How workflows work
Learn how workflows automate back-in-stock alerts
What are workflows
Workflows are automated processes that control how and when customers receive notifications.
Instead of sending messages manually, workflows let you build a visual flow of steps that run automatically when specific events happen.
Examples:
Back-in-stock notification: When a product is restocked, automatically send an email to customers who subscribed to alerts.
New subscriber welcome: When someone subscribes to the Notify me form, automatically send a welcome email or a discount code.
Understanding workflow systems
Each workflow is a visual sequence of Triggers → Conditions → Actions that runs automatically when a restock event happens.
Examples:
Trigger: A product is back in stock
Condition: The customer has purchased before
Action: Send a back-in-stock email with a discount code
How workflows work
Workflows help you automatically notify customers when a product is back in stock. Once a workflow is turned on, everything runs on its own.
Customers enter the workflow
Customers enter the workflow when they meet the trigger defined at the workflow’s entry point.
📝 Learn more: Understanding workflow triggers
Moving through steps
After entering, Customers move through the workflow’s sequence of steps, which may include actions and conditions.
📝 Learn more: Understanding workflow actions
Conditions decide what happens next
If the customer meets the condition, they move to the next step on the Yes path.
If the customer does not meet the condition, they normally exit the workflow. However, if a No path is defined, the customer will continue to the next steps on the No path instead of exiting the workflow.
📝 Learn more: Understanding workflow conditions
Track everything easily
You can see exactly what happens to each workflow in the workflow logs, including:
Which workflow was run
When the workflow started
The current status of the workflow
How many steps were completed
When the workflow finished
📝 Learn more: Recent runs
Benefits of workflows
Workflows help you automate critical customer actions, saving time and delivering better experiences at scale.
Save time with automation: Once a workflow is set up, it runs automatically. You don’t need to manually send emails or track product restocks.
Send timely and relevant messages: Workflows ensure customers receive messages at the right moment, when they are most likely to engage.
Personalize customer experiences: Use conditions to send different messages based on customer behavior, purchase history, or preferences.
Reduce missed opportunities: Automatically notifying customers when products are back in stock helps recover lost sales and increase conversions.
Scale your communication easily: Workflows work the same way whether you have 10 subscribers or 10,000, allowing your store to grow without extra effort.
Track and improve performance: With workflow logs, you can monitor each run, understand what’s happening, and quickly identify issues or areas for improvement.
Common workflow use cases
Workflows can be used in many real-world scenarios to automate customer communication and actions.
Back-in-stock notifications: Automatically notify customers when an out-of-stock product becomes available again, helping recover lost sales and drive conversions.
New subscriber welcome flow: Send a welcome email or discount code as soon as someone subscribes, creating a strong first impression and encouraging early engagement.
Priority emails for VIP customers: Send emails with higher priority or exclusive content to VIP or loyal customers based on their purchase history or customer tags.
Create and send discount codes: Automatically generate discount codes and send them to customers via email to encourage purchases and increase conversions.
Internal team reminders: Automatically notify internal teams about important leads to ensure timely follow-up and better coordination.
📝 Not sure where to start? Check out our workflow templates library: Get started with workflow templates library
Workflow best practices
Follow these best practices to build effective, reliable, and scalable workflows.
Prevent overlapping workflows: Design workflows carefully to avoid multiple workflows triggering for the same user at the same time, which can result in duplicate emails or conflicting actions.
Use conditions strategically: Apply conditions only when they add meaningful personalization, avoiding unnecessary complexity or over-segmentation.
Test before enabling: Always test workflows to ensure triggers, conditions, and actions work correctly before turning them on for all customers.
Monitor workflow logs regularly: Review logs to track workflow performance, understand customer paths, and quickly identify issues.
Optimize message timing and content: Send messages at the right moment with clear, relevant content to maximize engagement.
Review and update workflows over time: Continuously improve workflows based on performance data and changing business needs.
You might find this helpful: Common mistakes when creating workflows
Related articles
Available triggers, actions, and conditionsCreate a workflowManage workflowsAssign a workflow to your campaignWorkflows: FAQs📩 Need help?
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