# Countdown sale promotion (countdown timer)

> Run a sale with an end date and show a countdown timer on your product pages. Set it up, add the block and check it on your store.

Source: https://backtrackhq.com/docs/promotions/countdown-sale/

(Screenshot: A Sale ends in countdown under the price on a product page)

A countdown sale is a percent off a collection or some products that
ends soon, with a timer under the price on the product page.

## At a glance

| | |
| --- | --- |
| **Gallery group** | Promotions with storefront widgets |
| **Discount** | Percentage off one collection, with an end date. You can switch it to specific products. Default: 20% off, ending 3 days after the start. |
| **Theme block** | **AndOr Countdown**, on the product page |
| **Upsell offer** | None |
| **What the app embed adds** | Shared look settings and your Storefront text. The block shows without it. |

## Before you start

- Pick the collection (or the products) that go on sale, and the date the sale ends.
  Storefront widgets can't show a discount aimed at a product tag.
- Turn on the app embed if you want shared look settings or your own
  wording. See [Install and turn on the app embed](https://backtrackhq.com/docs/get-started/install/#turn-on-the-app-embed). For what works without it, see [the app embed table](https://backtrackhq.com/docs/widgets/app-embed/#what-works-without-the-app-embed).

## Set it up in the app

1. **Open Promotions, click Create promotion, then click Choose on the Countdown sale card.**

   It is under **Promotions with storefront widgets**.

   (Screenshot: The promotion gallery with the Countdown sale card and its Choose button)

2. **Pick the collection and set the discount in the Discount section.**

   The page starts at 20% off a collection you pick. You can switch
   **Applies to** to specific products. A banner says
   "Pick the collection for this promotion. Storefront widgets can't
   show a product tag."

   Until you pick, **Make it live** won't save. It says "Pick a
   collection under Discount first."

   (Screenshot: The Discount section of a countdown sale promotion)

3. **Check the Storefront widgets section.**

   **Show storefront widgets** is on by default. Leave it on.

   (Screenshot: The Storefront widgets section of a countdown sale promotion)

4. **Set the end date in Schedule and status, then click Make it live.**

   The page starts with an end date 3 days after the start, at
   midnight in your store's time zone. Change it to your sale's end.
   The countdown counts down to this date.

   Or click **Save as draft** to finish later.

   (Screenshot: The Schedule and status section)

## Add it to your theme

> **Note:** **What's next** appears after you click **Make it live**,
> not after **Save as draft**. It goes away when you dismiss it or leave
> the page. No What's next panel? Open **Promotions**. In the row's
> **Storefront widgets** column, click **Add block**. It shows when the block isn't in your theme yet.

1. **Under What's next, click Open theme editor.**

   **Add the widget to your theme** names the **AndOr Countdown**
   block. The link opens your theme editor with the block added.

2. **Drag the block under the price, then click Save.**

   The block works on the product template only.

   (Screenshot: The theme editor with the AndOr Countdown block added)

   The dashed price in the editor preview is a sample. It shows until a discount applies to the product you preview.

3. **Change Countdown wording, if you like.**

   It goes in front of the time left, for example "Sale ends in
   3h 12m". Left empty, it says "Sale ends in" in the shopper's
   language.

All block settings are on the
[Countdown widget](https://backtrackhq.com/docs/widgets/countdown/#block-settings) page.

## Check it on your store

1. **Under What's next, click View on store.**

   It opens the collection from this discount in a new tab. Open a
   product from it. You see the time left under the price. It gets more
   exact as the end gets closer. In the last two minutes it says "Sale
   ends soon".

2. **Under Try it at checkout, click Open store, add the product to the cart, then check out.**

   The discount comes off at checkout.

**Not showing?**

- The block is not on the product template, or you didn't click
  **Save** in the theme editor.
- The discount has no end date. A sale that runs until you switch it
  off has nothing to count down to.
- The discount is not running yet, or it has ended.
- The product is not in the collection you picked.
- JavaScript is off in the shopper's browser.

See [What it needs to appear](https://backtrackhq.com/docs/widgets/countdown/#what-it-needs-to-appear)
and [Widgets not showing](https://backtrackhq.com/docs/help/widgets-not-showing/).

## Turn the widget on or off

In **Promotions**, use the row's **Storefront widgets** switch. The
discount keeps working at checkout.

## Settings and limits

(Screenshot: The Discount section of a countdown sale promotion with its settings)

| Setting | What it does | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Name** | Shoppers see it at checkout when the discount has no message. Up to 60 characters, and different from your other discounts' names. | Countdown sale |
| **Discount value** | Percentage off, Fixed amount off, Set fixed price, or Free (100% off). | Percentage off |
| **Percentage** | The percent off. | 20 |
| **Limit the discount to a maximum amount** | Caps the saving at a **Maximum discount amount**. Only for **Percentage off**. | Off |
| **Applies to** | Which products get the discount. | Specific collections: pick one. You can switch it to specific products. |
| **Combine with** | Tick **Product discounts**, **Order discounts** or **Shipping discounts**. | None |
| **Set end date** | The countdown counts down to the **End date** and **End time**. | On |

Limits:

- **Set fixed price** can't show: "its discount value cannot be shown
  as a sale price or a badge."
- With **Limit the discount to a maximum amount** on, widgets can't
  show it. The saving would look bigger than it is.
- For widgets, **Applies to** must be all products, specific products,
  specific collections or specific variants. Tags, product types, SKUs
  and the "Exclude" options can't show.
- The countdown needs an end date.
- **AndOr Countdown** works on the product template only.