Shopify Flow automations every run store should turn on

Shopify Flow takes the small jobs your staff forget on a busy Saturday and does them every time. These six workflows are about inventory, product data and pickup. None of them email customers.

Is Shopify Flow free, and which plans have it?

Yes. Shopify calls it the free Shopify Flow app, available on Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus.

A few limits apply. The Send HTTP request action is only on Grow, Advanced and Plus, tasks from custom partner apps are Plus only, and usage limits follow each plan’s API limits. None of the workflows below need those.

Install Flow from the Shopify App Store, then open it in your admin. Each workflow has three parts:

• Trigger: the event that starts it, like a product being created.
• Condition: the check, like “barcode is empty.”
• Action: what Flow does, like adding a tag or sending a message.

To start from a template, go to Apps, then Flow, click Create workflow, then Browse templates. Edit the tags and recipients, then click Turn on workflow.

Which Flow workflows should a run store turn on?

Workflow	Trigger	Action	Why a run store needs it
Low stock alert on core sizes	Product variant inventory quantity changed	Send Slack message or Send internal email	Reorder the sizes that sell before the wall has holes
Hide sold out shoes, republish on restock	Product variant out of stock / Product variant back in stock	Unpublish product / Publish product	No dead pages for closeouts
Tag products missing barcode or product type	Product created, plus a weekly Scheduled time sweep	Add product tags	Google needs the GTIN; filters need the type
Flag new products missing images or vendor	Product created, then Wait	Add product tags, Send internal email	New arrivals go live complete
Tag high value orders for pickup prep	Order created	Add order tags	Big team or family orders get a second look
Alert staff to new pickup orders	Order created	Send Slack message or Send internal email	The size is pulled and bagged before the runner arrives

1. How do you set up a low stock alert on core sizes?

Shopify’s template Get notified when product inventory is low is the base. It uses the Product variant inventory quantity changed trigger, which fires when a variant’s stock changes from an order, a manual adjustment or an app.

1. Open the template and install it.
2. Set the condition to fire when stock crosses your number: current quantity at or below it, and the prior quantity (the trigger provides it) above it. That gives you one alert, not one per sale.
3. Add a condition for location if you want alerts per store. The trigger gives you each location’s stock for the variant.
4. Narrow it to your core models with a condition on product type, vendor or a tag like core.
5. Send it to a Slack channel or a shared buying inbox.

Pick your number from experience. A popular neutral trainer in a middle size may need an alert at 3 pairs. A wide women’s trail shoe may be fine at 1.

2. How do you hide sold out shoes and bring them back on restock?

Shopify has a template for this: Hide and republish products based on inventory level.

1. Trigger: Product variant out of stock, which fires when a variant goes from 1 or more to 0 or less.
2. Condition: every variant of the product is at 0 or less.
3. Action: Unpublish product, choosing the sales channels to remove it from.
4. Build the second half with Product variant back in stock and Publish product.

Use this with judgment. A sold out core shoe you reorder every month should probably keep its page, since runners search for it and you can still special order the size. Unpublishing fits discontinued colorways, last season’s closeouts and one off event stock. A tag like keep-live and a condition to skip it handles the difference.

3. How do you tag products missing a barcode or product type?

A missing barcode can keep a shoe off Google. Shopify’s Google channel says a product that has a GTIN needs it added before you can publish it.

1. Trigger: Product created.
2. Add a Wait step, like 1 day, so staff finish the product first.
3. Condition: any variant’s barcode is empty, or product type is empty.
4. Action: Add product tags, like fix-barcode or fix-type.

For the products you already have, build a second workflow on the Scheduled time trigger that runs weekly and uses Get product data to find the same gaps.

Then the fix list is a filter. In Products, filter by the tag, scan the UPC from the box into each size, and remove the tag.

4. How do you flag new products missing images or vendor?

Shopify’s Product created trigger lists a template to tag products that are created with no image, which checks after a delay to wait for initial edits.

1. Start from that template.
2. Add a condition for an empty vendor, since vendor drives brand filters and brand reports.
3. Add product tags, like fix-photo or fix-vendor.
4. Optional: Send internal email to whoever builds products. Shopify says this action is best for staff, and you can list several addresses separated by commas.

This matters most in launch weeks. When a brand ships a new version and you build twenty colorways in an afternoon, this is what catches the one without a photo.

5. How do you tag high value orders for pickup prep?

A team order, a family of four in new shoes, or a big gift card purchase deserves a second look before it goes out the door.

1. Trigger: Order created.
2. Condition: the order total is greater than your number. Pick one that is unusual for your store.
3. Action: Add order tags, like high-value.
4. Optional: add a Send internal email or Send Slack message action so a manager sees it.

Shopify also has a template to get notified about irregularly large order quantities, which suits team orders of the same shoe in many sizes.

6. How do you alert staff when a pickup order comes in?

Every pickup order brings a runner through the door. Have the shoes pulled, checked and bagged before they arrive.

1. Trigger: Order created.
2. Condition: the order’s shipping or delivery method is your pickup method. Shopify’s Tag orders by their shipping method template is a good starting point. Place a test pickup order and check what your store’s pickup method is called before you set the condition.
3. Add a condition on location if each store should only hear about its own orders.
4. Action: Send Slack message to the store’s channel, or Send internal email to the store’s shared inbox. Include the order number, the shoes and sizes.
5. Optional: Add order tags with pickup so the queue is easy to filter.

For Slack, connect Flow to your Slack account first, then add the FlowBot app to each channel you want it to post in.

Don’t use the Fulfillment order line items prepared for pickup trigger for this. Shopify says it applies only to third party fulfillments, not your own staff marking an order ready. The customer’s Ready for pickup email comes from Shopify’s pickup settings, covered in Shopify for run specialty stores.

How do you keep workflows from causing trouble?

• Turn on one at a time. Watch a week of runs before adding the next.
• Test with real data. Create a test product without a barcode, or place a test pickup order, and check the run log.
• Name tags clearly. fix-barcode tells staff what to do. flag1 doesn’t.
• Send alerts to a shared place. One person’s inbox becomes a single point of failure on their day off.
• Review in slow season. Your low stock numbers should change as your size runs and buys change.

How does this tie into Google?

Workflows 2 to 4 keep your product data clean, and clean product data is what local inventory ads run on. Through Fill the Store, Segments connects local inventory ads, and Segments HQ checks new and changed products and suggests fixes for you to approve.