To kick off a new year of Website Testing Wins, here’s a smart, but simple campaign that you should think about adding to your list of test ideas for holiday season 2103 2013.

Given how influential free shipping is with shoppers, especially during the holidays, one retailer decided to strongly promote this incentive on a web page where it would make the most impact.

On the day when its free shipping offer for standard delivery expired—along with shoppers’ ability to order gifts from its website in time for the holiday without incurring expedited shipping costs—the retailer tested this banner on the cart page that highlighted its 3 p.m. offer cutoff.

The message made it clear that shoppers could lose out on both the shipping deal and being able to put the items they desired under the Christmas tree. By testing the banner on the cart page, the retailer helped put an end to shoppers’ waffling on whether to abandon their carts to do some comparison shopping or proceed to checkout.

It’s another example of how scarcity sells, as the test lifted average order value for the retailer by 8.95%.

In fact, why wait until the end of the year to try out this gem? You could see how it works on free shipping promotions around Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day … the list goes on.