---
title: "Email automations"
description: "Set up emails that go out on their own when customers order, sign up or stop buying."
url: "https://docs.poltura.com/en/apps/email-automations/"
lang: en
alternates:
  en: "https://docs.poltura.com/en/apps/email-automations/"
  hu: "https://docs.poltura.com/hu/apps/email-automations/"
---

# Email automations

Set up emails that go out on their own when customers order, sign up or stop buying.

- Where: Sales → Automations
- Plans: Plus, Pro
- Status: Beta

An automation is a short series of emails that starts by itself: when a customer places an order, creates an account, or has not ordered for a while. Each automation has a trigger, optional conditions and up to five timed emails. Ready-made recipes cover the common cases, such as a welcome, a thank-you after the first order and a win-back. This feature is in Beta. The app needs "Email campaigns" on your plan. Plus and Pro include it. See [Plan and billing](https://docs.poltura.com/en/settings/plan/).

## Before you start

- The app comes installed on new stores.
- Your business name and postal address are filled in under [Store details](https://docs.poltura.com/en/settings/store/#details). An automation cannot be turned on without them.
- Every automation email is a marketing email: it goes only to customers who agreed to marketing emails. See [Newsletter](https://docs.poltura.com/en/marketing/newsletter/).
- Nothing is sent to customers until the store is live. Test sends to your team work before that. See [Go live](https://docs.poltura.com/en/start/go-live/).

## Set up your first automation

1. Open **Automations** in the **Sales** group of the sidebar. If it is not there, open the **App Store**, choose **Email automations**, then select **Install** and **Turn on**. See [App Store](https://docs.poltura.com/en/apps/#install).
2. Select **Create automation**. A new page opens with the recipes grouped by when they send.
3. Pick a recipe, or choose **Start from scratch** to build your own.
4. Enter a **Name**. Only you and your team see it.
5. Select **Create automation** under the name. The automation opens as a **Draft**. Nothing is sent until you turn it on.
6. Adjust it as described in [Build and run an automation](https://docs.poltura.com/en/apps/email-automations/#automation), then select **Turn on**.

The list shows every automation with its status and the last 30 days' sends, conversions and revenue. Switch between **All**, **Live**, **Paused** and **Drafts**, or search by name. A ready draft can be turned on straight from its row.

![The Automations list with drafts, a live automation and the two built-in rows, each with its status, emails, sends, conversions and revenue](https://docs.poltura.com/screenshots/en/apps/email-automations.webp)

_A draft with an error shows it under its name. Fix it before you turn the automation on._

The list also shows two built-in rows, **Abandoned cart reminder** and **Welcome new subscribers**, under **All**, and under **Live** while they are on. They are set up elsewhere, see [Abandoned cart reminders](https://docs.poltura.com/en/marketing/abandoned-cart/) and [Newsletter](https://docs.poltura.com/en/marketing/newsletter/).

## Settings

The app has no settings of its own in the App Store. Its emails use:

- **Sender name** and **reply-to address**: the store's sender for marketing emails, set under [Settings → Emails](https://docs.poltura.com/en/settings/emails/).

Rules that every automation follows are on the Automations page: select **Sending settings**.

- **Smart sending window**: automations with smart sending on skip anyone who got an automated email within this many hours.
- **Attribution window**: an order placed within this many days of an email counts as that email's conversion.
- **Quiet hours**, with **From** and **Until**: emails due in this period wait until it ends.
- **Time zone**: used for quiet hours and for waits given in days. It follows the store's time zone unless you change it.

Select **Save settings** to keep the changes.

## Build and run an automation

Open an automation from the list. The **Flow** tab shows it from top to bottom: the trigger, the conditions, then each wait and email.

1. Select **Edit** on **Trigger** and choose what starts the automation: **Customer places an order**, **Customer creates an account**, **Customer stops ordering** (with **Days since the last order**) or **Account without an order** (with **Days since signing up**).
2. Select **Edit** on **Only if** to narrow who gets the emails. **Order** conditions are **Order total**, **Products**, **Categories** and **Which order**; they need the order trigger. **Customer** conditions are **Only customers with an account**, **Number of orders**, **Total spent**, **Customer groups** and **Shipping country**. A customer must match every condition that is on.
3. Select the wait above an email to set how long after the trigger, or after the previous email, it goes out: in **Hours** or **Days**. 0 sends it right away.
4. Select **Add email** for a further email. On an email, **Settings** adds a **Coupon**. In its menu, **Move up** and **Move down** change the order and **Delete email** removes it.
5. Open **More actions** and choose **Flow settings** to set **Re-entry** (**Once per customer**, **Again after a break** or **Every time**), **Stop when the customer orders** and **Smart sending**.
6. Fix everything listed under **Fix before turning on**. Each item has a **Fix** link.
7. Select **Turn on**. The status changes to **Live**.

**Pause** stops new sends and **Resume** continues. To add an email to a live automation, pause it first. **Delete automation** under **More actions** removes the automation with its emails and its send history.

The numbers at the top, **Sent**, **Conversions**, **Revenue** and **Skipped**, cover the last 30 days. The **Activity** tab lists every send with its **Status** (**Sent**, **Skipped**, **Failed**), the **Reason** for a skip and the **Converted order**.

## Write the emails

1. On the **Flow** tab, select **Edit email** on an email.
2. Open **Subject & variables** and write the **Subject**. Variables fill in values such as the customer's name.
3. Build the body with **Add block**. Keep the **Unsubscribe** block: an email without it cannot go live.
4. Switch **Language** to write the email in the store's other languages.
5. Check the result with **Light preview** and **Dark preview**.
6. Select **Test send** and pick a team member. Test emails can only go to members of the store's admin team.
7. Save the email and return to the automation.

To offer a discount, choose an existing code under **Coupon** in the email's **Settings**; the code fills the `{couponCode}` variable. Everyone gets the same code, and if the promotion ends, the email is skipped. Create the code first under [Discounts](https://docs.poltura.com/en/discounts/create-a-discount/).

## Monthly runs

A run is one customer going through one automation. It counts once, when the first email of that run is sent, however many emails follow. Customers who are skipped before their first email do not count, and neither do test sends.

| Plan | Runs a month |
| ---- | ------------ |
| Plus | 2,000        |
| Pro  | 20,000       |

The allowance starts again on your billing day every month, on yearly plans too. The automations list shows how many runs you have used and when they reset. Near the limit, a notice offers more room.

At the limit, runs already under way still send all their emails. New runs are skipped until your next billing day, with the reason **Monthly run limit reached** on the **Activity** tab. To make room, add 1,000 more runs a month or move up to Pro. See [Plan and billing](https://docs.poltura.com/en/settings/plan/).

## Good to know

- An automation can send at most five emails, and a wait can be at most 365 days.
- The two day-based triggers are checked every 15 minutes. Only customers who reach the day count after you turn the automation on are included.
- With the triggers **Customer stops ordering** and **Account without an order**, the automation always stops when the customer orders.
- There is no open or click tracking, and no automatic translation in this editor.

## If something goes wrong

- **Turn on is blocked.** The automation has errors. Common ones: **Add an email**, **Email is empty**, **Unsubscribe line missing**, **Add your business details**, **Coupon not available**.
- **"Order conditions need the order trigger".** Remove the order conditions or switch the trigger to **Customer places an order**.
- **A customer did not get an email.** Open the **Activity** tab and read the **Reason**: for example **Not subscribed to marketing emails**, **Got another automated email shortly before** or **The store wasn't live yet**.
- **New customers stopped getting emails, with the reason Monthly run limit reached.** You have used this month's runs. Add more runs or move up a plan; see [Monthly runs](https://docs.poltura.com/en/apps/email-automations/#runs).
- **"Someone else changed this automation."** The latest version is loaded. Make your change again.
- **"Pause the automation to add an email."** Select **Pause**, add the email, then **Resume**.

## Related

- [App Store](https://docs.poltura.com/en/apps/)
- [Broadcasts](https://docs.poltura.com/en/apps/broadcast/)
- [Abandoned cart reminders](https://docs.poltura.com/en/marketing/abandoned-cart/)
- [Newsletter](https://docs.poltura.com/en/marketing/newsletter/)
- [Create a discount](https://docs.poltura.com/en/discounts/create-a-discount/)
- [Emails](https://docs.poltura.com/en/settings/emails/)
- [Store details](https://docs.poltura.com/en/settings/store/)