Picture an average consumer walking into a grocery store to purchase food with a budget of exactly $50.00. While picking up items, they roughly calculate the total of their purchases. Because maximizing every dollar is important, they try to come as close to $50.00 as possible. Shopping can be a realistic game of The Price Is Right.
I suspect that there is a sense of nervousness and unease about spending more than expected or allocated, in particular for those on a budget. I imagine that it is relatively common among lower and middle-class families. Could there be a way to alleviate consumers’ apprehensiveness? What if businesses simplified the buying process? What if goods and services had clear, upfront prices that were whole numbers? Now, I am not suggesting that we get rid of sales taxes. But what if they were embedded in the purchasing price, which would put simplicity and predictability at the center of the consumer experience?
For example, instead of a product being $1.08 after taxes, make it $1.00. Similarly, instead of a product being $3.87 after taxes, make it $4.00. If you go to a restaurant that advertises a meal for $5.00, then you pay exactly $5.00. Rounding prices to the nearest whole number make it easier for customers to manage their budgets. One might argue that consumers may not spend more in exchange for predictability and simplicity. However, the idea is not entirely new. Many home buyers opt to pay higher fixed-rate mortgages rather than risk being caught off guard by adjustable-rate mortgages. It is not difficult to accept that confidence consumers are more likely to participate actively in the economy.
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Admittedly, this approach is inappropriate for products that have fluctuating prices such as fuel. Still, imagine how much easier the customer experience would be if prices were straightforward. One could accurately predict how much they were spending and devote more time and energy to shopping.
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