16 Revenue-Focused Popup Tactics (+Playbook & 30-Day Implementation Plan)

Based on our experience with hundreds of ecommerce businesses, one thing is clear:

The days of popups being limited to campaigns like "Get 10% off your first order" are numbered. 

When we studied how mid-sized and large Shopify stores engage visitors last year, we found that popups are increasingly used to make sales announcements, upsell offers, promote new products, and more:

But these use cases are just the tip of the iceberg.

Brands that experiment with popup types, targeting, and CRO tactics for growth build sophisticated workflows that do far more than capture emails.

They also:

• drive immediate revenue

• reduce cart abandonment

• increase average order value…

…without always relying on discounts.

We wrote this post to share those tactics and workflows, developed and refined through hands-on work with ecommerce brands across Shopify and beyond.

The missed potential of email-only popups

This situation should sound familiar: you set up a popup offering 10% off for email signups. 

It works—you're building your email list, albeit slowly. Probably converting up to 3% of your visitors on average. 

But then what? 

You need to grow faster, but the strategy kind of stalls. Sometimes, that even means being limited to a few dozen emails per month.

What to do next? 

Give a bigger discount, maybe? That doesn’t always make business sense.

Refresh the product image in that campaign once every two weeks? That’s not going to have the impact you’re hoping for, either.

So, eventually, popups become almost an afterthought, not a serious revenue channel. Instead, more money is often poured into paid ad campaigns.

But other businesses in your industry are getting more ROI for their popup software investments (which are tiny compared to the money spent on ads, for example)—proving that often you don’t need more traffic to improve your revenue.

Here are just some success stories—they're the result of treating popups as a revenue channel, not just a lead generation tool:

The popup framework for revenue

So, how do you treat popups as a revenue channel?

One efficient way is to try campaigns that have proven to work. 

For example, this popup framework below is working for high-growth ecommerce brands, based on our experience. Note that those aren’t always simple popups, but multi-step workflows designed for engagement, progressive profiling, and selling.

Click the campaigns to see them in action:

Proven tactics to use popups to increase ecommerce revenue

Here are proven tactics that ecommerce brands use popups to drive more sales and revenue. We’ll take a closer look at each one in the next section.

Strategy: Converting new visitors

• Multi-step welcome flow with best sellers

• Personalize product discovery with AI product recommendations for new visitors

• Recover ad spend with exit-intent offers

• Onsite cart recovery flow

Strategy: Shopping cart optimization

• Display “Frequently bought together” when a customer adds a product to the cart

• Encourage more spend with free shipping thresholds

• Promote bundle offers on product pages

• Cart-based upsell offer to increase average order value

Strategy: Behavioral micro-moments

• Exit-intent campaigns without discounts

• Convert visitors coming from email campaigns

• Convert high-intent browsers with time-on-page triggers

• Convert with a category-specific free shipping

• High-value product promotion with social proof

• Loyal customer exclusive reward

• Post-purchase accessory recommendation

• New collection launch popup for product discovery

Strategy: Converting new visitors

Tactic 1: Multi-step welcome flow with bestsellers

This is the campaign that upgrades the traditional welcome popup. 

With that, our only goal was to capture emails.

Now, we turn first-time visitors into buyers while capturing emails/phones and segmentation data and guiding them toward best sellers.

The workflow will have three windows, or “steps:”

• Step 1: Email capture & offer: Present the value proposition and collect the visitor’s email

• Step 2: Phone & segmentation: Gather phone numbers and preferences or segmentation data

• Step 3: Incentive & product promotion: Reveal the discount code and highlight top-selling products to encourage immediate purchase

Let me show this workflow in action using Nutrimuscle.

The first step in their popup is basically a traditional welcome campaign—they clearly state our offer and invite the visitor to sign up with their email:

Next, we come to the phone number signup and the segmentation data collection part. This is where it gets more interesting.

The campaign asks multiple-choice questions that are quick and easy for visitors to answer in seconds. That’s the best format to reduce friction and keep the cognitive load light:

The third and final window gives the visitor the discount code. They can apply the code to the cart in one click by choosing Add.

But what’s really important here are the product recommendations—having them increases the chance of a visitor checking them out. By highlighting best-sellers like that, you guide visitors toward popular items, turning the first interaction into a potential sale:

This revenue-focused popup reported these results over 12 months:

• Achieved an average conversion rate of 4.01%

• Captured 7,600+ emails and 4,800+ phone numbers

• Collected thousands of data points for customer segmentation

• €1.8M in popup-attributed revenue generated along with a few other campaigns

Tactic 2: Personalize product discovery with AI product recommendations for new visitors

New visitors often browse a few products without finding exactly what they want—especially if it’s a store with a large catalog. 

So many of them may leave after viewing only five products or so.

Trigger an exit-intent popup that shows AI-made personalized recommendations based on the items they’ve already viewed. This increases the chance they’ll browse more products, add something to cart, and convert before leaving.

By combining behavioral targeting with AI personalization, you can increase relevance, reduce drop-off, and improve the chances of converting first-time visitors without discounts.

Campaigns like this one can lift revenues by up to 5%, based on our experience working with Shopify businesses.

Tactic 3: Recover ad spend with exit-intent offers

When you're spending money to drive traffic from Facebook, Google, or other paid channels, losing visitors is literally watching your ad budget disappear. 

You can make an exit-intent campaign to specifically target paid traffic sources, triggering a last-chance offer with a discount and personalized product recommendations when visitors attempt to leave.

Since ad visitors have higher acquisition costs and deserve extra conversion effort, we combine a discount with product suggestions based on browsing behavior. This way, you address two important barriers: price and decision hesitation.

Tactic 4: Onsite cart recovery flow (Shopify only)

A simple exit-intent campaign can work as a cart recovery popup, but it often needs to be smarter to achieve a good recovery rate. 

Instead, consider this workflow for both desktop and mobile—

This campaign appears on exit and shows visitors exactly what they're leaving behind (their actual cart contents added to the popup in real time). Also, the countdown timer and a discount add some more motivation:

If the customer chooses to receive the discount, they get the second window. There, they can easily copy the discount code. If they do, they will be automatically redirected to the cart page.

There are a few ways to implement effective cart recovery popup workflows.

The first one is to use the cart content reminder + an incentive (just like in the above example). You set it up by adding a cart content block inside an exit campaign in advanced popup software like Wisepops.

The "live cart content" component (in the image below) ensures accuracy, so no manual updates are needed:

Next, you can also create smart campaigns with AI.

When your campaign design is done, enable AI-powered exit detection to make your offer as contextual and relevant as possible:

The third way is to use the native Shopify cart content and/or value targeting settings. 

You segment customers based on the value or number of products currently in their cart. Use cart.item_count and cart.total_price properties. For example, you can show your offer only to those whose products in the cart are worth more than $50:

Strategy: Shopping cart optimization

The moment someone adds an item to their cart, your popup strategy should shift from discovery to conversion rate optimization.

Tactic 5: Display “Frequently bought together” items when a customer adds a product to the cart

Once a customer adds items to the cart, suggest complementary products based on actual purchase patterns. This isn't random cross-selling but a data-driven product bundling that increases average order value in a natural way.

Tactic 6: Encourage more spend with free shipping thresholds

Encourage visitors to increase their order value to get free shipping by using native Shopify display rule cart.total_price in your popups.

For example, you use cart.total_price to trigger messages like "Add $15 more for free shipping" when visitors haven't reached your chosen threshold.

Tactic 7: Promote bundle offers on product pages

If your store sells bundles, promote them on relevant product pages with a dedicated popup. For example, MakerFlo uses a similar campaign to let visitors know about bundle savings.

With this campaign, MakerFlo reached 22.9% CTR, with 14.7% of those clicks converting to orders. The key was to target specific product pages and make the value proposition clear: save 10% by creating your own bundle.

Tactic 8: Cart-based upsell offer to increase average order value

When visitors add products to cart, it’s a great moment to recommend some related items. This exit popup idea targets active shoppers who've viewed at least five product pages and added at least one item to the cart, recommending related products to add to their purchase.

The campaign timing is strategic: triggering on exit after engagement (5 page views, 10+ seconds) ensures you're reaching potentially interested buyers, not just casual browsers. By showing products that pair with their cart contents (like in this example below, skincare items that complement each other) you increase AOV without being pushy.

Strategy: Behavioral micro-moments

The most sophisticated popup strategies respond to micro-behaviors on websites that indicate purchase intent or hesitation.

Tactic 9: Exit-intent campaigns without discounts

Instead of giving a discount for each leaving visitor, remind them about their cart and give a reason to stay. "These items are selling fast" or "Your products are saved only for 24 hours" can be more effective than another 10% off.

This popup, for example, uses the scarcity technique and says that the availability of products can’t be guaranteed beyond 24 hours:

This next campaign uses trust and hesitation-reducing messaging, highlighting benefits such as free returns, fast delivery, and flexible payment options:

Tactic 10: Convert visitors coming from email campaigns

When visitors arrive from your emails, they’ve already shown intent, so there’s no point in greeting them with the same generic popups. Instead, continue the conversation from their email inbox with a personalized message onsite.

Say, you can use a holiday-themed advent calendar to drive engagement during the festive season. Only customers who click those emails and land on your site will see the calendar inviting them to unlock today’s reward.

In popup software, you can target visitors based on the exact campaign or subscriber segment they came from. This keeps your marketing messaging consistent and improves personalization.

Example: in ecommerce popup software like Wisepops, you can use UTM parameters as a traffic source or target your specific Klaviyo subscriber segments.

Tactic 11: Convert high-intent browsers with time-on-page triggers

If someone's been on a product page for 30+ seconds, they're interested but need a push. The extended time on page signals consideration, so this is a great moment for social proof popups showcasing expert recommendations or customer favorites. 

This popup tactic works because it intervenes at the decision-making peak. We wait until we prove possible buying intent, then give the validation needed to convert. By highlighting a product chosen by a team of professional athletes in this campaign below, the brand builds confidence without discounting.

Tactic 12: Convert with a category-specific free shipping

In this one, we target visitors browsing a specific product category and motivate them to buy with a free shipping offer. By adding this popup on category pages rather than homepage, we are likely to catch high-intent shoppers already interested in specific products. 

The coupon code field also allows us to track the performance of this campaign. The visual at the bottom also shows the actual product category, creating contextual relevance that generic popups lack.

Tactic 13: High-value product promotion with social proof

This is a strategic exit-intent popup made to capture abandoning visitors by promoting a specific product (premium diffuser) with a dedicated discount. What differentiates this campaign is the section with a 5-star rating and 371 reviews, which immediately validates quality, reducing hesitation for buyers.

This campaign may be particularly effective for expensive products where trust-building is essential for getting sales.

Tactic 14: Loyal customer exclusive reward

With this popup, you can target repeat customers (using customer.orders_count > 3 + customer.is_logged_in = true in your Shopify targeting settings). Instead of discounting, we reward loyalty with exclusive product access—preserving margins while driving higher average order value.

This idea is great for new product launches, inventory clearance for loyal customers, and selling seasonal exclusive products. This visitor conversion approach increases perceived VIP status while encouraging larger cart size without eroding brand value through discounts.

Tactic 15: Post-purchase accessory recommendation

After a customer completes a purchase, their next visit to your website is a great opportunity to offer related products they haven’t bought yet. Using past purchase data (orders.*.items.*.sku), you can target customers who purchased a core product (e.g., a coffee machine) but haven’t bought its complementary accessories (e.g., coffee filters or capsules).

Tactic 16: New collection launch popup for product discovery

This popup campaign promotes a new product color to drive awareness and sales of fresh inventory. By highlighting a specific collection with an aspirational lifestyle image, this simple campaign turns an announcement into a revenue opportunity.

The main benefits of this campaign is an active introduction of the new collection to all visitors, accelerating the discovery cycle. So if you’d like to raise awareness of new products and collections instead of relying on passive website browsing, this idea could be for you.

One variation of this tactic is with an exit campaign containing some trust signals:

Proving true incremental ROI of popup campaigns

The true measure of your popup strategy success is the net profit lift. Measurement must move beyond basic conversion tracking to prove profitability and your investment into a popup tool.

Let’s see how you can test the true impact of your campaigns on customer behavior and exclude sales that would have happened anyway.

Proving popup campaign profitability: A/B testing with control groups

The risk of cannibalization, or giving a discount to a customer who would have converted anyway, or is a common and a big threat to your margins. There are two important things to do to minimize this risk and get the data on incremental revenue.

Implement A/B testing with control groups

When testing a campaign, say a discount for new customers, add a control group that sees no popup to your A/B experiment. This helps you isolate the impact of the discount.

Measure revenue per visitor

Ecommerce popup platforms with advanced A/B testing calculate revenue generated by each visitor in all tested campaigns automatically.

To know the real impact, compare the Revenue per Visitor of your test group (say, variant A with 10% off) against the control group (Variant C, no campaign displayed).

The difference between these two groups is your Incremental Revenue—the extra revenue generated only because of your campaign.

And—

• If the lift is significant, the discount was required to unlock more revenue

• If the lift is negligible, deactivate the discount right away. The campaign is costing you margin

Many popup software have A/B testing, but only the most advanced ones for ecommerce include control groups. Example: Wisepops calculates revenue per visitor for every variant to help you understand how to optimize for profitability:

How to segment your popups for higher revenue

Here's where many businesses fail: they treat all visitors the same. Your popup strategy should be as segmented as your email campaigns.

Customer lifetime value

Use customer.orders_count and customer.total_spent campaign targeting properties in your popup software to personalize campaigns.

For example:

• First-time buyers (orders_count = 1): Welcome them to your community with a special offer, discount, and other incentives

• Loyal customers (orders_count > 3): Consider skipping discounts and offering incentives like early access to new products, free gifts, and exclusive bundles

• High-value customers (total_spent > $500):  use popups to deliver experiences that feel exclusive: personalized product recommendations, early access to new products, curated product sets, etc.

New vs. returning visitors

New visitors

Your goal is to convert potential interest into action. Use popups to guide them to your best sellers, show AI-powered recommendations based on trending or top-performing products, and build trust with social proof, reviews, or satisfaction guarantees.

Returning visitors

These visitors already know your brand, so your popups should be more focused on driving purchases. Use contextual popups based on browsing history, abandoned carts, or cart content. Use popups to suggest complementary products, personalized bundles, or limited-time offers.

Learn more about visit frequency targeting.

Browsing history-based

Track page views and product interactions to deliver relevant offers. Choose pages to show your popups on—and exclude those where they would be irrelevant.

This is easy to do with popup software: more about page targeting

Logged-in vs. unregistered visitor targeting (Shopify only)

The customer.is_logged_in property could be a game-changer for you because you can give them personalized offers. For logged-out users, focus on account creation benefits beyond discounts—saved carts, order tracking, exclusive access, etc.

Customer tag-based personalization (Shopify only)

"Customer.tags" opens many possibilities for popup personalization on Shopify. You can tag customers based on their preferences and past purchases and then create popup experiences that feel personal.

Example: a “coffee_lover” tag triggers recommendations for premium beans, coffee machines, or brewing accessories, while a “tea_enthusiast” tag is perfect for showing teapots, loose-leaf teas, and infusers.

Cart-based targeting

Target visitors based on cart value, specific products, or cart abandonment risk. Say, someone with $100+ in their cart deserves a gift offer, not a 5% discount. Empty cart visitors need product discovery, while high-value carts may need some friction removal.

Here are all popular cart-related targeting options:

Geographic and device targeting

Use location and device data to make your popups more relevant. For example, you can highlight international shipping times or location-based offers. Also, personalize experiences by device: on mobile, use thumb-friendly popups with minimal inputs and large buttons.

Learn more about geotargeting

How to write popup messages that drive revenue

The difference between a 1% and a 20% conversion rate often comes down to copy. In fact, in our A/B experiment research, we consistently find that campaigns with better messaging outperform image-only or design tweaks by up to 68% of cases.

Write meaningful urgency into your copy

Urgency-based popups still drive action, but fake countdowns and aggressive tone don’t. That’s why it’s better to use real, contextual urgency linked to behavior or session timing.

Instead of: “Hurry! Sale ends soon!”

Consider: “Your cart expires in 2 hours. Complete your order to lock in today’s price.”

Highlight what the customer gains immediately

How you present an incentive can make a huge difference in ecommerce popup engagement. For example, instead of “Sign up for exclusive offers,” make the value tangible and immediate. 

Examples:

• Free gifts: “Get a free reusable tote with your first order”

• Early access: “Be the first to shop our limited-edition collection—2,847 members already claimed early access”

• Exclusive bundles: “Complete your kit with this curated bundle at a special price”

• VIP perks: “Unlock free shipping for the next 30 days when you join our VIP club”

Use real, specific social proof statements

Trust is the final push to conversion. Highlight real customers, quotes, reviews, and ratings instead of vague credibility claims.

Examples:

• Fashion & apparel: “Over 12,000 shoppers rated our jackets 4.8 stars last month”

• Beauty & skincare: “97% of customers saw visible results within 2 weeks”

• Electronics & gadgets: “5,200+ happy users upgraded to our latest smart speaker this month”

• Home & kitchen: “Rated 4.9 stars by over 3,400 home chefs”

• Sports & fitness: “Join 8,000+ runners who improved their pace with our performance shoes”

• Food & beverages: “Over 10,000 coffee lovers brewed our beans last month”

Match your brand’s voice in every popup

Every popup you publish is an extension of your brand. If the tone is inconsistent, it feels like an instructive ad, a recipe for immediate bounce. So, consult your copywriter or branding guidelines doc to align popup copy with your unique brand voice.

Examples:

• Playful brands: Use humor, emojis, and casual language

• Premium / luxury brands: Keep it polished and concise, emphasizing exclusivity or quality

• Friendly & approachable: Focus on clarity and helpfulness, highlighting value