Triggers and conditions
The events that can start a flow, and how to filter so the right people get it.
Triggers
A trigger is the event that starts a flow. One per flow.
| Trigger | Fires when |
|---|---|
| Cart abandoned | A cart is left without checkout |
| Order placed | A new order is created |
| Order fulfilled | An order ships |
| Contact created | A new contact enters your CRM |
| Ticket created | A new support ticket arrives |
| Ticket resolved | A ticket is marked resolved |
| Tag added | A tag is applied to a contact |
| Schedule | On a recurring schedule |
Store triggers require a connected store — see Connect Shopify.
Conditions
Conditions decide whether the flow continues past a point. They can sit immediately after the trigger, or between steps.
Common ones:
- Order value above or below a threshold
- Customer's total order count
- Contact carries a specific tag
- Time since a previous event
- Whether an action has since occurred
Re-check before acting
The most valuable pattern in the whole system: check the condition again immediately before each message, not only at the start.
State changes while a flow is waiting. A customer who abandoned a cart at 2pm may have bought at 3pm. A flow that only checked at the start sends them a recovery discount for something they already paid full price for — annoying the customer and costing you margin in one message.
Trigger: Cart abandoned
Wait: 1 hour
Condition: Order still not placed ← this line
Action: Send emailWaits
Waits give the customer time to act on their own before you intervene. Rough starting points:
| Flow | First message |
|---|---|
| Cart recovery | 1 hour |
| Post-purchase thanks | Immediately |
| Review request | 7 days after delivery |
| Win-back | 90 days of inactivity |
Waits respect the schedule they run on — a flow does not send at 3am local time because a cart was abandoned then.
Keep flows shallow
A flow with fifteen branches is impossible to reason about and impossible to debug. If you need that much logic, you probably want two or three separate flows with narrower triggers.