What are Flow Steps?
Flow steps are the building blocks of your automated flows. They're like instructions that tell yourTxtCart Flow what to do, when to do it, and who should receive your messages.
There are three types of Flow Steps:
Step Actions - Individual actions like sending a message
Step Listeners - This step type reacts to a customer action (e.g., a received response)
Step Rules - Rules are a configurable piece of logic that controls how users move through your flow.
Note: While Flow Steps control what happens in your Flows, Flow Properties control the general rules that apply to your entire flow, like who can enter the flow and how often. These settings can vary depending on the flow type you're creating. Learn more about Flow Trigger Properties here.
Step Actions
Actions are steps that actively do something in your flow, like sending a message or adding a tag. There are currently four Step Actions:
Send Message
Send Auto-Reply Text Message
Add Tag
Add to Flow
1. Send Message
What it does: Sends a text message to your subscribers.
When to use: This is your primary communication tool in any flow. Use it to send promotions, reminders, updates, or any other content.
What you can include:
Plain text messages
Short Links (short, trackable URLs)
Dynamic Fields (personalized information)
Discount codes
Images and media
1.1 Short Links
What it does: Creates trackable, shortened links in your messages so you can see who clicks.
Available link types:
Product Link: Adds a product to the customer’s shopping cart
Discount Link: A link that automatically applies a discount code
Abandoned Checkout: Link back to the customer's incomplete checkout
UTM Tracking: Add custom UTM parameters (e.g, utm_medium=sms) to track campaign performance and see which subscribers clicked your links.
You can configure your Short Link subdomain in your TxtCart settings
1.2 Dynamic Fields
What it does: Adds placeholders that automatically change for each subscriber based on your trigger event.
How to use: Click the {} icon to insert a dynamic field, select the category and field, and it will be added as a variable that automatically populates with the correct information for each subscriber.
Example:
"Hi Subscriber.Name! Your Product.Name is waiting in your cart for only Product.Price!" would look like this for a subscriber called John, who left a Digital Watch valued at $199 USD in their shopping cart:
"Hi John! Your Digital Watch is waiting in your cart for only 199 USD!"
1.3 Discounts
What it does: Create unique discount codes that you can send to subscribers in your flow messages.
How it works: Create customizable discount codes directly inside your flow. These codes automatically sync to your Shopify discounts section.
Currently, there are 3 discount types: Order Off, Amount Off, and Free Shipping.
To learn more about these discount types, click here.
Important: Each discount code must be unique to prevent conflicts. Discounts can be customized in the flow or later in your Shopify discounts section.
After a discount is created, you can modify it from your Shopify Discounts section in your Shopify Admin
2. Send Auto-Reply Text Message
What it does: Sends a text message and creates different paths based on exact keyword replies. Subscribers automatically go down different branches depending on what they respond.
Two message formats:
Keywords with descriptions
Shows subscribers a menu of options with short descriptions
Best for complex choices or collecting subscriber preferences
Subscribers must reply with the exact keyword to trigger the path
List of Keywords
Simple keyword list without descriptions
Best for straightforward yes/no responses or simple choices
Cleaner, more concise message format
Use cases:
Product category selection
Customer service routing
Feedback collection
Preference gathering
Size/variant selection
Note: We don’t recommend using this Step Action in Checkout Abandonment flows. Our AI will automatically handle customer replies for you.
3. Add Tag
What it does: Adds a label or tag to the subscriber's profile based on their actions in the flow.
When to use: When you need to organize and segment subscribers for future targeting and campaigns.
4. Add to Flow
What it does: Automatically enrolls the subscriber into another flow while they're in the current flow.
When to use: When you need to connect two flow sequences and guide subscribers through multiple journeys.
Step Listeners
Listeners wait for a specific customer action before moving them to the next step in your flow.
1. Link Clicked
What it does: Creates two separate paths based on whether the subscriber clicked a link in your previous message.
When to use:
To send follow-ups only to engaged subscribers
To offer additional discounts to non-clickers
To measure interest levels
To personalize the next message based on engagement
2. Response Received
What it does: Creates two separate paths based on whether the subscriber replied to your message.
When to use:
For interactive flows where you need customer input
To identify engaged subscribers
To route to customer service if questions arise
To personalize follow-up based on interest level
Step Rules
Rules help you control the flow path, timing, and optimization based on conditions or testing.
1. Wait
What it does: Pauses your flow for a specific amount of time before moving to the next step.
When to use: This helps to space out messages appropriately and avoid overtexting subscribers. It can also create the illusion of manually sent messages.
2. Decision
What it does: Splits customers into different paths based on specific conditions you set.
When to use: To personalize the customer journey based on subscriber data, behavior, or purchase history.
3. A/B Test
What it does: Tests up to 6 different message variations at the same time to see which one performs best.
When to use: To experiment with different messages, offers, or timing to find what works best with your audience.
How it works: The test runs continuously without automatically picking a winner. You need to manually review analytics to see which variation performed best, then update your flow accordingly.
What to test:
Different message copy or tone
Different offers or discounts
Different Call-to-Actions
Emojis vs. No emojis
Shorter vs. Longer messages
Media vs. No media
4. Optimized A/B Test
What it does: Runs an A/B Test that automatically picks the winning variation based on your chosen criteria. After the test is completed, all future subscribers will automatically receive the winning version of the message.
Traffic split options:
You can either split your Flow’s traffic evenly (50/50) between your variations, or choose a custom traffic split (e.g, 60/40).
Choose the Winning Criteria based on:
Click conversion rate
Earning per message
Message conversion rate
Unique Click Through Rate (UCTR)
Duration:
Set how long the test runs before automatically picking a winner.
How it works:
During the test period, subscribers are split between variations based on your traffic settings
TxtCart tracks performance based on your chosen winning criteria
After the duration ends, the system will automatically identify the winning variation
All future subscribers receive only the winning variation
When to use: When you want TxtCart to automatically optimize your messaging and always send the best-performing version without manual intervention.
5. End Flow
What it does: Stops the flow immediately for subscribers who reach this step.
When to use:
After a subscriber completes the desired action (purchase, signup, etc.)
At the end of conditional branches
When a subscriber should exit the flow early
Best practice: Always include End Flow steps after decision branches to ensure subscribers don't receive irrelevant messages.
Build Effective Flows:
Combine actions strategically: Mix Actions, Listeners, and Rules to create personalized journeys that respond to subscriber behavior.
💡Tip:
Still have questions?
Please feel free to reach out to our wonderful Support team at support@txtcartapp.com or via Live Chat.