What is the Replenishment flow?
The Replenishment flow emails a customer to remind them to reorder a product just before they usually run out. Instant learns how often customers buy each product again from your store’s orders, and times each reminder to match.
Why you need one
- Customers who would buy a product again often forget to reorder until after they run out.
- A customer who runs out before they think to reorder can buy a replacement from another store.
- Without this flow, nothing reminds a repeat buyer that a product is due until your next campaign.
How to set it up
Before you start
- The flow is off by default. No reminders send until you turn it on.
- Instant needs order history to choose products. A product qualifies only when at least 5 customers have bought it again.
- Gift cards, shipping, fees and archived products are left out automatically.
Turning it on
- Go to Flows in your Instant AI dashboard.
- Open Retention, then select Replenishment.
- Open the Insights tab to review the products Instant found.
- Click Enable flow.
Note: The first time you open the Insights tab, it can show Learning your reorder times for about a minute while Instant reads your orders. Stay on the page and your products will appear.
Choosing your products
The Your products section on the Insights tab lists every product that Instant can send reminders for. For each product, you can:
- Turn reminders on or off.
- Change the number of days between orders.
- Add a product that Instant did not choose.
How it works
Which products get reminders
- When you turn on the flow, it sends reminders for the products that are turned on in Your products.
- A product that starts to qualify after you turn on the flow shows as Suggested. A Suggested product gets no reminders until you turn it on, so no product is emailed that you have not reviewed.
- Gift cards, fees and similar items show as Not a product and never get reminders.
When reminders send
- Instant calculates how many days usually pass before customers reorder each product.
- If a customer has bought a product more than once, their reminders are timed to their own buying pattern.
- The flow sends up to 3 reminder emails about the product that the customer is due to reorder.
What the emails contain
- Each email is about the one product that the customer is due to reorder.
- Instant AI writes the subject line, preview text and body copy for each customer and each product.
- The emails use your universal header and footer if you set them up.
What the Insights tab shows
- Your top reorder products.
- How often each product is reordered.
- The estimated reorder revenue.
- How many reminders are due in the next 7 days.
Tip: The Replenishment card on the Flows page shows Found N products that customers reorder. Use it to see if the flow suits your store before you open it.
FAQ
Why is one of my products not on the list? Instant suggests a product only when at least 5 customers have bought it again. Gift cards, shipping, fees and archived products are always left out. You can add a product that Instant did not choose in Your products.
Will new products start getting reminders on their own? No. A product that qualifies after you turn on the flow shows as Suggested. It gets no reminders until you turn it on.
Can I write my own subject line or preview text? No. Instant AI always writes the subject line and preview text for Replenishment emails, so each email names the product that the customer is due to reorder. You cannot change them.
Can I change how long Instant waits before it sends a reminder? Yes. In Your products on the Insights tab, change the days between orders for that product.
Why does the Insights tab say “Learning your reorder times”? Instant is reading your store’s orders to calculate reorder times. This happens the first time you open the tab and takes about a minute.
For more on how flows work, see Understanding Instant AI Flows.