Shopify Email Flows: The 9 Every Store Needs (2026)

The nine Shopify email flows every store needs are welcome, browse abandonment, added to cart, abandoned checkout, post-purchase, review request, replenishment, VIP and win-back. Each one sends when a shopper does something (signs up, looks at a product, leaves checkout, buys, goes quiet), so it reaches them at the moment they're most likely to act. Switch on abandoned checkout first, then welcome and post-purchase, and add the rest as you go.

We make Audienceful, an email platform for Shopify stores, so we're not neutral. Every flow in this guide comes ready-made in Audienceful, with the Shopify trigger set, the timing set and the emails written: Shopify email marketing, without the Klaviyo bill.

What a Shopify email flow is

A flow (or automation) is a sequence of emails that starts on its own when something happens in your store. A campaign goes to a list on a date you pick; a flow goes to one person, when their behavior says they're ready. Each has three parts:

A trigger. A Shopify event, such as an order paid, or a shopper entering an audience, such as "spent over $300".
Waits and emails. Usually two or three emails, spaced hours or days apart.
A goal. Usually a purchase. When the shopper reaches it, the flow ends, so nobody gets "still thinking it over?" after they've bought.

The 9 flows at a glance

Flow	Trigger	Timing	Audienceful template
Welcome	New customer created	Now, then 3 days later	New Shopify customer welcome
Browse abandonment	Product viewed	4 hours, then 1 day later	Browse abandonment
Added to cart	Added to cart	2 hours, then 1 day later if no purchase	Added to cart, never checked out
Abandoned checkout	Checkout abandoned	1 hour, 23 hours, then 1 day later	Abandoned checkout recovery
Post-purchase	Order paid	Now, then 5 days later	Post-purchase thank-you & onboarding
Review request	Order fulfilled	7 days, then 5 days later	Review request
Replenishment	Order paid	1 month, then 1 week later	Replenishment / reorder reminder
VIP	Enters a "big spender" audience	Now	VIP / big-spender recognition
Win-back	Enters a "lapsed customer" audience	Now, then 5 days later	Lapsed customer win-back

These are the essential ecommerce email flows, and each section below is a Shopify email automation example taken from Audienceful's templates. You can change any wait, email or trigger.

Welcome

What it does: greets a new customer, says what makes your store different, and points them at a second purchase.

When it sends: Audienceful's New Shopify customer welcome starts when Shopify creates a customer. Email one goes straight away. Three days later, email two shows your most-loved products with a 10% code (HELLO10 in the template; create the code in Shopify, then add it to the email). Its goal is "placed first order".

For newsletter and popup subscribers, run the Welcome series too: a hello, your brand story and a small gift over five days.

Read more: Shopify welcome email, and the help doc on the Shopify welcome email flow.

Browse abandonment

What it does: follows up with a shopper who looked at a product and left without adding it to cart. Intent is early, so it's a reminder and reassurance, not a discount.

When it sends: four hours after the product view, then a second email a day later that lets other customers do the selling. It needs the Audienceful app embed switched on in your theme, and it reaches shoppers Audienceful already recognizes, such as people who clicked one of your emails or signed up through a form.

Read more: Shopify browse abandonment email, and the browse abandonment flow help doc.

Added to cart

What it does: catches shoppers who put something in their cart but never started checkout. Shopify's checkout email can't reach them: they never entered an email at checkout.

When it sends: two hours after the add to cart. A day later the flow checks for a purchase in the last two days, and only shoppers who still haven't bought get the second email, which offers free shipping today (FREESHIP in the template).

Read more: abandoned checkout vs abandoned cart, and the add-to-cart abandonment flow help doc.

Abandoned checkout

What it does: recovers shoppers who reached checkout, entered their email and didn't pay. They're the closest to buying of anyone on your list, which is why this flow usually earns the most.

When it sends: Audienceful's Abandoned checkout recovery template sends three emails over about two days. One hour after the checkout is marked abandoned comes a reminder. Twenty-three hours later comes a 10% code (COMEBACK10). A day after that comes a last chance. The goal "completed the purchase" ends the flow the moment they buy. It uses Shopify's own checkout data, so there's nothing to install on your storefront.

Read more: Shopify abandoned cart email, and the abandoned cart email flow help doc.

Post-purchase

What it does: thanks the customer, says what happens next, and helps them get value from what they bought, which is what brings them back.

When it sends: on order paid. Email one goes straight away with shipping expectations. Five days later, around when the parcel lands, email two shares tips for getting the most out of the order and a light cross-sell. It runs after every paid order, not just the first.

Read more: Shopify post-purchase email, and the post-purchase email flow help doc.

Review request

What it does: asks for a review once the customer has had time to use the product. The email links to whichever review app or page your store uses.

When it sends: on order fulfilled, so the clock starts when the parcel ships, not when it's ordered. It waits seven days, asks, then waits five more days and sends one gentle reminder with a thank-you code (THANKS10 in the template).

Read more: Shopify review request email, and the review request flow help doc.

Replenishment

What it does: reminds customers to reorder something consumable (coffee, skincare, supplements, pet food) right as they run low, then pitches subscribe-and-save.

When it sends: a month after the order is paid, then a week later. Set the first wait to how long your product lasts, and filter the trigger to the products that run out.

Read more: replenishment email, and the replenishment reminder flow help doc.

VIP

What it does: recognizes your best customers the moment they cross a spend threshold, with early access and perks, and tags them vip for future campaigns.

When it sends: when a customer enters an audience you define, such as total spend over $300. One email: "You're officially a VIP 🌟". You set the threshold and the perks.

Read more: VIP customer email, and the help doc on Shopify audiences.

Win-back

What it does: brings back customers who bought before but have gone quiet, while there's still a relationship to save.

When it sends: when a customer enters a "lapsed" audience you define, such as bought before but no order in 90 days. Email one offers 15% off (WELCOMEBACK15 in the template). Five days later, email two shows new arrivals and what everyone's buying right now.

Read more: Shopify win-back email, and the win-back email flow help doc.

Two extras: holiday countdown and birthday

Holiday countdown starts seven days before a date you choose (December 25 by default) and repeats every year. Three emails: your gift picks a week out, a last call for delivery, and a no-pitch thank-you on the day.

Birthday gift sends on each contact's birthday, every year, from a birthday date field. The template offers 20% off with BIRTHDAY20 for 14 days. Collect the date on a signup form.

Which flows to switch on first

Start where intent is highest and the setup is lightest:

Abandoned checkout. The highest intent, and no theme changes, so it can be live in minutes.
Welcome. Every new customer passes through it, and it sets up the second order.
Post-purchase. Turns first orders into repeat customers and runs after every order.
Added to cart and browse abandonment. Switch on the app embed first. These reach shoppers who never got to checkout.
Review request. Builds the social proof your other emails can quote.
Win-back, VIP and replenishment. These depend on order history, so run the historical import first so your existing customers count.

Audienceful's free plan runs one automation at a time, so make it abandoned checkout. Essentials runs three (add welcome and post-purchase), and Growth runs as many as you like.

Set them up in Audienceful

Install Audienceful from the Shopify App Store. Your account is created from your store, with no signup form, and the plan is billed on your Shopify invoice. Customers, orders, checkouts and products sync in. Existing users connect from the Integrations tab (how to connect).
Run the historical import. It brings in your customers and about the last year of orders, so audiences like VIP and win-back work from day one.
Switch on the app embed for browse and cart flows: click Enable in theme on the Shopify integration page, toggle on Audienceful JavaScript and save.
Apply a template from the Shopify automation templates. It arrives paused, with every email written.
Edit the copy in the block editor: your voice, your codes, your shipping threshold. Add a Product List block to show the shopper's own items (Dynamic) or your best-sellers (Feed).
Switch it on. Nothing sends until you do.

Prefer to describe it? The AI agent, included on every plan, builds the audience, flow and emails from a brief and waits for your approval.

How to measure your flows

Audienceful's revenue attribution credits an order to the last email clicked within five days, ranks clicks above opens, leaves out bot clicks and nets off refunds. You see revenue per automation and per campaign, and what share of your store's revenue comes from email. If a flow brings in little, change the timing or the offer.

Cost matters too. At 10,000 contacts, Audienceful is $79/month billed yearly ($99 monthly), against $150 for Klaviyo (list prices as of October 2026). Audienceful only counts subscribed contacts, and paid plans have unlimited sends, so flows don't push up the bill. Run your own numbers in the Klaviyo pricing calculator.

Audienceful is free up to 1,000 contacts, then paid plans start at $32/month billed yearly ($37.50 monthly) for 3,000 contacts. Install it on your Shopify store and all eleven store flows are waiting, paused, ready for you to switch on.

FAQs

What email flows should a Shopify store have?

Start with abandoned checkout, welcome and post-purchase. Then add browse abandonment, added to cart, review request, win-back, VIP and replenishment if you sell consumables. In Audienceful, all nine come as ready-made templates.

What's the most profitable Shopify email flow?

For most stores it's abandoned checkout, because it reaches people who have already chosen products and entered their email. Check your own numbers: revenue per automation shows which flow earns most for you.

Do Shopify email flows need an app?

Not necessarily. Shopify Messaging, Shopify's own email tool, includes automation templates for abandoned checkout, abandoned cart and product browse. Audienceful installs from the Shopify App Store, bills through Shopify, and gives you all nine flows as ready-made templates, with purchase goals, product blocks and revenue per flow.

How many emails should a flow have?

Two or three for most flows. Enough to remind, reassure and give a final reason to act, and few enough that people don't unsubscribe. A goal that ends the flow on purchase keeps buyers out of the later emails.

How many flows can I run on Audienceful's free plan?

One automation at a time, for up to 1,000 contacts. Essentials runs three automations and Growth runs unlimited, with unlimited sends on both.

Shopify Email Flows: The 9 Every Store Needs