The announcement bar is the most visible strip of real estate on your Shopify store — it's the first thing every visitor sees, on every page, every time. Used well, it communicates your most important offer before a customer has scrolled an inch: a free shipping threshold, a seasonal discount code, a limited-time promotion, or a new product launch. Most modern Shopify themes include a basic announcement bar out of the box, but it's deliberately minimal - a single static line of text with limited styling and no support for scrolling marquee effects or multi-message rotation without custom code.
Merchants who want a scrolling or animated announcement bar typically end up paying a monthly subscription for a dedicated app — tools like Hextom or Essential Announcement Bar charge $5–$10 per month for features you configure once and rarely change. Section Store offers a cleaner alternative: a custom Announcement Bar Section that installs directly into your theme as a native Liquid file, supports scrolling marquee effects and multiple rotating messages, and is fully customisable inside the Shopify Theme Editor — for a one-time $9, no subscription required. Here's how to add one to your store.
HOW TO ADD A SCROLLING ANNOUNCEMENT BAR TO YOUR SHOPIFY THEME
Follow these steps to install a custom Announcement Bar Section to your Shopify store using Section Store.
Install the Section Store app
If you haven't already, install the Section Store app from the Shopify App Store. The app is free to install — you only pay for the individual Sections you choose to add to your store.
Browse the Announcement Bar Section designs
Inside the Section Store app, search for "Announcement Bar" to browse the available designs. You'll find a range of styles — scrolling marquee bars, rotating multi-message sliders, and static bars with advanced typography and icon options. Choose the design that fits your brand and the type of announcements you want to display.
Purchase the Section
Click through to your chosen Announcement Bar Section and complete the one-time $9 purchase. Unlike subscription-based announcement bar apps, this is a single charge — the Section is yours permanently, with no recurring fees and no risk of losing your bar if you decide to cancel a plan.
Install the Section to your theme
Go to My Sections inside the Section Store app, then click the Install button next to your purchased Announcement Bar Section. Select the theme you want to add it to. Section Store will automatically add the .liquid file directly to your theme — no code editor, no file management, and no theme duplication needed.
Open the Shopify Theme Editor
In your Shopify admin, navigate to Online Store > Themes and click Customize on your live theme. This opens the Theme Editor where all Section customisation takes place.
Add the Announcement Bar Section to your theme
Click Add Section in the left-hand sidebar and search for "ss - Announcement Bar". All Section Store Sections are prefixed with "SS" in the Theme Editor — for example, "ss - Announcement Bar #2" — making them easy to identify. Click your chosen Section to add it, then drag it to the top of the page in the sidebar so it sits above your header.
Add your announcement messages
Click on the Section in the sidebar to open its settings. Add each announcement as an individual block — for scrolling bars, each block feeds into the marquee loop; for rotating sliders, each block becomes a separate slide. Enter your message text, add an optional link to a product, sale, or page, and customise the scroll speed or transition timing to suit your promotion.
Customise the colours and typography
Adjust the background colour, text colour, font size, and any icon or separator styles to align the bar with your brand. A high-contrast bar that reads clearly on both desktop and mobile will always outperform one that blends into your header — all changes preview live in the editor as you work.
Save your theme
Click Save in the top-right corner of the Theme Editor. Your Announcement Bar Section is now live — a scrolling, on-brand bar that puts your most important message in front of every visitor, on every page, the moment they arrive.
WHAT TO PUT IN YOUR ANNOUNCEMENT BAR
The most effective announcement bars carry a single, direct message that answers the question a new visitor is most likely asking: is there a reason to buy here today? A free shipping threshold is consistently the highest-performing message for most stores — it increases average order value and removes a friction point before checkout. Beyond that, a rotating slider works well for cycling between a discount code, a delivery promise, and a trust signal such as your returns policy. Keep each message short enough to read at a glance: if it requires more than a second to parse, it will scroll past before it registers. For time-sensitive promotions like Black Friday or a product launch, a scrolling marquee creates movement that draws the eye without the intrusiveness of a pop-up.
READY TO ADD IT TO YOUR STORE?
Browse the full Announcement Bar Section library — and 730+ other designs — inside Section Store. Every Section is a one-time $9 purchase, works with all Online Store 2.0 themes, and is customisable entirely inside Shopify's built-in Theme Editor.
