Countdown

The Countdown section counts the days, hours and minutes to a date you set, with a reminder signup under the clock. When the time is up, it shows a message and a button, or it hides.

Set the date and time

1. In the theme editor, click Add section and choose Countdown.
2. In Date and time, write the date and time as 2026-11-12 10:00: year, month and day with dashes, then the hour from 00 to 23 and the minutes.
3. In Time zone, choose the city whose clock that time is on.
4. Click Save.

The clock counts to that moment in that time zone, whatever time zone the shopper is in. It follows daylight saving time in the zone you chose. Under your Text, the section prints the date as “Thursday 12 November, 10:00”, the time as you wrote it.

If the date is written any other way, the clock shows empty slats, and in the theme editor a note under the section says “Write the date as 2026-11-12 10:00 to show the countdown.” Shoppers don’t see the note. A day that doesn’t exist, such as 2026-02-30, also leaves the slats empty, but without the note.

A common mistake is leaving Time zone on its default, London, Dublin, Lisbon. A shop in New York that writes 10:00 and keeps London opens the countdown at 5:00 in the morning New York time. Choose your own zone, or a listed city with the same clock as yours.

Show seconds

Show seconds is off by default. Turned on, it adds a seconds counter and a pause button under the clock, so a shopper can stop the digits turning every second. Without seconds the clock changes once a minute.

Choose what happens when the time is up

When the time is up has two choices:

• Show a message and button keeps the section. The digits stay at zero and fade, the reminder signup and the pause button go away, and your Message shows with a button. The button needs both a Button label and a Button link; with either one empty, only the message shows.
• Hide the section removes it. A shopper who has the page open sees it disappear at zero, and the section is left out of the page from then on.

The switch happens in the shopper’s browser at the moment the clock reaches zero, so nobody needs to reload the page.

Collect reminder signups

Show reminder signup is on by default. It adds an email field with a “Remind me” button under the clock. After signing up, the shopper sees “You’re on the list”. Note under the signup adds a line of small text below the field, for example to say when you’ll write.

Each signup is a Shopify customer: it goes to Customers in your Shopify admin with the email address, subscribed to email marketing, and tagged newsletter. The theme sends no email. Write to the list when the drop opens, from Shopify Email or your email app (Shopify’s guide to email marketing).

The Newsletter section and the signup in the footer use the same newsletter tag, so the customer list doesn’t show which form a shopper used.

Common questions

Why does the clock show empty slats?

Date and time is empty, not written as 2026-11-12 10:00, or names a day that doesn’t exist. Open the section in the theme editor; the note under it shows when the date has the wrong shape.

My time zone isn’t in the list. What do I choose?

A listed city whose clock reads the same as yours on the date of the drop, including daylight saving time.

Do shoppers abroad see the time in their own time zone?

The countdown, yes: it reaches zero at the same moment everywhere. The date printed under the text, no: it shows the time you wrote, in your time zone. Add the zone to your Text if your shoppers are spread out, for example “10:00 London time”.

Can I use more than one countdown?

Yes. Each Countdown section has its own date, time zone and settings.