ShopPulse help: Shopify visitor counter setup guide

ShopPulse adds a small “17 people are viewing this product” message to your product pages. By default the number reflects real visitors: each open product page checks in every 15 seconds, and a visitor counts while their last check-in is under 30 seconds old.

It runs as a theme app block, so it does not touch your theme code. An optional baseline boost (off by default) can add a fixed number to the real count; see “Minimum count and baseline boost”.

1. In your Shopify admin open Online Store, then Themes, then Customize, and pick a product page template.
2. In the Product information section (or any section that accepts apps), choose Add block, then the “Visitor counter” app block from ShopPulse, and place it where you want the message (for example under the price).
3. Save the theme, then open ShopPulse Settings and switch on “Show the widget on your storefront”. The widget is off until you do.
4. Visit a product page in a private window. Open a second window on the same product to watch the count change.

The counter is a theme app block named “Visitor counter”. Add it from the theme editor on the product template; Shopify keeps app blocks working across theme updates. It only renders on product pages.

In the block settings, Position chooses “Where block sits” or a floating badge at the bottom right. You can also add fallback text that shows if the widget cannot load.

If it does not show: check the block is added and the theme is saved, the widget is switched on in ShopPulse Settings, and the product is not switched off in Products.

On the Settings page write your message. {count} is replaced with the live number, for example “{count} people are viewing this product”. Keep the wording about people viewing: the number is live viewers, not purchases or carts.

Choose the position (inline, where you place the block in the theme editor, or floating at the bottom of the screen), the icon, text, background and border colors, the text size and the animation. The live preview updates as you change them.

Changes apply when you save with the bar at the top of the page, and reach your store within a minute.

Minimum count to show hides the message until at least that many people are viewing (default 2), so you never show “1 person”.

Baseline boost is an optional display adjustment: it adds a fixed number to the real count, so the number shoppers see is higher than real activity. You are responsible for keeping your store's claims truthful, and consumer-protection rules in your market may apply. It is off (0) by default.

Turn on “Only show during set hours” in Settings and enter a start and end time in 24-hour format, such as 09:00 to 22:00. Times use your store timezone, which ShopPulse reads from Shopify. A window that crosses midnight, such as 22:00 to 06:00, works too.

Under Visibility you can also hide the counter on mobile or on desktop.

Country targeting is on the Basic and Pro plans. Turn on “Limit by country” and enter two-letter ISO codes separated by commas, for example US, CA, GB. Visitors from other countries do not see the counter. Leave the list empty to allow every country.

The country comes from your store's localization (the market the shopper is browsing), not from tracking their IP address in ShopPulse.

Turn on “Run an A/B test” in Settings (Basic and Pro) and choose Message B. Message A is your normal message. Results (impressions per message, plus hovers and clicks on Pro) are on the Analytics page. Each visitor is shown one of the two, and the choice is kept for their browser session so the text does not flip while they browse.

ShopPulse does not report a winner for you. Compare your add-to-cart and conversion numbers in Shopify for the test period.

On the Products page you can switch the counter on or off for a single product.

On plans with unlimited products every product shows the counter unless you switch it off. On the Free plan only products you switch on show it; see “Plan limits”.

Analytics shows how often the counter was displayed (impressions) over time. The Pro plan adds hover and click totals and a per-product breakdown.

Analytics counts events on the widget only. It does not measure sales. Events older than 90 days are removed.

The Free plan always shows a small “Powered by ShopPulse” credit under the counter. On Basic and Pro you can switch it off under Branding in Settings.

Free: up to 100 products and core customization. Basic ($9.99/month): unlimited products, geo targeting, A/B testing and no ShopPulse credit. Pro ($19.99/month): everything in Basic plus detailed analytics.

Paid plans start with a 7-day free trial. Billing runs through Shopify.

The Free plan can show the counter on up to 100 products. Because of that limit, products are off by default on Free: switch on the products you want in Products, and the page shows how many of the 100 you have used.

Basic and Pro have no product limit, and every product shows the counter by default.

Open Plan in the ShopPulse app and choose a plan. Shopify asks you to approve the charge; nothing changes until you do.

Paid plans start with a 7-day free trial. Choosing the other paid plan replaces your current subscription. Choosing Free cancels the paid subscription in Shopify.

Charges and invoices appear in your Shopify bill, not from us. Features tied to a paid plan (geo targeting, A/B test, hidden credit, detailed analytics) switch off when you move down.

Check, in order: the “Visitor counter” app block is added to the product template and the theme is saved; the widget is on in Settings; the product is not switched off in Products (on Free, it must be switched on); the minimum count is not higher than the current viewers; the schedule, device and country settings allow you right now.

The block only renders on product pages, and only in themes that support app blocks (Online Store 2.0). If the preview in the theme editor looks empty, that is normal: the counter loads on the live storefront.

Each open product page checks in every 15 seconds. A visitor counts for 30 seconds after their last check-in, then drops off. A tab that is hidden pauses its check-ins, and the same browser tab is never counted twice.

The count is per product. If you set a baseline boost it is added on top, so the number shown is then higher than real activity.

To count viewers, ShopPulse keeps a random session id for a short time. It does not store names, emails or IP addresses, and the widget sets no cookies (it uses the browser's session storage for the id). Anonymous impression, hover and click totals are kept for analytics.

Whether your store needs a consent notice depends on your market. See our privacy policy and speak to your legal adviser.

The counter stops showing straight away, and ShopPulse drops its access to your store. Your settings, product rules and analytics are deleted when Shopify sends its shop-redact request, about 48 hours after uninstall.

You can delete the leftover app block from your theme if you like; it does nothing once the app is gone. If you reinstall later, you start again from the Free plan.