Countdown timer placed by heatmap data: +20.65% revenue per visitor
Test run byDave DiederenSyntra Labs
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsDave Diederen added a countdown timer to the area heatmaps showed shoppers were already focused on, and revenue per visitor rose 20.65%. Conversion rate rose 20.67% and profit per visitor 20.06%, while average order value did not move. The test ran for less than two days, so treat the size of the lift with care.
- Conversion rate: 1.27% to 1.54% (+20.67%). More visitors placed an order.
- Revenue per visitor: $1.31 to $1.58 (+20.65%). Estimated at about +$216,716 a month by the testing tool.
- Profit per visitor: $0.94 to $1.13 (+20.06%), with a 94% probability of beating control. The range ran from -5% to +52%, so a loss was still possible.
- Average order value: flat ($102.98 vs $102.96). The gain came from more orders, not bigger ones.
The change
Countdown timer added in the area heatmaps showed shoppers focus on
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The page as it was, without a countdown timer.
Variant
A countdown timer added in the spot where heatmaps showed the most shopper attention. The exact position and copy were not shown.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- a timer in a spot shoppers already look at gets seen, while one in a dead zone gets ignored.
- a deadline gives undecided shoppers a reason to buy now instead of later.
- flat AOV suggests the timer pushed hesitant buyers over the line rather than changing what they bought.
Caveats: The time series covers roughly Aug 13 to Aug 14, so the test ran about a day and a half, and visitor and order counts were not shown. The confidence range on profit includes a loss, and the offer behind the timer was not described.
Who ran it
Dave Diederen (@DaveDiederen) shared this test on X. The numbers and screenshots are theirs.
View the original post on X
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we place a countdown timer where heatmaps show shoppers already looking, then conversion rate will rise because the deadline is seen at the moment of decision.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per visitor
- Guardrails
- Average order value
- Refund or return rate
- Profit per visitor
- Who should test it
- Stores with a real, time-bound offer and enough traffic to run the test for at least one to two full weeks. Skip it if the deadline would be fake, since shoppers notice timers that reset.
Questions
Where should a countdown timer go on an ecommerce page?
Dave Diederen used heatmaps to find where shoppers already looked and placed the timer there. The idea is that a timer only helps if people actually see it.
Do countdown timers increase conversion rate?
In this test conversion rose 20.67% with no change in order value. The test was very short, so a longer run would likely show a smaller lift.
Do countdown timers raise average order value?
Not here. AOV stayed at about $103 in both groups, so the timer drove more orders rather than larger ones.
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@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen