Eight sequences that run all year, plus two that only run once. This page explains each one — the trigger, the job it does, and the mistake that stops it working.
An automated flow is a sequence of emails or texts that triggers off a customer's behaviour and then runs on its own. Someone joins your list, abandons a cart, places an order or stops ordering — each of those is a trigger, and each has a sequence built to answer it.
The distinction that matters is against campaigns. A campaign goes to a segment on a date you choose. A flow goes to one person at the moment their behaviour says they are ready. Same channel, completely different economics: flows are built once and earn continuously, while every campaign costs you the effort again.
Scheduled by you. One message, many people, one moment. Useful for launches, sales and news — anything genuinely tied to a date.
Triggered by them. One person, one moment, decided by behaviour. This is where the majority of owned-channel revenue comes from in a healthy account.
Listed in build order — which is not the same as lifecycle order. Build them in this sequence because it follows where revenue leaks fastest. Two seasonal flows sit on top of these; they are further down.
The first 7–14 days, when someone still remembers who you are and why they were on your site. Five emails, each with one job: deliver what was promised, explain the brand, answer the objection, show proof, then ask.
The money already in the building. Someone reached checkout and stopped, which means there is a specific objection — price, trust or timing. The sequence exists to identify which and answer it.
Earlier intent, lower conviction, a far bigger audience than cart. Someone looked at the same product three times without adding it — that is hesitation, not disinterest, and it deserves a different message.
Where the second order is won or lost. Handles fulfilment anxiety, earns the review at the right moment, and introduces the complementary product before the customer has stopped thinking about you.
Only relevant if your product runs out — and transformative when it does. Timed to the reorder cycle calculated from your actual order data, per SKU, so the reminder lands just before they notice they are low.
Churn is a pattern break, not a date on a calendar. If someone ordered every six weeks and it has been eleven, they are leaving — usually before they have consciously decided to. That gap is the trigger.
Your top decile, treated differently on purpose. Early access, exclusive bundles, recognition that feels earned. These are the customers who refer friends and forgive you when something goes wrong.
Not a second newsletter. Restock alerts, flash windows, delivery updates and the win-back moments where an inbox will not be opened in time. Every message has to justify interrupting someone's phone.
These are not always-on sequences with a festive header image. They have their own triggers, their own windows, and a shelf life measured in weeks. Built properly they carry a disproportionate share of Q4 revenue; built as a campaign blast they cost you list health going into January.
Four distinct phases, not one send: warm-up and early access for VIPs, the opening, a mid-window nudge to non-openers, and last chance. The segmentation matters more here than in any other flow, because the whole list is paying attention at once.
A different buyer to BFCM: someone shopping for another person, working to a delivery deadline rather than a discount. Gift guides segmented by recipient, escalating shipping-cutoff urgency, then gift cards once physical delivery is no longer possible.
Both need building in October. A BFCM flow written in the third week of November is a campaign with extra steps, and there is no time left to test the segmentation that makes it work.
The always-on eight are ordered by what to build first. This is the order a customer actually experiences them — and flows fail most often at the handoffs between these stages, not inside them. The two seasonal flows sit outside this entirely: they interrupt it, which is why suppression rules matter so much in Q4.
Traffic you already paid for becomes a contactable person. On-site capture and consent that stands up.
Flow 01 runs. If they buy mid-sequence they must exit here and enter post-purchase.
Flows 02 and 03. Browse first, cart second — a person can pass through both.
Flow 04 takes over. The most under-built stage in most DTC accounts.
Flow 05 if the product runs out, Flow 07 if they cross the value threshold.
Flow 06 catches the pattern break. Flow 08 supports wherever timing is critical.
Open rate tells you about your subject line and your sending reputation. It tells you nothing about whether a flow is doing its job.
The only fair way to compare a flow against a campaign, or one flow against another. Total revenue divided by people who entered, not people who opened.
The number retention exists to move. If flows are working and this is flat, you are capturing demand that already existed rather than creating any.
If the gap is shrinking, your post-purchase and replenishment timing is right. If it is growing, your win-back trigger is set too late.
Flows decide whether someone comes back. The store decides whether they buy when they do. ForgeCRO runs a free Shopify CRO audit that finds the leaks before BFCM traffic hits them — and ships the fixes within 7 days.
Free, and no call required to get the report. Fixes shipped within 7 days if you want them done for you.
A free 60-minute audit of your current setup. We will tell you which flows you are missing, which are underperforming, and what each one is worth against your own order data.
Retention marketing for Shopify and DTC brands — Klaviyo, Omnisend, Brevo and Attentive. Each button opens your assistant with a research prompt already written, so it reads the site and reports back.
