How To Start Workflows from Customer Updates in Shopify

Customer actions are the crux of your business data. The accuracy of your customer data is critical to make sound business decisions. CRMs are massive, expensive systems that are very effective at keeping customer data centralized but they’re only as good as the data stored within them. Let’s uncover how Shopify Update Customer events can initial workflows that help you stay organized and get more done.

When do customer updates occur?

Interestingly, customer data is updated more times than you might expect. 

• The customer checks out with the same email address but changes their shipping address.

• Customers re-subscribe to marketing promotions for their new, favorite products.

• Customer changes their primary email address.

• Customer updates their custom profile details on their account page.

• Back-offer changes occur to customers from the Support, Operations, or Logistics teams.

Update customer profile with automation

If you have a way to automate the collection and organization of that data, it’ll free up your time to do other things.

To keep your customer data clean and up-to-date, you need to start workflows whenever a customer makes an update in Shopify.

Regardless if your customers make changes themselves or if back-office updates to customer records occur, you need to automatically send those changes to your CRM and anywhere else they belong.

Popular workflows for Customer Update events

Workflows are rules that trigger certain actions based on conditions that you set. Growing business use workflows to automatically move customer data the moment it changes.

There are all sorts of reasons you might want to start a workflow from a Customer Update event:

• Update your CRM when important customer information changes

• Re-engage an existing customer when they come back and update their customer profile information.

• Add customers to a marketing segment when they self-identify

• Welcome recently subscribed customers with automated email messages

When do Shopify Update Customer events occur?

In Shopify, the most common Shopify update customer events to occur are:

Shopify tags are added or removed

Using tags on the Shopify admin to organize the customer’s data is the standard process. Adding Shopify tags is a simple but also very effective way to manage views in the Shopify admin.

When you add a customer tag, that act initiates the Customer Updated event. Then, you can extend that event into workflows unique to your needs.

For example, if you tag customers with ‘promo’ as the value, your workflow could automatically send marketing emails promoting a one time use discount code.

Customer address changes

On the customer account profile page, you can add and edit addresses. When an existing customer changes their default address, it’s important that the change gets reflected everywhere you store primary address info.  

Customer metafield changes

Since Shopify doesn’t support customer details beyond address, developers use customer metafields now accessible in the Shopify admin. This allows you to create forms on the account details page to capture customers’ additional information. For example:

• Birthday – for loyalty program campaigns

• Mobile number – for SMS campaigns

• Gender – personalize product category offerings from your shop

Customer marketing opt-in changes

If customers change their opt-in status for marketing emails, you’ll need them reflected in your email management system (EMS) immediately. Not respecting when customers unsubscribe can lead to problems with your domain reputation.

What data is in the Shopify Customer Updated trigger?

The customer record in the Shopify API includes the following JSON fields:

• ID

• Email

• Phone

• First Name

• Last Name

• Tags

• Note

• Addresses (the fields specific to each addresses eg. Street, City, Country…)

• Order Count

• Last Order ID

• Default Address (the fields specific to the default address eg. Street, City, Country…)

• Accepts Marketing

• Created At (date)

• Updated at (date)

• State

• Total Spent

• Verified Email

• Multipass Identifier

• Tax Exempt

• Currency

• Accepts Marketing Updated at (date)

• Marketing Opt In Level

Shopify Flow App

Shopify offers its own automation app, Shopify Flow, to help retailers get more done through workflows. It’s great for businesses looking to automate repetitive tasks that emerge from managing their Shopify store. The no code builder let you add an integration easily.

Unfortunately, there’s a shortcoming with their app:

Shopify Flow doesn’t support the Shopify Customer Update event.

Luckily, MESA does. 

Adding workflows for every day Customer Update events is easy.

How to start a workflow from Shopify Update Customer

Want to jump straight to it and see how to make a workflow starting with the Customer Updated event?

Watch the video:

Otherwise, below is a step-by-step walkthrough.

Lastly, be sure to Save and then Enable your new workflow when you’re finished.

Get help from our experts

When you’re busy, the last thing you need is more work. Contact our support experts to handle the setup.

BOOM. Done.