Do you run a "new product launch announcement" or a "limited-time sale"?
When running an online store on Shopify, you may want to sell a specific product only during a specific period. Seasonal products and limited-time sales are good examples of this. This article explains in detail the various ways to set a product's sales period on Shopify, comparing the benefits and drawbacks of each. We also introduce recommended apps dedicated to setting a sales period.
4 Ways to Set a Sales Period on Shopify
There are four ways to set a sales period on Shopify:
- Use the Publish Schedule in Shopify's Product Management
- Use Shopify Flow
- Customize the Source Code
- Use a Shopify App
Let's look at the benefits and drawbacks of each in detail.
Use the Publish Schedule in Shopify's Product Management
The first method is to use the publish schedule on the Shopify product management page. Since this is a native Shopify feature, it's free to set up, but it only supports a sale start date, so it's not well suited to limited-time sales that require a sale end date.
Benefits of Using the Product Management Publish Schedule
- Free to set up
- Easy to configure
- No programming knowledge required
- Unaffected by Shopify theme upgrades or theme changes
Drawbacks of Using the Product Management Publish Schedule
- You can't set a sale end date/time
- You can't do a launch announcement for a new product (because the product page itself is hidden before the set publish date/time)
- You can't set it per variant
Use Shopify Flow
The second method is to use Shopify Flow. Shopify Flow is a workflow app provided by Shopify. It's free to use and requires no programming knowledge, but it does take some getting used to before you can use it effectively.
Benefits of Using Shopify Flow
- Free to set up
- Can automatically end sales
- No programming knowledge required
- Unaffected by Shopify theme upgrades or theme changes
Drawbacks of Using Shopify Flow
- Difficult to configure
- Can't do a launch announcement (because the product page is hidden before launch)
- Can't set it per variant
The blog article below explains Shopify Flow in detail. Please use it as a reference.
Customize the Source Code
The third method is to customize the source code. Of the four methods introduced in this article, this requires the most programming knowledge, making it the most difficult. On the other hand, it gives you the greatest degree of customization freedom.
Benefits of Customizing the Source Code
- Can be set per variant
- Both sale start and sale end can be automated
- Highly flexible in what you can do
Drawbacks of Customizing the Source Code
- Requires programming knowledge
- Difficult to configure
- (If outsourced) Can be very costly
- Needs to be re-customized whenever your Shopify theme is upgraded or changed
Use a Shopify App
The fourth method is to use a Shopify app. Using "RuffRuff Selling Periods" or "RuffRuff 予約販売," described later, lets you easily set a product's sales period without needing any programming knowledge.
Benefits of Using a Shopify App
- Easy to get started with
- Can be set per variant
- Both sale start and sale end can be automated
- Supports launch announcements too (since the product can be published before the sale starts)
- No programming knowledge required
- Unaffected by Shopify theme upgrades or theme changes
- Continuously improved and enhanced over time
Drawbacks of Using a Shopify App
- Costs money, though the amount is small
Comparing the Ways to Set a Sales Period
| Method | Publish Schedule | Shopify Flow | Source Code | Shopify App |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of setup | ◯ | ✕ | ✕ | ◯ |
| Cost | ◯ | ◯ | ✕ | △ Relatively inexpensive |
| Setting a sale start date | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ |
| Setting a sale end date | ✕ | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ |
| Launch announcements | ✕ | ✕ | ◯ | ◯ |
| Limited-time sales | ✕ | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ |
| Per-variant setting | ✕ | ✕ | ◯ | ◯ |
| Impact of Shopify theme upgrades, etc. | None | None | Yes | None |
| Ongoing feature improvements | △ Unclear whether the publish schedule feature will be enhanced | △ Unclear whether the action portion will be enhanced | ✕ | ◯ |
Recommended Shopify Apps for Setting a Sales Period
RuffRuff Selling Periods
RuffRuff Selling Periods is a sales period app that lets you set a sale start and end date per variant. It fully supports Japanese and enables new product launch announcements and limited-time sales with an easy 3-step setup. It's also the first sales period app in Japan to use the Cart and Checkout Validation API, letting it prevent purchases outside the sales period in cases that existing apps can't handle.
It has also earned Shopify's official "Built for Shopify" badge, the mark of the highest-quality apps that meet standards for speed, ease of use, and reliability.
Price: from $9.9/month
RuffRuff 予約販売
RuffRuff 予約販売 is a Shopify app that makes it easy to implement pre-orders on your Shopify store. By making creative use of this app, you can also run various types of sales, such as "limited-time sales," "limited-time promotions," "launch announcements," "recurring sales," "member-exclusive promotions," "VIP-exclusive sales," and "quantity limits."
It also offers many unique features not found in other pre-order apps, such as a "deferred payment" function that lets you collect payment before a product ships, and a "countdown timer" function that displays the time remaining until a sale starts, ends, or a promotion closes.
It has also earned Shopify's official "Built for Shopify" badge, the mark of the highest-quality apps that meet standards for speed, ease of use, and reliability.
Price: from $9/month
Differences Between RuffRuff Selling Periods and RuffRuff 予約販売
Below is a table summarizing the differences between RuffRuff Selling Periods and RuffRuff 予約販売.
| App Name | RuffRuff Selling Periods | RuffRuff 予約販売 |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Plans | ||
| Monthly fee | ・Light Plan: $9/month | ・Starter Plan: $9/month + 3% pre-order fee ・Basic Plan: $52/month + 1% pre-order fee ・Pro Plan: $199/month |
| What the App Can Do | ||
| Launch announcements | ◯ | ◯ |
| Limited-time sales | ◯ | ◯ |
| Countdown timer display | ◯ | ◯ |
| Limited-time promotions | - | ◯ |
| Recurring sales | - | ◯ |
| Recurring discounts | - | ◯ |
| Pre-orders | - | ◯ |
| Member-exclusive sales | - | ◯ |
| Member-exclusive promotions | - | ◯ |
| VIP-exclusive promotions | - | ◯ |
| Deferred payment sales | - | ◯ |
| Sales with discounts | - | ◯ |
| Sales with quantity limits | - | ◯ |
| Sales with bundling restrictions | - | ◯ |
| Other Features | ||
| Cart and Checkout Validation API support | ◯ | ◯ |
| Per-variant sales period setting | ◯ | ◯ |
| Bulk-apply sales period to products | ◯ | ◯ |
| Cart button control by sales period | - | ◯ |
| Design customization | ◯ | ◯ |
| Product message customization | ◯ | ◯ |
| Automatic order tagging | - | ◯ |
| Translation feature | ◯ | ◯ |
| Compatible Apps | ||
| RuffRuff Order Limits | ◯ | ◯ |
| Plus Shipping | - | ◯ |
| Delivery Date/Time Selection .amp | - | ◯ |
| Calendar Master | - | ◯ |
| Delivery & Order Supporter | - | ◯ |
| Shipping Manager | - | ◯ |
| Japan Order CSV | - | ◯ |
| Poinpon | - | ◯ |
| Klaviyo | - | ◯ |
| Omnisend | - | ◯ |
※ Using the Cart and Checkout Validation API enables more robust validation. It can prevent purchases outside the sales period in cases that existing sales-period apps could not handle.
In Conclusion
This article introduced four ways to set a sales period on Shopify. Each method has its own benefits and drawbacks. We recommend choosing the setup method that best matches what you want to achieve.
The blog article below introduces how to run a limited-time sale along with recommended Shopify apps. Please use it as a reference.
The blog article below introduces how to run a new product launch announcement along with recommended apps. Please use it as a reference.
This article introduced Shopify apps that let you set a sales period, but the blog article below introduces recommended apps by category beyond sales period apps — including "customer acquisition," "boosting sales," and "expanding blog content." Please use it as a reference.
