How to Set Up an Early Access Sale

Steps to launch an Early Access sale using an Offer Experience

Early Access Sale

You can use Offers to power your Early Access Sales. If you'd like to create a rich experience for VIP customers that you offer Early Access to, use build an Offer that updates the content, powers the discount automatically, and makes the customer feel special.

Offer Experiences are available on Core, Plus, and Blue Plans. Testing your Offers against each other is only available on Plus and Blue.

Goal: Create VIP early access moment; replicate the public sale experience

Who: VIP customers

What: 25% off your order

When: 2-5 days before the public sale launches

Offer Type: Percentage off your order; most common use case

Amount: 25%

  • This amount might be set based on the goal of the sale, competitive landscape, or MAP policy with retailers

Offer Experience:

  • Timing: Time-limited, typically 2-5 days

  • Where:

    • Website

      • Homepage

      • PDP banners

      • Cart

      • Checkout

    • Email & SMS to VIP customers

    • VIP Facebook or WhatsApp group

  • Activation: Automatic, no code, with a scheduled start time and scheduled end time

Why it works: Customers love feeling like VIPs and getting early access to sales, plus it's a natural urgency moment since it's time-bound.

How to Set Up This Offer in Intelligems

  1. Go to Experiences > Offers

  2. Select Amount off Order

  3. Add an Offer name (internal name) like Early Access 25% off

  4. Add a Discount name that matches the sale. This will be shown to shoppers in their cart and at checkout.

    1. e.g. Exclusive Early Access 25% off

  5. Select discount value

    1. Choose percentage off order to offer a discount amount on their order

    2. Choose dollar off per order to offer a flat dollar amount discount on their order

  6. Choose if you want minimum purchase requirements

    1. Select quantity of items if you want a customer to purchase a minimum X units to qualify for the discount

    2. Select subtotal of items if you want a customer to purchase a minimum $ amount to qualify for the discount

  7. Leave the box unchecked if there are no minimum requirements for the discount to be applied

  8. Select which products you want this discount to be applied to. It will apply to all products by default if no products are selected.

    1. You can select products based on Product Type, Vendor, Status, Collections, and also search for individual products

We recommend setting up a Sale collection in Shopify and then select that collection

  1. Choose if you want this discount to combine with other Shopify discounts

    1. Examples: a Welcome Offer, loyalty, affiliate, influencer, or any other discount you have live in your Shopify backend that is set up to be combined with other discounts

  2. Add components like Progress Bar or Offer message to support the discount messaging

  3. Configure your components

    1. Make sure you've previously installed these components in your theme via Global Styles tab

  4. Click Complete offer setup

  5. At this point, you can make additional modifications by clicking + Add modification

    1. You can update the content, launch a different Theme or Template, and update styles or javascript

    2. We recommend launching your public Sale theme to this audience with some additional content edits using the words Early Access across the site to make it feel special

  6. Add Targeting to choose which shoppers you want to see this 25% off discount Offer. In this case, select Link and choose homepage or drive to the sale collection page

  7. Copy that link

  8. Save your Offer

  9. Preview your Offer on desktop and mobile

  10. When everything looks good, Schedule Your Experience or Activate to go live

    1. You can select a Start time and Stop time when scheduling

  11. Share the link with your VIP Early Access customers via SMS, email etc.

Shoppers will only be able to access that Offer via that link. All other visitors will see your current site with no Offer.

  1. Double-check everything else on your list to make sure you're supporting this Early Access sale as intended.

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