Social Proof

Social proof popups display recent purchase notifications on your storefront to build trust and create urgency. When visitors see that others are actively purchasing from your store, they're more likely to make a purchase themselves. These real-time notifications show customer names (anonymized), product names, locations, and purchase times.

Overview

The social proof system automatically displays notifications for recent orders in the bottom-left corner of your storefront. Each popup shows:

• Customer name (anonymized, e.g., "John D.")
• Product name purchased
• Location (city and country)
• Time ago (e.g., "2 minutes ago")
• Product image (if available)
• Progress bar showing time remaining

Enabling Social Proof

To enable social proof on your store:

1. Navigate to Marketing → Social Proof in your dashboard
2. Toggle Enable Social Proof to ON
3. Configure your popup settings (see below)
4. Click Save Changes

TIP

Social proof is most effective when you have a steady stream of orders. If your store is new, consider building up some order history first, or enable "Include Test Orders" temporarily for testing.

Display Settings

Configure how and when popups appear on your storefront:

Setting	Options	Description
Display Duration	3s, 5s, 8s, 10s	How long each popup remains visible
Delay Between Popups	1s - 90s	Time to wait between showing notifications (single mode)
Show Orders From	6h - 7 days	How far back to pull purchase data from

Recommended Settings

For best results, we recommend:

• Display Duration: 5 seconds (default) - enough time to read without being intrusive
• Delay Between: 30-45 seconds - creates steady flow without overwhelming visitors
• Show Orders From: 24-48 hours - ensures notifications feel current and authentic

WARNING

Setting "Delay Between" too low (under 10 seconds) can feel spammy and may annoy visitors. Find a balance that creates urgency without being intrusive.

Display Modes

Single Mode (Default)

Shows one popup at a time. When a popup disappears, the system waits for the configured "Delay Between Popups" time before showing the next one.

Best for:

• Stores with moderate order volume
• Clean, minimal storefront aesthetic
• Mobile-friendly experience

Stacking Mode

Shows multiple popups stacked vertically, building up to your configured maximum before waiting for all to clear.

Best for:

• High-volume stores with many orders
• Creating stronger urgency and FOMO
• Desktop-focused experiences

Stacking Settings

When stacking is enabled, you can configure:

Setting	Options	Description
Maximum Stack Size	2-5 popups	How many popups can appear at once
Delay Between Stacks	5s - 2m	Wait time after all popups clear before showing next batch

Appearance Customization

Dark Mode Toggle

Enable Dark Mode to display popups with a dark background and light text. This setting:

• Automatically adapts to your store's theme
• Improves readability on dark storefronts
• Matches the corner accent styling with your primary color

TIP

The popup corner accents use your store's primary brand color from your theme settings, ensuring consistent branding.

Privacy & Anonymization

Customer names are automatically anonymized to protect privacy:

• "John Smith" becomes "John S."
• "Sarah Johnson" becomes "Sarah J."
• Only first name and last initial are displayed

This complies with privacy best practices while maintaining the social proof effect.

Testing Your Setup

Include Test Orders

For testing purposes only, you can enable Include Test Orders to show popups from test transactions. This allows you to:

• Preview how popups will look on your storefront
• Test timing and frequency settings
• Verify styling matches your theme

IMPORTANT

Disable "Include Test Orders" before launching your store publicly. Showing test orders to real customers undermines trust and credibility.

Testing Checklist

1. Enable social proof with test orders included
2. Visit your storefront in a private/incognito window
3. Wait for popups to appear (check your delay settings)
4. Verify appearance, timing, and content
5. Test on mobile devices
6. Disable test orders when satisfied

Preview

The dashboard includes a live preview showing exactly how popups will appear on your storefront, including:

• Layout and styling
• Dark/light mode appearance
• Product image placeholder
• Progress bar animation
• Corner accent colors

Troubleshooting

Popups aren't showing on my storefront

Possible causes:

1. Social proof is disabled - Check that the toggle is ON
2. No recent orders - Verify you have orders within your "Show Orders From" timeframe
3. Test orders excluded - If testing, enable "Include Test Orders"
4. Browser cache - Clear your browser cache or use incognito mode
5. Popup blocked - Check browser console for JavaScript errors

Popups appear too frequently/infrequently

Adjust the following settings:

• Too frequent: Increase "Delay Between Popups" (try 45-60 seconds)
• Too infrequent: Decrease delay or expand "Show Orders From" timeframe
• Not enough orders: Extend timeframe to 48+ hours or wait for more order volume

Names aren't anonymized correctly

Customer names are automatically anonymized by the backend. If you see full names:

1. Clear your browser cache
2. Check that you're on the latest platform version
3. Contact support if the issue persists

Popups don't match my store theme

The popups automatically use:

• Your primary color for corner accents and progress bar
• Dark/light mode from your setting (not automatic detection)

To fix:

1. Verify your theme primary color is set correctly
2. Toggle Dark Mode ON/OFF to match your storefront
3. Save changes and reload your storefront

Mobile display issues

Social proof popups are responsive and optimized for mobile. If issues occur:

• Use Single Mode instead of stacking (better for mobile)
• Reduce display duration to 3-5 seconds
• Test on actual devices, not just browser dev tools

Best Practices

Do's

• ✓ Keep display duration 5-8 seconds
• ✓ Use 30-60 second delays between popups
• ✓ Show orders from last 24-48 hours
• ✓ Test thoroughly before enabling publicly
• ✓ Disable test orders in production
• ✓ Use single mode for mobile-heavy stores

Don'ts

• ✗ Don't set delay under 10 seconds (feels spammy)
• ✗ Don't show orders older than 7 days (feels fake)
• ✗ Don't enable if you have very few orders (undermines trust)
• ✗ Don't forget to disable test orders after testing
• ✗ Don't use stacking mode with 5+ popups (overwhelming)

Performance Considerations

Social proof popups are optimized for performance:

• Loads asynchronously without blocking page render
• Minimal JavaScript overhead
• Images lazy-loaded with fallback
• Automatic cleanup of timers and intervals

Impact: Negligible (< 0.1s page load time)

Related Features

• Abandoned Cart Recovery - Re-engage visitors who added products but didn't complete checkout
• Popups - Create custom promotional popups with forms, discounts, and announcements
• Sales Banners - Display promotional banners across your storefront
• Announcements - Show important store-wide messages
• Store Builder - Customize your storefront design and layout

API Integration

Social proof data is served via the storefront API endpoint:

GET /v1/storefront/recent-orders

Response includes:

• enabled: Boolean indicating if social proof is active
• orders: Array of recent order objects (anonymized)
• settings: Display and timing configuration

This endpoint is automatically called by the storefront and requires no manual integration.