Countdown Timers: Create Urgency That Drives Sales

"I'll come back later" is the biggest lie in ecommerce. 97% of visitors who leave never return. Countdown timers combat this by creating genuine urgency — a visible, ticking clock that says "act now or miss out."

Three Types of Countdown Timers

1. Fixed Deadline Timer

Counts down to a specific date and time. Perfect for real events: sale ends Friday at midnight, product launch on March 1st, early-bird pricing expires Sunday. Every visitor sees the same countdown because the deadline is absolute.

2. Evergreen Timer

Creates a personal deadline for each visitor. When someone arrives, their 2-hour (or 24-hour, or 48-hour) countdown begins. This is perfect for offers that aren't tied to a real calendar event. Each visitor gets their own urgency window, tracked via cookies.

3. Daily Reset Timer

Counts down to midnight every day, then resets. "Today's deal expires in 5h 23m 12s." Great for daily deals, flash sales, and any recurring promotion.

Display Options

• Inline — embedded in your page content, right next to a product or CTA
• Floating — a persistent bar or widget that stays visible as visitors scroll
• Inside announcement bars — combine with an announcement bar for maximum visibility

Use Cases

Limited-Time Discounts

A Shopify store added a fixed deadline timer to their sale page header. The visible countdown increased conversion rate by 32% compared to the same sale without a timer.

Course Enrollment Windows

An online course creator used a fixed deadline timer for enrollment periods. "Enrollment closes in 2 days, 14 hours." This drove 60% of total enrollments in the final 48 hours.

Personalized Offers

A SaaS company used an evergreen timer for new visitors: "Your exclusive 30% discount expires in 2 hours." Since each visitor has their own timer, this works year-round without a real deadline.

How to Set It Up

1. Go to Timers in your site dashboard
2. Click Create Timer and choose your type (fixed, evergreen, or daily)
3. Set the deadline or duration
4. Choose display mode (inline or floating)
5. Customize colors, size, and what happens when it expires
6. Target specific pages or show site-wide

Pro Tips

• Use real deadlines when possible — fake urgency erodes trust. If your sale really ends Friday, use a fixed timer.
• Evergreen for always-on offers — if you always offer a discount to first-time visitors, evergreen is honest and effective.
• Pair with announcement bars — a timer inside an announcement bar is the highest-visibility combo.
• Set expiry actions — when the timer hits zero, redirect to a "sale ended" page or hide the offer.