Sales Countdown Timers

Overview

Sales Countdown Timers shows a countdown, and optionally a low-stock line, on the product page, in the shop loop and above the cart. Each timer can carry a percentage offer, which the module applies as a real price for exactly as long as the timer runs.

Every timer has a real schedule. A timer that has not started or has already ended renders nothing, and a countdown never restarts for a shopper who has already seen it end.

It is a premium module. Enable it from Empora → Modules once your license includes countdown-timer; enabling it creates its table.

Availability

Item	Value
Module key	countdown-timer
Tier	Premium — lowest plan Starter
Entitlement key	countdown-timer
Enabled option	aiowc_module_enabled_countdown-timer (off until enabled)
REST namespace	aiowc/v1

Schedules

Mode	When it ends	Offer
fixed	At the end date you set (with an optional start). The same moment for every shopper.	A WooCommerce sale price, applied at the start and removed at the end.
evergreen	A duration you set, from 1 minute to 30 days, counted from when each shopper first sees it.	Applied to that shopper only, while their window is open.
product_sale	At each targeted product's own WooCommerce sale end date. A product without one shows no timer.	None — the product's own sale price applies.

Dates typed without a time zone are read in your site's time zone.

A timer is refused when it has no real schedule: a fixed timer with no end, or one that ends before it starts; an evergreen duration outside 1 minute to 30 days; an offer above 90%. An offer, and the product_sale mode, must target chosen products or categories rather than the whole store.

How offers are applied

For a fixed timer the module writes the sale price and sale dates on each targeted product (up to 200) when the window opens, and puts the product's original sale price and dates back when it closes. A product already discounted by another timer is skipped, never discounted twice, and variations are discounted individually.

For an evergreen timer the price changes only on the storefront, for the one shopper whose window is open, so the product page, the cart and the order all charge the same amount. A product already on a lower sale keeps its lower price.

An evergreen shopper's first-seen time is kept in a browser cookie and, when they are signed in, on their account, so opening the site in another browser does not restart the countdown.

Timer fields

Field	Values
name	Required.
status	active or paused.
mode	fixed, evergreen or product_sale.
starts_at, ends_at	ISO-8601 dates (fixed timers).
evergreen_minutes	1–43,200 (evergreen timers).
target_type, target_ids	all, products or categories, with up to 200 IDs.
placements	One or more of product, shop, cart.
style	bar, badge, inline or sticky.
heading	Up to 40 characters.
offer_percent	0–90.
background_color, text_color	Hex colours.
show_stock	Adds "Only N left in stock" when the product manages stock and is low.
priority	When several timers match one spot, the lowest number wins.

Settings

Stored in the bundled option row aiowc_cdt_settings.

Key	Default	What it does
show_on_product	on	Timers on the single product page.
show_on_shop	on	Timers in the shop and category loop.
show_on_cart	off	Timers above the cart.
evergreen_cookie_days	30	How long the first-seen cookie lasts (1–365 days).
stock_threshold	10	The low-stock line shows at or below this quantity (1–1000).

REST API endpoints

All require an administrator.

Method	Path	Purpose
GET	/countdown-timers	A page of timers (up to 50 per page).
POST	/countdown-timers	Create a timer.
GET	/countdown-timers/{id}	One timer.
PUT / PATCH / POST	/countdown-timers/{id}	Update a timer.
DELETE	/countdown-timers/{id}	Delete a timer.
GET	/countdown-timers/{id}/coverage	Each targeted product: its sale end date, whether the offer is applied, and whether it gets a timer.
GET	/countdown-timers/settings	Read the settings.
PUT / PATCH / POST	/countdown-timers/settings	Update the settings.

Database schema

Table	Holds
{prefix}aiowc_countdown_timers	One row per timer: the fields above, with times stored in UTC.

Created when the module is enabled and kept when it is disabled.

WooCommerce integration

The timer is rendered on the server with its end time and the time remaining, so it reads correctly without JavaScript. A small script keeps it ticking once a second, or once a minute when the visitor prefers reduced motion, and loads only on pages that show a timer.

Hook	Adds
woocommerce_single_product_summary	The timer on a product page
woocommerce_after_shop_loop_item_title	The timer in the shop loop
woocommerce_before_cart	The timer above the cart

Page caching

Fixed timers are safe behind a full-page cache. Evergreen timers are not: a cached page would show one shopper's end time to the next. Exclude the pages that show evergreen timers from your page cache.

Entitlement limits

The entitlement is a single on/off grant. Without countdown-timer the module stays locked and none of the above loads.