(Feeling of) Scarcity to Increase Demand

I read in Enchantment last week how creating a sense of scarcity can increase demand in some cases. Saw this happening on the day of Diwali at a sweets shop. The owner knew that people were doing their last minute shopping and would not want to go back home without sweets. So he kept only a small percentage of the quantity that he generally keeps on display, and told the customers that everything else was sold. As I stood there in line waiting and thinking what to buy, I saw how the workers kept replacing the empty trays with less than half filled trays. The trays kept selling and getting replaced again with less than half filled trays. Anyone who entered the shop got a feeling that there was not much left and would buy in haste. Everyone was so busy buying that it was hard to notice what was going on. Oh, and while I was leaving the store, I overheard a distressed wife telling her husband how she had been asking him to go and buy the sweets and now everything was over. :-)