Show how many people bought it (or at least viewed it)

Your customers can't ask their friends whether this specific product is any good. So they look for the next best thing: proof that other people already bought it.

Research found that showing view and purchase counts on product pages increased purchase intentions by up to 58%. But there's a smart way to do it - and a way that backfires.

The progression that works

Early stage (low sales): Show view counts. "247 people viewed this today" signals interest without requiring sales volume you don't have yet.

Growth stage (decent sales, sub-5% view-to-sale rate): Switch to showing purchases. "84 people bought this this week." More social proof, stronger signal.

High volume (view-to-sale rate 5%+): You can show both. But not before - showing high view counts alongside low sales makes the low conversion rate visible, which backfires.

Why very high numbers stop working

When views hit tens of thousands, they become hard to process mentally. "15,600 views" is harder to feel than "156 sales this month." At scale, switch to sales and choose a timeframe that gives a satisfying number - today, this week, last 30 days.

What's probably broken

Most Shopify stores show nothing. No view count. No sales count. No indication that any other human has ever looked at this page. In a world where buyers benchmark everything against Amazon, that absence is a problem.

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Research: Das, G., Spence, M.T. & Agarwal, J. (2021). International Journal of Research in Marketing, 38(1). Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Bond University & University of Calgary.