Price and promo patterns
Price is the single most-scanned element on a PDP, and how a retailer dresses it up changes both conversion and trust. The pattern depends on the category and the offer, a fashion sale wants something different from a high-ticket marketplace deal or a DTC subscription product.
Strikethrough RRP with sale price
Original price struck through, sale price in coral, percent-off badge alongside. The most common discount pattern in fashion and home, simple to scan and easy to localise.
> what's good
- +Instantly readable, the saving registers in under a second.
- +Percent badge gives a sharper hook than a dollar amount on lower-ticket items.
- +Works equally well on listing tiles and PDP without redesign.
> what's risky
- ·Inflated RRPs invite consumer-protection scrutiny in UK and EU markets.
- ·Permanent strikethrough trains shoppers to wait, eroding full-price conversion.
- ·Coral on coral badges can fail contrast checks if the RRP weight is too light.
Was/now stack with savings line
Bold current price, list price on a separate line with strikethrough, and an explicit dollar plus percent saving. Often paired with a deal badge and a tight delivery promise to push the urgency further.
> what's good
- +Spelling out the saving in dollars makes the value concrete on higher-ticket SKUs.
- +Deal badge plus countdown copy creates legitimate urgency on time-bound promotions.
- +Stacked layout reads naturally on mobile without needing a redesign.
> what's risky
- ·List Price often reflects an RRP the item never actually sold at, regulators are watching.
- ·Multiple price lines crowd the buy box and push the CTA below the fold on small screens.
- ·Countdown timers feel manipulative when the deal renews on a loop.
Subscribe and save toggle
Two radio cards side by side or stacked, one-time purchase versus subscription with a save-percent badge. Active subscription option expands to reveal a delivery-frequency selector and cancel-anytime reassurance.
> what's good
- +Default-selected subscription with clear save-percent boosts AOV and LTV materially.
- +Cancel-anytime copy near the radio defuses the main subscription objection.
- +Frequency selector inline avoids a second screen and keeps the choice in flow.
> what's risky
- ·Pre-selecting subscription without an obvious one-time option triggers dark-pattern complaints.
- ·Subscription discount margin needs careful modelling, easy to over-discount and lose money on churn.
- ·Selector states multiply the QA surface, frequency plus quantity plus variant gets buggy fast.