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Downsize Features Besides Price

Reviewed by expert Scientifically proven

Pricing is a tricky business. You want to charge enough to make a profit, but not so much that customers are turned off. But what if your customers are highly price sensitive?

One way to adjust prices without changing the numerals is to change a feature that is less noticeable, like physical size. For example, if you're selling notebooks, you could reduce the number of pages from 400 to 300 and reduce the price accordingly.

Or, if you're selling software, you could offer a stripped-down version with fewer features for a lower price.

Table of contents:
  1. Real life examples
  2. Dark pattern
  3. How to apply

Real life examples

As the cost of living continues to rise, more and more people are finding it difficult to make ends meet. One way that people are trying to save money is by downsizing their features.

For example, instead of buying a home with a three-car garage, they may opt for a two-car garage. Or, they may choose a smaller home in a less desirable location. While these may seem like small changes, they can add up to big savings over time.

Another way that people are saving money is by cutting back on their expenses. For instance, they may eat out less often or purchase fewer expensive items. While it may be difficult to change your lifestyle, it can be well worth it in the long run if it means you can stay afloat financially.

Do you know where this bias happens a lot? With the products in the supermarket. When the costs are increasing to create a product, some brands decide to keep the price the same but rather reduce what you get for the price. Instead of 400 gram of chips, you'll now get 300 gram ... for the same price.

Dark pattern

After reading the real life example we can state that this is a dark pattern if this isn't communicated well. Using this bias online is a lot harder.

Like mentioned before, it could be done by offering a dowsized version of a SaaS product.

How to apply

If you lower the size of a physical object in all three dimensions -- height, breadth, and length -- it becomes less apparent. You could experiment with decreasing one or multiple columns in your pricing table. This will give more focus to the once that are larger.

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