If you want to grab shopper attention quickly, urgency will do the trick. Using urgency, you can let shoppers know about the scarcity of a product or a ticking timer on a sale/offer, successfully getting them to purchase from you. With some of the best Shopify apps available within the Shopify ecosystem, it’s easier for merchants to set up urgency tactics on their store.Here’s a list of the 8 best Shopify apps you can enable to create a sense of urgency, both on your storefront as well as off-site.

Best Shopify On-site apps to build a sense of urgency

Urgency tactics set up on your Shopify store can help you successfully guide your browsing shopper to specific products and deals, and encourage them to quicker purchases.

1. Countdown Timer by Appikon - Countdown Timer

A countdown timer on a store is a surefire way to get your shoppers to make quicker decisions and purchase from you. A timer reminds the shopper that the offer will end, building an urgency to redeem the offer before they miss out. For one store, adding urgency via a time-sensitive shipping option to product pages resulted in a 27.1% increase in revenue.Set up a countdown timer on your Shopify store, to increase conversions easily. The timer can be set up for specific sales, limited-time deals, daily deals, etc and customized to match the look and feel of your store. This smart tactic can ensure that your shoppers buy the item immediately rather than leaving it for later.

2. Sales Pop by CartKit - Live Sales Notifications

More than 90% of online shoppers trust recommendations from other consumers like them. With live notifications about recent sales, your shoppers will see just how popular your products are. Due to this, they’ll take quick actions to purchase the item they want in case they lose it to stockouts.Enable the Sales Pop ‑ Popup Notification app to automatically show live notifications on your store and draw attention to how quickly your products are selling. The app allows you to customize the design of the live on-site notifications to make it look seamless within your store design.

3. ModeMagic - Product Labels

When browsing a store, shoppers are often scrolling through without paying attention to another specifically. With a product label, you can make shoppers pause scrolling and pay attention to products you want them to buy. Set up ModeMagic on your Shopify store to easily add product labels to your product images without having to make edits to your images. These stickers appear over the product image and can be customized based on your preference. Pro-tip: To boost urgency, use product labels like ‘Fast-Selling’ and ‘Low Stocks’ so that when shoppers are browsing your products, they don’t miss this detail. You can also show custom labels like ‘24-hour deal’ for products on sale for a limited time.

4. Quick Announcement Bar - Announcement Bar

The announcement bar at the top of the storefront is the first thing that a shopper sees when they land on your store. Use this announcement bar to build urgency about a deal that you have on your store, a flash sale, or a limited edition product. Install the Quick Announcement Bar to easily set up, customize, and showcase an urgent message at the top of your store’s pages. Always ensure that your message mentions ‘Offer valid till stocks last’ so that shoppers who miss out on a deal don’t feel misled. Pro-tip: You can customize the color of the announcement bar according to your preference. Use the color red for the announcement bar. This boosts the feeling of urgency and grabs the attention of your shoppers instantly.

Off-site apps that help build urgency

When marketing a time-sensitive sale, limited edition products, or products with a low inventory, you can use urgency. This can be copy that uses urgency phrases like ‘24 hours only’ or ‘Don’t miss it!’ and CTA like ‘Get it now!’ or ‘Act now!’ that makes shoppers want to take immediate action. These off-site apps help you set up marketing channels and communicate with your shoppers about your urgent offers and promotions.

5. Klaviyo - Email marketing

Promotional emails conveying a sense of urgency had at least 14% higher click-to-open rates, 59% higher transaction-to-click rates, and 2x high transaction rates compared to their average marketing emails.Set up email marketing using Klaviyo to send messages that elicit a sense of urgency. Whether this is for a time-sensitive sale or a limited edition product, optimize your email message to build urgency and nudge shoppers to click through.Pro-tip: Ensure that your subject lines highlight the urgent message. Avoid getting your emails automatically marked as spam by avoiding terms like ‘sale’ or ‘free’.

6. PushOwl - Web Push Notifications

Instantly delivered, web push notifications are short messages that are sent directly to the shopper’s screen. Shoppers will view the message immediately and take action on your notification. Use web push to successfully bring back shoppers to your store, crafting copy that notifies the shopper that the offer is short-lived.PushOwl is a Shopify app built to allow merchants to send web push notifications. You can set up notifications with an expiry date or use features like ‘Smart delivery'. This lets you send promotions at your subscribers’ active hours, maximizing your clicks.Pro-tip: With web push notifications, you have a character limit so ensure that your copy is kept short while giving shoppers enough information about your promotion.

7. SMSBump - SMS Marketing

With SMS having open rates as high as 98%, this marketing channel can’t go ignored. Using SMS, you can reach your shoppers directly, even if they aren’t connected to the internet. SMS is a much more personal channel, meaning shoppers will surely read your message. When setting up this channel, it’s crucial to make your messaging enticing. Urgency is just the tactic you need.Using SMSBump, you can set up a successful SMS marketing strategy for your Shopify store. Once set up, you can send SMS campaigns for different needs. Promote your best discounts, fast-selling products, and more, using copy that highlights the need to make a purchase immediately.Pro-tip: SMSBump allows you to set up send campaigns during the subscriber’s local time and enable quiet hours to ensure subscribers don’t get notified in the middle of the night. Set these up to provide a positive SMS experience.

8. Recart - Facebook Messenger Marketing

There are 1.3 billion Messenger users globally. With such a large reach, Facebook Messenger is a channel that has helped many merchants successfully communicate with their shoppers. Recart is one of the top Shopify apps for Facebook Messenger marketing. Set up subscription methods to convert store visitors into subscribers, send and schedule messages about order shipment, abandoned cart, product promotions, etc.When sending a promotion about a time-sensitive offer via Messenger, you’re sure to reach your audiences instantly. With a large user base, your audiences will already be on Messenger chatting with their friends and playing games. Using this platform can also allow you to establish a more personal connection with your shoppers.Pro-tip: Set up conditions through Recart’s Messenger flows that remind shoppers if they have clicked/added the product to cart. This way, you can tap into the shopper’s interest in your product.

9. Growave - Loyalty programs

Undoubtedly loyalty programs help to retain customers and drive more sales to your store. With loyalty programs, you can send nudges to your customers to redeem their points when they are about to expire. Loyalty and rewards programs help build relationships with your customers to make sure that they stay loyal to your brand.With Growave, you can set up a top-notch loyalty program for your store. Growave is the all-in-one marketing platform that helps Shopify brands to reach, engage, and convert their customers with ease. It offers comprehensive e-commerce solutions designed with your audience in mind, such as Reviews, Wishlists, Loyalty programs, Social Login, Instagram galleries, and much more - all under one dashboard and for a great price.Pro-tip: Growave offers automated emails that can help you get more reviews, drive sales, and retain loyal customers.

10. Shop Instagram Feed & UGC

User-generated content helps in building brand trust and encourage engagement among your customers. You can promote impulse purchasing by embedding Instagram galleries into your homepage or product sections. With stunning Instagram galleries, you can inspire your potential customers to purchase products directly from photos.Shop Instagram Feed & UGC is a complete Instagram feed app, which is fully compatible with a new Instagram API. It’s been one of the first apps to integrate the Facebook Graph API, allowing for a more secure and stable connection. The tool offers a simple and easy-to-use interface while keeping all of the advanced features of the best apps in its segment.Pro-tip: With Shop Instagram Feed & UGC, you can create separate galleries for each product or showcase only user-generated photos by adding hashtags.

Ready to use the best Shopify apps to boost sales with urgency?

We hope these best Shopify apps help you create a sense of urgency while your shoppers are browsing on your store and when you want them to come back to your store. Urgency is a great way to successfully bring back shoppers. When setting up this tactic, monitor how it performs in comparison with other kinds of promotions. This is especially true for off-site marketing strategies.