Adaptive Timing replaces a fixed time delay with one that adjusts itself. Instead of showing your popup after the same number of seconds for every visitor, Alia learns a separate delay for each traffic source or landing page. It all happens inside one campaign, within a minimum and maximum delay you set.
How Adaptive Timing works
A standard time delay treats every shopper the same. Shoppers from a social ad may leave within seconds, while shoppers from your newsletter may browse for a minute or more.
Adaptive Timing splits shoppers into groups based on what you choose, such as the page they landed on or their UTM source. It then learns the best delay for each group.
It keeps optimizing as new shoppers arrive, so you don't need separate campaigns for each traffic source or manual delay testing.
The delay always stays between the minimum and maximum you set.
For example, if you split by UTM source, shoppers from TikTok might see your popup after 3 seconds, while shoppers from your email newsletter see it after 15.
Add Adaptive Timing to a popup
In Alia, open the popup you want to update and go to Triggers.
Under Add a trigger, add any trigger.
Click the edit icon on that trigger.
Open the trigger dropdown and select Adaptive timing.
Enter the minimum and maximum delay in seconds (e.g., 0 to 20).
In split by, choose how to group shoppers. If you don't change it, Adaptive Timing splits by Initial path.
In Applies to, choose all devices, mobile only, or desktop only.
In Open step, choose which step of your popup appears first.
Publish your campaign.
Your saved trigger shows its range in the trigger list, for example, "With adaptive timing (0–20 secs)."
💡 Note: You can use Adaptive Timing alongside your other triggers, such as scroll depth or exit intent.
Choosing what to split by
The split decides which groups Alia learns a separate delay for. Pick the one where you expect shopper behavior to differ the most. Initial path is the default.
Pages: Initial path (the page a shopper first landed on), Path (the page they're viewing now), and Domain. Initial path groups shoppers by how they entered your store, while Path groups them by the page they're on when your popup would appear. Useful if you send traffic to many different landing pages, show your popup across many pages, or run more than one storefront domain.
Traffic source: UTM source, UTM medium, and UTM campaign. Useful if you run ads or campaigns across several channels, such as TikTok, Facebook, Google, or email.
Device: Device type, Browser, and OS. Useful if your trigger applies to all devices and you want mobile and desktop timing learned separately.
Location: Country, Region, and City. Useful if you sell to shoppers in many places.
Shopify settings: Shopify country, Shopify market, and Shopify locale. Useful if you sell in multiple Shopify Markets or languages.
💡 Note: You can't change the split once your campaign is live, so choose it before you publish.
Track how Adaptive Timing is performing
You can monitor Adaptive Timing in two places:
The AI performance dashboard, which shows how your popup is performing.
View training progress in the trigger area, which shows what Adaptive Timing has learned so far.
💡 Tip: To see the impact on your own store, add Adaptive Timing as a test variant. Keep your current trigger on the control, and use the same popup design on both so timing is the only difference. Then compare results in View test results.
FAQ
Do I need a separate campaign for each traffic source?
No. Adaptive Timing learns a different delay for each group of shoppers inside a single campaign.
Can I control how early or late my popup appears?
Yes. Set a minimum and maximum delay when you add the trigger. Adaptive Timing never shows your popup earlier than your minimum or later than your maximum.
Can I use Adaptive Timing with other triggers?
Yes. You can keep triggers like scroll depth, exit intent, or scroll up on mobile active on the same popup.
Can I run a time delay smart test on a popup with Adaptive Timing?
No. Time delay smart tests are turned off for popups that use Adaptive Timing. These tests add their own time delay, which would compete with the delays Adaptive Timing is learning for each shopper group. Adaptive Timing already tests and adjusts timing for you automatically.
Do I need to adjust anything after it's set up?
No. Adaptive Timing keeps optimizing on its own as new shoppers visit your store.