The announcement bar is a strip at the top of the cart drawer carrying one short message, optionally with a countdown. By the end of this you will have one enabled and worded honestly. It takes a couple of minutes.

In this article:

Step 1: Enable it

Open the cart drawer editor and select Announcement Bar.
Select Activate.

Until you do, you see Announcement is not shown because it is disabled. Activate to show it in your cart drawer. You can preview changes before saving.

Step 2: Write the message

Set Announcement Text. The default and placeholder show the intended pattern:

Your products are reserved for {TIMER} minutes!

Use {TIMER} where you want the countdown to appear.

If you do not want a countdown, write a message without {TIMER}. The bar works as a plain message.

Step 3: Set the timer

Timer Value sets the starting number of minutes, with the help text: "The timer will start counting down from this value in the cart."

The countdown starts when the customer opens the cart and counts down from there.

⚠️ Nothing actually expires when the timer reaches zero. The cart is not emptied and no reservation is released. If your message claims products are reserved, make sure that claim is one you are comfortable making, because it is not enforced by anything.

Step 4: Position and size

Setting	Options
`Position`	`Above Items` or `Below Items`
`Font Size`	In pixels
`Announcement Size`	The height of the bar, in pixels

Above Items is the usual choice. An announcement below the cart items is often below the fold on a phone and does nothing.

Step 5: Colours

Control	What it colours
`Background Color`	The bar
`Border Color`	Its border
`Text Color`	The message

For a gradient, turn on Use gradient for announcement background and set Gradient Start, Gradient End and Gradient Direction. Directions are Left to Right, Right to Left, Top to Bottom, Bottom to Top, Top Left to Bottom Right and Top Right to Bottom Left.

An inline Preview shows the result as you work.

💡 Contrast, not size. A slim bar in a colour that differs from your drawer background gets read. A tall bar in a similar tone gets skipped and pushes your cart items down.

Wording it honestly

A countdown that promises something untrue is worse than no countdown. Several markets treat fake urgency as a prohibited commercial practice, and customers who notice stop trusting the rest of the page.

Instead of	Write
Your products are reserved for 10 minutes!	Checkout in the next 10 minutes for same-day dispatch, if that is true
Only 2 left, hurry!	Nothing, unless the drawer can actually read your stock level
Offer expires in 10 minutes!	Nothing, unless something really does expire

Safe and useful alternatives that need no timer at all:

Free returns within 30 days
Order by 2pm for next-day dispatch
Spend $50 for free shipping, though the reward bar does this better

What to use it for

The announcement bar is best used for information that helps the customer decide, rather than pressure.

Good uses:

A genuine dispatch cutoff
A returns or guarantee reassurance
A real, dated promotion
A delivery notice during a busy period

ℹ️ If your goal is to raise order value, the reward progress bar does that far better than an announcement. It gives customers a specific reason to add something rather than a general sense of hurry. See Setting up the reward progress bar.

Setting up the announcement bar in your cart drawer