by Shanshan Ma
“Show me the price!” Online shoppers browse through e-commerce site and look for the numbers. How you show your price might not be the most important factor that drive your online sales, but it certainly has impact on customers’ purchase decision making process. We reviewed multiple e-commerce sites and found ten most often used ways of showing price. In the following sections, we’ll go through them one by one.
1. Ebay: Plain
The price is shown as is. No decorating, no sugarcoating.
2. Zappos: Bold and Loud
The price is shown with a much bigger font size and a brighter color to allow customers see it easily.
3. Amazon: How Much You Save
The original price is crossed out and the current price is shown with a different color and font size to catch customers’ attention. The exact amount and percentage that customers can save is calculated and presented.
4. Apple: From
“From” is used when there are different prices as customers choose different customization, such as color or size. The lowest price is shown to customers with “From”.
5. Twelve south: From To
The price changes as customers choose different customization. Instead of showing the lowest price with a “from”, the complete range of price from the lowest to the highest is shown.
6. Bestbuy: Our Price
Adding “our” to price creates a personal touch: We are the only one who offers this price.
7. Overstock: Today’s price
Adding “today” to the price encourages customers to take action right away: this price is only available today.
8. Jcrew: Subtle
Jcrew’s price is somewhat hidden in the product description. There is no emphasis on the price in anyway. How the price is presented fits the company image.
9. Hollister: Now and Was
Current price is shown together with the old price. It allows customers to see the price difference.
10. Cellarthief.com: Other prices
The page lists regular retail price, lowest online price with shipping, and the price that Cellarthief is offering. It allows customers to see all possible options. However, too many price options might confuse customers, and leave them wondering: which price is the one you are offering?
Summary
We reviewed various e-commerce sites and discovered 10 different ways of showing price: plain, bold and loud, how much you save, from, from to, our price, today’s price, subtle, now and was, other prices. Each way of showing price has its own strength and weakness. Depends on what kind of message that you want to send to your customers, you may find the way that works for you best.
