Buy button stressing 24-hour availability: +6.3% sales
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsA buy button that stressed each design is only available for 24 hours raised sales by 6.3%.
RIPT Apparel, which sells a new tee design each day, ran this test itself, and it was published as a VWO case study.
Only the button changed; there were no new offers, products or policies.
- Sales: up 6.3% versus the green button.
- The case study says the button was the only change during the test.
- Sample size, test length and confidence level were not shared, so the lift may be less certain than it looks.
The change
The variant's buy button tells shoppers the design is only sold for 24 hours.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A green, eye-catching buy button. This button had itself replaced an older one that blended into the page, but that earlier switch was never tested.
Variant
A buy button that made the 24-hour availability of the design clear.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- The time limit was real: each design was sold for one day. Pointing that out gives shoppers a true reason to buy now.
- Putting the message on the button puts it right at the point of decision.
- A daily-drop shop attracts browsers who may plan to come back later. The reminder tells them later may be too late.
Caveats: No sample size, duration or significance was given. The control was a green button that was itself rolled out without a test.
Who ran it
RIPT Apparel ran this test for RIPT Apparel and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on RIPT Apparel →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we state on the buy button that the product is only available for a limited time, then more visitors will buy because they know waiting means missing out.
- Primary metric
- Orders per visitor
- Guardrails
- Refund or return rate
- Average order value
- Repeat purchase rate
- Who should test it
- Stores with real time limits, such as daily drops, limited runs or flash sales. It will likely backfire if the deadline is fake, since shoppers who come back and see the item still on sale will stop trusting the store.
Questions
Does urgency on the add-to-cart button increase sales?
In this test it did, with a 6.3% sales lift.
The deadline was genuine, which matters for both results and trust.
Is button color or button message more important?
This test only compared messages, with color already changed earlier.
A clear reason to act often matters more than color, but each store needs its own test.
Are countdown or time-limited messages risky?
They are when the limit is not real.
Shoppers notice fake deadlines, and that can hurt repeat sales.
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