Persistent Scarcity Labels and Live Availability Data for Converting Hesitant Shoppers

Hypothesis: Carrying Baronfig's own published scarcity labels through the full journey — plus a live, real-time availability line at the buy box — will convert more of the shoppers who currently hesitate on colors that demonstrably do sell out.

Brand of the Week

Baronfig is one of the cult American stationery brands — premium notebooks, the Squire pen line, and a category of shoppers who talk about restocks on Reddit the way sneakerheads talk about drop dates.

Their scarcity model is structurally real. Small production runs, limited editions, and colors that sell out and often don't come back for months. Right now, only 3 of 9 Squire Classic colors are actually in stock. Reddit reviewers describe checking the site daily for two months waiting for a favorite color to return.

That's genuinely, honestly scarce. Which is exactly why what we found on the site stood out.

The challenge

We took a peek at Baronfig's site, and two things caught our attention.

The scarcity signal drops between the homepage and the product page. The homepage tags the new Emerald pen "Limited Quantity" — the exact urgency that earns the click.

Follow that click through to the product page and the label reads only "New Color." The scarcity that closed the deal upstream is gone at the moment of decision. Nothing at the collection card, buy box, or cart references the fact that this pen belongs to a run that will end.

The real scarcity is never surfaced at the buy box. Only 3 of 9 Squire Classic colors are in stock right now. Reddit shoppers describe checking daily for two months waiting for sold-out colors to come back.

But nothing on the collection pages, product pages, or cart ever tells shoppers that colors run out and may not return. So hesitating feels safe — when demonstrably, it isn't.

So what would we A/B test?

Control: Baronfig's current site — the homepage carries scarcity labels, but those labels drop off at the collection card, product page, and cart. Live stock data isn't shown to shoppers at any decision point.

Variant (built in MidaGX): Two changes to the product journey.

Carry Baronfig's own scarcity labels through the full journey

The labels Baronfig already publishes on the homepage — "Limited Quantity," "Special Edition" — now appear consistently on the collection cards, the product buy box, and the cart. The scarcity message never drops mid-journey. Shoppers see the same signal on their fifth click that earned them their first.

Add a live availability line at the buy box

Right next to the "Add to Cart" button, a new line reads: "3 of 9 colors currently available — sold-out colors may not return."

The availability counts pull live from Baronfig's own stock data. As colors sell out or return, the messaging keeps up on its own — never guessed, never inflated, never out of date. And because the code MidaGX generated is ready to inject, matching the site's existing design, the variant looks native rather than tacked-on.

Our hypothesis

Baronfig's scarcity is real. It's just invisible where it matters.

The homepage carries the message. The product page and cart don't. By the time a shopper is ready to buy, the urgency has evaporated — and the shopper who was going to be a same-session buyer becomes a "let me think about it" browser instead.

We'd expect the variant to lift purchase completion rates for the affected products, because the real scarcity signal is now present at every step where a shopper is deciding to add to cart.

We'd also expect fewer visits per completed purchase. Shoppers who currently take three or four trips before deciding to buy would have the information they need on trip one — that this color exists in limited supply and may not be here on trip four.

The CRO principle underneath

Real scarcity is a trust builder. Fake scarcity is a trust breaker.

Most CRO advice around scarcity messaging treats them the same, which is why so many brands add "Only 3 left!" badges to products they have unlimited inventory of — damaging shopper trust in the process.

But when a brand's scarcity is genuinely real, as Baronfig's demonstrably is, the honest signal is the CTA. The homepage doesn't need to shout. The buy box just needs to tell the truth.

Baronfig has one of the most honest scarcity stories in the stationery category. The variant just makes it visible where it matters most.

Want to run a test like this on your own site? Get started with Mida for free — now available even if you don't have an account with Mida.