Setting Up Recent Purchase Notifications

A recent purchase notification shows your visitors that real people are buying from you right now. A typical notification reads: "Sarah from London just bought Running Shoes — 2 minutes ago." This kind of social proof works because it is specific, timely, and credible. It converts because it signals that others have already made the decision your visitor is considering.

Requirements

You need at least one connected e-commerce or payment integration before you can use this notification type. Supported platforms include Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Stripe. If you have not connected a data source yet, see Connecting Your First Data Source.

Setup steps

1. Connect your store. Go to Integrations in your Activly dashboard and connect Shopify, WooCommerce, or Stripe. Follow the authorization flow and select "Purchases" as the event type to sync.

2. Create a new notification. Click New Notification and choose Recent Purchase from the notification type list.

3. Configure the message template. Use the template editor to control which fields appear in the notification. Available fields include:

   • {{first_name}} — the customer's first name
   • {{city}} — the customer's city (derived from shipping address)
   • {{product}} — the product name
   • {{time_ago}} — a relative timestamp ("3 minutes ago", "1 hour ago")

   A recommended template: {{first_name}} from {{city}} just bought {{product}} — {{time_ago}}.

4. Set privacy options. Activly automatically uses first names only — full names are never shown. Timestamps display as relative ("2 minutes ago") rather than exact times. Both behaviors protect customer privacy and are on by default.

5. Set display rules. Choose which pages to show the notification on. Product pages are the highest-impact placement — visitors on those pages are already evaluating a purchase. You can also show on the homepage and category pages.

6. Activate. Toggle the notification to Active and visit your site to see it in action.

Configuration tips

• Show on product pages for highest relevance. A visitor looking at a specific product is more persuaded by a notification showing that exact product was recently purchased.
• Set a minimum purchase value threshold (optional). If you want to filter out low-value or test orders, set a minimum order value under the notification's advanced settings.
• Enable the Verified badge. The Verified badge (a small checkmark icon) appears on the notification to signal that the activity is real and sourced from your store. It adds credibility at a glance — leave it on.

Data freshness

By default, Activly pulls from the last 7 days of orders. If your store has fewer orders than you would like, you can extend the window to 14 or 30 days in the notification settings. Keep in mind that older orders feel less timely — "4 days ago" is less persuasive than "12 minutes ago."

What's next

• Setting Up Live Visitor Count Notifications
• Connecting Your First Data Source