Shopify Flow is a native automation tool available to Shopify Plus merchants that allows merchants to create custom automated workflows triggered by events in their Shopify store - without writing code. Workflows are built using a visual editor with three components: a trigger (the event that starts the workflow), conditions (optional rules that determine whether the workflow continues), and actions (what happens when the conditions are met).
The most widely used Flow workflows in e-commerce operations include: automatically tagging orders, customers, or products based on defined criteria (e.g. tag a customer as VIP when they reach a lifetime spend threshold; tag an order as high-risk when it meets multiple fraud signals); sending internal Slack or email notifications when specific events occur (e.g. a product drops below a minimum stock level, a large wholesale order is placed); automatically hiding out-of-stock products from the storefront and republishing them when inventory is restocked; and enrolling customers into specific Klaviyo segments or triggering Klaviyo events based on Shopify behaviour (e.g. when a customer's order count reaches 5, trigger a loyalty tier upgrade event in Klaviyo). Flow also integrates with third-party apps through webhooks and direct app integrations, extending its automation capabilities beyond native Shopify actions.
Shopify Flow handles store-side operational automation - inventory management, order tagging, internal notifications, customer segmentation within Shopify. Klaviyo handles customer-facing communication automation - email flows, SMS sequences, and segments based on behavioural data. The two systems are complementary and often work together: Flow can create a customer tag or trigger a Klaviyo metric that then fires a specific Klaviyo email flow. For brands on Shopify Plus, setting up the integration between Flow and Klaviyo creates a unified automation infrastructure that handles both operational and communication workflows from a single set of data signals.
.png)
.png)
