How to Add an Announcement Bar to BigCommerce (2026)

To add an announcement bar to BigCommerce, connect your store to WiserNotify with an API account, pick an announcement template, and choose the pages it shows on. The bar goes live without touching your theme files.

BigCommerce has banners of its own, but they are static. A WiserNotify bar adds a countdown, a schedule, page and visitor targeting, and click tracking.

Below are the steps with screenshots, two real BigCommerce bars, and the fixes when a bar does not show.

Does BigCommerce Have an Announcement Bar?

Not as a theme setting. Cornerstone and the other Stencil themes have no announcement bar switch, so BigCommerce offers two workarounds.

• Marketing, then Banners: a banner at the top or bottom of one page at a time, such as the home page, with an optional date range.
• Page Builder: a Text widget dropped into the global header region, which repeats on every page as plain text.

Both are static. Neither can count down, rotate messages, target visitors or report clicks, which is why most stores use an app for the bar itself.

Which Announcement Bars Work on BigCommerce?

Kelty, which runs on BigCommerce, keeps one line above its menu: free shipping on all orders over $99. That is the most common bar on the platform, and the number is the part shoppers remember.

Bar type	Example line	Add in WiserNotify
Free shipping threshold	Free shipping on orders over $99	A Shop now button
Sitewide discount	40% off sitewide, code SAVE40	A coupon code the visitor can copy
Deadline	Sale ends in 02:14:36	A countdown timer
Launch or event	New colors drop Friday	A start and end date
Shipping notice	Order by the cutoff date for holiday delivery	A fixed end date on the timer

Tommie Copper, another BigCommerce store, rotates two offers in the same bar: 40% off sitewide and an extra 10% off sleeves. Rotation lets one bar carry two messages without growing taller.

How Do You Add an Announcement Bar to BigCommerce?

WiserNotify connects through a BigCommerce API account. Once connected, it adds its pixel to your store on its own, so there is no theme editing. The video shows the bar being built, and the steps below cover the connection first.

Step 1: Open Advanced Settings

1. Log in to your BigCommerce control panel.
2. Click Advanced Settings in the left menu.

Step 2: Go to API Accounts

1. In the Advanced Settings list, click API Accounts.

Step 3: Create an API Account

1. Click Create API account.

Step 4: Set the Token Type and Name

1. Set Token type to V2/V3 API token.
2. Name it, for example Connect to WiserNotify.
3. Copy the store hash from the API path. It is the short code after /stores/.

Step 5: Set the OAuth Scopes and Save

1. Set the scopes to match the WiserNotify guide. Content needs modify so the pixel can be added, and Orders and Customers can stay read-only.
2. Click Save.

Step 6: Copy the Client ID and Token

1. Copy the Client ID and the Access token from the credentials window.
2. Keep them handy. BigCommerce shows the token once.

Step 7: Integrate BigCommerce

1. In WiserNotify, go to Integrations and search for BigCommerce.
2. Click Integrate.

Step 8: Paste the Details and Connect

1. Paste the store hash, Client ID and Access token.
2. Name the connection and click Create.

WiserNotify now adds its pixel to your store and starts receiving order data for sales notifications too.

Step 9: Verify the Pixel

1. Open your storefront once so the pixel loads.
2. In WiserNotify, open Install Pixel and click Verify pixel installation.

Step 10: Pick an Announcement Template

1. Go to Notifications, click Add notification and open the Announcements tab.
2. Pick a template such as Discount, Offer or Reminder, then click Add.
3. Name the bar and enter your store URL.

Step 11: Design the Bar

1. In the Design tab, write the line, such as Free shipping on orders over $99.
2. Add a button, a coupon code or a countdown if the offer needs one.
3. Match the colors and font to your BigCommerce theme.

Step 12: Choose Pages and Timing

1. In the Display tab, show the bar on all pages or only on chosen URLs.
2. Narrow it by country, device, UTM or new versus returning visitors if the offer calls for it.
3. Set the campaign dates so the bar switches itself off when the sale ends.

Step 13: Publish and Check

1. Click Save, then Publish.
2. Open your storefront in a private window and check the bar on desktop and on a phone.

How Do You Run Seasonal Banners on BigCommerce?

Seasonal promotions on BigCommerce work best as separate bars, each with its own dates. Build the next one while the current one runs, and let the schedule do the switching.

• Black Friday and Cyber Monday: one bar with a countdown that ends when the sale does.
• Shipping cutoff: a reminder with the last order date, set to end on that date.
• Post-holiday clearance: a plain discount bar with a coupon code.

BigCommerce’s own promotion banners, added to coupon and automatic promotions in 2025, show a line tied to one promotion. Use them for the discount rule itself and the announcement bar for the storewide message.

For more ideas, see these announcement bar examples.

Where Should the Bar Show on BigCommerce?

• Homepage: the storewide message, since most visits start here.
• Product pages: the free shipping threshold, right where the price is.
• Category pages: offers that apply to one product group only.
• Cart page: “Add $14 more for free shipping” style nudges before checkout.
• Campaign landing pages: the same offer the ad or email promised.

Two rules keep the bar useful. Run one bar per page, so messages do not stack, and take it down the day the offer ends.

These ways to display offers on a website cover what else can sit next to it.

Announcement Bar Not Showing on BigCommerce?

• Connection inactive: open Integrations in WiserNotify and check the BigCommerce connection is active.
• Pixel not detected: run Verify pixel installation again after loading a storefront page.
• Not published: saving the bar is not enough. Click Publish.
• Page rules too narrow: make sure the exact page URL is on the Display list.
• Cached page: check the storefront in a private window.

Wrap Up

BigCommerce gives you a static banner. WiserNotify gives you a bar that knows the date, the page and the visitor.

Start with the free shipping threshold on every page, then add a dated bar for your next sale.

Related Post

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