Instant AI sends a Welcome Flow to every new email subscriber automatically. It’s designed to greet new subscribers, introduce your brand, and, for first-time shoppers, deliver a coupon offer while intent is high.
This article covers the email Welcome Flow. If you have SMS set up, there is a separate SMS Welcome flow for new SMS subscribers. See How does the SMS Welcome flow work?
- What triggers a Welcome Flow?
- What content is in a Welcome Flow?
- How are coupons managed in a Welcome Flow?
- How do I update the subject line and preview text?
- How do I add more rules?
- How do I enable the flow?
What triggers a Welcome Flow
A Welcome Flow sends as soon as Instant identifies a new email subscriber. This happens when someone opts in via:
- An Instant AI sign-up pop-up
- A footer or embedded sign-up form on your storefront
- The Subscribe to email marketing checkbox at checkout, including via the Shop Pay default checkout experience
- A Klaviyo or Alia sign-up form (as long as Instant AI is live on your store, our pixel captures these automatically)
- Any other form or app that marks the shopper as subscribed to email marketing in Shopify
No additional setup is required to connect these sources. Instant captures new subscribers across all of them.
Shopify sends every email sign-up to Instant in the same way, so checkout sign-ups cannot be switched off separately from footer and embedded form sign-ups.
What’s in the Welcome Flow
By default, your Welcome Flow includes:
- A welcome message and introduction to your brand
- Your bestselling and recommended products
- A coupon offer (if you’ve configured one, see below)
You can have up to 10 touchpoints in your Welcome Flow. Each email in the series builds on the last, keeping your brand front of mind in the days after signup.
The Welcome Flow runs in parallel with your abandonment flows. If a new subscriber also browses or abandons a checkout, they’ll receive both.
It also runs in parallel with the SMS Welcome flow. A shopper who subscribes to email and SMS receives both welcome flows, and if you’ve configured a coupon, they get the same code in both.
How AI copy works in the Welcome Flow
Welcome emails use the AI block to write copy about your brand. A new subscriber usually hasn’t browsed, carted or purchased yet, so there is less shopper activity to personalise on than in an abandonment flow. Instead, Instant uses your About Us page to write a story about your brand and focuses the email on that.
The AI copy is refreshed every 24 hours rather than written for each shopper. This keeps the content personalised to your brand.
If you don’t want any AI copy, delete the AI block from the email and write your own content instead.
How Welcome Flow sends are counted
Welcome Flow emails are metered as campaign sends, not flow sends, because they use less AI than your other flows. In your usage, Welcome Flow sends appear under campaign usage. They don’t appear on the Campaigns page, which only lists the campaigns you create.
Managing coupons in Welcome Flows
Setting up a coupon
By default, no coupon is assigned to the Welcome Flow, so you need to add one. To do this:
- Go to Instant Coupons
- Select an existing coupon and assign it to the Welcome Flow, or create a new coupon specifically for it
- Manage all coupon settings here, including discount type (fixed, percentage or free shipping), unique codes per shopper and Smart Coupons
You can also connect a discount you’ve already created in Shopify. Discounts created and managed by a third-party Shopify app are not supported.
You can assign a different coupon strategy to each flow. For example, Smart Coupons on your abandonment flows and a fixed 10% on your Welcome Flow. Only one coupon strategy can be active per flow at a time.
When the coupon is sent
If you’ve assigned a coupon to the Welcome Flow, it’s always delivered in the first email, immediately after signup.
Coupons are only sent to first-time shoppers: someone who hasn’t placed an order on your store before. Instant checks the shopper’s full order history before each send.
If an existing customer subscribes, they’ll still receive the full Welcome Flow series, including a welcome message and product recommendations. The coupon is left out.
For how Instant stops welcome coupons being shared or claimed more than once, see How Instant AI Protects Your Welcome Flow Coupons.
Updating subject lines and preview text
By default, Instant AI generates personalised subject lines and preview text for every email in your Welcome Flow.
If you’d prefer to use your own copy instead:
- Open your Welcome Flow in the Template Editor
- Click Edit on the flow
- Hover over the subject line or preview text and enter your own copy
- Set both the subject line and preview text. You can’t override just one
- Click Save Changes
To revert to AI copy:
- Click Edit on the flow
- Click the X in the top right of the From, Subject, and Preview card. This resets both fields together
- Click Save Changes
Clearing the text in both fields does not revert to AI copy. The editor shows a “Missing subject line or preview text” error instead.
You can tell whether AI copy or your own copy is in use by the AI tag shown above the subject line. The tag only shows after you click Edit. The green AI tag further down the page belongs to an AI-generated email block and is not related to the subject line.
Getting more granular control in Welcome Flows with rules
The coupon configuration handles the default on/off behaviour automatically. First-time shoppers get the coupon, returning customers don’t.
If you need finer control over what different segments see in the email itself, for example showing a different hero image or message for returning customers, you can use Instant Rules to conditionally show or hide blocks within your Welcome Flow emails.
Learn how to use Rules in your emails
How to enable your Welcome Flow
- Go to AI Flows in your Instant AI dashboard
- Find the Welcome Flow and toggle it on
- If another provider (Klaviyo, Alia) runs your sign-up forms, turn off their Welcome or New Subscriber flow to avoid duplicate sends
- Send yourself a test email to confirm the content, coupon and design before going live
FAQ
What if someone signs up twice? Instant won’t re-enrol a subscriber into the Welcome Flow if they’ve already been through it.
Will existing customers receive a coupon if they sign up? No. Coupons are reserved for first-time shoppers. If someone has purchased before and subscribes, they’ll receive the welcome email series without the coupon.
Do I need to set up anything to capture subscribers from Klaviyo or Alia forms? No. As long as Instant AI is live on your store, our pixel automatically detects sign-ups from Klaviyo and Alia forms and triggers the Welcome Flow.
What if I don’t want to offer a coupon at all? Don’t assign a coupon in Instant Coupons. The Welcome Flow will send without one.
Can I use a different coupon for the Welcome Flow vs. my abandonment flows? Yes. You can assign different coupon strategies to different flows. Each flow can only have one active coupon at a time, but every flow can have its own.
Is the AI copy written for each shopper? No. The AI block writes copy about your brand, using your About Us page, and refreshes it every 24 hours. Every subscriber who receives the email in that period sees the same brand story.
Can I write all of the Welcome Flow copy myself? Yes. Delete the AI block from each email and add your own content.
Why does my usage show campaign sends when I haven’t sent a campaign? Welcome Flow emails are counted as campaign sends. If your Welcome Flow is on, its sends appear under campaign usage even when your Campaigns page is empty.
Will a shopper get a welcome text and a welcome email? Yes, if they subscribe to both and you have the SMS Welcome flow turned on. The two flows run separately and neither one stops the other.
Where do new subscribers go after the Welcome Flow? They’re added to your subscriber list in Instant AI and available for use in campaigns. If you’re integrated with Klaviyo, they’ll sync automatically as new profiles with Marketing Consent, and also sync to Shopify.
For the SMS side of the welcome experience, see How does the SMS Welcome flow work?