Rules on the use of limited-availability notifications
Do you use notifications such as: “This offer is valid for a limited time” or “Only a few items left”? Or perhaps you use other notifications in which you create a sense of scarcity among consumers? You can only do so if such notifications are true. Otherwise you mislead consumers into making a purchase. And that is not allowed.
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Businesses like to create a sense of urgency among consumers when offering a special deal, discount or offer. They do so by emphasizing the limited time or stock. When seeing such notifications, consumers often make decisions sooner and they are more likely to make a purchase. There are different types of such online notifications, such as:
- Scarcity notifications: These are notifications about the extent to which products are still available, for example ‘Limited stock’ or showing for each product how many items are still available. Or if a product is almost sold out: “Attention, only 3 items left!” or “Almost sold out!”.
- Urgency notifications: These are notifications that indicate how much time there is left to take advantage of the offer. Think of countdown timers that count down in seconds. This happens in online auctions, for example. It can create a strong urge among consumers to make a purchase immediately. The use of minutes, hours, days or even weeks can engender a similar sense of urgency, especially with larger or more complex purchases such as laptops or data plans.
- Bait & Switch technique: These are notifications offering baits. Online stores sometimes advertise deals for a product they only have a limited number of or even none at all. As a result, consumers are lured to the online store and are then pushed to purchase something else.
All these types of notifications can benefit consumers, but they need to be true. Is the notification not based on actual availability? Or is a notification not sufficiently specific and does it give a false impression of actual availability? If so, persuasion can turn into deception. And that is not allowed. That is why you must comply with certain rules if you use notifications about availability.
The same goes for baits. If a company knows that it only has a limited number of items of a certain product or even none at all for a certain price, or can that company reasonably suspect that? If so, luring consumers using such notifications is considered a misleading practice.
What is required and what is not allowed?
Tips
Examples
Relevant regulations
- Title 3, section 3A of the Dutch Civil Code, Book 6 (Unfair commercial practices) (in Dutch)
- Directive 2005/29/EC (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive)