Launchpad

Shopify Launchpad Help: Timed Sales, Drops and Theme Switching

Shopify Launchpad is Shopify's own free app for scheduling sales events, and the App Store states it is only available to Shopify Plus customers. One event can release products to sales channels at a set minute, apply sale prices, raise inventory, switch the live theme and lock the store behind a password page beforehand. A real-time dashboard tracks sales while it runs. View the App Store listing.

Filling in the event form is quick. The planning around it is not: which collections carry the discount, what changes back at the end, how discount codes behave against sale prices, and which theme goes live afterward. Plus stores usually hand that to a developer or store manager who has run timed drops before.

When no profile below fits, the Shopify Plus consulting and theme customization specialists linked at the end of this page take on Launchpad work as well.

Open the brief with the event date and the collections involved.

Launchpad event work worth handing off

Each of these is a setting in the event form. The skill is in deciding them before the start time, not during it.

Drop-ready products. Launchpad releases chosen products to sales channels at the start time, but it doesn't change product status and can't publish Draft or Archived products. Every drop item has to be set to Active ahead of time, with the release left to the event.

Sale pricing by collection or in bulk. Discounts go on individual products, whole collections or a bulk selection. Launchpad changes prices at the start and again at the end, so someone has to decide which items belong in which collection before anything is scheduled.

Timed restocks. Inventory can be added to current products, or to ones that were unavailable, at the moment the event opens.

A campaign theme. Theme switching publishes one theme for the event and another afterward. Building and checking both is theme customization work, and the after-event theme deserves the same test pass as the sale one.

The pre-launch lock. A password page can close the store for a set period before a drop. The store reopens automatically when the event starts.

A one-collection sale. One discount on one collection, with fixed start and end times, needs no specialist. The event form covers it.

Choosing a Launchpad specialist for a Plus sale

Most people who quote for Launchpad have clicked through the form. Fewer have watched an event end on a busy store. These questions separate the two.

What changes back at the end? A strong answer: prices return to pre-event levels and the after-event theme publishes, but a password page that Launchpad replaced isn't restored, and products added to a discounted collection mid-event never get the sale price.

What happens to our discount codes? Codes keep working during events, apply on top of sale prices, and Launchpad can't switch them off. The help center's script-based workaround relies on Shopify Scripts, which Shopify deactivated on June 30, 2026. Ask what they would do instead.

Do you sell wholesale? Launchpad discounts stack with B2B catalog discounts on the same products. A specialist who doesn't ask about B2B hasn't read the limitations page. B2B specialists can check the catalog side.

Back-to-back events with no gap. That plan won't save. Events can't overlap, and each must start at least five minutes after the previous one ends.

A paid rehearsal. A short scheduled event on a few low-traffic products during a quiet hour, with a theme switch, watched on the dashboard from start to end.

Shopify Launchpad limits that shape an event

Plus only. The app is limited to stores on the Shopify Plus plan.

1,000 products per collection. No collection added to an event can hold more than 1,000 products. Large catalogs need event collections built for the sale.

Mid-event price edits don't stick. A price changed during an event reverts to its pre-event price when the event ends. Stores that edit often should run shorter events.

How the crossed-out price behaves. Percentage discounts come off the regular price. During the event, the pre-sale regular price temporarily replaces the crossed-out price, unless you remove that price from the event theme.

One product, several prices. If a product appears more than once in an event, a set price wins and collection discounts don't apply. Without a set price, the lowest discounted price is offered.

Gift cards and wholesale. A discount on a gift card lowers its value too, so keep gift cards out of discounted collections. Wholesale prices can also be affected.

Open-ended events. With no end date, you end the event from the Dashboard page, and a new event can't be scheduled after it until its end date is set.

Scripts are gone. Launchpad still lists line item and shipping script options, but Shopify deactivated published Scripts on June 30, 2026.

Launchpad events to scope with a specialist

Most Plus calendars mix a few of these. Scope each as its own event.

Launchpad product drop

Active products released to chosen sales channels at the start minute

Holiday sale event

Collection and bulk discounts with a fixed end time

Timed restock

Inventory added to sold-out lines as the event opens

Campaign theme switch

Sale theme live at the start, chosen theme published after

Password-gated release

Store locked before the drop and opened by the event

Script logic rebuild

Gift-with-purchase or shipping rules from old Scripts recreated with Shopify Functions

Shopify Launchpad questions from Plus merchants

Is Shopify Launchpad free, and which plan does it need?

The App Store lists Launchpad as free, and it is only available to Shopify Plus customers. Stores on other Shopify plans can't use it. If Launchpad is part of the case for upgrading, the Shopify Plus cost guide sets out what the plan involves before you commit.

Can Launchpad events still run Shopify Scripts?

Not in practice. Launchpad's help pages still describe line item and shipping script options, but Shopify's help center says Scripts were deprecated as of June 30, 2026, and scripts still published were deactivated. Gift-with-purchase or shipping logic that used Scripts needs rebuilding by a Shopify Functions developer.

What happens when a Launchpad event ends?

With an end date set, it ends on schedule; without one, you end it manually from the Dashboard page. Prices go back to their pre-event levels and the theme you picked for after the event is published. A password page that Launchpad replaced stays removed, and any existing one has to be taken down under Online store > Preferences.

Can customers use discount codes during a Launchpad sale?

Yes. Codes keep working during events and apply to sale prices, and Launchpad has no setting to turn them off. Of the two workarounds Shopify lists, manual deactivation is the one left now that Scripts are retired, and Shopify notes it isn't usually recommended for Plus stores with many codes. Decide your code policy before the event is scheduled.

What should I send someone setting up a Launchpad event?

The start and end times, the products and collections involved with their product counts, the discount type, whether any items are already on sale, and any B2B catalogs that include those products. Add the theme you want during the event and the one to publish afterward, plus a list of active discount codes.