If you've got a Smiirl counter sitting on your desk and you're trying to get it to show your Shopify sales, you've probably run into a screen asking for a "JSON URL" — and if that word means nothing to you, you're not alone. Most people setting this up aren't developers, and the setup process wasn't really written with that in mind.
Here's the short version: you don't need to understand JSON to get this working. You just need something that generates the right kind of link for you.
What's actually going on
Your Smiirl counter doesn't know anything about Shopify. It can't log into your store or check your orders itself. All it can do is check one specific web address every few minutes and read a number from it.
That web address needs to return the number in a very particular format called JSON — which is really just a strict way of writing "here's a number" so a machine can read it reliably. You never need to write this yourself; something else needs to generate it for you, live, as your orders come in.
The easiest way: let an app generate it for you
This is genuinely the simplest path if you're not looking to write or maintain any code. An app connects to your Shopify store, watches for new orders, and hands you a single, ready-made link — you copy it, paste it into your Smiirl counter's settings, and you're done.
Flipcounter works exactly this way. Install it, log in with your Shopify store, and it gives you a URL to paste straight into your counter's "Push Number" or "JSON URL" field. It also automatically excludes cancelled or refunded orders, which matters more than it sounds like — see how to get your counter to ignore refunds for more on that.
Where to paste the link on the counter side
Once you have a link — whether from an app or built yourself — getting it into the counter takes a minute:
1. Open the Smiirl companion app. 2. Find the data source setting, usually labeled "Push Number" or "JSON URL." 3. Paste your link in. 4. Save, and wait a few minutes. The counter checks in on a timer, so it won't update the instant you save.
If it worked, the status usually changes from something like "Never connected" to "Connected." If a few minutes pass and nothing happens, it's almost always one of two things: the link isn't quite right, or it's not publicly reachable. If you're using an app like Flipcounter, that's rarely the issue — but if you built your own, double-check the link opens correctly in a private browser window before assuming the counter is at fault.
If you'd rather build it yourself
Some people do want to build the feed themselves — usually because they already have some coding experience and enjoy the project. If that's you: broadly, you're either writing a script that republishes a Shopify order count as JSON on a schedule, or setting up something that listens to Shopify's webhooks in real time and serves the current total on demand. The second is more reliable, but also more work to keep running — you're responsible for handling refunds, cancellations, and timezones yourself, none of which Shopify hands you automatically.
For most people, this ends up being a lot of ongoing upkeep for something an app already does. But if you enjoy that kind of project, it's a reasonable way to spend an afternoon.
Not sure if it's working right?
A connected counter and a correct counter aren't always the same thing. If your numbers connect fine but don't look right, that's a different (and very common) problem — here's how to fix it.