The other day I received an L.L.Bean catalogue with a free shipping/$10 gift card offer. I still needed a few gifts for Christmas, and L.L.Bean has made it very easy for Canadians to shop with them (no cross-border treks for me this time).

I filled my cart with a few items. There was a bit of sticker shock when the duties and taxes were added at checkout (note to e-tailers: the earlier in the transaction you can give an idea of the total bill, the fewer abandoned carts you’ll have).

But just in case I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go through with the transaction, L.L.Bean reiterated their offer across the Review and Submit Order page, as shown here.

In Sway – The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, authors Ori and Rom Brafman describe our psychological aversion to loss, which is much stronger than our positive feelings of experiencing a gain. It’s why car rental companies sell “loss damage” waivers, and why flat-rate plans tend to out-sell pay-by-the-minute plans.

For my shopping excursion, although I had to spend over $25 to receive a $10 gift card (which isn’t redeemable until the next purchase, I might add, meaning I need to spend even more money to earn my reward), I can’t help thinking, “Well, if I don’t buy, I won’t receive the $10 card, plus I’ll lose out on free shipping which may not be available the next time I shop.”

Although this example might not fit perfectly with the Brafmans’ theory, your copy can impart the feeling of “missing out”.

For L.L.Bean, the copy for this offer could be rewritten:

“Don’t miss out on this FREE gift card offer. Click Submit Order to earn your $10 L.L.Bean gift card.”

If you’re offering free shipping, consider this call to action at checkout:

“Don’t miss out on this free shipping offer. Choose Continue Shopping to take advantage of free shipping on your entire order.”

I write a regular email newsletter for one of my clients, and we find that in any month that we run a “Last chance to enter such and such contest” feature, click-through rates tend to soar. It’s that potential for missing a chance to enter that prompts the click.

It’s also the same reason why home lottery marketers like to remind you that their tickets are “70% sold”.

So don’t miss your chance to comment on my blog.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Copy optimization, Copywriting, E-commerce.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.