The Top 10 Money-Making Automations Every Shopware Merchant Needs in 2026

As a Shopware merchant, you have a powerful engine for building your store. But let’s be honest: building the store is just the start. The real magic happens when you turn that store into a 24/7 sales machine that treats every customer like a VIP—without you lifting a finger.

That’s where Marketing Automation and a Customer Data Platform (CDP) like Custobar come in. It’s not just about saving time; it’s about delivering the right message when your customer is emotionally ready to buy.

Here are the top 10 automation flows you need to switch on to maximize your Shopware store's potential.

1. The "Warm Welcome" Series

This isn't just a "Thanks for subscribing" email. It is your digital handshake. The moment a new visitor signs up via a Shopware footer or a pop-up form, they are actively interested. Capitalize on this immediately.

Concrete Example:

• Email 1 (Immediate): "Welcome to the family! Here is your 10% discount code." Keep it short, punchy, and deliver the value immediately.
• Email 2 (2 days later): "Our Best Sellers." Showcase your most popular categories or products based on what they browsed before signing up. (You can use Custobar’s automated top product recommendations for the client here)
• Email 3 (5 days later): "Our Story." A bit of brand building to create an emotional connection + some product recommendations in the bottom

Why this works

The Emotional Hook: New subscribers are in the "honeymoon phase." They want to like you. By rewarding them immediately and guiding them through your best offerings, you validate their decision to join your list. The Data: Welcome automations are conversion powerhouses. In high season, we’ve seen purchase process automations (like welcome flows) reach conversion rates as high as 51%.

2. The Abandoned Cart Saver

This is the classic revenue rescuer. A customer adds items to their ecommerce cart but leaves without paying. They wanted the product, but life got in the way.

Concrete Example:

• Message 1 (1 hour later): A friendly nudge via email. "Did you forget something?" Show the exact products left in the cart.
• Message 2 (24 hours later): "Still thinking about it?" Add a small incentive (like free shipping) or social proof (reviews of the items in the cart).
• Channel Mix: If you have their mobile number and permission, sending an SMS reminder can be incredibly effective for urgent recovery.

Why this works

The Emotional Hook: It reduces cognitive load. You are saving the customer the effort of searching for those items again. It feels like a helpful service, not just a sales pitch. The Data: On average, recovering abandoned carts can bring back substantial revenue. Our data shows win-back campaigns and reminders can activate nearly 40% of inactive customers.

3. The "Browse Abandonment" Nudge

This is for the window shoppers. They viewed a specific product or category on your Shopware site multiple times but never added anything to the cart. They are interested but not yet on the level of adding product to the shopping cart or actually buying. The conversion rate of these clients is obviously lower than with “Abandoned Basket” automations, however the sheer number of these clients is much higher than “Abandoned basket” automations, which makes it a great revenue driver.

Concrete Example:

• Trigger: Customer views the "Hiking Boots" category 3 times in one week, without adding it to the shopping cart or buying from online or offline store.
• Automation: Send an email highlighting your top-rated hiking boots with a subject line: "Ready for your next adventure?" or if you have guides like “How to choose the perfect hiking boots for you” you that instead!
• Cross-sell: Include a "Customers also bought" section with hiking socks or care kits.

Why this works

The Emotional Hook: It signals, "We pay attention to what you like" and when using a guide in the content, it makes the selection process easier. It feels personalized and timely, catching them while the interest is still fresh in their mind. The Data: These are warm leads. Targeting customers based on browsing behavior (e.g., viewing a product but not buying) drastically increases relevance compared to mass mailing.

4. The "Passive Customer" Wake-Up Call

Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) are rising. It is roughly 5x more expensive to get a new client than to keep an existing one. Don't let your old customers fade away. With Custobar’s dynamic RFM-matrix you can even make different offers/automation versions based on how good the client actually is.

Concrete Example:

• Segment: Customers who haven't bought in 6 months (based on Recency in the RFM matrix).
• Action: Send a "We miss you" email or SMS with a special "Comeback" offer code valid for 48 hours.
• Example from the field: An interior design company used an SMS activation for passives and generated nearly €300,000 in sales with a cost of just €2,800.

Why this works

The Emotional Hook: Everyone likes to feel missed. A personalized "We haven't seen you in a while" message makes the customer feel valued, not just like a transaction number. The Data: Re-activating passives is high-ROI work. Even a simple SMS campaign to passives can yield massive returns, as seen in the example above. Think about also doing a separate automation for your VIP’s who are becoming passive; these are the clients you really don’t want to lose and might be willing to offer them even bigger perk to come back.

5. The Post-Purchase Care & Upsell

The sale doesn't end at checkout. In fact, that's when the relationship begins. Use the data from Shopware to send relevant follow-ups.

Concrete Example:

• Scenario: A customer buys a leather sofa.
• Automation (7 days post-delivery): Send a "Care Guide" email with tips on maintaining leather.
• Upsell: In the same email, recommend your best-selling leather conditioner or matching throw pillows.

Why this works

The Emotional Hook: You are shifting from "Seller" to "Expert Advisor." By offering help (care instructions) before asking for another sale, you build trust. The upsell then feels like a helpful suggestion, not a cash grab and also keeps you “top of mind”
The Data: Existing clients are 14x more likely to buy from you than a new one.
Top tip: You can even make another version of this automation that sends care instructions and links to care products once a year. Especially in current climate where ecological choices are important, showing that you take pride in guiding your clients on how to care for products they bought from you, is usually highly respected.

6. The VIP Treatment (Loyalty Booster)

Use your data to find your "Whales"—the top 20% of customers who likely generate 80% of your revenue. Treat them differently.

Concrete Example:

• Segment: Customers with a high Lifetime Value (LTV) or high purchase frequency (for example from the RFM-matrix).
• Automation: A surprise "Thank You" email with early access to a sale, a secret discount code, or an invitation to a VIP event. Sometimes even saying in the message that they are “Very special and highly respected clients” makes a big difference - in the end who wouldn’t like to be called “special”.

Why this works

The Emotional Hook: Status and exclusivity. Making your best customers feel like "insiders" deepens their emotional loyalty to your brand. They feel recognized.

The Data: Increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profitability by 25-95%.

7. The Birthday Greeting

It sounds simple, but it is incredibly effective. It requires collecting the birth date (which you can do progressively via pop-ups or at checkout).

Concrete Example:

• Action: Send an automated email or SMS on their birthday (or the anniversary of their first purchase/loyalty membership).
• Offer: "Happy Birthday, [Name]! Here is a gift for you: Free shipping on your next order."

Why this works

The Emotional Hook: It’s personal and purely positive. It’s a gift, not a bill. It creates a positive micro-moment that keeps your brand top-of-mind. The Data: Personalized messages like these drive engagement.

8. The NPS / Feedback Loop

Don't guess if your shoppers are happy—ask them. But automate it so you don't drown in manual work.

Concrete Example:

• Trigger: 7 days after an order is marked "Shipped" in Shopware.
• Automation: Send a simple Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey: "How likely are you to recommend us?".
• Follow-up: If they give a high score, trigger an automation asking for a public review. If low, trigger an alert to customer support.

Why this works

The Emotional Hook: It shows you care about their opinion. For unhappy customers, it provides a vent (stopping them from leaving a bad public review). For happy customers, it reinforces their positive decision.

The Data: Two questions are enough. Keep it simple to keep response rates high.

ToP tip: For your VIP clients (segment from RFM or your own high value client segment of choice) who gave a good NPS you could even trigger a thank you automation with a discount code to share with friends and family. A high value customer giving you a good score is great in itself, but harnessing those to also actively promote you with their praise (and a small discount code) will do wonders!

9. The "Store-to-Web" Bridge (Omnichannel Converter)

In most countries the high street is still king. But often, your loyal in-store customers are complete strangers to your ecommerce. This flow fixes that by turning anonymous walk-ins into identified, omnichannel spenders.

Concrete Example:

• Trigger: A customer makes a purchase in your physical store (identified via a digital receipt, loyalty card, or email entry at POS).
• The Logic: Custobar checks their profile. If they have no online purchases, then this automation triggers.
• Message (24 hours later): "Thanks for visiting us in [store name]! Did you know we’re open 24/7 online? Here is a code for free shipping on your first web order."
• Follow-up: Include a "Click & Collect" guide to show them how easy it is to shop online and pick up locally.

Why this works

The Emotional Hook: It bridges the gap. You are acknowledging their physical visit (which feels personal and attentive) while solving a convenience problem they might not know they had. You aren't just selling; you are offering a service. The Data: This is a loyalty multiplier. Data consistently shows that omnichannel customers (those who shop both online and offline) have a 30% higher Lifetime Value (LTV) than single-channel shoppers. You are essentially upgrading your customer's value tier automatically.

10. The Enriched Transactional Message

Most merchants let their e-commerce platform or ERP send boring, plain-text receipts. And eventhough in Shopware these are state of the art, you can do even better. Don't waste this prime real estate! Transactional emails have the highest open rates of all, and making them look just as good and engaging as your marketing messages can be difference that makes a difference.

Concrete Example:

• Action: Use Custobar to design your Shopware Order Confirmation emails and other transactional messages.
• Enrichment: Add a dynamic "Recommended for You" product block at the bottom of the receipt based on what they just bought. Or do a module that asks for marketing permission by clicking a button, and make that visible only to those clients who don’t yet have marketing permission on.
  
  

Why this works

The Emotional Hook: The customer is excited—they just bought something! They are staring at the email to confirm the details. It is the perfect, non-intrusive moment to say, "Psst, this scarf goes great with that jacket you just ordered."

The Data: You can control the look and feel 100% and use it to drive incremental revenue without sending a separate "sales" email.

Ready to turn these on?

These automations aren't just "nice to haves"—they are the difference between a store that struggles for every sale and one that grows effortlessly.

Book a time for an in depth demo to explore these for you!