How did seeing empty food shelves during COVID-19 affect us? 

We over-buy of course!

It is a human reaction explained by Robert Cialdini in his books, Influence. https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/006124189X

Scarcity makes things more valuable to us when they are less available. It causes us to pay a premium or purchase soon than we originally planned.

You can use scarcity to increase the chances of sales for your startup!

Here are two examples:
1) The standard price for your SaaS is $1,500 / month. However the first 20 customers have the special price of $950 / month for the first 2 years, in exchange for testimonials and giving product feedback.  

2)  Your business has a surplus of consultant time next month. If customers decide to purchase by the end of this month the configuration fee will be reduced from $10,000 to $5,000!

What are you doing to leverage the power of Scarcity for your Startup?