If your store sends email, it probably sends campaigns — the newsletters and promotions you plan and push out by hand. Flows are the other half: emails (and texts) that send automatically when a customer does something. They're written once, run every day, and for most stores they quietly do more work than any single campaign.
Here are the five we set up first for almost every brand, in the order we'd build them.
1. Welcome series
Triggered when someone joins your list. This is the moment they're most interested in you, so make it count: introduce the brand, tell the story behind the product, show what other customers love, and give a clear reason to place a first order.
Typical shape: three to five emails over about ten days. If you offer a sign-up discount, deliver it in the first email and remind people before it expires.
2. Abandoned cart
Triggered when a shopper adds to cart or starts checkout and doesn't finish. People get distracted, compare prices or wait for payday. A timely, helpful reminder brings a good share of them back.
Typical shape: a first reminder within a few hours, a second the next day and — only if your margins allow — a small incentive in a third. It's also one of the few places where a short text message earns its keep.
3. Post-purchase
Triggered by an order. Most stores send a receipt and stop there. Use the days after a purchase to thank the customer, set expectations about delivery, and help them get the most out of what they bought. A customer who uses the product well is a customer who comes back.
Typical shape: a thank-you, a how-to or care guide, then a review request once the order has arrived.
4. Replenishment
Triggered by time since purchase, for anything that runs out: skincare, supplements, coffee, pet food. Work out roughly how long a product lasts and send a friendly "running low?" reminder just before it does, with a one-click path to reorder.
Typical shape: one or two emails timed to the product's life, plus an optional text for customers who have opted in to SMS.
5. Win-back
Triggered when a customer hasn't bought in a while — longer than your usual gap between orders. Remind them what they liked, show them what's new, and give them a reason to return. If they still don't engage, it's healthier to stop emailing them than to keep sending into the void (the deliverability guide explains why).
Typical shape: two or three emails over a few weeks, the last one asking plainly whether they'd like to keep hearing from you.
Where to start
If you have none of these running, start with the welcome series and abandoned cart — they catch people at their most interested. Add post-purchase next, then replenishment and win-back once you know your typical reorder cycle.
Want a second pair of eyes on the flows you already have? Book a strategy call and we'll walk through them with you.
