# Countdown to the Christmas 2-day shipping cutoff: +32.4% RPS

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Site-wide (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Countdown timers, Shipping & delivery messaging
- Test run by: [Visually](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/visually/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://visually.io/public/case-studies/benchmade
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/benchmade-holiday-shipping-cutoff-countdown/

Before Christmas, Benchmade Knife Co. added a sitewide timer counting down to the last order time for 2-day shipping to arrive before the holiday, and revenue per session went up 32.4%. Visually ran the test for the premium knife brand and published it as a Visually case study.

## Result

**+32.4% RPS**

- Revenue per session: +32.4% while the countdown ran.
- This was a seasonal test before Christmas, so expect a smaller effect, if any, the rest of the year.
- Sample size, test length and statistical confidence were not shared.

## Control

The site showed no holiday shipping deadline.

## Variant

A sitewide countdown showed how long shoppers had left to order with 2-day shipping and still get it before Christmas.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- The deadline was real. Gift buyers need the item before a fixed date, so a countdown helps them act in time.
- It answers a key holiday question, 'will it arrive in time?', before shoppers have to look for it.
- Showing it on every page meant shoppers saw it wherever they were browsing.

## Caveats

Seasonal test that ran before Christmas. This comes from a testing vendor's own case study, and sample size, test length and significance were not shared.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we show a sitewide countdown to our last shipping cutoff for holiday delivery, then more shoppers will order now because they can see exactly how long they have.
- Primary metric: Revenue per session
- Guardrail: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Late-delivery complaints
- Guardrail: Revenue in the week after the cutoff
- Who should test it: Stores that sell a lot of gifts and can ship reliably by a stated date. Don't use a fake or rolling deadline, and skip it if your carriers can't keep the promise.

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Credit: Visually ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/benchmade-holiday-shipping-cutoff-countdown/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.