Instant AI offers a Welcome Flow that can send new shoppers an email and enrol them in their first flow. To help customers opt-in to a Welcome Flow, you can use an Instant AI Sign-up form OR you can use the Instant AI Welcome flow in conjunction with an alternative providers sign-up form.

Option 1: Use Instant Sign-Up Forms + Instant Welcome Flow

Instant Sign-Up Forms appear on your Shopify storefront as a popup, flyout, full page or banner. You build them in a block editor, and they take their fonts, colours and button styles from your Brand Kit. For how to build one, see Instant AI Sign-up Forms.

The benefits of using Instant for both the form and the flow include:

  • Full integration: subscribers captured trigger your Welcome Flow instantly.
  • Fully branded: your Brand Kit fonts, colours and button styles are applied automatically.
  • Zero-party data: quiz answers are saved to each shopper’s profile.

Coupons and offers

  • Make sure you have a coupon added in Instant Coupons.
  • By default, we don’t assign a coupon and you will need to pick an option.
  • By default, your selected coupon will assign to Welcome Flows, but you can confirm this by clicking Settings inside the Coupons page.
  • Your sign-up form shows your offer as text that you write in the editor. It does not show the coupon code. The code is sent in your Welcome Flow.
  • If you change your coupon, update the offer text on your sign-up form too. For example, if you change from 10% off to 15% off, edit the text on your form to say 15%.
  • If you’re using Smart Coupons, write “exclusive discount” on your form instead of an exact amount, because the discount is set for each shopper.

Capturing Phone Numbers

  • To capture a phone number, add a step to your form with a Field block, and set its type to Phone.
  • Instant adds a Disclosure block with the phone field. Keep it, because you cannot publish an SMS step without it.
  • Turn on Let shoppers skip in the Configuration panel if you want shoppers to be able to skip a step without giving their phone number.
  • We recommend keeping email and phone on separate steps, as we’ve seen that two distinct steps help boost sign-up rates.
  • Phone numbers are saved against the shopper, so you can send them SMS from Instant AI.

Option 2: Use External Pop-Ups (Klaviyo or Alia) + Instant Welcome Flow

If you already use Klaviyo or Alia for your pop-ups, you don’t need to integrate anything extra. As long as you’re live with Instant AI, our pixel automatically detects new sign-ups and feeds them into your Welcome Flow.

Important checks when using external forms

  • Match your offer: make sure the discount or offer displayed in your external pop-up matches what you’ve set up in Instant AI. For example, don’t show “Sign up for 10% off” in Alia and then send a Welcome Flow email from Instant without that 10% coupon.
  • Using Smart Coupons: because the discount is generated dynamically, we recommend your external pop-up also use wording like “exclusive” or “mystery” discount instead of a fixed % off. Instant does not automatically adjust wording in Klaviyo or Alia forms.
  • Subscriber capture: all submissions through Klaviyo or Alia pop-ups will automatically trigger the Welcome Flow in Instant AI. No manual setup required.

Customising Your Welcome Flow

Whether you use Instant’s forms or another provider, the Welcome Flow behaves the same way:

  • By default, subscribers receive their first email instantly, including your set coupon, brand voice, and recommended products.
  • You can customise the design and content in the Template Editor.
  • By default, the coupon is shown in the first email so shoppers can use it right away.

Quick Checklist

Follow these steps to make sure your Sign-Up Forms and Welcome Flow are set up for success:

  1. Choose your path
    1. Option 1: Instant Sign-Up Form.
    2. Option 2: External pop-up (Klaviyo or Alia).
  2. Configure your coupon
    1. Add or confirm your coupon in Instant Coupons.
    2. By default, coupons are not assigned, so you’ll need to pick one.
    3. By default, your selected coupon will assign to Welcome Flows, but you can confirm this under Settings > Flows.
    4. Make sure the offer text on your sign-up form matches your coupon. If using Smart Coupons, use “exclusive discount” wording.
    5. If using Klaviyo/Alia, update your wording manually to avoid mismatched offers.
  3. Enable your Welcome Flow
    1. Go to AI Flows > Welcome Flow.
    2. Toggle the flow ON.
  4. Preview your Flow
    1. If using Instant’s form, click Signup Form in the left menu, then open the Template tab to check the design and offer.
    2. If using Klaviyo/Alia, confirm your pop-up is live in their platform.
  5. Customise your Welcome Flow
    1. Open the Template Editor to update design, messaging, or product recommendations.
    2. By default, the coupon is shown in the first email.
  6. Send a test email
    1. Use the “Send Test” feature inside your Welcome Flow to confirm the content, coupon, and design.
  7. Monitor performance
    1. After going live, track how many Welcome Flow emails are being sent in your dashboard. This confirms subscribers are entering correctly and helps you measure success.

FAQ

What happens if someone signs up twice? Instant AI won’t re-enrol a subscriber into the Welcome Flow if they’ve already been through it.

Do I need to connect Klaviyo or Alia manually? No, as long as Instant AI is live on your store, our pixel automatically connects to those forms assuming that you have an existing Klaviyo integration.

Where do new subscribers go? They’re added to your subscriber list in Instant AI. You can use them in flows and campaigns. If you’re integrated with Klaviyo, these will automatically sync as new profiles plus we automatically sync these over with Marketing Consent to Shopify.

Do I have to configure discounts twice? If you use Instant’s sign-up form: your coupon is sent in the Welcome Flow automatically, but you write the offer text on the form yourself. Update it when you change your coupon. If you use Klaviyo or Alia: yes, you should double-check your pop-up offer matches what’s in Instant AI.

When will my pop-up show? Instant’s sign-up form shows after the Pop-up delay you choose in the Configuration panel: Immediate, Short, Medium or Long. External pop-ups show according to your provider’s own logic.