The Wall Street Journal: “Retailers have a gift for discount-obsessed holiday shoppers: simpler pricing … Kohl’s has been testing a ‘Your Price’ feature that shows the final price after all discounts … For example, a Disney Princess Palace, regularly priced at $79.99, was on sale on Kohl’s website earlier this month for $54.99 and eligible for an extra 25% off. The “Your Price” was $41.24.”
“Like Kohl’s, Penney this year started showing online shoppers the sale price net of all discounts on the product page and increasingly has been advertising sales with final dollar amounts, rather than percentage discounts … The retailer also has been posting ‘sale conversion charts,’ intended to help shoppers figure out prices … Christine Dunne, of the Bronx, N.Y., said she noticed the changes at the Penney store near her home.” She comments: “It makes shopping so much easier. In the past, I’d get to the register and realize the price I’d calculated in my head was wrong.”
“Not all retailers have simplified their pricing, and marketing experts say that is by design. ‘Multiple mental deductions based on promotions can result in consumers perceiving that their costs are lower than they actually are, which can increase spending,’ said Cynthia Cryder, an associate professor of marketing at Washington University in St. Louis.”