Creating a sense of urgency is a great way to boost your eCommerce sales.
How many times have you been to a website and promised yourself you’ll come back to buy the product later?
How many times have you actually been back to the website to purchase?
Chances are that the majority of products are forgotten about and never purchased.
Driving urgency to potential customers is an easy way to increase your conversion rate and revenue numbers.
Here are some easy-to-implement techniques to get those sales pumping:
Offer pre-orders for upcoming products
Exclusive products or products with limited production numbers are perfect candidates for pre-orders. Customers can be enticed to pre-purchase an upcoming product with extra goodies or with special editions.
Some industries that thrive through pre-order promotions are gaming, automotive, fashion and technology.
Gaming companies do this by releasing special edition, pre-order versions of their games that often include extra content and a guarantee that you’ll receive the game on the release date.
Technology companies do this by including free products for customers that pre-purchase. Eg. “Receive a free pair of Bluetooth headphones when you pre-order our new model phone”.
Think outside the box and come up with interesting new ways to secure sales for items that aren’t yet in stock.
Show stock numbers or limited quantity items
No one wants to miss out on a product that could be out of stock if they come back tomorrow. Let your customers know when inventory is starting to get low or if a product has a limited production run.
Some simple labels that can be added to products are:
‘Low Stock’ - Perfect when inventory is starting to get low but isn’t down to it’s last few units.
‘Limited Production’ or ‘Limited Item’ - Ideal for products that have a sense of exclusivity and won’t be returning to your store once sold out.
‘1 Unit Left’ or ‘Only 2 Left’- When your inventory is almost out and you don’t want your customers to miss out.
Be clear with sale and promotion end dates
Make it easy for customers to see when promotions or deals are going to end. This is important for both long and short term promotions.
Here are some examples of how to convey your promotion timeframes:
Countdown timer: Adding a live countdown timer for 1-day flash sales is a great way to drive urgency when promotion times are short.
Display the number of days left: This is a good method for sales in the medium term. Week-long deals will benefit from this.
Show the promotion start and end date: A good method for longer term sales like “July Specials” or “Winter Bargains”.
Add shipping commitments
If your product fulfilment is reliable and consistent, consider adding some form of shipping commitment.
“Order before 3pm and your items will be sent today”. This method works well for products where customers want to receive their orders asap. Perfect for gym supplements and other daily consumables.
Be aware that you are obligated to stick to the messaging on your site. Only add a shipping commitment if your fulfilment and logistics are consistent and reliable.
All of the methods mentioned above will create urgency for your online customers and help boost sales conversion rates. They are also non-intrusive and offer an added layer of transparency for your customers by providing more information rather than less.
Author: Tyron Zeelie – Campaign Manager at Sprocket Digital
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