I’m Nithya Sudhir. I collect words, chase patterns, and write about whatever makes me curious.
Your customer moves faster the closer they get
In 1934, a psychologist named Clark Hull put rats in a straight alley with food at one end.
Picture it. A clean corridor. A piece of food at the far end. A rat at the start.
Hull releases the rats, fully expecting what you'd expect — a mad dash, a frenzy, a rat race.
That is not what happened.
In fact, the rats start slow. Almost leisurely. Like it has nowhere to be.
But suddenly it paces. The closer it gets to the food, the faster it moves.
Hull called it the Goal Gradient Effect.
Ninety years later, your free shipping bar is doing exactly the same thing to your customers.
It’s Monday, let’s get into it?
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Are humans like rats?
In 2006, researchers Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng walk into a coffee shop with a deceptively simple question, about loyalty.
They split customers into two groups and hand them each loyalty cards with 10 stamps.
Fill them all, get a free coffee. Simple enough.
But the twist is, group 2 gets the cards with 12 stamps but 2 already filled in.
The math, identical. The effort, identical. And the reward, definitely identical.
And yet. Group two finishes their cards faster.
Why?
Because the illusion of a head start creates the psychology of investment. And investment creates momentum.
💡 Endowed Progress Effect: A journey already in motion is easier to continue than one that has not started.
Hull was right. What the rats do, we do too.
Wired for the finish line
As humans, we are not motivated by how far we have come.
We are motivated by how little is left.
Show someone how much they have already done, and they feel satisfied.
But satisfaction slows people down.
According to the goal gradient effect, if you want something done faster, show them how close they are to the finish line instead.
Think about the last time you nearly finished something and sped up. What was it?
A Netflix series…just 8 minutes left!
A workout
A loyalty card / points balance
A work deadline (I work best under pressure!)
Free shipping, Obvi-ously
Obvi is a collagen supplement brand founded in 2019.
They hit $40 million in revenue within five years, in one of the most crowded supplement categories online.
Their side cart shows a goal-based progress bar.
Customers can see exactly how much more they need to spend to unlock the next reward - cashback, free shipping, or a free product.
The finish line is always in frame.
Proximity is a design choice
The goal gradient effect shows up differently depending on where in the customer journey you apply it.
The free shipping bar: we’ve already seen this with Obvi. ****
The loyalty tier climb: "You're $127 away from VIB status.” Build your tiers so every customer is always within visible striking distance of the next one, and frame every communication around what is left, not what has been earned.
The welcome point head start: Give every new member a small points bonus on sign-up, set their journey in motion.
The multi-reward side cart: Instead of one reward at the end, stack smaller unlocks at multiple spending thresholds, free shipping at $50, a free gift at $75, early access at $100.
The checkout progress indicator: "Step 2 of 3." A checkout with no progress signal creates anxiety and can make customers leave. Show your people exactly where they have and how much is left.
Kitsch: The club that buys 9x more
Kitsch is a haircare and beauty accessories brand started in a Los Angeles apartment. Today it's in 32,000 stores across 92 countries.
Their loyalty program has three tiers.
Customers earn points for purchases, following on TikTok, submitting in-store receipts, leaving reviews, referring friends.
Every action earns XP. Every XP closes the gap to the next level.
So far, 1.2 million customers have activated and engaged with the program.
As humans, clearly, we are not motivated by the size of the reward waiting for us. We are motivated by the certainty that the reward exists, and the feeling that we are close enough to touch it.
Give people a finish line.
Make it visible. Make it close. Make it fun.
That’s all for today!
How's the depth of today's edition?
As always, hit reply if something in here hits home.
See you next week,
Nithya
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