5 Powerful Ways To Add FOMO Or Fear Of Missing Out In Your E-commerce Business

Remember the first time when Google launched a new way of chatting, called Google Wave? The marketing experts at Google did a great job by making the tool invite only for a long period of time. This indirectly drove a sense of panic among masses, where everyone wanted to be on Google Wave but nobody could easily get an invite.

This fear of missing out drove thousands of people to subscribe to the waiting list for this new tool. Although the product was not a success due to other issues, the way Google’s marketing team could pull off such a fear of missing out on this product was appalling.

The fear of missing out is real and it is everywhere, especially with social media influencing the way people are and the way they do business.

However, it is not just a thing amongst young people or millennials, FOMO is a real thing that affects all generations. The millennial generation has been labelled as being obsessed with social media and spending their time on it but in reality, it plagues all ages.

In a survey, about 73% millennials reported that they want to be in the loop and hate the feeling of being left out. It reflects on the number of new social media trends that have emerged in the last few years.

On the other hand, as an e-commerce business, it helps you to drive more conversions, improve qualified leads and indirectly, increase your e-commerce sales. So, why not use it to your advantage.

Below are some exceptionally effective ways to implement fear of missing out psychology in your online store.

Table of contents-

1. Show live user updates on your website.
2. Offer limited time discount
3. Add customer testimonials
4. Add limited time free shipping
5. Offer highly exclusive deals on subscription

More than often, users keep on browsing the website, without any immediate intent of buying. Even if they’ve made their mind to make a purchase, they may hesitate on that decision due to factors out of the control of your online store.

Nudge such users in the right direction by showing them some live updates on what other users are doing on your online store. Show them how many people bought that same product in the last hour.

This not only gives a visitor confidence in the product but also creates a fear of being left out if they miss this ride.

Legion athletics show a small window on their screen which shows how many different users are buying their products right on their online website.

If someone from different parts of the world is buying the product, chances are it must be really that good. This fear factor drives conversions here.

The idea here is simple: create scarcity by limiting the amount of time that people have to take advantage of a discount or benefit. For example, you might offer a free shipping coupon code valid for 24 hours for all orders over $50, or offer a 20% discount on items purchased within the next 2 days.

Given the fact that a visitor on your website has to act really fast on that limited time deal, they will make a quicker decision whether they want to buy or pass on this deal. Survey has shown that limited time offers perform far better than any other discounts combined.

Make sure you definitely throw a few limited time discounts on your online store. From time to time, Express runs great offers on long weekends. As you can see here, for a limited time only, they are offering 40% off on their dresses, just for the long weekend.

When you add your limited time discount on your e-commerce website, make sure to add reasons why the discount is for a limited time only.

For example, you can say that discount is valid while stock lasts, or just add the number of SKUs you have on the website with a title “Just XX more left. Hurry now.” This adds genuineness and increases the trust in your brand.

Customer testimonials are a great way to show the authenticity of your brand and your product. If thousands of people are already trusting your brand, the buying process for a new visitor would be much smoother. They will have some data to read reviews, ratings of your products before buying.

Now, if masses are reviewing your product, psychologically a new visitor might feel that the product really works and they should not be left behind in experiencing this product.

Everyone wants free shipping. In fact shipping costs are one of the biggest reasons why people abandon their cart altogether. Nobody likes the idea of paying $35 in shipping for a product worth $50.

If you are selling such products which need delicate care and handling while shipping, offer a limited time free shipping for all of your customers.

This will help in converting those users who want to buy your products but leave your online store just because the shipping charges are exorbitant. Limited time free shipping will definitely help in converting such users.

Take a look at Fossil, they offer limited time free shipping on their special edition watches. They went one step further and made it an offer exclusive to their subscribers.

As a matter of fact, any user who’s not a subscriber at Fossil will feel left out and probably subscribe to their online website in order to start receiving such promotional offers. That brings us to the next point– exclusivity.

We all love things that are exclusive to us. Be it a limited edition watch that you inherited from your grandparents or being part of the elite golf club in your area.

This exclusivity is indirectly another definition of fear of missing out.

Making offers and deals and positioning them in a way that only certain users can access will create a big FOMO. Some companies take it to the next level by offering an entire product suite to exclusive customers only.

To truly be effective, the goal of FOMO is to build a relationship with your audience. As your audience comes to trust you, they will look forward to each piece of content you share and view it with increased anticipation.

When you can establish this connection between your audience and the content you provide, FOMO can be a powerful tool that drives customers back to your site or directly to your store.

With engaging FOMO content, you’re more likely to encourage more visits from your target audience, especially if you can seal the deal with a powerful call-to-action.

But even with the best FOMO content, there are no guarantees—your audience makes the final decision on whether or not to purchase. You can only give them the opportunity and then it’s up to them.