Are your customers ignoring your upsells?
If so, they might be missing one key element: urgency that feels real.
The most successful offers use what Ezra Firestone calls earned urgency—strategic scarcity that makes customers feel like they’re missing a real opportunity, not being pressured into a decision.
In this post, you’ll learn how to turn urgency into a high-converting growth lever—without sleaze, scams, or meaningless countdown timers.
Why FOMO Works in Funnels
FOMO taps into a psychological bias called loss aversion—the idea that people are more motivated to avoid losing something than they are to gain something.
But there’s a big difference between fake urgency (manipulative) and earned urgency (motivating).
Earned urgency works because:
- The offer is legitimately time-sensitive
- The value is clear and relevant
- The timing aligns with customer behavior (checkout, post-purchase, etc.)
“I’m not into making up fake timers… But if the sale ends Friday, the page should say it.” – Ezra Firestone
When customers feel they’re about to miss something real, they’re more likely to take action.
3 Scarcity Tactics That Actually Convert
Let’s break down three non-gimmicky strategies you can use to create urgency honestly.
1. Real Timers Tied to Real Deadlines
Plan your promotions around real-world deadlines like holidays or seasonal events, and make those timelines crystal clear in your emails and landing pages.
Example: “4th of July Sale ends at midnight—hurry before it’s gone.”
And if your sale ends on the 4th, end it on the 4th. No extensions or surprise resets. It helps build trust, because customers know the urgency is real.
2. Post-Purchase Scarcity Offers
Right after purchase, customers are still in buyer mode and trust is high. It’s the perfect time to make a limited-time offer—but only if it feels relevant, not pushy.
Example: “Add 2 travel-sized refills at 50% off for the next 10 minutes only.”
With OCU, you can trigger this offer immediately after checkout, so there’s no need to re-entering payment info and no risk to your initial sale.
3. Rotate Single-Item Promotions
Ezra doesn’t rely on urgency only for product launches. He runs rotating promotions every month for single products, so every sale campaign has urgency built in.
“We use timed sales windows every month—not just for new products, but for evergreen urgency.” – Ezra Firestone
Example: “This weekend only: Save 15% off Boomsilk Moisturizer.”
The result? Customers are trained to expect—and act on—valuable, time-limited offers. Even if they don’t buy this time, they know when the next deal drops, it won’t last.
Where to Use Scarcity in Your Funnel
You can use strategic urgency everywhere your customers engage with you—not just on sales pages.
Product Pages
Add countdown bars for launches, limited-stock bundles, or timed bonuses.
In-Checkout (Shopify Plus Only)
Use OCU to offer limited-time upsells on the checkout page. This is great to lift AOV.
🕐 Post-Purchase
Offer upsells that are only available after checkout. It feels like a reward, not a sales pitch.
🎁 Thank You Page
Highlight relevant add ons that can make their purchase even more satisfying.
📩 Email & SMS
Use urgency-driven copy and dynamic countdown links in your email and SMS campaigns to give customers a personalized reasons to buy now.
Tools That Help You Do This Right
Earned urgency is urgency your customer appreciates. And OneClickUpsell and Zipify Pages make it easy to create earned urgency at every stage of the customer journey.
OneClickUpsell
- One-click post-purchase upsells with real deadlines and timers
- In-checkout urgency offers for Shopify Plus stores (no extra apps needed)
- AI-powered upsells that make sure your offers are relevant and perfectly timed
Zipify Pages
- Built-in countdown timers to highlight real deadlines across your entire store
- Holiday sale templates so can launch your next promo in just a few clicks
- Flexible drag-and-drop builder so you never need a dev team
Ready to Turn Urgency Into a Growth Lever?
Fake urgency kills trust. Earned urgency builds it.
If you’re not using it strategically, you’re missing out on one of the most powerful persuasion tools for any ecommerce brand.
Start a free trial of OCU and Zipify Pages —and start driving more revenue at every stage of your funnel.
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