Zapier: Workflow Automation

Zapier no longer has a free option for Shopify and, therefore, stopped working and won't allow you to connect back to Shopify unless you have a paid Zapier account.

Zapier allows me to automate repetitive tasks between Shopify and countless other apps I use. From adding new customers to email lists to updating inventory in my fulfillment system, Zapier takes the manual work out of the equation, saving me precious time.

After using Zapier for years, one day one of our Shopify stores stopped connecting. Every time we're trying to connect it to Zapier, we get "This auth is expired. Please reconnect it here."
- No matter what we tried, Zapier will not connect to our store out of a sudden.
- Their customer service pretty much said we're on our own after years of working with them and they can't help us. They will file a ticket internally and only IF there is enough complaints like this, then someone will work on this issue.

This app is AWESOME. I always thought, "wouldn't it be great if I could..." without realizing that I can, using Zapier. I'm feeling a little impatient for some of the other services I use (AHEM, SHIPSTATION) to get on the bandwagon and make some integrations available through Zapier so I and everybody else can run our businesses more efficiently. But this app has already saved me so, so much admin time. Love it.

If you need to get data out of Shopify into another system this is the way to go. All our orders are in Salesforce thanks to this app.

There are some things I would like it to do that it doesn't, though these aren't the app's fault. Some of the data that comes out of Shopify is incomplete or formatted weird, which required lots of work on the Salesforce end to get it to work (triggers, etc). However, it couldn't have been done at all without Zapier.

We're a non-profit, and they were willing to let us use the app for free. So what could I complain about, really?

UPDATE 12/12/18:
Wow - we have been saving a lot of time for a long time now. The zaps described below in our original review are outdated. Zapier has also become even more powerful (multi-step zaps with alternate paths).

We now do way more and with some different apps (HelpScout, Base, TypeForm). New customers get emails asking how they found us (and a follow-up after a week if they don't respond). They are also added to HelpScout in case we need to reach out. Canadian customers get special emails about customs. Customers ordering free samples or abandoning checkout are added to Base as Deals. On shipment, customers get special instructions about receiving freight. Customers who purchase after requesting samples are logged in a "converted sampler" Google Sheet. Results from TypeForm "How They Found Us" are shared in a different Google Sheet with our PPC agency.

In short, if you can map a business process out, you can improve your efficiency by automating with Zapier. And, of course, top-notch support is there to help you along the way.

ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM 2013:
We absolutely LOVE Zapier. Super easy to use, super powerful, super support. So far we have connected up Shopify to Desk.com (which we also love) and a Google Spreadsheet Form Results doc to Zoho CRM. The combination of Zapier and Desk.com is amazing. It is allowing us to automatically make sure we give attention to certain orders. For example, when a customer does not enter a shipping phone number, Zapier will create a case so long as "Mail" is not in the shipping line data since we don't need a phone number in those cases so no harm. We set the subject of the case via Zapier to include the order number and "is missing a phone number." Desk's rules take over and send a special email requesting the info from the customer where the case title contains that phrase. All fast, all automatic, all simple to get going. Support is great too. I asked a question about our Desk.com custom fields since we want more data from Shopify transferred. Support made it happen with the hour. Zapier makes great apps like Desk.com even more powerful.

Zapier continually provides our business with workaround solutions that would otherwise be impossible.

Long story short, great user interface, A+ reliability, endless possibilities for custom implementations, and definitely worth the money.

Most recently we created a Zapier "Zap" that triggers a custom email in gmail when a new order is placed in Shopify. The Zap receives all relevant information from the order (customer name, billing address, billing city, shipping state, etc. etc. etc.), and also includes an email address that is stored as a custom attribute within shopify (process deatiled at http://bit.ly/1fJT2fa ). The zap then sends an email to that person through our gmail account. For our specific purposes this email says "Greetings {CustomAttributeName}, {Customer Name} has just placed an order in support of your fundraiser." but I imagine you could use this same functionality if you ask a customer at checkout to "Refer a Friend" or something like that.

We love Zapier for the fact that it has helped our company integrate our webstore with Salesforce which has saved our sales reps a ton of time with lead generation and pipeline management.

Zapier is the missing glue that can help with automation of processes within Shopify.

With a creative implementation of Zapier could well make up for dozens of other paid apps within the app marketplace and helps get the most out of your Shopify experience

Just lovin it - Zapier and Shopify is a marriage made in heaven :)!