How to Automate Shopify with Make (2026): Orders, Inventory & Slack Alerts
You can automate Shopify with Make to send paid-order and low-stock alerts to Slack. Start with two small scenarios: one listens for paid orders, the other for inventory changes. Keep stock changes in Shopify while you learn how the alerts behave.
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Concept artwork, not a screenshot of Shopify, Make or Slack.
Published 6 October 2026. Based on official documentation checked on 5 October 2026. This is a documented setup guide, not a claim of hands-on store testing.
Is this worth setting up?
Yes, if your team uses Slack and keeps checking Shopify for the same updates. Make is useful when you want rules across several apps. If Shopify's existing notifications already cover your needs, another automation may add maintenance without much benefit.
What you will build
| Scenario | Trigger | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid-order alert | An order becomes paid | A short Slack message with its reference and value |
| Low-stock alert | Inventory changes at a location | A Slack message when available stock is at or below your threshold |
These are notifications. They do not fulfil orders, buy replacement stock or change inventory. Keeping those actions separate makes the first version easier to check.
Before you start
- A paid Shopify account, which Make lists as a requirement for its Shopify app.
- A Make account and permission to install or authorise its Shopify connection.
- A Slack workspace where you can connect Make and use a test channel.
- A test product, a known inventory location and a safe way to create test orders.
Use a test channel such as #shopify-automation-test. Decide who will act on each alert before connecting the live team channel. Keep customer addresses, telephone numbers and payment details out of the messages.
1. Connect Shopify and Slack
Create a Make scenario and add Shopify → Watch events (advanced). For an instant module, create its webhook, then choose Create a connection. Select the standard Shopify connection. Enter the store prefix requested by Make: for example.myshopify.com, that is example. Save and approve the Make app in Shopify.
Review the permissions before approving. Use the same connection for this store where possible: Make warns that multiple connections using the same app and store can overwrite their available scopes. If a topic reports a missing permission, edit the connection and authorise the required scope.
Add Slack → Send a Message and connect the appropriate workspace. Select the test channel. If using a bot connection, add the bot to that channel; otherwise Make can report “Channel Not Found”.
References: Make's Shopify connection guide and Slack module documentation.
2. Use a paid-order event
In the Shopify trigger's Event topic field, enter ORDERS_PAID. This is the GraphQL topic value for Shopify's orders/paid event. Make's advanced trigger takes the enum value, so do not substitute the slash-form topic name.
Shopify defines this event as an order becoming paid. A newly created order can still be unpaid. Likewise, an order update can be a fulfilment or other change. Choosing the paid event keeps the purpose of your message clear.
Use Run once, then create an appropriate test order and complete its test payment. Check the received bundle in Make. A bundle is the set of values passed to the next module. Do not assume an old order will be replayed when you start listening.
Make's event-topic setup notes and Shopify's topic reference explain the topic format and permissions.
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3. Map a useful Slack message
In Send a Message, map the actual values from your sample. Keep the first message short. The following is a fictional example, not a real order:
Paid Shopify order: #1042 Order value: GBP 48.00 Next step: review the order in Shopify.
| Message field | Map from the sample | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Order reference | The readable order name or number | Use a stable order ID separately for duplicate handling |
| Value | Order total | Match the currency to that same amount |
| Currency | Currency attached to the selected total | Do not type GBP for every order in a multi-currency store |
Field labels can vary with the module and payload. Inspect your sample rather than typing the example values. If a required value is absent, investigate the output or add Get an order to retrieve it. Do not publish empty or misleading amounts.
A paid alert is not approval to ship. Staff still need to check the order's current status, holds and fulfilment details in Shopify. Refunds and later cancellations need their own workflow if your team wants alerts for them.
4. Build the low-stock scenario separately
Create another scenario with Shopify → Watch events (advanced). Set its Event topic to INVENTORY_LEVELS_UPDATE. Use the existing Shopify connection with the necessary inventory permission.
Run once and change the stock of a test item at a known location. Inspect the returned inventory item ID, location ID, available quantity and update time. The inventory event may not contain a friendly product name. Start with the IDs, or add a verified lookup before expecting SKU and product names in your alert.
Add a filter before Slack with these conditions:
- The location ID equals the location you intend to monitor.
- The available quantity exists and is a number.
- The available quantity is less than or equal to your chosen threshold, for example 5.
In Slack, map a message such as “Low stock: item [inventory item ID], location [location ID], available [quantity]. Check replenishment.” The brackets describe fields to map, not text to leave in the final alert.
Use available stock, not on-hand stock. Shopify's on-hand total also includes units committed or unavailable for sale. A location with 20 on hand can have far fewer units available. Keep each location separate rather than treating stock elsewhere as ready to fulfil from your chosen site.
See Shopify's webhook payload reference and inventory state definitions.
5. Handle repeat alerts deliberately
The basic stock filter alerts on every qualifying update. Moving from 5 to 4 can send another message. That is different from alerting only when stock first crosses the threshold.
For fewer messages, keep a persistent record for each store, inventory item and location. Store its last alert state. Send when it enters the low-stock state, then reset that state when available stock rises above the threshold. Treat this as a second version to build and test. It is not part of the two-module starter.
Paid-order alerts can repeat too. Shopify can deliver the same webhook more than once. For a once-per-order notification policy, store the shop and stable order ID after a successful send and check that record before sending again. If delivery headers are exposed, Shopify also documents delivery-ID deduplication.
A simple check-then-save has limits: simultaneous runs can race, and Slack might accept a message before a later save fails. Use sequential processing where appropriate, review retries and avoid promising exactly one message. For a busy store, have the duplicate and recovery design reviewed. Read Shopify's delivery guidance and Make's webhook processing notes.
Do not subtract inventory again for each order
When Shopify tracks inventory, order processing already affects available and committed quantities. Adding another “subtract one” step for the same sale can count it twice. These alert scenarios should not contain an inventory write action.
Stock synchronisation with a supplier or warehouse is a separate project. Decide which system owns the number, match item and location IDs, and account for retries and concurrent changes. An absolute stock update and a quantity adjustment do different jobs. Neither belongs in this beginner alert setup.
Test before switching to your live channel
| Test | Expected result |
|---|---|
| A new unpaid order | No paid-order alert |
| The order becomes paid | Correct reference, amount and currency in Slack |
| Stock is 6 with a threshold of 5 | No low-stock message |
| Stock becomes 5, then 4 | Both updates alert in the starter version |
| Stock changes at a different location | No alert if your location filter excludes it |
| A payload is replayed | Repeat behaviour matches your documented duplicate policy |
| Slack action fails | The error is visible and someone knows how to recover it |
Record the starting quantity of the test item and restore it after testing. Save and activate both scenarios, then make a fresh test without pressing Run once. Review Make's execution history and the resulting Slack messages before selecting the live channel.
Costs and limits
Make's Free plan currently includes 1,000 credits per month. Its minimum scheduled interval is 15 minutes; instant webhook triggers are a different type of trigger. Shopify is a separate paid service.
Do not budget only from your order count. Inventory changes, lookups, storage steps, retries and other scenarios also affect usage. Check credits from representative runs before choosing a paid plan. Shopify's API rate limits are separate from Make's monthly credits.
Compare our Make pricing guide with Make plans. Start with the smaller workflow and expand when it solves a real problem. Affiliate link · I may earn commission from a qualifying purchase at no extra cost to you.
Common problems
- No event: check the scenario is active, the topic is correct and a fresh matching event occurred.
- Missing scope: review the connection permissions for that topic and reauthorise as required.
- Channel Not Found: check the workspace, channel and bot membership.
- Too many alerts: review trigger choice, repeated deliveries and threshold behaviour.
- Wrong stock: compare inventory item, location and available quantity in Shopify.
Start with one paid-order alert
Build it in a test channel, check its output, then add low-stock notifications when you are comfortable with the first scenario.
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Related guides
Read our Make review, webhooks-to-Google-Sheets tutorial and Make automation ideas for other ways to connect your business tools.