Shopify’s native announcement bar is free, built into current themes, and handles up to 12 rotating messages with links and styling. BL Scrolling Announcement Bar adds a scrolling marquee, in-page placement, images in messages, and the same workflow on Wix, Ecwid, BigCommerce, and Shoper. Stay with the native bar unless you need one of those four things.
What Shopify’s native announcement bar does
From Shopify’s own help documentation:
- One announcement bar section per theme, with up to 12 announcement blocks.
- Each announcement has text and an optional link (any URL, or a page from your store).
- Auto-rotation between announcements, or manual navigation with chevron buttons.
- Styling via the theme’s color scheme, a separator line, and social-media icons.
- Optional country/region and language selectors in the bar.
- Enabled in theme editor → Announcement bar; free, no app.
Its limits, per the same documentation: not every theme has the feature, placement follows the theme’s header area, and the settings are whatever your theme’s section offers — there is no scrolling motion, no in-page placement, and no images inside a message.
What the app adds
BL Scrolling Announcement Bar, per its live Shopify listing:
- Scrolling marquee motion with adjustable speed — a continuously moving bar rather than slide rotation.
- Top-header and in-page placement — the bar can appear within page content, not only in the theme header.
- Images inside announcements.
- Product or collection targeting for messages.
- The same message workflow on Wix, Ecwid, BigCommerce, and Shoper — one pattern across every storefront you run, installed natively on each marketplace.
Who should stay with the native bar
- You need up to a dozen rotating text messages with links — the native feature covers this well.
- Your message should also carry a country or language selector (native-only).
- You want zero apps installed and your theme’s styling is enough.
Who should install the app
- You want a scrolling bar rather than rotating slides, with speed control.
- You need the bar inside page content, not just the theme header.
- You want images in your announcements.
- You run stores on more than one platform and want one announcement workflow everywhere.
Related guides
Read the task guide Scrolling announcement bar: how to use one, see the BL Scrolling Announcement Bar product page, or install it on Shopify. Shopify’s native option is documented in Shopify Help: Add an announcement bar.