How the Fixed Minutes Countdown Works in Essential Countdown Timer

A Fixed Minutes Countdown is designed to create urgency and encourage impulse purchases by showing a limited-time offer to each visitor individually. This timer works per session, meaning every customer sees their own countdown starting from the same duration.

This article explains how the Fixed Minutes countdown works and what happens when the timer ends, especially when the “Hide” option is selected.

📌 What Is a Fixed Minutes Countdown?

A Fixed Minutes countdown starts from a set number of minutes for each buyer session.

This means:

• Every new visitor sees the timer start from the full duration
• The countdown is not shared across visitors
• Refreshing the page or starting a new session restarts the timer for that visitor

📌 Example:

If you set the timer to 5 minutes, every customer will see a fresh 5-minute countdown when they visit your store.

This timer type is commonly used for:

• Flash offers
• Limited-time incentives
• Creating urgency without a fixed end date

🎯 Best Practices for Fixed Minutes Timers

Although you can set longer durations, Fixed Minutes timers usually perform best when set between:

• A few minutes
• Up to a few hours

Seeing a message like “Only 5 minutes left” encourages faster decision-making and increases urgency.

📌 What Happens When the Timer Ends?

When using a Fixed Minutes countdown, you can control what happens after the timer reaches zero.

You can choose one of the following options:

🕶️ Hide the Timer

The timer disappears for that individual visitor once it reaches zero.

• The timer will no longer be visible to that customer
• Other visitors will still see their own countdown
• This is expected behavior and does not mean the timer is broken

📌 Important:

If “Hide” is selected, the timer will not show again for the same buyer once it ends.

🔁 Repeat the Countdown

The timer automatically restarts from the beginning for that visitor.

• The countdown loops continuously
• Useful for evergreen urgency campaigns

📝 Show Custom Title

The timer stops counting and displays a custom message instead.

📌 Example:

• “The sale is over”
• “This offer has ended”

The widget remains visible, but the countdown is replaced by your custom text.

⏸️ Do Nothing

The timer stays visible and shows zero values.

• No automatic action is taken
• The widget remains on the page unchanged

⚠️ Why the Fixed Minutes Timer May Not Be Showing

If your Fixed Minutes timer is no longer visible, check the following:

• The “Hide” option is selected and the timer already ended for that visitor
• You are testing repeatedly in the same browser session
• The timer is unpublished or placement settings are incorrect

📌 Tip:

To test the timer again, open your store in:

• Incognito mode
• A different browser
• A new device

This creates a new session and restarts the countdown.

✅  Notes

• Fixed Minutes countdowns are session-based, not global
• Every visitor gets their own countdown
• If “Hide” is selected, the timer disappears once it ends for that buyer
• This behavior is expected and working as designed
• To test again, start a new browser session

If you need help choosing the best end behavior for your campaign, our support team is always happy to help 💙