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.
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.
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%.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Use your data to find your "Whales"—the top 20% of customers who likely generate 80% of your revenue. Treat them differently.
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%.
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).
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.
Don't guess if your shoppers are happy—ask them. But automate it so you don't drown in manual work.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.