How to set up a Welcome offer automated flow

Use the Welcome offer Automate template to offer a product as a subscription at a discounted price, and then automatically change the product, and price, for all recurring orders.

This guide explains how to set up a Welcome offer automated flow to provide customers with an introductory product at a discounted rate while seamlessly creating a subscription with a different product for recurring orders.

How it works

Use the Welcome offer automated flow to offer customers one product on their initial purchase and automatically update their subscription for future orders.

After orders enter the flow, the Conditional Branch node routes customers based on the product in their processed order. Each branch is assigned an Update subscription node, where you can update the subscription after the customer's initial order.

Example

A specialty coffee roaster runs a monthly coffee subscription service in which members receive freshly roasted beans curated by its barista team. To entice new customers to join, they set up an automated Welcome Offer flow that gives customers a discounted sampler pack for their first order, then automatically transitions them to the standard subscription price.

Editing Automate flows

You can edit an Automate flow at any time. Once a flow has been activated at least once, saving changes creates a new version of the flow. This lets you update the flow without rebuilding it from scratch.

To learn how flow versions behave and how analytics are affected, see How to edit Automate flows using flow versioning.

Step 1 - Create your products in Shopify

Create the product in Shopify, and add a subscription plan to it in Recharge.

1. Log in to your Shopify admin and add the new product:
   • Welcome offer product: Create the welcome offer product with discounted pricing to encourage customers to signup.
     • To prevent customer confusion, Recharge recommends keeping the products unpublished in Shopify until you’ve activated the flow.
2. After creating the product in Shopify, navigate to your Recharge merchant admin and select Products from the Products menu.
3. Locate the new product from the product list, and add a subscription plan.

Step 2 - Create the flow

Create the Welcome offer automated flow in your Recharge merchant portal:

1. From the merchant portal, click Products and select Automate.
2. Select Create from template under Welcome offer, and click Get started!
3. Select Manage settings to add a title and a description.

You can now access the flow canvas and build the Welcome offer automated flow. This flow uses a standard template designed by Recharge. By default, you cannot change the Smart loop node.

Step 3 – Configure trigger conditions

Trigger conditions determine which orders can enter the flow. Recharge recommends configuring trigger conditions so only orders containing the Welcome offer product enter the automation.

To configure trigger conditions:

1. On the flow canvas, click the Trigger node.

2. Click Add to create a trigger condition.

3. Select Processed charge line item.

4. Choose the appropriate operator (for example, Equals).

5. Select the Welcome offer product.

6. Click Apply, then Save.

Only orders that meet these conditions will enter the flow.

Step 4 - Configure the Conditional Branch node

After setting trigger conditions, use the Conditional Branch node to route qualifying orders and apply the appropriate subscription update.

Update the multiple Condition Branch nodes within the flow and assign customers to specific branches based on the product they’re subscribed to. The default Welcome offer template has three branches: Branch 1, Branch 2, and Else:

• Branch 1: Uses the Line item condition to determine if the customer’s order contains the Welcome offer product. If the customer is subscribed to the specified product, they enter this branch, and Recharge applies the automated action.
• Branch 2: Uses the Line item condition to determine if the customer’s order contains a different  product. If the customer is subscribed to the specified product, they enter this branch, and Recharge applies the automated action.
• Else: If the customer’s order does not contain the specified product, the Else branch is entered, and Recharge does not apply the automated action.

You can configure only Branch 1 and delete Branch 2 to offer multiple Welcome offers, or delete Branch 2 altogether. Configure your branches:

1. Select the Conditional Branch node on the flow canvas.
2. Click on the pencil icon next to Branch 1 to edit the branch.
3. Add a Branch name.
4. Select Processed charge line item from the object dropdown menu.
5. Select Variant from the attribute dropdown menu.
6. Select Equals, Doesn’t equal, or Only equals from the operator dropdown menu.
7. Click + Add product to select the product Recharge should look for when processing the order.
8. Search for the product, select it, and click Apply.
9. Click +Add branch to add more branches, or click Apply to save your configuration.

You should now have at least two branches configured on the template: one for customers who purchase the Welcome offer product and one for customers who do not.

Duplicate a branch

If your branches use similar logic, you can duplicate an existing branch instead of creating a new one from scratch.

To duplicate a branch:

1. Open the Conditional Branch node.

2. Select the branch you want to copy.

3. Click Duplicate branch.

4. Update the condition values as needed.

5. Click Apply.

The duplicated branch appears directly below the original and includes all associated nodes on the canvas.

Step 5 - Configure the Update subscription node

The Update subscription node determines what happens after Recharge processes the order.

Update the Update subscription node to change the Welcome offer subscription to your standard recurring subscription:

1. Select the Update subscription node on the flow canvas.
2. Set the subscription properties, such as the order frequency, product price, quantity, and product and variant title. You can also add one of the following options under Order date:
   • Frequency-based delay: Adds a delay to the next charge date based on the subscription’s set frequency (e.g., every 30 days, every 2 months).
     • Use this when you want the delay to maintain alignment with the customer’s subscription cadence. For example, if a customer is on a monthly subscription, a frequency-based delay of one period will schedule the next charge for one full subscription cycle after the triggering event.
   • Order-based delay: Schedules the next charge to occur a set number of days after the triggering order is placed.
     • Use this when you want to control the delay in absolute time (e.g., 10 days), regardless of the subscription’s billing frequency. This is useful when fulfillment time or product usage needs dictate the timing of the next charge.
   • Date-based delay: Sets the next charge to occur on a specific calendar date.
     • Use this when the next charge must happen on a fixed date, such as the 1st of the month or a seasonal deadline. It’s ideal for aligning charges with events, holidays, or custom billing schedules.
3. Click Apply to save your node setup.

After configuring the node, the new subscription properties will apply to the customer's recurring orders.

Optional - Select a plan

If the selected product variant has subscription plans, you can choose a subscription or quantity upsell plan instead of setting a custom order frequency. When you select a plan, the plan determines the price, and Recharge disables price overrides. If the selected plan is a quantity upsell plan, Recharge also disables the quantity input.

To select a plan:

1. In the Order frequency dropdown, select Choose a plan.
2. Select a plan from the dropdown.

Optional - Add additional actions to the canvas

Step 6 - Set your products to active in Shopify

Update your product in Shopify so that customers can purchase the Welcome offer product:

1. Set the product status to Active.
2. Set the Welcome product to available on your online store.

Step 7 - Save and test the automated flow

Click Save in the top-right corner to save your flow.

You can test the automated flow before activating it to ensure it works as intended. See How to test Automate flows for detailed instructions.

Step 8 - Activate the flow

Select Activate in the top right corner to enable the flow.

Once you activate the flow, Recharge evaluates eligible charges against the flow’s trigger conditions and applies the flow when conditions are met.

Considerations

Resources

Getting started

• Getting started with Automate

Additional template set-up instructions

• How to set up a Kit unpacking automated flow
• How to set up a Starter pack to refill swap automated flow
• How to set up an Ongoing sequence automated flow
• How to set up a Fixed sequence automated flow
• How to set up a Trial to subscription automated flow
• How to set up a Scheduled quarterly shipments experience