# Stock meter instead of 'High demand' banner: +26.4% revenue/visitor

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Product page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Low-stock & scarcity messaging
- Test run by: [Convertibles](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/convertibles/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://convertibles.dev/blogs/case-studies/stock-meter-scarcity-case-study
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/golf-pdp-stock-meter-scarcity/

Swapping a generic 'High demand' banner for a sold-out-before note and a stock meter lifted revenue per visitor 26.4% on a golf product page. Convertibles ran this A/B test for a golf brand. The meter ran on a timer, not live inventory, so the win is about the format, not proof that fake scarcity is a good idea.

## Result

**+26.4% revenue/visitor**

- Revenue per visitor: +26.4% at 98% probability to beat control.
- Orders: 368 in the variant vs 297 in control, among visitors who saw the element.
- Only visitors who scrolled the stock element into view were counted.
- Conversion rate, sample size and duration were not shared.

## Control

A yellow banner in the buy box read "High demand. In stock and ready to ship."

## Variant

A dark bar said the product had sold out twice this year. Below it, a bordered box said "Back in stock" and "Only N% left" with a progress bar.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- "High demand" is a line shoppers see everywhere, so it is easy to ignore.
- Saying the product sold out twice gives a concrete reason to believe the demand is real.
- A progress bar is read at a glance, before any copy.

## Caveats

The stock meter ran on a timer and was not tied to real inventory. Invented stock levels can break consumer protection rules in the US and EU, so if you copy this, use real stock and sell-out data.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we replace a generic demand banner with real sell-out history and a live stock meter, then revenue per visitor will rise because specific scarcity is more believable.
- Primary metric: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Return rate
- Guardrail: Customer complaints about stock claims
- Guardrail: Add-to-cart rate
- Who should test it: Stores with products that really do sell out or ship in limited batches. If stock is plentiful, don't invent a shortage. Use a different test.

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Credit: Convertibles ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/golf-pdp-stock-meter-scarcity/).
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.