Automation
Using Templates
Start from a ready-made automation, or save one of your own workflows as a template to reuse.
Don’t want to start from scratch? Templates are ready-made workflows built by marketing experts. Pick one, customize it to match your brand, and you’re running — in minutes instead of hours.
Plan availability: The xUpsell template library is a paid feature, included on the Basic ($99/mo), Pro ($199/mo) and Premium ($299/mo) plans. On the free plan those cards are locked. Saving your own workflows as templates is free on every plan — templates you build are your own work and stay available to you. To change plans, go to Settings → Plans & billing.
What Is a Template?
A template is a pre-built workflow without a trigger. It includes all the steps — emails, SMS, waits, conditions — already set up for a common marketing goal. When you use a template, you choose the trigger (what starts the workflow), customize the content, and turn it on.
Think of it like a recipe: the template gives you the ingredients and instructions. You add your own flavors and put it in the oven.
Browsing the Template Library
Go to the Templates page to browse all available templates. The page has two tabs:
- xUpsell Templates — ready-made templates built for common marketing goals
- My Templates — templates you’ve saved from your own workflows
Each template card shows:
- Title — What the template is for
- Description — What it does and why it works
- Source — “xUpsell” for our templates, or your store’s name for your own
- Logo — the xUpsell logo, plus the Shopify logo on your own templates
On the free plan: the xUpsell Templates tab shows a banner — “xUpsell Templates require a paid plan” — with a View Plans button, and every card is greyed out with an Upgrade tag. Upgrade to Basic or higher to unlock them.
Using a Template to Create a Workflow
Step by Step
- Go to the Templates page
- Browse for a template that matches your goal
- Click a template to preview it — the whole flow opens on a read-only canvas, so you can inspect every step before committing. Exit takes you back to the list
- Click Use template. xUpsell creates a new draft workflow from the template and opens it in the workflow editor
- Choose your trigger. The Trigger card at the start of the flow says No trigger. Click Select trigger and pick what should start the workflow
- Customize the content:
- Edit email subject lines and body text to match your brand voice
- Adjust wait/delay times if you want different timing
- Change discount amounts or offers
- Modify SMS text
- Add or remove steps
- Your changes save automatically as you work — there’s no Save button. If a step is incomplete, the editor flags the problem and holds the save until you fix it
- When you’re happy, open the workflow from the Workflows page and click Turn on workflow
Good to know: Using a template creates your own copy. You’re free to change anything — the original template stays untouched. And because the new workflow starts as a draft, nothing reaches a customer until you turn it on.
What You Can Customize
When you create a workflow from a template, everything is editable:
| What to Customize | Examples |
|---|---|
| Email subject lines | Change “Don’t forget your cart!” to “Your items are still waiting” |
| Email body content | Add your brand voice, product photos, specific offers |
| SMS text | Rewrite the message and the link |
| Wait times | Change “wait 4 hours” to “wait 2 hours” or “wait 1 day” |
| Conditions | Adjust what’s being checked (cart total, product, whether the person is reachable by email/SMS/push, etc.) |
| Discount values | Change the discount from 10% to 15%, or switch to free shipping |
| Add steps | Insert extra emails, SMS messages, or push notifications |
| Remove steps | Delete steps you don’t need |
| Reorder steps | Drag the cards around on the canvas and reconnect them |
Heads up on personalization: xUpsell does not support merge tags such as
{{first_name}},{{cart_url}}or{{product.title}}. Anything like that is delivered to your customer exactly as you typed it. What does work is{{discount_code}}— in email, SMS and push alike — and only when a Discount step earlier in the same workflow generated a code for that customer. In SMS steps only, four link tags also work:{{store}},{{cart_page}},{{checkout_page}}and{{product_page}}.
Tip: Start by just changing the copy to match your brand. You can always fine-tune timing and offers later based on what your numbers show.
Creating Your Own Templates
Have a workflow that works great and want to reuse it? Save it as a template:
- Open the workflow in the workflow editor
- Click Save as template in the editor’s top bar
- Enter a Label and a Description — both are required
- Click Save
The trigger is stripped out automatically, and your template appears under My Templates on the Templates page. Use it any time to create new workflows.
Important: Templates don’t include the trigger. That’s by design — it’s what makes them reusable. When you use a template to create a workflow, you choose the trigger at that point.
Note: Saving your own template works on every plan, including Free. What a paid plan unlocks is the xUpsell library — the ready-made templates we build. Your own templates are never gated. The one thing no plan allows is publishing a template into the shared xUpsell library; templates you save are private to your store.
Note: Templates can’t be edited or deleted from inside xUpsell. To change one, use it to build a workflow, adjust the workflow, then save that as a new template.
Where Else Templates Show Up
Templates aren’t only on the Templates page:
- Create workflow — the “Create New Workflow” screen has a Browse Templates button next to Select a trigger
- Campaigns — when you build a campaign’s message flow, you can start from a template instead of a blank flow (“New workflow” is the default option). Your own saved templates always appear here; the xUpsell library templates appear too on a paid plan, and on the free plan the picker lists only your own and says why
Templates vs. Workflows
| Template | Workflow | |
|---|---|---|
| Has a trigger | No — you choose one when you use it | Yes — you pick the trigger in the editor |
| Runs automatically | No — it’s a starting point, not an active automation | Yes — when it’s on, it runs on its own |
| Reusable | Yes — use it to create multiple workflows | No — each workflow is its own thing |
| Purpose | A blueprint to get started quickly | An active, running automation |
| Editable | No — save a new template instead | Yes — edit it any time in the editor |
Think of it this way:
- A template is like a recipe you keep in a cookbook
- A workflow is the actual meal you’re cooking right now
Frequently Asked Questions
What plans include the Templates feature?
The xUpsell template library is included on Basic ($99/mo), Pro ($199/mo) and Premium ($299/mo). On the free plan you can still build workflows from scratch, save them as templates, and reuse them — and if you’ve connected your own AI assistant under Settings → Connect AI, it can draft workflows and campaigns for you. Only the ready-made xUpsell library stays locked until you upgrade.
Can I create my own templates?
Yes, on any plan including Free. Open a workflow in the editor, click Save as template, and it becomes available under My Templates for reuse.
Does using a template modify the original?
No. When you use a template, you get your own independent copy. Changes you make don’t affect the original template or any other workflow created from it.
Can I edit or delete a template?
Not from inside xUpsell. There’s no edit or delete control on a template. If a template needs changing, use it to build a workflow, make your changes there, and save that workflow as a new template.
Can my AI assistant create templates?
No. An AI client connected through Settings → Connect AI can create workflows, campaigns and post-purchase offers — always as drafts for you to review — but it has no tool for templates. To make a custom template, build the workflow first (on your own or with your AI’s help), then use Save as template in the workflow editor.
What happens if I downgrade to free — do I lose my template-based workflows?
No. Workflows you already created from templates stay exactly as they are and keep running, within the free plan’s send limit. Templates you’d already saved stay listed under My Templates, and you can still save new ones — that’s free on every plan. The only thing you lose is access to the ready-made xUpsell library, until you move back to a paid plan.
Can I share templates with other stores?
No. Templates you save belong to your store. You can’t share them between different Shopify stores.
How many templates can I create?
There’s no limit, on any plan including free. One thing to know if you save a lot of them: the Templates page loads up to 250 at a time, and if you have more it shows a warning saying some aren’t listed.