Tick tock, tick tock – purchase now before the clock runs out…
Sales-boosting marketing techniques have existed for decades. Long before e-commerce was a thing, traditional businesses made attempts to convince customers to make larger, impulsive purchases. This practice continues today. But these days, businesses must constantly adapt and adopt innovative strategies to keep up with the ever-changing e-commerce market.
A countdown timer is a simple but very effective way to get customers to take advantage of an offer or buy a product. But how exactly can it push customers to buy and eventually boost your store's sales?
What is a countdown timer?
A countdown timer is a dynamic banner displaying the limited amount of time remaining to use an offer and make a purchase. When a customer sees one in an online store, they are reminded that the offer is only available for a limited time, which can increase the likelihood that they will proceed with a purchase.
The FOMO effect
A countdown timer does a simple job – it creates a sense of urgency, which, in turn, is connected to two fundamental psychological factors: the fear of missing out and scarcity.
Marketing strategies based on the idea of scarcity aren't a novelty. Lots of e-commerce stores use it in one way or another. It's a pretty straightforward concept: you just have to show that you're running low on stock. It works wonders because items that are believed to be in short supply tend to be more desirable.
While countdown timers don’t exactly promote low stock levels, they certainly play their tricks with the minds of customers – they know that the stock isn’t unlimited and if an item is on sale, who says it won’t be gone sooner than the time runs out?
FOMO has a similar effect on humans – people are naturally afraid of being excluded, so they will often make spontaneous decisions just to avoid missing out on something they might regret in the future. So, in their minds, an offer instantly becomes more valuable and desirable if it is only available for a limited amount of time. It creates a sense of urgency, and because of this, customers are more likely to make a purchase on the spur of the moment.
What’s more?
Outside of creating a sense of urgency, countdown timers can improve the overall shopping experience for customers by bringing a sense of transparency and excitement to the process. If a limited offer is applied to not just one item but, say, provides a short-term discount on all stock, customers may add more things to their shopping carts, which can increase the average order value and boost sales. And if you add a countdown timer to your abandoned cart reminder, you can push customers to complete their purchase, increasing the AOV even further.
But the benefits don’t end there.
Most of the content in an e-commerce store is static. The countdown timer, on the other hand, isn't.
Evolution has made it so that our brains are always on the lookout for triggers and possible dangers in our surroundings. As a result, the brain is more likely to ignore things that have not moved for a while. On the contrary, something that is constantly moving and changing captures our attention. When we see the countdown timer that keeps ticking, we process this type of content much faster and react quicker.
What are the most common uses of a countdown timer?
In e-commerce, countdown timers can be applied in a variety of ways from shorter campaigns to customer-specific discounts to free delivery offers.
One of the best things about countdown timers is that they can be put on just about any page. Home page, product page, cart page – you name it. But different placements and types of countdown timers can serve different purposes and bring different results.
A product page countdown timer can help increase conversions by creating urgency around a specific product. As the name suggests, an announcement bar countdown timer is used to let people know about an event, sale, or promotion. And because it is located in the most visible part of a store, a landing page countdown timer immediately draws a lot of attention, and in addition to that, a clickable landing page countdown timer can lead traffic to any page of a store.
One of the less popular, but in no way less effective, ways of using a countdown timer is a password page countdown timer. Right before the sale begins, you can put your Shopify store behind a password and add a countdown timer to notify your customers when the sale will begin. Then share the password with your email subscribers. It really helps build a community and increase your email subscriber count. Additionally, a password-locked sale can create a sense of exclusivity and add an extra layer of excitement to the experience for customers.
How to get the most out of a countdown timer?
Even though the effects of a countdown timer showing a limited-time offer sound appealing, don't rush to put one on every page or make vague statements. Customers seek out credible and tangible offers.
Creating a sense of urgency is an effective tactic, but don't overuse it and be honest. To get the most out of a countdown timer, stick to these rules: make it visible, communicate the benefits clearly, and use reasonable timeframes. The end goal of a countdown timer is to increase sales, but you should not appear desperate while doing it. A countdown timer should be useful to customers and make them feel special.
Customers who land on a product page are likely to buy a product, though they might not do so immediately. Using countdown timers is a great way to keep their attention and persuade them to buy, but you'll only learn what your audience responds to best by trying out different types of timers, placements, timeframes, and offers. This will lead to higher conversions in the long run.
Which countdown timer to choose?
Essential Countdown Timer is a great choice when you are looking for a countdown timer app that is reliable and fully customizable to fit your needs. It has been installed by over 30,000 Shopify stores and has received a great five-star review from the users. And for a reason.
You can customize its look and feel to match your store's branding to make sure it looks organic for your store's aesthetic, or choose one of the many pre-made templates. It provides excellent customer service, too, which is one of the reasons why its users are loving it so much.
With a 7-day free trial and a free plan available, you can give it a try and see for yourself.
