Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
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Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
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Re: Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
#2As shop owner that switches to Woo I dig into many plugins the last year and only find a very few of those attention and countdown plugins that are kinda honest.
- The majority of 'users currently see this project' are looking a few hours back instead of being 100% fake. All of them allow faking the numbers somehow tho. There are plenty of 100% fake ones out there too tho.
- 'xxx just bought' things are usually real too. But also out of context and time. Plus all plugins I've seen allow you to add custom fake ones. Or even have some preenabled.
- While I was looking for the functionality to actually lock products when they are in a cart for 15 minutes or so because we have limited stock I found none of these plugins is actually doing this. All they do is adding a cookie and a fake timer.
There is more, way more. And I learned to avoid shops using any of those fake tactics.
In the end I wrote many of that stuff my own with real data and I don't think users will ever notice the difference :/
Re: Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
#3Is the idea that multiple people are looking at a product supposed to inspire me to purchase it? I really struggle to understand the logic.
Re: Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
#4Is the idea that multiple people are looking at a product supposed to inspire me to purchase it? I really struggle to understand the logic.
we do tend to read the most popular topics here on HN
Re: Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
#5Is the idea that multiple people are looking at a product supposed to inspire me to purchase it? I really struggle to understand the logic.
But look, there are only 2 items left, and 5 have been sold in the past hour. Also, 15 people are also currently looking at this product, so you better hurry and buy it before it's too late! ... or before you think twice and realize you don't need this product at all.
Re: Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
#6Is the idea that multiple people are looking at a product supposed to inspire me to purchase it? I really struggle to understand the logic.
I would expect that it contributes to sales both by creating a fake sense of validation from others and by creating a fake sense of urgency (get it while in stock!), both of which are good tools to compromise decision making of the buyer.
Re: Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
#7I guess the shop's competitors could sue them for unfair practices in many countries?
Re: Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
#8Is the idea that multiple people are looking at a product supposed to inspire me to purchase it? I really struggle to understand the logic.
This is very likely, and any kind of popularity information helps making decisions.
In fact I mostly buy steam games in the popular section to sort out the trash. Each time I choose a niche unfeatured thing it turns out to be random trash nobody wanted... unsurprisingly.
Why do you think your brain wouldnt rank a product with 500 views right now above a product with 3, or be wrong about such ranking ? I think it helps ignore shit, because it's rare you want to buy stuff nobody else wants.
Re: Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
#9Is the idea that multiple people are looking at a product supposed to inspire me to purchase it? I really struggle to understand the logic.
Yes. The idea is that other consumers being on the site creates a sense of security, that it must be legit if there’s a bunch of other customers.
Re: Are 14 people really looking at that product? (2020)
#10Is the idea that multiple people are looking at a product supposed to inspire me to purchase it? I really struggle to understand the logic.
I would expect that it contributes to sales both by creating a fake sense of validation from others and by creating a fake sense of urgency (get it while in stock!), both of which are good tools to compromise decision making of the buyer.
On top of validation and urgency that are negative, you have also a true sense of popularity that indicates that the product works, has good reputation, fits a common purpose or is priced correctly.
Crowd selection isn't negative, in fact without it we d just be picking fruit at random in the forest with a good chance of dying of poisonning, instead of chatting online... on a popular forum we think like minded people also frequent, having opinions we suppose we'll be interested in on posts that are ranked by upvotes :p