Build a gamified spin-the-wheel popup that captures emails and rewards shoppers with discount codes weighted to your margins.

Spin-the-wheel popups are among the highest-converting email capture formats — but only when the odds feel real and the discount codes work at checkout.

Updated May 8, 20266 min readCampaignsDenzil Sequeira

TL;DR

Pick a spin-the-wheel template (or start from scratch and choose Spin the Wheel as the campaign type), customize the slices with discount values that match your margin tolerance, and set the odds for each slice. Connect each slice to a real Shopify discount code so the reward redeems at checkout. Set the email-capture form so shoppers enter their email before spinning — that's the actual conversion. Publish and watch the email list grow.

When spin-the-wheel wins

Spin-the-wheel works when you need to grow an email list AND you're willing to give a real discount in exchange. The "game" element converts ~3-5x better than a static "10% off when you sign up" popup because shoppers feel they're earning the discount, not just being given one.

It does NOT work when:

Your margins can't support discounts (luxury goods, single-SKU brands).
Your audience is enterprise/B2B (gamification reads as gimmicky).
The popup runs everywhere — on a blog post, on About-Us, on the homepage with no shopping intent. Restrict to product pages and category pages.

Step 1 · Configure the slices

In the campaign editor, find the slice configuration. Each slice has a label, a discount value, a probability (in %), and a color.

Slice editor showing a wheel with 5 slices, each with a label, probability slider, and discount-type dropdown

Screenshot coming soon

Recommended starting setup for a 5-slice wheel:

5% off — probability 30% (the "common" prize)
10% off — probability 25%
15% off — probability 20%
Free shipping — probability 20%
20% off — probability 5% (the "rare" prize)

Probabilities must sum to 100%. The discount types available are Percentage Discount, Fixed Amount, Free Shipping, No Prize, and Custom.

Step 2 · Connect Shopify discount codes

For each slice, link a real Shopify discount code. The code is what the shopper redeems at checkout.

You have two options:

Auto-generate codes per shopper — Nudgesmart creates a unique single-use code each time someone wins. Best for limiting redemption (one shopper, one code).
Use a shared code — every shopper who lands on the same slice gets the same code (e.g., WHEEL10 for the 10% slice). Simpler, but be aware shoppers can share codes.

Either way, the codes appear in your Shopify admin → Discounts page like any other code, with full reporting on usage, redemptions, and revenue.

Step 3 · Set the email-capture flow

Configure the popup so shoppers enter their email BEFORE spinning. The email is the conversion — the spin is the reward.

The standard flow:

Popup opens with the wheel and an email field.
Shopper enters email and clicks Spin.
Wheel animates and lands on a slice.
Win state shows the discount code and a copy-to-clipboard button.
The email is captured to your subscribers list.

If you let shoppers spin without entering an email, you've turned the popup into a discount machine with no list-growth value. Always require email first.

Step 4 · Style the wheel

Customize the slice colors, the wheel size, the headline, and the call-to-action button. Match your brand.

Style panel showing color pickers for each slice, the spin-button text field, and the wheel-size slider

Screenshot coming soon

Style guidelines that consistently convert:

Use 4-6 slices (3 feels stingy, 8+ feels chaotic).
Avoid pure white slices — they disappear against light popups.
Use high-contrast slice colors so each is distinguishable.
Keep the spin button large and action-oriented ("Spin to win!" beats "Submit").

Step 5 · Email follow-up

Connect Klaviyo (or your email service provider) so the captured emails flow into your welcome sequence automatically.

The first 24 hours after a shopper wins is when they'll redeem the discount. Have your welcome email queued and ready to fire — ideally referencing the discount they won. If your welcome email goes out a week later, you've lost most of the urgency. See Create an email capture popup for the welcome-email setup.

Common pitfalls

The wheel works but no emails appear in your list. Check the integration with your email service provider — emails may be captured to Nudgesmart but not flowing through. Visit Integrations in the admin and verify the connection.
Shoppers complain the discount code doesn't work at checkout. Almost always a Shopify discount-code mismatch — the code shown by the wheel doesn't exist in Shopify admin → Discounts, or it has expired, or its conditions don't match the shopper's cart. Test by winning a code yourself and using it.
Returning shoppers see the wheel every visit. Adjust the frequency cap. Once per day or Once per shopper prevents the same shopper from spinning every visit and accumulating codes.

Frequently asked questions

What's a good spin-the-wheel conversion rate?

8-15% of shoppers who see the popup will spin and submit an email. That's notably higher than static email-capture popups (typically 3-5%). If you're below 5%, the offer is probably too small or the wheel is firing on the wrong pages.

Can I run the wheel only during a sale?

Yes. Use date-range targeting in the campaign settings — set a start and end date and the wheel only displays during that window.

Should I use "Try Again" / "No Prize" slices?

Generally no. Shoppers who land on "No Prize" feel cheated and don't return. The exception is if you're doing a legitimate sweepstakes-style giveaway (where most prizes are intentionally rare) — but for everyday email-capture, "every spin wins" with a small base prize converts better.

How to create a spin-the-wheel popup with Nudgesmart