Put the price below the product, not above it
Prices displayed below a product are perceived as lower than the same price displayed above it. In one study, the same price for dental floss was rated 9% cheaper when placed below the product. In a liquor store, sales were 35% higher.
Quick Summary
The same price feels cheaper when displayed below a product than above it. The brain maps physical position to magnitude: "down" means less. In a controlled study the same price was rated 9% lower when placed below the product, and a real-world liquor store test showed 35% higher sales when prices were repositioned below rather than above bottles.
Check your product cards, PDPs, and cart layouts. Price should sit below the product image and title, not above. On collection pages, ensure cards display price at the bottom of the card, not at the top.
Key Finding
35%
Higher sales in a real-world liquor store test when prices were displayed below products rather than above them.
Barone, Coulter & Li, 2020
Where you place your price on the page affects how much it feels like you're charging.
Research found that the same price - identical number, identical product - was perceived as 9% lower when displayed below the product compared to above it. In a real-world liquor store test, positioning prices below bottles rather than above them lifted sales by 35%.
The mental metaphor
The association between "lower position" and "less" is deeply ingrained. "Down" means less. "Up" means more. It's so fundamental it shapes financial language: prices go up, markets go down, costs rise.
When you put a price in a physically lower position on the page, the brain maps that position to "less." It's not a logical calculation - it's automatic. The price genuinely feels cheaper, even though nothing has changed.
What this looks like on a PDP
Most Shopify themes already display price beneath the product title. But check:
- Are there themes or variants where the price floats to the top?
- On collection cards, does the price appear at the top of the card (above the image) or below?
- In your cart, are item prices listed above or below the product name?
These are small layout decisions with measurable effects on perceived value.
The collection page application
On a collection page where products are presented in cards, price at the bottom of the card (below the product image and title) performs better than price positioned at the top. This is especially relevant if you're redesigning collection layouts or using a custom theme.
Research: Barone, M., Coulter, K. & Li, X. (2020). Journal of Retailing, 96(3). University of Louisville, Clark University & Dell Technologies.
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