What are Smart Rules?

Smart Rules show different content to different shoppers inside one email. You set the conditions, and Instant picks the right version of a block for each shopper when the email sends.

Why you need them

  • Without a rule, every shopper who gets an email sees the same blocks.
  • A sale banner stays in your emails after the sale ends unless you remove it by hand.
  • Shoppers in different countries, tiers or stages (first-time or repeat) get the same offer.
  • You would need a separate flow or campaign for each group of shoppers.

Common uses:

  • A sale banner that shows only during the sale dates
  • A free shipping message for shoppers in one country
  • A different hero image for first-time and repeat shoppers
  • A wholesale or VIP banner for shoppers with a Shopify tag
  • Different content for the product or cart that started the flow

Note: Smart Rules change what a shopper sees inside the email. They do not change who gets the email or when it sends. Your flows and campaigns send as normal.

How to set it up

Before you start

Smart Rules work in flow emails, campaign emails and the Email Templates page. The steps are the same in each editor.

To open a flow email:

  1. Go to Email Templates in your Instant AI dashboard
  2. Select the flow and the email you want to change
  3. Click Edit Template

To open a campaign email, go to Campaigns and open the campaign.

Option 1: Add a Smart Rule to an existing block

Use this when you already have a block and want some shoppers to see something different in its place.

  1. Click the block in the email
  2. In the block settings panel, under Smart Rules, click Add Smart Rule
  3. Choose a rule from Your Rules, or click Create New Rule (see Create a rule below)
  4. Your rule appears in the block with an empty space for its content. Click the + in that space to add the blocks you want these shoppers to see
  5. Click Save Changes

Your original block moves into the Default version. Shoppers who do not match any rule see the Default.

Option 2: Add a Rule block

Use this when you want to add content that only some shoppers see, with nothing in that spot for everyone else.

  1. In the blocks panel, find Rule under Advanced
  2. Drag it into your email, or click it to add it
  3. Choose a rule from Your Rules, or click Create New Rule
  4. Click the + under the rule to add the blocks you want these shoppers to see
  5. Click Save Changes

A Rule block has no Default version unless you add one. If a shopper does not match any rule, nothing shows in that spot.

Create a rule

  1. In the Block Rule window, click Create New Rule
  2. Click Add filter and choose a filter (see Filters you can use below)
  3. Set the conditions for the filter
  4. To add another filter, click Add filter again and choose AND or OR between the two
  5. To group filters, click Add filter group
  6. Check the rule name at the top. Instant names the rule from your filters. You can change the name
  7. Click Save & Apply

The rule is saved to Your Rules, so you can use it again in other emails.

Tip: Use AND when a shopper must match both filters (for example, lives in the US AND has the tag vip). Use OR when either filter is enough (for example, viewed the product OR bought the product).

Add more versions to the same block

You can show different content to several groups of shoppers in one block.

  1. Under the last rule in the block, click + Add rule
  2. Choose or create the rule
  3. Add the content for that rule

To add a fallback for shoppers who match no rule, click + Add rule and choose Default. The Default option shows only when the block does not already have one.

How it works

Which version a shopper sees

Instant checks the rules in a block from top to bottom. The first rule that a shopper matches is the one they see. The block labels the first rule If and the next rules Else if.

  • If no rule matches, the shopper sees the Default version.
  • If there is no Default, nothing shows in that spot.
  • To change the order, drag a rule by the handle on its left. You cannot move the Default.

Put your most specific rule at the top. For example, put “VIP in the US” above “Lives in the US”, or VIP shoppers in the US will see the general US content.

Filters you can use

The filters are in three groups. The filters you see depend on the email.

About the Shopper

These filters work in every flow and campaign:

  • Shopify Tag: the shopper’s Shopify customer tags
  • Location: the shopper’s country
  • Purchased: purchase history, total spend, number of orders, product variant and date range
  • Email Activity: emails the shopper opened or clicked
  • Email, Phone and Profile attributes: details on the shopper’s profile
  • Subscription status: email or SMS subscription
  • SMS activity, Viewed, Active on site and Added to cart: the shopper’s recent activity

These are the same filters as the Shoppers page. Some filters, such as Loyalty, show only when that feature is on for your store.

What Triggered the Flow

These filters use the event that started the flow, so they work in flows only:

  • Products Engaged With: the product the shopper viewed, added to cart or checked out with. Choose Any product or Selected products. Available in flows that start from a product, such as browse abandonment, cart abandonment, checkout abandonment and back in stock.
  • Cart Value: the value of the shopper’s cart. Available in cart and checkout abandonment flows.
  • Product Price: the price of the product that started the flow. Available in flows that start from one product.

On a Time Schedule

  • Scheduled event: shows content between a From date and a To date. Use it for sales and seasonal content.

Scheduled event dates

A Scheduled event runs from 00:00 on the From date to 23:59 on the To date, in your store’s time zone. The filter shows your store time zone.

When the To date passes, the rule stops matching and shoppers see the next version in the block, or the Default.

Note: You can no longer pause coupons from a rule. To stop coupons during a sale, click the Settings cog, select Coupons, then click Pause coupons. For more, see Smart Coupons for Instant AI.

When a rule is checked

  • Rules about the shopper and Scheduled event rules are checked when the email sends.
  • Rules about what triggered the flow use the data from the event that started the flow.

While you build a rule, the window shows how many shoppers match it now. For trigger and date rules, it shows Live with when the rule is checked.

Use a saved Shoppers segment as a rule

Segments that you save on the Shoppers page also show in Your Rules, after your saved rules. Select one to use it as a rule.

To change a segment, edit it on the Shoppers page. You cannot edit or delete it from the email editor.

Manage your saved rules

All your rules are in the Block Rule window. To open it, click Add Smart Rule on a block, or click + Add rule in a Rule block.

  • Search: type in Search existing rules to find a rule by name.
  • Usage: each rule shows Used in X blocks.
  • Edit: click the pencil icon to change the rule’s filters or name. The change applies everywhere the rule is used.
  • Delete: click the trash icon. You cannot delete a rule that the open email uses, or that a saved block uses. Remove it from those blocks first.

If a rule uses a trigger filter that the current flow does not have, it shows Unavailable for this flow.

Change or remove a rule in a block

Hover over a rule in the block to see its actions:

  • Click the rule name to change it to a different rule.
  • Click the pencil icon to edit the rule’s filters.
  • Click the trash icon to remove the rule and its content from the block.

To remove the whole Rule block, click the … menu at the top of the block and select Delete block.

Preview your Smart Rules

Preview in the editor

  1. Click Preview at the top right of the editor
  2. In the side panel, select a version for each Rule block, or search for a shopper by email or phone under Preview a shopper
  3. The top of the editor shows Previewing: and the name of the version you see
  4. Click Preview again to go back to editing

You cannot preview a shopper when the email has a Scheduled event rule or a rule about what triggered the flow. Select a version for each Rule block instead.

Preview before you publish

When you click Save Changes, the Preview & publish window opens.

  1. Under Preview versions, select a version for each Rule block, or preview a shopper
  2. Click Review & publish
  3. Do a final check of the email
  4. Click Publish

To go back to the editor, click Keep editing.

FAQ

Can I use Smart Rules in campaigns? Yes. You can add a Smart Rule to an existing block or add a Rule block in a campaign. Campaigns have no trigger event, so the What Triggered the Flow filters are not available. For more, see How to use Smart Rules in your campaigns.

What happens to my old Smart Rules and date rules? Instant moved them to the new Smart Rules on 17 October 2026. They work as before. You can find them in Your Rules.

Can a shopper see two versions of the same block? No. A shopper sees one version of each block, from the first rule they match. To show content to more than one group, add a separate Rule block.

Can I add a Smart Rule to any block? You can add one to any block that has content. You cannot add a Smart Rule inside another Rule block.

Why can’t I preview a shopper? Shopper preview does not work for Scheduled event rules or rules about what triggered the flow, because the result depends on the send date or the event. Select a version for each Rule block instead.

Why does my rule say Unavailable for this flow? The rule uses a What Triggered the Flow filter that this flow does not have. For example, Cart Value is only in cart and checkout abandonment flows. Create a different rule for this flow.

Can I edit a Shoppers segment from the email editor? No. Edit it on the Shoppers page. The change applies to every email that uses it.

For more on coupons during a sale, see Smart Coupons for Instant AI. For rules in campaigns, see How to use Smart Rules in your campaigns.