Workflow automations: Subscriptions docs

A workflow is a rule: when something happens to a subscription, and the subscription matches your conditions, Chargezen does what you asked, right away or after a delay. Use workflows to swap a starter kit for a refill, add a gift on the third order, tag orders for your warehouse or send a message at the right moment. Open Subscriptions → Billing & automation → Workflow automations.

Create a workflow

Start

Choose Create workflow and enter a Workflow name under Workflow details. Only your team sees it.

Pick one or more events

Under Events, choose + Add event. The workflow runs when any of the chosen events happens. Under When should this run?, pick Right away or After a delay in minutes, hours or days, up to 30 days.

Add conditions if you need them

Under Conditions (optional), choose + Add condition. With two or more, pick Run when: All of these conditions are true or At least one of these conditions is true. Without conditions, the workflow runs every time.

Add actions

Under Actions, choose + Add action. Actions run in order. Each one can run Right away or After a delay, counted from when the workflow runs.

Turn it on

In the Summary, check the plain-language sentence, set Status to Active and choose Save.

Events

Group	Choices
Subscription status	Subscription is created, Subscription is paused, Subscription is resumed, Subscription is reactivated, Subscription is cancelled, Subscription expires
Billing	Upcoming renewal reminder, Subscription payment succeeds (first try), Subscription payment recovered (after a failed payment), Subscription payment failed (first attempt), Subscription payment failed (in dunning), Subscription payment failed (last attempt), Bank asks the customer to confirm a payment, Payment method needs attention, Product price change scheduled
Orders and products	Renewal held for out-of-stock products, Upcoming order is skipped, Product is swapped

Conditions

Group	Choices
The event	Subscription came from checkout; Payment retries ended by (cancelling, pausing, skipping the order or keeping the subscription active); Churn risk is (High, Medium, Low); Customer was told about the change; Change wasn't made in Shopify's admin; It's the first failed payment; Payment method problem is (Can't be charged, Card expiring, Card expired). Each works only with the events it describes.
Billing history	Paid billing cycles; Consecutive paid billing cycles
Plan	Subscription has any of the selected plans; Subscription has any of the selected plan groups
Product and variant	A product (or variant) with a matching title, using is equal to, is not equal to, contains, does not contain, starts with or ends with; all, any or none of the selected products (or variants)
Customer	Customer has a tag; Customer doesn't have a tag; Orders placed by the customer; Amount spent by the customer; Customer has no active subscriptions

Conditions are checked when the workflow runs. A delayed run uses the workflow as it is at that time.

Actions

Group	Choices
Notifications	Send email and Send text: pick a Template. It shows who it is sent to (the customer or your store team) and a link to edit the template.
Subscription	Add discount and Remove discount (a Shopify discount code, such as WELCOME10); Add trial period (free orders, for created or reactivated subscriptions only); Change subscription plan (New plan)
Products	Add one-time product; Add subscription product; Remove one-time product; Remove product from subscription; Swap product (Replacement product, Quantity, and Price: base price with no subscription discounts, or with the plan's discounts)
Customer	Add tag to customer; Remove tag from customer
Order	Add tag to order. Skipped for events that have no order.

Examples

Starter kit to refill

Event Subscription payment succeeds (first try), condition Paid billing cycles at least 1 and Subscription has any of the selected products set to the starter kit, action Swap product to the refill (or Change subscription plan to the refill plan).

A gift on the third order

Event Subscription payment succeeds (first try), condition Paid billing cycles at least 3, action Add one-time product with the gift.

Default workflows

Chargezen sends your subscription emails and texts through default workflows, marked Default in the list. You can change their conditions, add steps or set them to Draft to stop them, but you can't delete them. They include:

Welcome email and Welcome follow-up email
Tag checkout orders and Tag renewal orders
Renewal confirmation email and text
Upcoming charge email and Upcoming charge text
Card declined, Payment retry, Payment failed (cancelled, paused, final notice) and Payment recovered messages
Bank confirmation, Update payment method, Card expiring and Card expired emails and texts
Order delayed and Price change emails and texts
Paused, Resumed, Restarted, Cancelled, Skipped order and Product swapped emails and texts
Store alerts for order delayed, paused, resumed, restarted and cancellation

The workflow list

Search by name or event, and filter by type (Notifications, Order tags, Other) and status. Columns show Runs when, Status, Last run and Errors.

Permission

Anyone with Subscriptions access can view workflows. Creating or changing them needs the Manage subscription flows permission.

Troubleshooting

My workflow never runs

Check the status is Active, then read the Summary sentence: a condition may never be true for the event you chose. Some event conditions only work with certain events, and the builder tells you which.

The order tag wasn't added

Add tag to order is skipped for events with no order, such as a pause or a skip. Use an event that creates an order.

How do I stop a notification?

Open the default workflow that sends it and set it to Draft.

Subscription workflows: what you can automate with Chargezen.
Glossary: product swap, one-time add-on, churn prediction.

Workflow automations