What Is a Pop-up? Triggers and Timing

What Makes a Pop-up Open

Every pop-up waits for a set trigger, the event that tells it to open. Common ones:

Landing: it opens when the page loads, or a few seconds later.
Scroll: the shopper scrolls part way down, and then it shows up.
Leaving: it appears when the shopper seems about to go. That cue is called exit intent.
Click: nothing happens until the shopper taps a button or link.

Why a Pop-up Can Win or Lose a Sale

A pop-up gets noticed because it sits between the shopper and the page. So it can grow your email list, or point out a deal someone would've missed. But it can also hide the price or the Add to Cart button right when someone wants to buy.

Timing matters as much as what the box says. A signup box that opens before anyone's seen a product is asking too soon. Show a discount to everyone and it also reaches shoppers who'd pay full price. That's the gap between dedicated buyers and walk-away customers.

Example: A candle store shows a 10%-off pop-up 3 seconds after every page loads. A shopper opens the home page, two collections and three candles. That's 6 pages, so she closes the same box 6 times before she reaches her cart.

Set it to show once per visit and she only closes it once. With a cooldown period of a few days on top, it stays hidden when she comes back tomorrow.

Pop-ups on a Shopify Store

On Shopify, pop-ups usually come from an app, often an email or discount tool. Some themes include a simple newsletter pop-up too. Many apps get switched on in the theme editor under App embeds. That's also where you switch them off.

On a phone, a pop-up can fill most of the screen. One that covers the whole page is called an interstitial popup. Our guide on exit-intent pop-ups and what works better covers why last-second pop-ups often fall flat, and what you can try instead.

Signups Don't Prove a Pop-up Works

A common mistake is judging a pop-up by its signups. Signups and code uses only show that people reacted. They don't show who would have bought anyway, or who left because the box was in the way. To find out, hide the pop-up from a random half of visitors and compare sales. That's called an A/B test.

A pop-up also isn't always a modal. A modal overlay locks the rest of the page until you close it. A small corner pop-up doesn't, so you can keep scrolling.