Drive Sales by Displaying Prices in Catalog Ads

Hey there

We hope you had an amazing weekend!

Now, get ready to learn a game-changing sales secret from our experts. Grab your favorite drink, settle into your couch, and dive into this newsletter to discover how showing prices can skyrocket your sales.

Imagine flipping through a catalog and instantly spotting a stunning piece of furniture, but there's no price listed. Frustration sets in, and you move on. Now, picture the same catalog with clear price tags next to each item. Suddenly, you're making mental notes, comparing deals, and deciding on that perfect piece for your home. This simple addition transforms browsing into buying, significantly boosting sales.

Boost Your Sales with Price Display in Catalog Ads

Remember, the goal of advertising is to attract people who are interested in your offer and ready to buy your product. Every offer has two key parts: the benefit and the cost. If your ads already show the product, its features, and what makes it special but don’t include the price, you're missing an important detail. We recommend adding prices to catalog ads because it helps attract more qualified and serious buyers.

For example, if a customer clicks on an ad for a stylish jacket, sees the price right away, and finds it fits their budget, they are more likely to buy it. 

Our analysis of over 1.5 billion impressions on Meta found that ads showing prices performed 22% better on average. This shows that attracting the right people to click on your ads is more important than just getting a lot of clicks. 

Effective Methods to Show Prices in Your Catalog Ads

1. Splash Price

One eye-catching way to display prices in ads is using a "price splash." This means placing the price inside a bright shape like a circle or rectangle to make it stand out. The vibrant color helps grab attention, and people quickly know where to find the price.

2. Text-Integrated Price

If a price splash doesn't fit your ad's style, you can simply include the price in the text. Make the price stand out using a different color, size, or font. This way, people notice it quickly without searching for it.

3. Decimal Places

Using decimal places in your prices (like $99.00) can affect how people view the cost. You can use decimals to make prices seem lower.

4. Slashed Price

You can display the original price crossed out next to the current price to emphasize the discount. This will make the savings visually impactful and entice your customers with the perceived value.

5. Offer Integrated Price

Show the product price along with the discount percentage or any available coupons to provide a clear and immediate understanding of the deal. This will encourage your customers to take advantage of the savings.

6. Price Range Display

For products with various options, add a price range (e.g., “Starting at $29.99”) to give your customers a flexible view of pricing and preferences.

7. Percentage Off

Highlight the percentage discount (e.g., “20% Off”) to communicate the deal’s value quickly. Make it easy for your customers to understand the savings at a glance.

8. Amount Off

Show the amount saved (e.g., “Save $15”, extra 10% off) to provide a concrete sense of the discount and help your customers to grab this deal within a few minutes.

9. Buy One Get One (BOGO)

Promote special offers like “Buy One, Get One Free” or “Free Shipping” to create a sense of urgency and added value. You can encourage customers to make a purchase to take advantage of the deal.

10. Financing Plans

Advertise financing options (e.g., “$50/month for 12 months” or offering "Buy now, Pay later" options) to make higher-priced items more accessible to your customers. It will show customers that they can afford the product through manageable payments.

11. Currency and Local Deals

Show prices in the local currency and highlight location-specific offers to make the pricing relevant and appealing to customers. It will enhance their shopping experience with customized deals.

When and How to Show Prices in Catalog Ads?

1. Cheap vs. Expensive Products: The Impact of Showing Prices

Showing prices is highly effective if you sell low-priced products—performance can double on average. For these products, showing prices boosts the Click-Through Rate by 50%, meaning people are more likely to click and buy. Price is often a key selling point for cheaper products, so include it in your ads.

On the other hand, if you sell mid-range or expensive products, showing prices only slightly improves performance. It reduces the CTR because it might turn away less interested shoppers. 

2. Multi-Brand vs. Single-Brand Stores: How Prices Affect Performance?

Showing prices works better for multi-brand stores than for single-brand stores. Multi-brand stores see a slight boost when displaying prices, while single-brand stores see only around 5% improvement.

The main reason is that multi-brand stores don’t see a significant click drop when they show prices or exciting offers. However, single-brand stores see a substantial drop in clicks with prices.

3. Campaign Ads vs. Regular Ads: Price Makes a Difference

Like those for Black Friday, campaign ads perform much better when they show prices. In contrast, regular ads not tied to specific campaigns only see a minimum boost from displaying prices.

Both types of ads might get fewer clicks when they show prices, but the real difference is in how many people buy. Campaign ads with prices see a much higher conversion rate than those without. For regular ads, showing prices leads to a slight increase in conversions.

4. Big Brands vs. Small Brands: The Price Effect

Small brands often don’t see the same benefits as bigger ones when showing prices in ads. Small shops usually see less improvement from displaying prices. On the other hand, medium brands get a nice boost, and large brands see a solid increase.

The reason? Small shops often can’t compete with bigger brands' high volumes and low prices. Instead of focusing on price, small brands might do better by highlighting what makes their products unique.

Design Catalog Ads with Prices in Minutes

RetainIQ app makes it easy to create enhanced catalog ads and test different variations quickly to help you boost performance for your dynamic product ads and ASC campaigns. Check more details here.

Imagine making your ads 20% more effective on average in four simple steps. Open the RetainIQ dashboard, click “New Design,” add a text layer, insert the product field for "price," and hit publish. It’s that easy to enhance your ads.

The Bottom Line

So, we assume you understand that improving your designs is one of the main steps to getting better results. Showing prices in your dynamic product ads ensures customers know what to expect immediately. This way, they won’t leave the product page because the price is too high. This simple change can lead to happier customers and better sales.

PS:  Can you guess what these legendary brands have all in common?

They all use enhanced catalog ads that look good and perform better by 50% in an effortless manner. RetainIQ platform helps you to unlock creative freedom for your Catalog Ads (see an example below or see more examples here.)