A limited-time offer could be defined as a deal and/or promotion offered to customers only if they make purchases in a limited specific time period. It could be free shipping offer, promo code or extra gift.

In terms of psychology, an offer with a ticking clock enhances the fear of being missed out, thus forcing buyers to make a purchase right at the moment. 

Still, simply leaving a good deal there and doing nothing will not guarantee an increase in sales for you. You will also need to be able to catch your customers’ attention so as to make them feel nervous about letting that deal go away.

1. Opting for a Call to Action

Calls to actions are instructions which aim at provoking actions from the audiences. Some traditional examples of calls to action in eCommerce could be “Shop now” or “Must have”. This is a popular business strategy for many shop owners, but it is also possible to attract even more customers’ attention by pointing out the benefits of the deal that they could not miss. Let’s take a look at some examples:

• Shop now and get a free sample of our faves! Today only.
• Claim Your Three-month Trial Now.
• Book now and get a 15% off for your next visit.

2. Emphasizing time limit

“While Supplies Last” or “Act Now” is often used to create a sense of fear of missing out (FOMO) for shoppers. However, the effects of them are not as strong as we thought. Why? Because there is not a specific date here. Therefore, customers upon seeing this might think this offer could still be available tomorrow, or next week and postpone their purchase. 

It is best to make your customers act fast in order to prevent cart abandonment. 

So, with those taken into account, it is advisable that you should add specific time into your copies. Some examples could be:

• 50% off sitewide until Friday only! 
• Last Day

3. Making your offer different

Customers tend to get bored easily. In such cases, they would go and look for another brand and/or and/or another product/service. Therefore, another crucial point worth noting here is making your offer different from that of your competitors. How?

Try brainstorming. Thinking of how your products/services could be different from the others and show them to shoppers.

Maybe it is a grand-opening deal? Or a rare deal, a huge sale, free shipping worldwide? Whatever it might be, be sure that it has to catch customers’ attention.