4-5 hrs/week ⭐⭐⭐ Advanced, requires MESA

Instead of fixed thresholds like “alert when stock <10,” this calculates optimal reorder points for each product based on actual sales velocity and supplier lead time. A fast-moving item selling 5 units/day with 14-day lead time gets alerts at 90 units, while slow-movers alert at 5 units. This reduces stockouts by 90%+ while minimizing the cash tied up in excess inventory.

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📧 Low inventory email alerts

Save 2 hrs/week ⭐ Beginner | Flow template

Sends email notifications to your inventory manager when any product variant drops below your specified threshold, typically 10 units. The workflow includes a condition to prevent duplicate alerts as inventory continues decreasing (only fires when crossing the threshold, not on every subsequent sale). This provides basic stock monitoring perfect for smaller catalogs under 50 SKUs.

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📉 Slow-moving inventory alerts

Save 2-3 hrs/week ⭐⭐ Intermediate, requires MESA

Runs daily checks to identify products with zero sales in the past 30, 60, or 90 days and flags them for markdown, bundling, or catalog removal. This helps you identify dead stock before it becomes a major cash flow problem and creates opportunities for clearance campaigns. Particularly valuable for large catalogs (200+ SKUs), seasonal products, and fast-fashion where trends change quickly.

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Customer engagement

📍 Tag customers by location

Save 1 hr/week ⭐ Beginner

Automatically tags customers with their city, state, or country when they place their first order, creating segments for regional marketing campaigns. Use these tags to promote local events, coordinate store pickup options, or offer region-specific shipping deals. This is essential for brands with multiple retail locations or those expanding into new geographic markets.

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🏆 Tag high-lifetime-value customers

Save 2 hrs/week ⭐⭐ Intermediate

Identifies customers who have spent over your defined threshold (e.g., $1,000) across all their orders and automatically tags them as VIP or high-LTV for special treatment. These tags enable personalized email campaigns, exclusive early access to sales, and dedicated account manager assignment. VIP-tagged customers typically show 15-20% higher repeat purchase rates than non-tagged segments.

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🎂 Birthday month campaigns

Save 2 hrs/week ⭐⭐ Intermediate, Flow template

Automatically sends personalized birthday discount codes to customers during their birth month, creating emotional touchpoints that strengthen brand loyalty. This workflow checks customer birthdates daily and triggers your email platform (Klaviyo, Mailchimp) to send celebratory emails with exclusive offers. Studies show 8-12% of recipients redeem birthday offers, with average order values 20% higher than regular purchases.

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👋 Welcome first-time customers

Save 1-2 hrs/week ⭐ Beginner

Sends a personalized welcome email immediately after a customer’s first purchase and tags them for your onboarding sequence. This creates a positive first impression and sets the stage for repeat purchases—customers who receive welcome emails show 25-30% higher second-purchase rates. The workflow can also trigger special first-time buyer discounts or product education content.

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🔙 Win-back inactive customers

Save 3 hrs/week ⭐⭐⭐ Advanced, requires MESA

Runs daily checks to identify customers with no purchases in the past 90+ days and automatically triggers re-engagement campaigns with personalized offers. The workflow segments by inactivity level (60/90/120 days) and escalates discounts accordingly—gentle reminder at 60 days, 15% off at 90 days, last-chance 20% off at 120 days. This typically recovers $800-2,000/month in revenue from customers who were drifting away.

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Fulfillment & Operations

📬 Notify fulfillment team of new orders

Save 1-2 hrs/week ⭐ Beginner

Sends automatic email or Slack notifications to your warehouse team the moment orders are ready to fulfill, eliminating the need to constantly refresh the admin panel. This is especially valuable for remote fulfillment teams, 3PL coordination, or stores with external warehouses. Merchants report 30-50% reduction in order processing delays after implementing this workflow.

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🌍 Tag international orders

Save 2 hrs/week ⭐ Beginner

Automatically tags any order shipping outside your home country so your fulfillment team knows which orders need customs documentation and special handling. This simple workflow prevents the common mistake of treating international orders like domestic ones, which leads to customs delays and unhappy customers. The tag makes it easy to batch-process customs forms and calculate duties.

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⏱️ Fulfillment SLA monitoring

Save 4 hrs/week ⭐⭐⭐ Advanced, requires MESA

Tracks the elapsed time from order placement to shipment and sends escalating alerts if you’re approaching SLA breach (e.g., “must ship within 24 hours” promise). The workflow monitors in real-time and escalates to supervisors if orders risk missing deadlines, improving on-time shipping rates from typical 85% to 98%+. Essential for stores promising same-day, next-day, or guaranteed delivery timeframes.

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🚚 Delivery exception alerts

Save 3-4 hrs/week ⭐⭐ Intermediate, requires MESA

Monitors tracking status for all shipments and proactively alerts your customer service team when delivery failures, delays, or exceptions occur. This enables you to reach out to customers before they contact you, preventing 60-70% of “where is my order” support tickets. Requires AfterShip, Wonderment, or similar tracking app with Flow connector.

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📦 Tag orders for special packaging

Save 1-2 hrs/week | ⭐ Beginner

Identifies orders requiring gift wrap, fragile handling, or premium branded packaging based on product types, order tags, or customer notes. The workflow adds clear tags and fulfillment instructions so warehouse staff know exactly which orders need special treatment. This reduces packaging errors by 80%+ and ensures premium products always arrive in appropriate presentation.

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Marketing & Promotions

🔗 Tag orders with landing page URL

Save 1 hr/week ⭐ Beginner

Captures and tags every order with the specific landing page or campaign URL that drove the sale, creating perfect attribution for your marketing efforts. This goes beyond platform-level tracking (Facebook, Google) to show which specific ads, blog posts, or influencer links generate actual revenue. Use this data to double down on what works and eliminate what doesn’t.

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🛒 Recover abandoned checkouts

Save 1-2 hrs/week ⭐ Beginner

Automatically sends a recovery email 10 hours after a customer abandons their checkout, encouraging them to complete the purchase. This workflow only reaches customers subscribed to marketing (typically 40-60% of abandoners), so it won’t capture everyone, but still recovers $600-1,200/month for average stores. The 10-hour delay is proven to perform better than immediate follow-up, which can feel pushy.

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🎟️ Tag orders by discount code

Save 1 hr/week ⭐ Beginner

Automatically tags every order with the discount code that was used at checkout, making it simple to analyze which promotions drive the most sales and revenue. This is invaluable when running multiple concurrent campaigns (influencer codes, email campaigns, affiliate links) or testing different discount strategies. You can quickly identify which codes are profitable versus which destroy your margins.

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🔥 Flash sale inventory limits

Save 2 hrs/week ⭐⭐⭐ Advanced, requires MESA

Monitors inventory levels in real-time during flash sales and automatically ends the promotion or updates messaging when stock hits your defined threshold. This prevents the nightmare scenario of overselling limited inventory during high-traffic events, which leads to cancellations and angry customers. The workflow can also trigger “only X left” scarcity messaging as inventory decreases.

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🎯 Post-purchase upsell trigger

Save 2-3 hrs/week ⭐⭐ Intermediate, requires MESA

Waits 7-14 days after a customer’s purchase, then automatically sends personalized product recommendations for complementary items based on what they bought. For example, camera buyers receive lens recommendations, or skincare customers get serum suggestions after they’ve had time to try the original product. This increases customer lifetime value by 5-8% and feels helpful rather than pushy since timing is based on product usage cycles.

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Working with templates: Implementation & Best practices

Installing and customizing Shopify Flow templates is straightforward, but managing a library of 10, 20, or 30+ automated workflows requires strategy. This section covers the operational aspects of working with templates—from customization to maintenance—so your automation runs smoothly as you scale.

Customizing templates for your business

Pre-built templates provide an excellent foundation, but you’ll need to adjust them for your specific business rules. Here’s how to customize effectively:

Adjust Threshold Values: Templates use placeholder numbers that won’t match your reality. Common adjustments

• Inventory alerts: Change from “< 10 units” to match your actual reorder point
• VIP order threshold: Adjust “$500” based on your average order value
• Time windows: Modify “24 hours” for consolidation based on your fulfillment schedule

Refine Condition Logic: Add conditions that reflect your business model

• Geographic rules: “Don’t consolidate international orders”
• Product exclusions: “Skip this workflow for subscription items”
• Customer segments: “Only apply to retail customers, not wholesale”
• Seasonal adjustments: “Increase inventory thresholds during Q4”

Customize Notifications: Generic template notifications need personalization

• Replace placeholder email addresses with your team’s actual contacts
• Add Slack channel webhooks for your workspace
• Include relevant context in message bodies (order links, customer history)
• Set up different notification recipients for different product categories

Naming Convention Standards: When managing multiple templates, consistent naming prevents confusion

• Good: “VIP Orders – Email Sales Team ($500+)”
• Bad: “Workflow 1” or “New Workflow Copy 3”
• Include: Category, action, and key condition in the name
• Use prefixes for easy sorting: “ORDER-” “INV-” “CUST-“

Avoiding common pitfalls

The most common issues merchants face when scaling their template library:

Template Conflicts: Multiple workflows can trigger on the same event, creating conflicts

• Problem: Two workflows both tag orders “Review Required” based on different conditions
• Solution: Consolidate similar workflows or use mutually exclusive conditions
• Check for: Workflows that modify the same fields or tags simultaneously

Notification Fatigue: Automating notifications is powerful, but can overwhelm your team

• Problem: Sales team receives 50+ Slack messages per day from various workflows
• Solution: Consolidate notifications into daily digests or use priority-based routing
• Best practice: Audit notification volume monthly—if your team starts ignoring alerts, you’ve automated too much

Over-Automation Syndrome: Not everything should be automated

• Keep manual: First-time customer interactions, complex returns, personalized thank-you notes
• Automate: Data entry, tagging, alerts, routine follow-ups, inventory checks
• Ask: “Does this task benefit from a human touch?” If yes, leave it manual

Testing in Production: Without a staging environment, you’re testing on live data

• Risk: Accidentally sending customer notifications or modifying real orders
• Mitigation: Start workflows “paused” and monitor runs before activating
• Practice: Use conditional “test mode” tags—only run actions if order is tagged “test”
• MESA advantage: Built-in testing environment for risk-free experimentation

Forgotten Workflows: Templates you installed 6 months ago may no longer be relevant

• Problem: Seasonal Black Friday workflow still running in March
• Solution: Monthly workflow audits (see below)

Maintaining your template library

As your automation grows, establish maintenance routines:

Monthly Workflow Audit (30 minutes)

• Review workflow run history—which templates haven’t triggered in 30 days?
• Check for error rates—workflows failing >5% of runs need attention
• Verify notification recipients are still correct (team members change)
• Disable seasonal workflows that are out of season

Quarterly Optimization Review (2 hours)

• Analyze time savings—are templates delivering expected ROI?
• Look for consolidation opportunities—can 3 similar workflows become 1?
• Update conditions based on business changes (new product lines, markets)
• Review third-party app integrations—any breaking changes from updates?

Documentation Requirements

• Purpose: What problem does this solve?
• Owner: Who’s responsible for maintaining it?
• Dependencies: Which apps/integrations does it rely on?
• Last modified: When was it updated and why?
• Edge cases: Known scenarios where it doesn’t apply

Store this in a shared document (Google Sheets, Notion, or Airtable) accessible to your entire team.

Team Coordination Protocols

• Change requests: Don’t modify live workflows without notifying the team
• Testing protocol: Always test changes before pushing to production
• Emergency contacts: Who can disable workflows if something breaks?
• Ownership matrix: Who owns order workflows? Inventory? Customer engagement?

As order volume increases, some templates need adjustment:

• <100 orders/day: Basic templates work fine
• 100-500 orders/day: Add error handling and notification consolidation
• 500+ orders/day: Consider MESA for better performance and advanced features

Ready to implement? For detailed workflow creation steps including screenshots, see our complete Shopify Flow guide. For advanced automation needs, explore how to extend Flow with MESA.

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

Automation isn’t about replacing the human touch in your business—it’s about freeing yourself from repetitive tasks so you can focus on what actually grows your store. The 35+ Shopify Flow templates in this guide represent hundreds of hours of collective merchant experience, distilled into ready-to-use workflows that start saving you time today.

Whether you’re implementing your first low stock alert or building a sophisticated fraud prevention system with MESA, remember that successful automation happens incrementally. Start with one or two templates addressing your biggest pain point, monitor the results, refine your approach, and gradually expand your automation library.

Your next steps:

1. Choose your starting template from the category matching your biggest time drain
2. Customize the conditions to match your specific business rules
3. Monitor the first 20 runs to ensure everything works as expected
4. Add one new template weekly until you’ve automated your core repetitive tasks

The merchants who see the most success don’t try to automate everything at once—they systematically identify bottlenecks, implement targeted solutions, and build momentum over time.

Ready to reclaim 15+ hours per week? Pick your first template and start automating. Your future self will thank you.