New Shopware Flow Builder for automated business processes

If you have a Shopware online store, you certainly know the problem that standard software often only maps standard processes. With Shopware, you already have many configuration options to make your online store suitable for e-commerce, but for some situations it simply needs a more individual solution for your business. The Shopware developers have now addressed this problem and the result is the Shopware Flow Builder, which you can use without any programming knowledge. What exactly the Flow Builder is and how you can use it for your Shopware Online Shop, we will explain in this post.

Reading time 4 min

1. What is the Shopware Flow Builder actually?
2. What are the technical requirements for using the Flow Builder?
3. Which processes in your Shopware Online Shop can be optimized?
4. All advantages of the Flow Builder in an overview
5. Step-by-step instructions for creating your first flow
6. How to get even more Shopware support

What is the Shopware Flow Builder?

The Flow Builder was introduced with the minor release Shopware 6.4.6.0 on the third of November 2021. It is an additional feature that helps you as a Shopware online store owner to optimize business processes that are repeated every day. You can use it by clicking on "Flow Builder" in the administration area via Settings. Then a button will open that you can configure to set your first "Flow". We will tell you how to proceed with the configuration in a moment.

In Shopware, you could already specify that when an order is received, for example, a confirmation email about the purchase should be sent to the customer. But this is not always sufficient. For individual products or events, even more individual responses are needed. With Shopware's tool, you can now have non-linear tasks completed without the need to apply or create code.

Prerequisites for use

There are no major prerequisites for using the Flow Builder in Shopware, as it is easily available as a standard feature. You can find it in all versions of Shopware 6, that is, in the self-hosted and cloud-based application.

However, if you want to use so-called webhooks, then you need the Professional or Enterprise versions. Webhooks can be used to connect two different web servers or to let them communicate. This way data can be transferred easily.

Which processes can be optimized?

With the Shopware Flow Builder you can define and automate an infinite number of processes. Since various conditions can be set for events, even very specific processes can be handled by the tool. In addition, you can use it with the Rule Builder already integrated in Shopware. The Rule Builder is suitable for creating individual rules that can be created using conditions. These rules help, for example, to determine the shipping costs of an order.

We would now like to give you a few examples to give you a better idea of the full functionality of the new feature. On the one hand, you can use the Flow Builder to react to internal events that happen within Shopware. On the other hand, it is also possible to react to events within a third party application. This gives you the possibility to create categories and automatically mark products or customers with the corresponding tag. Furthermore, you can automatically send invoices or customer surveys when you have received an order. Moreover, you can also send individual emails depending on the tag, you can send data to third parties via webhooks, offer different delivery options, improve communication internally and with other merchants by notifying them directly when an event occurs. With the help of conditions, you can make specializations, for example, when it comes to special products or you also ship to other countries that have different regulations.

Overview: Advantages of the Flow Builder

• You don't need to know programming to set automations
• You save time, as you no longer have to do certain workflows manually
• Also, faster response times to events due to automation
• More flexibility in Shopware settings
• Combination with Rule Builder easily possible
• Multiple conditions can be set. So you can let Shopware handle even complex workflows by itself
• The Flow Builder is free to use in its standard function in Shopware 6
• It adapts to your business model
• The Shopware developers are still working on improving the tool and adding more features
• You can also customize the Flow Builder for your international e-commerce online store and, for example, have a mail sent in the appropriate language

Instructions: Set up a Shopware Flow

In the following, we want to explain to you how you can use the Shopware Flow Builder and create your first flow. For this we have put together a step-by-step guide:

1. First, go to the administration area of your Shopware online store.
2. Now go to the field "Settings". There you will find the tool.
3. By clicking once on this field, you will get to the configuration area, where you can add a new flow.
4. In the next step you can enter general information about the flow. This is the name, description, priority of the flow and whether it should be active.
5. Now switch the tab from general information to flow. There you can create the flow properly.
6. First you select a so-called "trigger". This can be an order, for example.
7. Now you select what should happen when an order comes in. That would be the action. But sometimes it is not enough that an order comes in, so you can set additional conditions. For example, it should also be Sunday, so that the action is triggered.

If you have followed the instructions, you have created your first flow. As you could already read above, the tool is suitable for many events with different conditions. This way, you can quickly optimize your business processes and no longer have to take over recurring tasks yourself.

A short summary of the new features of the Shopware 6.4.6.0 update and especially of the Flow Builder can also be found in the following video:

 

More Shopware Support

The Flow Builder is just one of the many features you can use for your perfect Shopware online store. If you need help to customize the tool for your company or have general questions about the topic of online stores, then you are already in the right place with us at EXWE Shopware Agency. We offer you and your company comprehensive Shopware support and service when it comes to e-commerce. Our programmers are looking forward to working on your project. Just contact us to get to know us in a first conversation.