Last chance, again

A woman in Dubai bought a pair of trainers from an online shop once, in the autumn.

Since then the shop has written to her most days. Final hours. Do not miss this. Ending tonight, in capital letters, with a red siren in the subject. On Thursday the sale ended for good. On Saturday it was back.

The first time, it worked. A message that shouts in a quiet place gets noticed, and that is the only reason to shout at all.

But emphasis wears off. Each urgent message borrows a little against the next one, and this shop has been borrowing every day. Now the capital letters register as nothing. The siren is part of the furniture. If the shop ever has a genuine final day, she will scroll past it with all the others.

It is easy to forget that asking for attention is asking for something. It is a small payment, made each time, and people keep count even when they do not mean to. A seller who spends it on nothing is teaching customers to stop paying.

The shops that keep their customers' attention use their loud moments rarely, and change them before they wear thin. A plain message most of the time. Something different, and true, when something is.

None of this will stop the shop next door from shouting a little louder tomorrow. When attention is free to take, someone will always be cheapening it further.

That is a description of the market, not an instruction to join in.