# Countdown to local hunting season opening: +40.8% conversion

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Site-wide (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Countdown timers, Sales, urgency & limited-time offers
- Date shared: 2026
- Test run by: [Visually](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/visually/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://visually.io/public/case-studies/chene
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/chene-gear-geo-hunting-season-countdown/

A countdown to the opening of hunting season in each visitor's state lifted conversion rate by 40.8% when the timer used informational wording. Visually ran this three-way test for Chêne Gear, a hunting apparel brand. An action-oriented version of the timer also beat the control, but by less, and its lift was not shared.

## Result

**+40.8% conversion**

- Informational timer: +40.8% conversion rate against no timer.
- Action-oriented timer: also beat the control, but the size of its lift was not shared.
- Sample size and confidence were not shared, and a lift this large deserves a retest.

## Control

Visitors saw no countdown timer.

## Variant

Visitors saw a countdown to the hunting season opening date in their own state. One version used informational wording and another used action-oriented wording.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- The deadline is real and relevant: hunters need their gear before the season opens.
- Tailoring the date to the visitor's state makes the timer feel useful rather than a generic sales trick.
- Informational wording may have read as helpful, while action wording can feel like pressure.

## Caveats

This was an A/B/C test, and the lift for the action-oriented version was not given. Visually published this as its own case study and did not share the sample size, test length or confidence level.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we show a countdown to a real, local event our customers prepare for, then more visitors will buy now because the deadline is relevant to them.
- Primary metric: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Return rate
- Guardrail: Average order value
- Guardrail: Conversion rate after the event date
- Who should test it: Stores whose buyers face a real, dated deadline such as a season, an event or a holiday, and who can target it by location. A countdown to a made-up deadline is unlikely to work the same way and can cost trust.

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Credit: Visually ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/chene-gear-geo-hunting-season-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.