Too many of your interactions with customers involve numbers and math. Your company markets “30% discounts” or “$15 off your next order.” While sales and discounts can motivate customers to take action, there is a downside to them. These number-based discounts require that the customer does some math.
Unfortunately, math isn’t always the easiest thing to do in your head. Sure, customers could pull out their phone and use the calculator. However, this is extra friction between the customer and the purchase. You need to remove this friction. You need to do the math for your customers.
At a glance, you want your customers to understand your pricing and any associated deal they will be receiving.
On a recent trip to Old Navy, I spotted this pricing chart next to a discounted rack of clothes:
The pricing table clearly shows you what you’ll pay for any given product. Just find the list price on the clothing’s tag and you can easily spot the actual price you will pay.
A chart like this is great at bridging the math gap in prospective customers’ heads.
While the example above is effective, it is still a solution to something other than the root problem. The ideal solution would be that the customer picks up a shirt and sees they price they will pay. No questions. No doubts.
However, by showing the list price and discounted price side-by-side the customer can internalize the great deal and savings they will be getting.
In this case a little friction (checking the label and the chart), plays in favor of the store because it enforces the value proposition of the discounted merchandise.
Take a look at how you present prices, numbers, and discounts to customers. Are they having to do the math, or are you presenting an easier way that helps them see the actual, final number and makes you look like a great deal?