How to Add Sale Badges to Shopify (Step by Step)

The no-code way (recommended)

For almost every store, a labels & badges app is the fastest and lowest-maintenance way to do this — no theme code, no risk of a theme update wiping your changes. With Label & Badge Manager:

1. Install the app from the Shopify App Store.
2. Enable the app embed in your theme (Online Store → Customize → App embeds). This lets badges render without touching code.
3. Create a rule. Choose a trigger — for sale badges, "product is discounted" (where the compare-at price is higher than the price).
4. Style the badge — text, color, and position — right from the app's settings, no CSS required.
5. Optionally schedule it so it appears when your promotion starts and disappears when it ends.

The badge now applies to every matching product automatically, including products you add later.

What about your theme's built-in badge?

Many modern Shopify themes include a basic "show sale badge" toggle in the theme editor (Online Store → Customize → theme settings). It's worth knowing about, and it's still no code:

• What it does: shows a simple "Sale" marker on discounted products using your theme's default style.
• Where it falls short: styling and placement are limited, you can't set rules (like "only badge discounts over 20%"), there's no scheduling, and it only covers the basic sale case — not "New", "Bestseller", "Low stock", or other labels.

If the built-in toggle covers your needs, use it. The moment you want control over how badges look, rules for when they appear, or labels beyond a plain "Sale", an app is the better fit.

Which should you choose?

• Use an app if you run frequent promotions, have a large catalog, want scheduling, or want badges beyond a basic "Sale" — all without touching code.
• Use your theme's built-in toggle if you only need a plain sale marker and don't care about styling, rules, or scheduling.

For most merchants, the app path wins on flexibility and time saved. For the bigger picture, see our complete guide to sale badges and product labels.