Shopify automation
Shopify Flow AI Prompt Examples for Email Chains
Fourteen prompts you can paste into Sidekick, what each should generate, and the step it usually drops.
Published 2026-08-13 · 15 min read
Shopify Flow builds email chains from plain language: describe the chain to Sidekick and it drafts the workflow. The catch is the prompt. Describe a chain loosely and the draft comes back with no wait between emails, no exit when the customer buys, or a send aimed at people who never opted in.
Below are 14 prompts for the three chains most stores want: abandoned checkout, post purchase, and win back. Each card shows the prompt, a diagram of the workflow it should produce, and the specific way it goes wrong. Everything is written against Shopify's current Flow documentation, linked at the bottom.
What a Flow AI email chain prompt must spell out
Sidekick builds exactly what you describe, and nothing you did not. A tagging workflow is one sentence; an email chain is a trigger, timed sends, a check before each send and a rule for stopping. The whole game is getting all five of those into the prompt.
1Name the trigger
The event that starts the chain, e.g. "when a customer abandons checkout". No trigger, no workflow.
2State every wait
With a duration. Sidekick will not infer that reminder two comes a day after reminder one.
3Check before every send
Has the customer already bought? Already got the email? The condition must repeat before each send.
4Name the exit
What makes the chain stop early. Usually: the customer completes an order.
5Say "subscribed to email marketing"
Send marketing email only delivers to subscribers. Written into the prompt, the check lands in the workflow instead of your error log.
| Chain | Trigger to name | Emails | Runs for | The exit condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abandoned checkout | Customer abandons checkout | 2 to 3 | About 3 days | Customer completes an order |
| Post purchase | Order created or fulfilled | 2 to 3 | 2 to 4 weeks | Customer places another order |
| Win back | A scheduled time check | 1 to 2 | 60 to 90 days of silence | Any new order from the customer |
Spans of the chains as written in this library, first trigger to last email. Longer is not better: each extra email needs its own reason to exist.
The one error that kills more Sidekick email chains than anything else: Send marketing email fails for any customer who is not subscribed to email marketing. It surfaces as a per customer failure after the workflow is live, not as a warning while you build it. Every prompt below writes the subscription check into the chain so the failure never fires.
Abandoned checkout email chain prompts
Shopify ships one stock abandoned checkout email after a 10 hour wait. These prompts are for stores that want more than one touch, with every send gated on the customer not having bought yet.
Three email abandoned checkout chain
Create a workflow that starts when a customer abandons checkout. Wait 1 hour. If the customer has not completed an order since the trigger and is subscribed to email marketing, send them a marketing email reminding them about the items in their checkout. Wait 23 hours. If they still have not completed an order and are subscribed to email marketing, send a second marketing email. Wait 48 hours. If they still have not completed an order and are subscribed to email marketing, send a final marketing email. If the customer completes an order at any point, do not send any further emails.
What Sidekick should build
- Customer abandons checkout
- 1 hour, then condition: no completed order AND subscribed to email marketing
- Send marketing email (reminder 1)
- 23 hours, same condition, send marketing email (reminder 2)
- 48 hours, same condition, send marketing email (final)
Where it goes wrong
- •Sidekick sometimes builds one combined wait instead of three staged ones. Check that each email has its own Wait step in front of it.
- •If the order check is missing before the second and third email, a customer who bought after the first reminder still gets nagged twice. The condition must repeat before every send.
Two email chain with a discount held back
Create a workflow that starts when a customer abandons checkout. Wait 2 hours. If the customer has not completed an order and is subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email reminding them what they left, with no discount. Wait 46 hours. If they still have not completed an order and are subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email offering a 10 percent discount code. Stop the workflow if the customer completes an order at any point.
What Sidekick should build
- Customer abandons checkout
- 2 hours, condition, send marketing email with no offer
- 46 hours, condition, send marketing email carrying the code
Where it goes wrong
- •The order matters. Put the discount in the first email and you have trained everyone to abandon a cart for 10 percent off. The prompt says "no discount" on email one for exactly that reason.
- •The discount code itself is not created by the workflow. Make the code in Discounts first, then reference it in the email body.
High value cart alert to your own inbox
Create a workflow that starts when a customer abandons checkout. If the total value of the abandoned checkout is over 300 dollars, send an internal email to my staff address with the customer name, the checkout total and the items, so we can follow up personally.
What Sidekick should build
- Customer abandons checkout
- checkout total over 300
- Send internal email with the checkout details
Where it goes wrong
- •This one uses Send internal email, not Send marketing email, so there is no consent gate: the mail goes to you, not the customer. Do not let Sidekick swap the action.
- •Pair it with one of the chains above rather than replacing them. The alert is for the carts worth a human reply.
First time visitor chain, gentler timing
Create a workflow that starts when a customer abandons checkout. If the customer has zero previous orders, wait 4 hours, and if they have not completed an order and are subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email introducing the store and reminding them of their cart. Wait 68 hours. If they still have not ordered and are subscribed, send one final marketing email. Customers with previous orders should not enter this workflow.
What Sidekick should build
- Customer abandons checkout
- at the top: customer order count is zero
- 4 hours, condition, send marketing email (introduction plus cart)
- 68 hours, condition, send marketing email (final)
Where it goes wrong
- •The zero orders condition must sit before the first wait, not inside the email conditions, or returning customers flow into the wrong chain.
- •Two emails is deliberate for a first contact. Three reads as pressure from a store they do not know yet.
Restock the conversation, not the cart
Create a workflow that starts when a customer abandons checkout. Wait 1 hour. If the customer has not completed an order and is subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email that asks one question: was something unclear about shipping, sizing or payment? Do not include a discount. Stop if the customer completes an order.
What Sidekick should build
- Customer abandons checkout
- 1 hour, condition, send marketing email (a question, not a pitch)
Where it goes wrong
- •One email, on purpose. This variant trades volume for replies, and replies tell you why checkouts die. Adding two more emails to it turns a question into a campaign.
- •Route replies somewhere a human reads. A question email with an unread inbox behind it is worse than no email.
Post purchase and review request prompts
These chains say thank you, catch delivery problems and ask for the review while the product is still new. Timing rules them, which is why most trigger on fulfilment, not on the order being placed.
Thank you plus review request, fulfilment timed
Create a workflow that starts when an order is fulfilled. Wait 3 days. If the customer is subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email thanking them and asking how the product is working out. Wait 11 days. If the customer has not placed another order and is subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email asking for a product review with a direct link.
What Sidekick should build
- Order fulfilled
- 3 days, condition, send marketing email (check in)
- 11 days, condition, send marketing email (review ask)
Where it goes wrong
- •Trigger on fulfilment, not order creation. Sidekick will happily build this on Order created and your "how is it" email beats the parcel to the door.
- •Three days suits domestic shipping. Selling cross border, stretch the first wait to a week.
Replenishment reminder for consumables
Create a workflow that starts when an order is fulfilled. Wait 30 days. If the customer has not placed another order since and is subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email reminding them it might be time to reorder, linking the product they bought.
What Sidekick should build
- Order fulfilled
- 30 days, condition: no new order AND subscribed
- Send marketing email (reorder nudge)
Where it goes wrong
- •The 30 day number is the whole trick and only you know it. Set the wait to slightly less than how long the product actually lasts.
- •For stores with mixed catalogues, add a product or collection condition so the reminder only follows the consumable, not the one off purchase.
Second purchase nudge with a cross sell
Create a workflow that starts when an order is created. Wait 14 days. If this is still the customer's only order and they are subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email recommending products that pair with what they bought. Wait 7 days. If they still have only one order and are subscribed, send one final marketing email with a small incentive to come back.
What Sidekick should build
- Order created
- 14 days, condition: order count is 1 AND subscribed
- Send marketing email (cross sell)
- 7 days, same condition, send marketing email (incentive)
Where it goes wrong
- •The condition is order count equals one, not "no order in 14 days". Get that wrong and repeat customers who bought twice in a week enter a chain meant for one timers.
- •Keep the incentive in the last email only, same logic as the abandoned checkout discount.
Delivery problem catcher
Create a workflow that starts when an order is fulfilled. Wait 10 days. If the order has not been delivered yet, send an internal email to my staff address with the order number and tracking status so we can check the shipment before the customer has to ask.
What Sidekick should build
- Order fulfilled
- 10 days, condition on delivery status
- Send internal email (staff alert)
Where it goes wrong
- •Delivery status depends on your carrier reporting tracking events into Shopify. If your carriers do not, this condition has nothing to read and the workflow alerts on every order.
- •Internal email again, so no consent gate. The customer never sees this one.
Win back and VIP email chain prompts
No event fires on the day a customer quietly lapses, so these chains run on a scheduled check instead: a timer asks daily who crossed the line. The prompts are wordier because they define both the schedule and what lapsed means. The VIP prompts run the same shape in the other direction.
Ninety day win back, single email
Create a workflow that runs on a schedule every day. For customers whose last order was exactly 90 days ago, if they are subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email telling them what is new in the store since they last ordered. Each customer should only ever receive this email once.
What Sidekick should build
- a scheduled time, daily
- last order 90 days ago AND subscribed
- Send marketing email (what is new)
Where it goes wrong
- •The word "exactly" is load bearing. Write "more than 90 days" and the customer qualifies again every single day, and Sidekick will not save you from that.
- •If the generated workflow cannot express "exactly 90 days ago", the honest fallback is a customer tag: tag on send, and add "not tagged" to the condition.
Two stage win back with an incentive
Create a workflow that runs on a schedule every day. For customers whose last order was exactly 60 days ago, if they are subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email with new arrivals and no discount, and tag the customer winback-1. For customers tagged winback-1 whose last order was exactly 90 days ago, if they are subscribed, send a marketing email with a comeback offer and replace the tag with winback-2.
What Sidekick should build
- scheduled time, daily
- 60 day lapsed, no tag, send email, add tag winback-1
- 90 day lapsed with tag winback-1, send offer, swap tag to winback-2
Where it goes wrong
- •This is the most complex prompt in the library and the one most worth reading line by line after generation. If Sidekick merges the branches, split them into two workflows: one for the 60 day email, one for the 90 day offer.
- •Tags are doing the bookkeeping here. If your store already uses tags heavily, note that Shopify warns workflows misbehave past 250 tags on a customer.
VIP threshold with a human touch
Create a workflow that starts when an order is created. If the customer's total spent including this order is over 1000 dollars and the customer is not already tagged VIP, tag them VIP and send an internal email to my staff address with the customer's name and lifetime spend so we can send a personal thank you.
What Sidekick should build
- Order created
- lifetime spend over 1000 AND not tagged VIP
- Add customer tag VIP
- Send internal email (staff heads up)
Where it goes wrong
- •The "not already tagged" check is what keeps this from firing on every subsequent order. It is also the piece Sidekick most often leaves out of tag based prompts.
- •The email goes to staff on purpose. An automated "you are a VIP" email is exactly as special as it sounds. The automation finds the customer; a human writes to them.
First purchase anniversary email
Create a workflow that runs on a schedule every day. For customers whose first order was exactly one year ago today, if they are subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email marking one year since their first order, with a small thank you inside. Each customer should receive this at most once per year.
What Sidekick should build
- scheduled time, daily
- first order exactly 365 days ago AND subscribed
- Send marketing email (anniversary note)
Where it goes wrong
- •Same "exactly" rule as the win back prompts: written as "more than a year ago" it fires daily for every long time customer. If the generated condition cannot express it, fall back to a year stamped tag.
- •The audience on any given day is tiny and that is fine. This email earns loyalty, not this week's revenue, and it is the easiest one in the library to make feel human.
Subscriber only launch chain
Create a workflow that runs on a schedule on the 1st of the month. For customers tagged VIP who are subscribed to email marketing, send a marketing email with early access to what is launching this month. Wait 7 days. Send a second marketing email to the same group with the general launch news, only if they did not place an order after the first email.
What Sidekick should build
- scheduled time, monthly
- tagged VIP AND subscribed
- Send marketing email (early access)
- 7 days, condition: no order since, send marketing email (launch)
Where it goes wrong
- •Scheduled triggers run for everyone matching at run time, so the VIP tag is the audience filter. No tag, no audience, and the workflow quietly does nothing.
- •Keep the segment honest: this chain earns its open rate because VIPs opted in twice, once to marketing and once by their spending.
Should you build email chains in Flow or in an email app?
Fair question, because the answer is not always Flow. Flow with Sidekick costs nothing extra, lives inside the admin you already use, and handles event driven chains well. A dedicated email platform earns its subscription when you need designed templates, deep segmentation, A/B tests and revenue attribution per email. And building every chain by hand in Flow without AI still has one advantage: you understand every step, because you placed it.
The practical read for most small and mid size stores: start the three chains on this page in Flow for free, watch what they recover for a quarter, and buy an email platform when the numbers say the upgrade pays for itself, not before.
Flow with Sidekick prompts
- + No extra subscription
- + Chains live where your orders live
- + A prompt gets you a reviewable draft in a minute
- − Every generated workflow needs a line by line review
- − Email design is basic compared to a dedicated app
- − No per email revenue reporting
Flow built by hand
- + You understand every step because you placed it
- + No AI drift between what you meant and what runs
- − Slow for chains with many branches
- − Same basic email design limits
- − Easy to forget the consent condition Sidekick is also prone to dropping
Dedicated email platform
- + Designed templates and real segmentation
- + A/B testing and per email revenue numbers
- + Deliverability tooling built in
- − A real monthly cost that scales with list size
- − Another app, another data sync to babysit
- − Overkill while your chains are still three emails long
- Abandoned checkout5 (36%)
- Post purchase4 (29%)
- Win back and VIP5 (36%)
Prompt count by scenario. The spread mirrors where merchants ask for chains first.
Shopify Flow AI Prompts FAQ
Getting a prompt to generate the right workflow
Why is my generated email chain missing the wait steps?
Because the prompt did not state them. Sidekick does not infer timing: "send a reminder chain" produces sends with no spacing, or one send. Write every wait with a duration, the way every prompt on this page does, and check the draft for one Wait step per email before turning it on.
Sidekick built something close but not right. Fix it or reprompt?
Fix small things by hand in the editor: a wrong duration, a missing condition. Reprompt when the structure itself is wrong, and make the new prompt say explicitly what the last draft got wrong. You can also keep talking to Sidekick in the same conversation and ask it to change the draft.
Can Sidekick change a workflow after it generated it?
Yes, within the same conversation: tell it what to change and it revises the draft. Once you are past that, open the workflow in the Flow editor and edit steps directly, which is usually faster for a single wrong duration. There is no rule that says a chain has to stay AI managed after an AI drafted it.
Why does my new workflow not run at all?
Sidekick generated workflows arrive switched off, on purpose. They are also tagged "sidekick" so you can find them. Review the steps, then click Turn on workflow. If it is on and still silent, check whether anything actually fired the trigger since you enabled it.
Consent and deliverability
Why do sends fail with a customer consent error?
The Send marketing email action only delivers to customers subscribed to email marketing. Anyone else fails at that step, per customer, after the workflow is live. Put "and is subscribed to email marketing" in the condition before every send, as every prompt here does, and the failures disappear because those customers never reach the action.
Can Flow email customers who have not opted in?
Not with marketing email, and that is a legal boundary, not a product gap. What you can always do is Send internal email to your own staff, which is why the high value cart and VIP prompts route to your inbox instead of the customer's.
Can these chains send SMS instead of email?
Not through Send marketing email, which is an email action. SMS runs through an SMS app, and the bigger ones register their own actions inside Flow; once installed, the same trigger, wait and condition structure from these prompts drives a text instead of an email. The consent rule gets stricter, not looser: SMS marketing needs its own opt in.
Do these chains replace the stock abandoned checkout automation?
Run one or the other, not both. Shopify's stock automation sends one email after a 10 hour default wait. If you turn on a multi email chain from this page, switch the stock one off, or your customers get overlapping reminders from two systems.
Choosing the tool
Is Shopify Flow free?
Flow is a free Shopify app and Sidekick generation does not bill separately. The costs that do exist are indirect: your time reviewing drafts, and email design limits that a paid platform would lift.
When does a paid email app actually beat Flow?
When you need designed templates, segments beyond tags, A/B tests, or per email revenue attribution. If your chains are three emails long and you have not measured what they recover yet, you are not there. Measure first, then pay.
Do I need a particular Shopify plan for Flow?
Flow installs free on current Shopify plans; it stopped being a Plus exclusive years ago. What still varies by plan is the surrounding surface, like which connectors and data are available to your store, so check the app listing against your plan rather than assuming the ceiling.
Can I see which email platform another store uses?
Usually, yes. Email platforms leave detectable traces in a storefront's code. Our free Shopify app detector reads them off any store URL, which is a fast way to see what stores your size actually run.
Editing and maintaining generated chains
How do I test a chain without emailing real customers?
Trigger it with your own account: abandon a checkout with a test email address that is subscribed to marketing, and walk through the chain at shortened waits. Set the waits to minutes for the test, then restore the real durations before turning it on for customers.
How many emails should a chain have?
Two or three for abandoned checkout, two for post purchase, one or two for win back. The prompts here default to those numbers. Past that, each additional email buys a little revenue and a lot of unsubscribes, and an unsubscribe is permanent.
How do I check whether a chain is actually sending?
Open the workflow and read its run history: every trigger fire, every condition result and every action outcome is logged per run. That log is also where the consent failures from the question above show up, which makes it the first place to look when "it is on but nothing arrives".
Do I need to update chains when Shopify changes Flow?
Occasionally. Running workflows keep running, but action and trigger options do evolve, and Shopify migrated its stock abandoned checkout automation once already. Skim your active chains once a quarter; the tag filter makes the Sidekick built ones easy to list.
Sources and References
- Shopify Help Center: Creating workflows in Shopify Flow, including with Sidekick (read 2026-08-13)
- Shopify Help Center: Flow actions reference (Send marketing email, Send internal email, Wait) (read 2026-08-13)
- Shopify Help Center: Customer abandons checkout trigger (read 2026-08-13)
- Shopify Help Center: the stock abandoned checkout automation and its default wait (read 2026-08-13)
- Shopify Community: Send marketing email consent error thread (read 2026-08-13)
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