Getting Started with Trending Products

Show shoppers the products selling best in your store right now, in a carousel that updates itself every day.

Is this for me?

If you want to cross-sell without picking products by hand, yes. Trending Products adds a "Trending now" carousel to your store. Vitals builds the list from your store's own orders, so there is nothing to choose or maintain. Products whose sales are climbing come first, and your best sellers fill the rest of the list.

A typical case: a candle that sold two units a fortnight ago sells nine this fortnight. It moves to the front of the carousel on its own, and shoppers browsing your other products discover it while it's popular.

💡Good to know before you start: You can't choose which products appear in Trending Products. The list is always automatic. If you'd rather hand-pick the products to recommend, use the Related Products app instead.

  • Updated once a day. Every day, Vitals looks at your orders from the last 14 days and compares them with the 14 days before that.
  • Trending products come first. A product counts as trending when it sold at least 3 units in the last 14 days and at least 20% more than in the 14 days before. Products are ranked by how much their sales grew.
  • Best sellers fill the rest. If fewer than 15 products are trending, your best sellers from the last 14 days fill the list up to 15.
  • Only products shoppers can buy. Sold-out products, products that are not active in your store (for example drafts or archived products), and the product the shopper is already looking at are left out.
  • Brand-new stores. Until Vitals has order data for your store, the carousel shows your Shopify best sellers instead.

Because the list is refreshed daily, a change in your sales can take up to about two days to show in the carousel on your storefront.

Setup, step by step

  1. Open the Vitals dashboard and go to Apps → Trending Products.
  2. Turn the app on with the activation toggle at the top of the app page.
  3. Open the Settings tab. Under General settings, choose where the carousel appears: "Show on the Product page" (on by default) and "Show on the Cart page" (off by default).
  4. (Optional) Set the "Number of products" and decide whether to "Shuffle products".
  5. (Optional) Adjust the look in Widget title, Product card, Carousel and Visibility. The preview next to your settings updates as you change them, and you can switch it between mobile and desktop.
  6. (Optional) Use Position to move the carousel on the product page, or to place it on your homepage (see below).
  7. Save your changes, then open a product page on your store to check the carousel.

💡The Vitals app embed must be turned on in your Shopify theme for any Vitals app to show on your store, Trending Products included.


Trending Products shows on product pages and, if you turn it on, the cart page. To show it on your homepage or another page:

  • Non-OS 2.0 themes: in the Position card, click Show advanced options, pick the homepage Section you want the carousel near, and choose its Position (above, below or inside that section).
  • Online Store 2.0 themes: Trending Products doesn't have a theme editor block yet. Instead, paste this HTML snippet where you want the carousel, for example in a Custom Liquid section in the Shopify Theme Editor: <div id="vitals-trending-products"></div> . You'll also find the snippet in the app's settings under Position → Manual placement → Using HTML Snippet. The snippet works on any page of your store.

On product pages you can also pick a different Location in the Position card, or choose Custom CSS selector to place the carousel next to a specific element of your theme.

Your settings

General settings

  • "Show on the Product page" — shows the carousel on your product pages. On by default.
  • "Show on the Cart page" — shows the carousel on your cart page. Off by default.
  • "Shuffle products" — shows the trending products in a random order instead of by rank. On by default. Shuffling only reorders the products already in the carousel; it never brings in lower-ranked products.
  • "Number of products" — how many trending products the carousel shows. The default is 8, and you can set anything from 1 to 50. The carousel can only show as many products as are on your trending list, which is usually up to 15, and more when many products are trending at once.

Widget title

  • "Title" — the heading above the carousel. The default is "Trending now".
  • "Title alignment", "Title size" and "Title style" — position and style the heading.

Product card

  • "Card style" — None (the default), Color (a filled card behind each product) or Border (an outlined card). Color and Border unlock the card colors and "Card corner radius".
  • "Product details alignment", "Product title text style", "Product title text length" and "Maximum title rows" — control how the product name and price appear.
  • "Image aspect ratio" (Original, Square, Portrait or Landscape), "Fill image to container (image card)" and "Image corner radius" — control the product images.
  • "Show second image on hover" — on desktop, hovering a card shows the product's second image.
  • "Maximum number of products per row" — Auto fits as many products as the width allows, up to 5, or choose 3 or 4. Smaller screens may show fewer.
  • "Card gap (desktop)", "Carousel arrows", "Widget max width" and "Margin" — fine-tune the spacing, arrows and size of the carousel.

Visibility

  • "Show the discount label" — shows a discount badge on products that are on sale, with its own colors, position, shape and text. Off by default.
  • "Show compare-at price" — shows the original price next to the sale price. Off by default.
  • "Let customers add to cart from the widget" — customers can pick product options and add products to the cart without opening the product page. Off by default. With the Color or Border card style, products with options show a Choose options button that opens a small window to pick them.
  • "Add to Cart for products with an optional selling plan" — appears when the setting above is on, for products that can be bought with or without a subscription.
  • "Show Product Reviews star ratings" — needs the Product Reviews app to be active.
  • "Show Product Labels" — needs the Product Labels app to be active.
  • "Show Wishlist" — needs the Wishlist app to be active.

Position, Advanced display rules and Translations

  • Position — where the carousel sits on the page, plus the homepage and HTML snippet options described above.
  • Advanced display rules — limit which products' pages show the carousel, for example by price, discount or inventory.
  • Translations — edit the texts shoppers see: "Add to cart", "From", "Out of stock" and "Choose options". To translate them into more languages, follow the link to the translations page.

Need a design change these settings don't cover? Open Need more design options? and click Start Chat to ask our support team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I choose which products appear?

No. Trending Products builds its list automatically from your store's orders, so there is nothing to pick. If you want to hand-pick the products you recommend, use the Related Products app.

The carousel only shows products that are in stock and sold recently. The trending list usually holds up to 15 products, and sold-out products, inactive products and the product the shopper is viewing are left out. If your store has only a few products with recent sales, the carousel shows fewer cards than your "Number of products" setting.

The products haven't changed. Is the list updating?

Yes. The list is recalculated once a day, and it can take up to about two days for a change in your sales to appear in the carousel on your storefront.

When fewer than 15 products are trending, your best sellers from the last 14 days fill the list. A brand-new store, or one Vitals has no order data for yet, sees its Shopify best sellers until there is enough data.

First, check that Trending Products is turned on. Next, check that at least one placement is set: "Show on the Product page", "Show on the Cart page", a homepage section under Position, or the HTML snippet on your page. Finally, make sure the Vitals app embed is turned on in your Shopify theme. If it still doesn't show, contact our support team.

Not as an app block yet. On an Online Store 2.0 theme, add a Custom Liquid section in the Theme Editor and paste the snippet <div id="vitals-trending-products"></div> . On other themes, use Position → Show advanced options in the app's settings.

Do orders from Trending Products count toward my usage charges?

Yes. On the All-in-One plan, sales that Trending Products helps bring in count toward Conversion Assists, the same way as Recently Viewed and Related Products. You can see this revenue on the app's Analytics tab.

Is this resource helpful? Thanks for the feedback There was a problem submitting your feedback. Please try again later.