She felt the number 38 was suspicious and went about checking how they got this number. She got an alert that said ‘38 people are looking at this flight.’ It’s a number that certainly puts pressure on a buyer to book the flight fast before it gets sold out: Real-Life Examples of Fake Sales Notifications Gone Wrongīefore we get to the boring legal stuff, let’s look at a few real-life examples where fake social proof went wrong.īack in 2019, Ophir Harpaz, a security researcher, was booking a flight using a site called OneTravel. Fake sales notifications may be tempting to use, but there are a few serious things you should consider. The biggest harm from fake social proof is that there’s an overall loss of trust in online sales. It takes time and effort to create a business that’s built to last. Shortcuts, life hacks, and overnight successes are things we look out for, but the truth is, none of them exist in the business world. The Real Problem With Fake Sales Notifications Let’s take a look at the real problem with fake social proof. There are so many problems that arise when you decide to take this path.
It seems harmless because it’s just a few fake notifications until you build a customer base, right?
Plus, WordPress is home to over 50,000 plugins, so it’s easy to find a fake sales notification plugin that lets you enter your own data and create fake notifications instantly. Right from the start, this is an unethical tactic as it tricks customers into believing your site has active buyers.Īnd sadly, it’s become a popular strategy because building a real following takes time, while fake notifications can give faster results. That’s because fake sales notifications are created by site owners to make it seem like there are sales taking place on their site when there actually aren’t any. It builds long-lasting trust and credibility.īut, in some cases, these sales notifications aren’t as genuine as they appear.It prompts visitors to check out your products creating cross-sell and upsell opportunities.It encourages hesitating customers to go ahead with their purchases.This means when consumers see others are doing something, they want to do the same. It creates the FOMO (fear of missing out) effect.In this way, sales notifications can have a number of positive effects: This creates a sense of popularity and sends a signal to visitors that people both like and trust your brand. It works because consumers have a tendency to trust something is good when they see others buying it. It’s used as a form of social proof to build trust and credibility with visitors. Sales notifications are small non-intrusive popups that show when a customer has purchased a product on your site.
We’ll also show you how to use your website’s statistics to build credibility, trust, and a loyal customer base. In this article, we’re going to take a look at fake sales notifications and why you should avoid them.
However, in the long run, this can seriously damage your brand and ruin your business. Many new businesses face this problem and fake notifications seem like the easiest way to solve it. If you’re just starting out and don’t have sales volume, you may be tempted to show fake notifications to make your site look trustworthy and active. Do you want to know if fake sales notifications can help boost sales and conversions?