Discount code countdown bar for Shopify
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Each one fills in a sample popup and code. Change any of it in step 2 and the plan updates as you go.
Pick one of the three popups above. Whether the bar can work, how long the code should last, what shoppers read and a live preview of the app’s bar appear here.
The parts of a countdown bar
A discount code countdown bar on Shopify is a slim bar that shows each shopper the code they won from a popup and the real time left on it, on every page until they use it or it runs out, and this tool helps you pick how long the code should last and what the bar will say before you switch on the Countdown bar in the Nudgesmart app.
The expiry range, the blank default, the positions, the look options and the default wording are the ones the Nudgesmart app uses for code popups and the Countdown bar. For one deadline every shopper shares, such as a sale ending on Sunday, use the countdown timer generator. Every widget layout the app offers is on the store widgets page, and the steps to switch on the bar are in the countdown bar help article.
A countdown bar only works when the deadline behind it is real and belongs to the shopper reading it. These are the pieces the tool weighs, in the words the app uses for them.
- Countdown bar
- A slim bar that shows a shopper the code they won and the time left on it, on every page. Shoppers without a code see nothing, or an invite to one of your popups if you choose.
- Code expires after
- The setting in the popup that decides how long each code lasts: 1 to 720 hours, or 5 to 43,200 minutes. Left blank, scratch cards and pick a present use each prize’s own time, and other popups use 30 minutes.
- One code per shopper
- The popup setting that gives a returning shopper the same code and the same deadline instead of a fresh one. The app switches it on when you add a countdown, and it is what stops the timer restarting.
- Applied
- What the bar says once Shopify has applied the code to the cart, which happens when the popup puts the code in the cart for the shopper. Out of the box the word is Applied.
- Match the popup
- The default look: the bar takes the colours, font and buttons of the popup that gave the code. Match my theme uses your theme colours instead.
- App embed
- The bar is switched on across the store under App embeds in the theme editor, as Nudgesmart site widgets, rather than placed on one page as a block.
- Invite before a code
- An optional line that invites shoppers who have no code yet to one of your popups. Out of the box it reads Scratch to win 10%.
Nudgesmart switches the countdown bar on across your store as an app embed, in the look of the popup that gave the shopper their code by default, and is available on the Shopify App Store. See every widget layout or see what it costs.
Five code popups and what the bar needs
Invented stores with typical settings. Every verdict and flag comes from the same plan the tool above builds.
| Scenario | Typed | Code lasts | Verdict | What the tool says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email-only popup, no code | popup gives no code | — | cannot work yet | The countdown bar shows only to shoppers who got a code from one of your Nudgesmart popups, so it needs a popup that gives a discount code, such as a spin wheel or scratch card. For one deadline that every shopper sees, such as a sale ending on Sunday, use the countdown timer generator instead. |
| Spin wheel, 5-minute code, shoppers decide within a day | code lasts 5 minutes | 5 minutes | too short | 5 minutes is short for shoppers who usually decide within about a day. Most of them will not have decided before it runs out, so the code reads as pressure rather than a gift. About 24 hours fits them better. The bar closes 30 seconds before the code runs out, so no shopper reaches checkout holding a code about to expire. With a code this short, many shoppers will still be browsing when it closes. |
| Welcome code that lasts 30 days | code lasts 720 hours | 30 days | too long | A code that lasts 30 days is a deadline most shoppers will never feel. Past about a week it reads as no deadline at all, and the bar sits on every page for that long. About 72 hours is plenty for this store. |
| Scratch card, 72 hours, message says ends tonight | code lasts 72 hours, message: Your code ends tonight | 3 days | fits | Your message names a time of day, but the code lasts 3 days. A shopper who wins it this afternoon would read tonight and see days left. Let the time left do that job. In the app, the Message field lets you place the shopper’s code, what it takes off and the time left anywhere in your sentence. Keep the code and the time in it, or the bar stops saying what it is for. |
| Spin wheel, 24 hours, code hidden on the bar | code lasts 24 hours, code hidden on the bar | 24 hours | fits | With Don’t show the code switched on, the bar shows the time left without the code. Shoppers who check out with Buy it now or an express button such as Shop Pay skip the cart, so they need to type the code, and they cannot copy what they cannot see. Leave the code visible unless you have a reason. |
What the plan cannot see
It cannot see your sales data
How long your shoppers take to decide is your call. If you are not sure, start with the suggestion for your store and look again after a few weeks of orders.
It needs a code popup
The bar shows codes that one of your Nudgesmart popups handed out after the shopper entered their email. It does not show codes you share by email, on social media or from another app.
It follows one browser
The bar reads the code from the cart in the browser where the shopper won it. On another device the code still works until it runs out, but the bar does not show there.
Other discounts apply by their own rules
Shopify decides how discounts combine. If another discount app runs on the store, allow combining in both places, or a shopper may see Applied for one discount and lose the other at checkout.
A deadline only persuades when it is real
The bar never restarts for the same shopper, which is why it works. Do not add a second timer or words such as ends tonight that tell a different story.
Discount code countdown bar questions
Does the timer reset when a shopper reloads the page?
No. Each code has one deadline, set when the shopper wins it. Reloading, opening a new tab or coming back the next day in the same browser shows the same time left.
What do shoppers without a code see?
Nothing, unless you switch on the invite, which asks them to play one of your popups. So the bar needs no targeting rules of its own.
How is this different from a sale countdown timer?
A sale countdown shows one deadline that every shopper shares, such as a sale ending on Sunday, and the countdown timer generator plans that. This bar shows each shopper their own code and their own time left.
Does it work with Buy it now and Shop Pay?
The code works there, but those buttons skip the cart, so the shopper needs to type the code at checkout. That is why the tool flags hiding the code on the bar.
What happens when the time runs out?
The bar closes 30 seconds before the code expires, so nobody reaches checkout with a code about to lapse. It shows Your code has expired for a moment and then goes. If Nudgesmart added the code to the cart, it takes it out again.
Can the bar match my popup colours?
Yes, and it does by default. With Match the popup on, it takes the colours, font, button and coupon box of the popup that gave the shopper their code. Switch it to Match my theme to use your theme colours instead.
A won code is easy to forget two pages later.
Nudgesmart’s countdown bar shows each shopper the code they won from your popup and the real time left, on every page, in that popup’s look by default, and it never restarts for the same shopper.
