🎓 Write discounted prices on the right

Show a discounted price to the right of the original. In experiments, people perceived the discount as bigger and were up to 49% more likely to say they would buy.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 August 06, 2024 | [Read Online]( Write discounted prices on the right Show a discounted price to the right of the original. In experiments, people perceived the discount as bigger and were up to 49% more likely to say they would buy. [Thomas McKinlay]( [fb]( [fb]( [fb]( [fb](mailto:?subject=Post%20from%20Ariyh&body=Write%20discounted%20prices%20on%20the%20right%3A%20Show%20a%20discounted%20price%20to%20the%20right%20of%20the%20original.%20In%20experiments%2C%20people%20perceived%20the%20discount%20as%20bigger%20and%20were%20up%20to%2049%25%20more%20likely%20to%20say%20they%20would%20buy.%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Ftips.ariyh.com%2Fp%2Fwrite-discounted-prices-on-the-right) New to [Ariyh](? This is a 3min practical summary of a scientific study 🎓 Join 28,633 marketers who use science, not flawed opinions 📈 [Subscribe here]( Today’s insight is brought to you by… [Modash]( [Modash]( is the tool brands like Bolt, NordVPN, and Mixtiles use to find nano & micro influencers. It lets you search & filter every public creator profile on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. That’s over 250 million social media creators! Filter by location, audience, by content performance (e.g. average views), niche, and more. [Try for free]( Want to sponsor Ariyh? [Here’s all you need to know](. 📝 Intro You’re about to launch a sale for your summer sundresses, ahead of launching your new fall collection. You’re trying to decide how to actually write the sale prices, and come up with three options: - Red Sundress - $30 was $45 - Red Sundress - $30, $45 - Red Sundress - $45 now $30 Here’s why the third option will work best P.S.: Want more pricing and promotions insights? Check out the [Playbook of Pricing & Promotions]( (loved by 720+ fellow science-based marketers). We’re starting work on a new and expanded version of the playbook. If you get it now you will have access to both the current version and the new version when it will be released, at no extra cost. Want to access hundreds more insights like these? [Explore Ariyh insights here](. Write discounted prices on the right of the original price Topics: Promotions | Pricing For: B2C. Can be tested for B2B Research date: July 2013 Universities: Wayne State University, Indiana State University, University of South Carolina, University of Miami 📈 Recommendation When offering a moderate discount (~30%), write the discounted price to the right of the original price (e.g. Was $10.00, Now for only $7.00), not the left (e.g. Now $7.00, Was $10.00). Compared to when it’s written on the left, people will perceive the discount as bigger and will be more likely to buy the item. For very high (85% or more) or low (under ~10%) discounts this backfires. In these cases, keep the discounted price on the left of the original price. 🎓 Findings - For a moderate discount (~30%), when the discounted price is placed to the right of the original price, people perceive it as a better deal and are more likely to buy the item. - As part of a series of 7 experiments and a field study, when researchers put an approximately 30% discounted price to the right (vs. the left) of the original price people: - Considered a $349.99 Blu-ray player on sale for $239.99 as 27.1% more valuable, saying they were 39.2% more likely to buy it. - Thought a promotion for an HD TV was 30% more valuable and said they were 48.9% more likely to buy it. - Were 24.3% more likely to buy a food processor and 2x as likely to choose a wooden spoon. - Estimated a 30% discount to be 27.6%, versus considering it only a 16% discount when the price was placed on the left. - The effect disappears when the discount percentage is only 10%, or if the discount is clearly presented as a percentage (e.g. “now -25%”). - The effect reverses for: - Very low (e.g. 4%) discounts because people find them to be opportunistic - Very high (e.g. 85%) discounts because people question the quality of the product 🧠Why it works - We judge the value of a discount by comparing the original and sale price. - It’s easier for us to calculate the difference when the larger number appears before the smaller number, as this matches [the typical format]( for subtracting numbers. - When a discount is a round figure, like 10%, we can easily calculate it regardless of the order the prices are listed. - If the discount is moderately sized but not easy to calculate in our heads, we skip the calculation and [assume the discount is]( around 10%. ✅ How to Level Up Your Organic Growth Strategies - from [Ten Speed]( Here are 5 resources (free & ungated) with tactical advice to help you grow organically: - [9 Benefits of Product-Led Content Marketing]( - [Mapping The B2B SaaS Customer Journey To Improve It Phase-by-Phase]( - [Key Elements of a Comprehensive Organic Growth Strategy]( - [15 Strategies for Effective Content Distribution in B2B SaaS]( - [How To Add Thought Leadership to B2B SaaS Content Strategies]( [Explore more]( This announcement was sponsored. Want your brand here? [Click here](. ✋ Limitations - The experiments tested specific percentages for what is considered a very low (4%), moderate (30%), or very large (85%) discount. This study did not provide an exact range for each. Previous research suggests that [discounts above 60% are too large]( and hurt quality perceptions. Research about [what is considered a too-low discount]( is not as clear, but hints at a threshold of under ~10%. - The research did not test this, but it’s likely that showing the discounted price underneath the original price would achieve the same effect, allowing for easy subtraction. - Besides the location of the new price, other factors like font size or [color]( likely also impact how the discount is perceived. For example, [flashy animated banners]( for discounts and promotions can hurt sales by distracting visitors. 🏢 Companies using this - Different companies use different ways of displaying sale and original prices, including putting them next to one another, placing one above the other, crossing out the original price, and other ways. - Several brands display sale prices to the right of the original prices. Including: - Saks (Soft Touch Turtleneck top - $145 Now $72.50) - Neiman Marcus (Marc Jacobs Rhinestone Mini Shoulder bag - $495 $242) - Others still write the discount price on the left, such as: - REI (Sahara T-Shirt - Men’s $24.93 $34.95) - [Zappos.com]( (Under Armour Blitzing cap - $22.61 $28) Fashion retailer Neiman Marcus correctly displays its discounted prices to the right of the original price. ⚡ Steps to implement - Place your discounted price next to the original price during promotions, based on the size of the discount: - For most discounts, especially moderately sized ones (~30%), display the new discounted price to the right of the original price. - If the discount you’re offering is either very low or very high, display the new price to the left of the original price. - Be careful with your discount size - [other research shows]( discounts of 60% or more can actually hurt sales because people doubt the quality of a product with such a steep discount. - Regardless of the size of the discount, try to [keep the ending digits]( of the original and sale price the same to increase the sale’s effectiveness. - You can also make your prices seem more reasonable by [displaying them underneath]( (rather than above) your product, and if you’re targeting men, by [writing the price in red](. - For more information on how to optimize your pricing check out the [Playbook of Pricing & Promotions]( to help you put the latest scientific discoveries into action. 🔍 Study type Online experiments and field experiment (with 73 people attending a cooking class in a large US city) 📖 Research [Consumer Evaluations of Sale Prices: Role of the Subtraction Principle](. Journal of Marketing (July 2013) 🏫 Researchers - [Abhijit Biswas](. Wayne State University - [Sandeep Bhowmick](. Indiana State University - [Abhijit Guha](. University of South Carolina - [Dhruv Grewal](. Babson College, University of Miami Remember: This is a scientific discovery. In the future it will probably be better understood and could even be proven wrong (that’s [how science works](). It may also not be generalizable to your situation. If it’s a risky change, always test it on a small scale before rolling it out widely. What did you think of today's insight? Help me make Ariyh's next insights 🎓 even more useful 📈 [💜 Loved it!]( [✌️ Okay]( [🫤 Meh]( - 📈 Access 100s of insights and learn how other evidence-based marketers apply them, with [Ariyh Pro]( - 📘Supercharge your business with Ariyh’s Playbooks of [Pricing & Promotions](, [SaaS](, or [Ecommerce]( - 🎓 New to Ariyh? 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