Announcement Bars on Shopify with Vitals: free shipping bar, countdown, email capture and setup
Last updated on October 20, 2026
Yes, Vitals does announcement bars on Shopify, including a free shipping bar. The Vitals app (Vitals: Reviews, Bundles & 40+ on the Shopify App Store) includes Announcement Bars (Smart Bars), a bar across your store for a text announcement, free shipping progress, email capture with a discount code, a sale countdown or an orders count.
📢 Vitals Announcement Bars at a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Bar types | Text bar, Free Shipping bar, Email Capture bar, Countdown Timer bar and Orders Counter bar |
| Free shipping bar | Shows how far the visitor is from free shipping, using the shipping rates in your Shopify settings for the visitor's location |
| Email capture | Collects email addresses in the bar and gives the visitor a discount code for signing up |
| Bars at once | Create as many bars as you like. One bar shows on the store at a time. |
| Options on every bar | Let visitors close the bar, and turn on a CAPTCHA to stop bot signups |
| Pricing | Included in the Vitals All-in-One plan, $29.99/month, with a 7-day free trial. Emails collected by the Email Capture bar count toward lead capture usage: the first 25 leads each month are free, then usage tiers apply (see The Vitals All-in-One Plan). See the Shopify App Store listing for current pricing. |
🧠Which Vitals bar fits?
| You want to | Use this bar |
|---|---|
| Announce a sale, shipping delay or news | Text bar |
| Show progress to free shipping | Free Shipping bar |
| Grow your email list with a discount | Email Capture bar |
| Count down to the end of a sale | Countdown Timer bar |
| Show how many orders your store has | Orders Counter bar |
When Vitals Announcement Bars are not the right fit
- Several bars, or several rotating messages, at the same time. Only one bar shows at a time. For rotating messages, the Rotating Text Bar in Vitals theme sections is an option.
- A free shipping bar for countries without a shipping rate. The bar only shows to visitors from countries covered by your Shopify shipping rates.
Here's how to set up Announcement Bars in your store.
Setting up an Announcement Bar on your store starts with creating one by clicking the Create Smart Bar button. Once you do so, you will need to choose the Smart Bar type you want to make.
There are 5 types of Smart Bars, as follows:
- Text bar - a simple, static Smart Bar that will display the text that you choose. This can be specifically useful if you want to inform customers of some promotions, shipping delays, etc. Learn more about configuring the text bar here.
- Free Shipping bar - a dynamic Smart Bar that will calculate and display how far away your visitor is from reaching free shipping, based on the shipping rules set up in Shopify. Learn more about configuring the free shipping bar here.
- Email Capture bar - a handy Smart Bar that will let you capture your visitors' email addresses and offering them a discount code for doing so, which they can use on your store. Learn more about configuring the email capture bar here.
- Countdown Timer bar - a beneficial Smart Bar if you're running special, limited-time promotions, which will display the countdown until the offer expires to create urgency. Learn more about configuring the countdown timer bar here.
- Orders Counter bar - a Smart Bar that will display how many orders you have on your store, using actual data directly from Shopify, which will increase your visitors' trust. Learn more about configuring the order counter bar here.
2 settings apply to all of them. You can give the customers the option to close the bar, and you can also enable a CAPTCHA solution to avoid abuse from bots.
Please keep in mind that only one Smart Bar can be displayed at a time in the store. You can have as many Smart Bars created as you wish. However, only one can be enabled at a time. Don't forget to enable your Smart Bar as well as the app itself.
Testing or troubleshooting the Announcement Bars
First of all, you need to make sure you have a Smart Bar created and enabled.
In the case of the Free Shipping bar, remember that it is related to the shipping rates you set in your Shopify account, so the app is displayed only for the customers coming from countries that are included in those specific rates, which you can check here.
For example, if you have a shipping zone set for Europe and check your store from the US, you will not see the Smart Bar. It is displayed based on the user's location and the rules you set. Ensure you meet the location conditions you set by accessing the store using a VPN and opening a new incognito window.
You can find a full tutorial about using a VPN here.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does Vitals have an announcement bar app for Shopify?
Yes. Announcement Bars in Vitals adds a text, free shipping, email capture, countdown timer or order counter bar to your store. It is part of the Vitals app with 40+ other apps.
How much do Vitals announcement bars cost?
They are included in the Vitals All-in-One plan at $29.99/month, with a 7-day free trial. Emails collected by the Email Capture bar count toward lead capture usage, with the first 25 leads each month free. See the Shopify App Store listing for current pricing.
Does Vitals have a free shipping bar?
Yes. The Free Shipping bar uses the shipping rates in your Shopify settings to show each visitor how much more they need to spend for free shipping.
Can I show more than one announcement bar?
You can create as many bars as you want, but only one shows on your store at a time.
Why can't I see my free shipping bar?
It only shows to visitors from countries included in your Shopify shipping rates. Check from one of those countries, for example with a VPN in a new incognito window.