📣 Marketing

Trigger Engine

Trigger System · Event Engine

Definition

A trigger engine is a real-time system that watches behavioural events and automatically launches defined marketing actions when a rule's conditions are satisfied.

How a trigger engine is built

A trigger engine is a subscriber to an event stream. Every user action — a page view, an add to
cart, a scroll depth, an inactivity timeout — generates an event the engine receives in real time.
For each event it checks a set of rules: are all the conditions of this rule satisfied for this
person right now?

Event → rule: [conditions] → [action]
Example: add_to_cart → [cart value above threshold] → show a free delivery popup

If the conditions hold, the engine executes the action: shows a popup, swaps a banner, sends a push.

The anatomy of a rule

A typical rule has four components:

Component	Example
Event	exit_intent (an attempt to close the tab)
Conditions	There are items in the cart, this is not a first visit
Action	Show a you left something behind popup
Cooldown	Not more than once every 48 hours

The richer the supported event set and the more flexible the conditions — segments, history, session
parameters — the more precisely triggers can be configured.

Managing conflicts

In practice an active shopper can satisfy several rules at once. With no conflict management they
receive several popups in a row. The standard solution is numeric rule priority plus a global limit
of one popup per session. A more advanced approach uses machine optimisation to pick the most
relevant action from the person’s interaction history.

Important: aggressive triggers with no cooldown quickly become irritation. Test display
frequency with an A/B test: a rarer but better-targeted trigger often outperforms maximum cadence.

Frequently asked questions

How does a trigger engine differ from a drip campaign?

A drip campaign runs on a schedule relative to some event — one day later, three days later. A trigger engine reacts to a specific action right now, independent of any schedule. The trigger fires when the shopper shows intent, not when the clock says so.

What is a cooldown period here?

A cooldown is the minimum gap before the same trigger can fire again for the same person. Without it, someone who views one product ten times receives ten identical popups. It is usually configured per rule — do not show this popup more than once every 24 hours.

How are conflicts between triggers managed?

With priority. When several triggers fire at once — abandoned cart plus exit intent plus a value threshold — the system has to choose one. The standard approach is an explicit numeric priority plus a global frequency cap per action type.

Which events do trigger engines usually consume?

Viewing a product N times, adding to cart without purchasing, staying on a page longer than X minutes, reaching a cart value threshold, the first visit after registration, a return after a long absence and exit intent.

Gravity Field

The Trigger Engine in Gravity Field

Gravity Field includes a trigger engine for firing onsite personalization — popups, banners and dynamic content — from behavioural events. The module is in active development (2026 roadmap).

✦Triggers on user actions (views, cart, inactivity, exit intent)

✦Cooldown periods to prevent irritation

✦Priority management when several triggers conflict

✦Integration with audience segments for targeting triggered scenarios

Explore the platform →