Emails with Shopify Flow
CounterQuest doesn't send email itself. Instead it keeps a set of "Rewards: …" tags on your customers, and Shopify Flow sends an email whenever one of those tags is added.
On this page
The tags the app keeps
The tags are updated once a day (Settings → Customer tags → Keep Rewards tags up to date, on by default). Some are also added the moment something happens. The app only ever touches tags starting with "Rewards: ", never your own.
| Tag | Means |
|---|---|
Rewards: tier name | The customer's VIP tier. |
Rewards: Reward ready | They have enough points for your cheapest reward. |
Rewards: At risk | They have points but no order in 90 days (including customers who never ordered). |
Rewards: Birthday this month | Their birthday is this month. Good for Shopify Email segments. |
Rewards: Birthday bonus | The app just paid this year's birthday bonus. Kept for a week. |
Rewards: Want list match | Something on their want list is back in stock. Removed and added again on each new match, so every match can trigger an email. Kept for a week. |
Rewards: Points earned | An order just earned them points. Removed and added again on each order. Kept for a week. (The tag uses your points name: if you call them XP, it's Rewards: XP earned. Pick your Flow tag after naming your points; renaming later keeps the old tag on customers who already have it.) |
Members who pick "What do you collect?" choices also get Collects: choice tags, useful for segments. You can also use all of these in Shopify Email campaigns and customer segments without Flow.
Before your first flow: avoid a mass send
The first time tags sync, every customer who already qualifies gets a tag at once. If a flow is on at that moment, all of them get the email at once, for example everyone with points gets "Reward ready".
- Build your flows but leave them off (or pause them).
- Let the tags sync once: wait a day, or press Update tags now in CounterQuest → Settings → Customer tags.
- Check a few customers in Shopify admin to see the "Rewards: …" tags.
- Turn the flows on. From now on only new tags send an email.
Do the same again if tags are ever wiped, or after a big import (for example from Smile), since that can make many customers qualify at once.
Build a flow
You need the free Shopify Flow app and Shopify Messaging (Shopify Email).
- Open Shopify Flow and create a new workflow.
- Trigger: Customer tags added.
- Add a condition: the added tags include at least one that is equal to the tag you want, for example
Rewards: Reward ready. Type it exactly, including the capital letters and the space after the colon. - Action (when true): Shopify Messaging → Send marketing email. Design the email; link the button to your rewards page (
/apps/rewards) or want list (/apps/rewards/wants). - Name the workflow (for example "Rewards: Reward ready email") and turn it on, once you've done the step above.
Marketing emails can't show the customer's points balance, so write them without numbers: "You have a reward waiting" rather than "You have 12,500 points".
Five flows worth building
| Flow | Tag | The email says |
|---|---|---|
| Reward ready | Rewards: Reward ready | You've got enough for a reward; redeem it online or at the counter. |
| Birthday | Rewards: Birthday bonus | Happy birthday, your bonus points are on your account. |
| Restock | Rewards: Want list match | Something on your want list is back; link to the want list. |
| Win-back | Rewards: At risk | You still have points waiting; come see what's new. |
| Points earned | Rewards: Points earned | Thanks for your order, you earned points; see your rewards. |
Customers who turned on phone notifications also get a push for a restock, a reward becoming ready and their birthday bonus, alongside the email.
Who gets the emails
Shopify marketing emails only reach customers subscribed to your email marketing. Others are skipped; Flow shows that run as an error ("not subscribed to marketing"), which is normal.
To grow the list, the app offers members an Email alerts opt-in on the want list page and on the rewards page's Want list & tools tab. Clicking it subscribes them to your marketing emails; it disappears once they're subscribed.
"📧 Email alerts": get an email when something on the want list is back in stock, when a reward is ready, and on their birthday, with an Email me alerts button.