IPSY doubles ticket alerts with Zapier automation

When your brand promises personalized beauty experiences, there’s no room for “almost right.” For IPSY, the subscription-based beauty service that delivers curated product picks to members, getting it right means listening closely to every customer concern, whether it’s a rave review or a rare allergic reaction.

“We’re a small but mighty team,” says Larry Montoya, Senior Operations Manager of Customer Care at IPSY. “But we’re not always in Zendesk, and the last thing we want is to miss something serious like a product allergy.” So when he found himself asking Zendesk if there was a better way to catch high-priority tickets in real time, the response was simple: Not natively, but you can with Zapier.

What started as a single Zap to surface urgent tickets has grown into a suite of automation that now powers IPSY’s internal communication, escalation processes, weekend coverage, and even its Reddit listening strategy.

IPSY’s results, by the numbers:

• 100% increase in proactive alerts for high-priority tickets

• Zero missed Reddit trends that require action

• One AI-generated draft per emergency, reviewed and sent in minutes

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Turning alerts into action: Keeping allergic reactions top of mind

When someone mentions a potential allergic reaction in a support ticket, it’s more than a customer concern, it’s a brand moment. “Even though it’s rare, we wanted to be alerted immediately and act fast,” Larry says.

Previously, tickets with keywords like “allergy” would get routed to a queue, but the team had to check manually, repeatedly. Now, a scheduled Zap scans for these tickets every morning, updates a Google Sheet, and alerts internal stakeholders to check if anything serious has come in overnight.

Here’s how the Zap works:

• A scheduled trigger runs daily using Schedule by Zapier.

• It searches Zendesk for tickets containing keywords related to allergic reactions.

• Any matching tickets are exported into a Google Sheet, making them easy for the team to review and spot patterns over time.

On average, these Zaps surface 20–30 relevant tickets per day, allowing the team to react more quickly and consistently. Running quietly in the background, this automation ensures high-priority tickets are surfaced without disrupting the team’s focus. It’s a smart, low-lift system that keeps the team informed and ready to act, especially when timing is critical. 

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Listening in on Reddit—without living there

IPSY has a passionate community on Reddit. That’s great for feedback, but hard to track without a social tool. “Our leadership team is always in there reading what members say,” Larry shares, “but we needed a way to observe passively and act only when needed”.

So Larry set up a Zap that listens for mentions of “IPSY” across Reddit. When it finds one, it adds the post to a Google Sheet along with metadata like issue type (rant, praise, bug). That sheet becomes the team’s action board.

What it does:

• Searches Reddit for any mention of “IPSY”.

• Adds the post content and context to a Google Sheet.

This Zap gives the team visibility into Reddit chatter without the need to monitor it around the clock. It filters out the noise and delivers only the relevant posts, so IPSY can stay responsive to customer sentiment and emerging issues, even while focusing on other priorities during the day.

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Weekend emergencies, solved with AI and empathy

One of Larry’s most ambitious automations handles weekend escalations. “If something big happens on a weekend, how do we activate leadership without someone monitoring Slack all day?” he asked.

The answer: a multi-step Zap that combines Google Forms, SMS, Google Sheets, and AI. When a coordinator flags a Level 1 issue through a form, the Zap:

• Starts with a new row added to a Google Sheet via form submission.

• A Filter by Zapier step checks whether the issue is labeled “Level 1 – HIGH.”

• If so, SMS alerts go out immediately via Zapier to three team members.

• An email notification is sent using Email by Zapier to a designated address (including carriers like tmomail.net for SMS delivery). The issue summary and urgency are used to create the subject and body of the email.

• Then, a ChatGPT step crafts an empathetic email draft, prompting the team to manually input the resolution.

• Finally, the original spreadsheet is updated to ensure everything is tracked in one place.

Now, when a high-priority issue hits on a weekend, the right people are instantly looped in, without any manual scrambling. It’s a system that balances urgency with peace of mind, giving the team space to truly unplug, knowing automation has their back.

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Building momentum, one automation at a time

While it started with customer support, IPSY’s automation journey is only just beginning. Larry’s latest workflows have already sparked curiosity across other teams, and it’s clear the potential is catching on. As the impact spreads, so does the excitement about what else Zapier can unlock.

And that’s the power of automation: It starts by solving one pain point and keeps scaling. As Larry puts it, “We want people focusing on things that truly add value to the member experience, not just checking queues all day.”

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