IDEX Online Research: How to Show Prices - Drop the $

The debate among jewelry merchants about whether to show or not to show retail prices on goods in their showcases continues to rage. Jewelry stores are one of the very few where merchants think prices should not be shown.

In our opinion, the industry creates enough barriers to buying for consumers without adding the hassle of hiding prices. Our advice has always been: show those prices!

Now, it appears to that researchers have found a better way to show prices. In a recent issue of Stores Magazine, published by the National Retail Federation, Editor Susan Reda highlights a study by a research team from Cornell University which tested the effect that menu price presentation has on the amount that restaurant patrons are willing to spend.

The study found that merchants can get customers to spend more if they drop the dollar ($) sign from their prices. Price lists (in this case, restaurant menus) that featured the numerals without the dollar sign – for example, 20 instead of $20 – yielded an average ticket that was 28 percent higher than those menus which showed the same prices with dollar signs.

Our advice to jewelers who still don’t show prices: do it. But now, you can show your prices without the $ sign preceding the price, and it might just help raise your average ticket!