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Adding a Countdown Timer to Your Upsell Offers

Last updated on October 21, 2026

You can add a live countdown timer to your upsell offers to create a sense of urgency and encourage customers to act before the deal ends. The timer appears as a bar inside the offer widget on your storefront, counting down in real time.

Which offers support the countdown timer

The countdown timer is available on these Upsell Builder offer types:

  • Product Bundles
  • Volume Discounts
  • Buy X Get Y (BOGO)
  • Gift
  • Spending Goal

For Volume Discounts, the countdown is available on the Light, Details, Cards and Table layouts. The Badge layout has no countdown bar, so the setting doesn't appear when that layout is selected.

How to add a countdown timer to an offer

  1. Open the Vitals dashboard and go to the Upsell Builder app.
  2. Open the offer you want to edit (or create a new one).
  3. Find the Countdown timer section in the offer's content settings:
    • For Gift offers, it's in the Widget card on the main offer page.
    • For Spending Goal offers, expand the Floating offer or Product page row in the Placements card.
    • For Product Bundles, Volume Discounts and Buy X Get Y, it's in the content list of the product-page placement.
  4. Set the offer's end date and time in the Schedule card first. The Add countdown timer checkbox is unavailable until an end date is set.
  5. Turn on the "Add countdown timer" checkbox.
  6. Set the timer Title and keep the {{ timer }} placeholder in it. Use the Insert timer option if the placeholder is missing; it displays the live time remaining.
  7. Save the offer.

Styling the countdown bar

The bar's look is controlled separately from its text and timing. Open the placement's Customize appearance editor, where you can set:

  • Background and Text colors, to match your store.
  • Alignment — left, center or right.
  • Size — the bar's text size in pixels.

Countdown timing

The countdown always follows the end date and time in the offer's Schedule card. Check the timezone there when setting the deadline. The countdown bar and the offer both stop when that end date passes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my discount stop when the countdown reaches zero?

Yes. The countdown uses the end date and time in the offer's Schedule card, and both the countdown bar and the offer stop at that time.

How do I show the actual ticking time inside my message?

Use the Insert timer option in the Title field. It places the {{ timer }}  placeholder in your text, which is replaced with the live countdown on your storefront. You can write any text around it, for example "Hurry — offer ends in {{ timer }}!". The Insert timer action disappears once your title already contains the placeholder — that's expected, since only one timer can be shown per title.

Which text does the countdown bar show by default?

The default title is "Your discount expires in:" followed by the live timer. You can fully customize this text, or let AI suggest one using the generate option next to the Title field.

No — the countdown timer is currently available on Product Bundles, Volume Discounts, Buy X Get Y, Gift, and Spending Goal offers.

Can I translate the countdown title for a multilingual store?

Yes. The countdown title is a text you control, and it is translatable like the other customer-facing texts in your upsell offers.