November 10th, 2011 | 1 MIN READ

A New Way to Create Urgency and Social Proof on Product Pages

Written by author_profile_images Linda Bustos

Linda is an ecommerce industry analyst and consultant specializing in conversion optimization and digital transformation.

Just when you think you've seen it all, you stumble across a feature that makes you think "why didn't I think of that"?

This time, it's from antique and vintage marketplace Ruby Lane, which alerts shoppers when an item they are viewing is sitting in someone else's cart or wishlist - suggesting they may miss out if they don't act soon.

This tactic makes most sense when products exist in limited quantities, such as clearance and "last one" items. However, any business could display how many cart or wish lists a certain item is in as a form of social proof, as an alternative to showing Facebook Likes or Tweets.

Etsy does this by displaying a product's admirers alongside social sharing buttons.

This can help fill the gaps if most of your products don't have a bragworthy number of social shares from social networks. Use your own data!

Looking for help with ecommerce? Contact the Elastic Path consulting team at consulting@elasticpath.com to learn how our ecommerce strategy and conversion optimization services can improve your business results.

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