Understanding automation triggers for Shopify

Overview

Create automations triggered by contacts' behavior and activity in your Shopify store.

In this guide

The table below provides a brief description and suggested use case for each Shopify automation trigger. Click the trigger name to learn more about it.

Product Viewed

You can use the Product Viewed trigger to follow up with Contacts who have viewed a product on your website.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.
• Products - search for products to trigger when viewed. The default selection is Any, which will trigger the automation whenever any product is viewed in your store by a cookied website visitor

Use caution with this trigger, particularly if selecting Any as the specified products, which means that any product in your store can trigger the automation, and/or No limit as the Limit Per Contact.

No block in the email builder will automatically pull product information for this trigger. Use advanced templating syntax to pull product information into an automation using the Product Viewed trigger.

Back to top

Abandoned Product Viewed

Sometimes referred to as "browse abandon flows," you can use the Abandoned Product Viewed trigger to follow up with Contacts who have viewed a product specified in the trigger's settings and did not make a purchase in a specified time frame.

When setting up a browse abandon or abandoned product viewed automation, do not add another trigger to the automation.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.
• Consider abandoned after - select a period of time to check for completed checkouts before triggering the automation; for example, if you select 1 hour, a website visitor will trigger the automation if they view the specified product(s) and do not complete a checkout in the hour after they view the product.
• Products - search for products to trigger when viewed. The default selection is Any, which will trigger the automation whenever any product is viewed in your store by a cookied website visitor who does not complete checkout within the selected Consider abandoned after time frame.

Use caution with this trigger and its options, particularly when:

• Selecting Any as the specified products, which means that any product in your store can trigger the automation, 
• Selecting No limit as the Limit Per Contact, which means the contact will be sent through the automation every single time they view a product without completing a purchase
• Selecting a Consider abandoned after setting of 5 minute and 30 minutes, which does not leave much time for contacts to complete a purchase after viewing a specified product. We highly recommend using the 1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, and 24 hours options for live automations. Use the the 5 minute and 30 minute settings for internal testing purposes.

You can use the Shopify Abandoned Cart block in the email builder to insert an abandoned product's image, name, average reviews (if using Sendlane Reviews), price, and link to the product's page.

Back to top

Added to Cart

You can use the Added to Cart trigger to follow up with Contacts who have added a specified product to their cart. This trigger starts an automation when contacts click the "add to cart" button.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.
• Products - search for products to trigger when viewed. The default selection is Any, which will trigger the automation whenever any product is added to a cookied contact's cart

Use caution with this trigger and its options, particularly when:

• Selecting Any as the specified products, which means that any product in your store can trigger the automation, 
• Selecting No limit as the Limit Per Contact, which means the contact will be sent through the automation every single time they add a product to their cart

No block in the email builder will automatically pull product information for this trigger. Use advanced templating syntax to pull product information into an automation using the Added to Cart trigger.

Back to top

Abandoned Cart

You can use the Abandoned Cart trigger to follow up with Contacts who have added a product specified in the trigger's settings to their cart and did not make a purchase in a specified time frame.

When setting up an abandoned cart automation, do not add another trigger to the automation.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.
• Consider abandoned after - select a period of time to check for completed checkouts before triggering the automation; for example, if you select 1 hour, a website visitor will trigger the automation if they view the specified product(s) and do not complete a checkout in the hour after they view the product.
• Products - search for products to trigger when viewed. The default selection is Any, which will trigger the automation whenever any product is added to cart and not checked out within the specified Consider abandoned after time frame

Use caution with this trigger and its options, particularly when:

• Selecting Any as the specified products, which means that any product in your store can trigger the automation, 
• Selecting No limit as the Limit Per Contact, which means the contact will be sent through the automation every single time they add a specified product to their cart without completing a purchase in the specified time frame.
• Selecting a Consider abandoned after setting of 5 minute and 30 minutes, which does not leave much time for contacts to complete a purchase after viewing a specified product. We highly recommend using the 1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, and 24 hours options for live automations. Use the the 5 minute and 30 minute settings for internal testing purposes.

You can use the Shopify Abandoned Cart block in the email builder to insert products' image, name, average reviews (if using Sendlane Reviews), price, and link to the product's page.

Back to top

Abandoned Checkout

You can use the Abandoned Checkout trigger to follow up with Contacts who have added a product specified in the trigger's settings to their cart, started the checkout process, and did not make a purchase in a specified time frame.

When setting up an abandoned checkout automation, do not add another trigger to the automation.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.
• Consider abandoned after - select a period of time to check for completed checkouts before triggering the automation; for example, if you select 1 hour, a website visitor will trigger the automation 1 hour after they started the checkout process if checkout was not completed in that hour.
• Products - search for products to trigger when viewed. The default selection is Any, which will trigger the automation whenever any product is viewed in your store by a cookied website visitor

Use caution with this trigger and its options, particularly when:

• Selecting Any as the specified products, which means that any product in your store can trigger the automation, 
• Selecting No limit as the Limit Per Contact, which means the contact will be sent through the automation every single time they view a product without completing a purchase
• Selecting a Consider abandoned after setting of 5 minute and 30 minutes, which does not leave much time for contacts to complete a purchase after viewing a specified product. We highly recommend using the 1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, and 24 hours options for live automations. Use the the 5 minute and 30 minute settings for internal testing purposes.

You can use the Shopify Abandoned Cart block in the email builder to insert an abandoned product's image, name, average reviews (if using Sendlane Reviews), price, and link to the product's page.

Back to top

Checkout Complete

You can use the Checkout Complete trigger to follow up with Contacts who have completed checkout on your website.

This trigger does not provide the ability to specify products that must be included in the checkout. To follow up with Contacts who have completed checkout for specified products, use the Product Purchase trigger.

This trigger does not provide the ability to re-trigger based on order status. To follow up with Contacts whose order is at a specified status and contains specified products, use the Product Purchase trigger. To follow up with Contacts whose order is at a specified status regardless of which products were included in the order, use the Order Placed trigger.

When using this trigger, the first action(s) in the automation should be an Update Automation action set to End Other for any automations using the following triggers:

• Product Viewed
• Abandoned Product Viewed
• Added to Cart
• Abandoned Cart
• Abandoned Checkout
• Checkout Started

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.

Back to top

Product Purchase

You can use the Product Purchase trigger to follow up with Contacts who have purchased specified products and when orders reach specified statuses.

When using this trigger, the first action in the automation should be an Update Automation action set to End Other for any automations using the following triggers (create as many Update Automation actions as needed at the beginning of your Product Purchase automation to specify all automations using the following triggers):

• Product Viewed
• Abandoned Product Viewed
• Added to Cart
• Abandoned Cart
• Abandoned Checkout
• Checkout Started

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.
• Order Status - select an order status that the order must reach before the automation is triggered; select Any to retrigger the automation each time the order status is updated
• Products - search for products to trigger when viewed. The default selection is Any, which will trigger the automation whenever any product is viewed in your store by a cookied website visitor

Back to top

Product Variant Purchase

You can use the Product Purchase trigger to follow up with Contacts who have purchased specified product variants and when orders reach specified statuses.

When using this trigger, the first action in the automation should be an Update Automation action set to End Other for any automations using the following triggers (create as many Update Automation actions as needed at the beginning of your Product Variant Purchase automation to specify all automations using the following triggers):

• Product Viewed
• Abandoned Product Viewed
• Added to Cart
• Abandoned Cart
• Abandoned Checkout
• Checkout Started

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.
• Order Status - select an order status that the order must reach before the automation is triggered; select Any to retrigger the automation each time the order status is updated
• Product variants - search for variants to trigger when included in an order. The default selection is Any, which will trigger the automation whenever any variant is purchased in your store.

Back to top

Product Price Drop

You can use the Product Price Drop trigger to follow up with contacts who have expressed interest in a specific product when that product's price is reduced.

The price for the product must be reduced in your Shopify store to trigger an automation. Discounts and store-wide sales will not trigger the automation. The trigger only fires when individual products are reduced in price at or below the Minimum Price Drop Amount.

Each reduced product price will trigger the automation; it is not possible to group products together for a coordinated sale using the Product Price Drop trigger.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only enter the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts enter the automation only once per day for the first price drop they meet the trigger's Contact Requirements for
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only enter the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only enter the automation if they have not entered it in the last X days or months.
• Minimum Price Drop Amount - Enter the minimum flat dollar amount or percentage of the product's price the product should be discounted by to trigger the automation
• Contact Requirements - Select methods of product interaction that should qualify contacts for receiving price drop notifications. If more than one method is selected, contacts who used any selected method to interact with the product will qualify.
  • Product viewed - Contact landed on the product's page
  • Added to cart - Contact clicked "added to cart" for the product
  • Started checkout - Contact had the product in their cart and started but did not complete checkout
• Time period - Enter the number of days (90 max) to look back for qualifying Contact Requirements. If contacts purchase the specified product within the set time period, they will not trigger the automation.

Back to top

Order Placed

You can use the Order Placed trigger to follow up with Contacts who have placed an order and when orders reach specified statuses.

When using this trigger, the first action in the automation should be an Update Automation action set to End Other for any automations using the following triggers (create as many Update Automation actions as needed at the beginning of your Product Variant Purchase automation to specify all automations using the following triggers):

• Product Viewed
• Abandoned Product Viewed
• Added to Cart
• Abandoned Cart
• Abandoned Checkout
• Checkout Started

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.
• Order Status - select an order status that the order must reach before the automation is triggered; select Any to retrigger the automation each time the order status is updated
• Product variants - search for variants to trigger when included in an order. The default selection is Any, which will trigger the automation whenever any variant is purchased in your store.

Back to top

Subscribed to Back in Stock

You can use the Subscribed to Back in Stock trigger to follow up with Contacts who subscribed to back in stock notifications via the Sendlane specific back in stock button you've installed in your Shopify store.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.

Use caution with this trigger and its options, particularly when:

• Selecting No limit as the Limit Per Contact, which means the contact will be sent through the automation every single time they sign up for a back in stock notification via the Sendlane specific back in stock button you've installed in your Shopify store.

Back to top

Product Back in Stock

You can use the Subscribed to Back in Stock trigger to follow up with Contacts who subscribed to back in stock notifications via the Sendlane specific back in stock button you've installed in your Shopify store and the product is back in stock.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.

Use caution with this trigger and its options, particularly when:

• Selecting No limit as the Limit Per Contact, which means the contact will be sent through the automation every single time a product they've signed up for back in stock notifications for is back in stock
• Setting the Units restocked to notify too low, which risks the product being sold out when contacts click on your email

Back to top

Review Submitted

You can use the Review Submitted trigger to thank customers for leaving a review in your store. This trigger only works if Sendlane Reviews is installed for your Shopify store.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.

Back to top

Review Reply

You can use the Review Reply trigger to notify customers that you've replied to the review they left on a product in your store. This trigger only works if Sendlane Reviews is installed for your Shopify store.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.

Back to top

Customer Created

You can use the Customer Created trigger to create automations when a new customer has been created in your Shopify store.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.

Back to top

Customer Deleted

You can use the Customer Created trigger to create automations when a customer has been deleted from your Shopify store.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.

Back to top

Shopify Customer Tag Applied

You can use the Tag Applied trigger to trigger an automation when a Shopify customer tag is added to a customer profile in your Shopify store.

Available options:

• Store - select a Shopify store
• Limit Per Contact - select a limitation on the number of times a Contact can trigger the automation
  • No limit - Contacts will not be prevented from entering the automation
  • Do not trigger when already in Automation - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they aren't currently flowing through the automation
  • Once Per Day - Contacts can only trigger the automation once per day
  • One Time Only - Contacts can only trigger the automation once
  • Not in the last - Contacts can only trigger the automation if they have not triggered it in the last X days or months.
• Order Status - select an order status that the order must reach before the automation is triggered; select Any to retrigger the automation each time the order status is updated
• Tags - select the Shopify customer tags you want to trigger the automation

Back to top