The idea for the popover is that it is a members only shopping site so you have to sign-in to continue shopping. That is why we did not include the Close (x) button. It needs to be refined, but that was the idea.
If that's the case, I would probably not even allow them to browse the site until they signed up. I would focus on creating a gateway page that showed the user the CRAZY discounts they could be getting and put a lock graphic on it. "Sign up today and unlock incredible savings on stylish clothes and accessories". Make the deals update and show the countdown timer but they can't get any more details or proceed until they sign up.
That sounds like a great idea! It is going to be hard for us to make that change right now even though it would probably convert better. Hopefully we can improve on the sign-up as we grow.