When running an online shop on Shopify, effectively communicating sales and special pricing is an important factor in attracting customers and driving sales. In particular, clearly showing "how much cheaper it is than the original price" lets customers feel that they're getting a good deal.
This article explains in detail, along with actual steps in the admin, how to display a product's original pre-discount price alongside its sale price on Shopify. This method is easy to set up even for beginners, so please use it as a reference.
What Is the "Compare-at Price"?
The compare-at price (the original pre-discount price) refers to "the original selling price before a discount is applied." When a product is sold at a discount, it refers to the original price before that markdown or sale.
For example,
- Original price: ¥975 (= compare-at price)
- Discounted price: ¥865
In this case, the "compare-at price" is ¥975.
Compare-at price on the collection page (Dawn theme)
Compare-at price on the product page (Dawn theme)
How to Set Up the Compare-at Price
Shopify lets you set a compare-at price using its native functionality.
Go to Shopify admin > Products > the product you're putting on sale, then in the Pricing section, set the sale price as the "Price" and the original price as the "Compare-at price."
ℹ️ If multiple product variants exist, the Pricing section may be found on each variant's detail page instead.
How the compare-at price is displayed depends on your Shopify theme. In the Dawn theme, the compare-at price is shown with a strikethrough, as in the attached image. A sale label is also displayed.
The blog article below introduces how to customize the color, wording, and position of the label shown during a sale. Please use it as a reference.
[Bonus] Recommended Shopify Apps for Running a Sale
RuffRuff Order Bonus
RuffRuff Order Bonus is a Shopify app that can implement various discount campaigns under all kinds of conditions.
For example, it can run discounts such as the following.
- Free shipping for VIP members only
- Discounts by membership tier
- Volume discounts
- Discounts when a specific product is included
- Discounts for customers with 10+ past purchases
- First-come, first-served discounts (20% off for the first 10 customers)
- Flash sales
And more.
Example of double price display
You can also display double pricing (compare-at price → discounted price) on the product page.
RuffRuff 予約販売
"RuffRuff 予約販売" is a Shopify app with simple setup that lets you run pre-order sales, accepting an unlimited number of pre-orders. It has earned the "💎Built for Shopify" mark of top-quality apps.
With a single app, you can achieve limited-time sales, flash sales, upcoming-release notices, recurring sales, made-to-order pre-orders (build-to-order sales), member discounts, VIP-member-only sales, purchase restrictions for blacklisted members, deferred payment, bundling controls, quantity limits, product card badge display (Starter plan or higher), hiding delivery date/time selection, multilingual support, cart button design customization, and more.
In Conclusion
This article explained how to display the compare-at price on Shopify. Using this feature offers the following benefits:
- Clearly communicates a sense of "getting a good deal" to customers
- Makes sale items easy to spot at a glance
- Can be expected to boost purchase intent
A major benefit of using Shopify's native functionality is that you can easily display the compare-at price without needing specialized knowledge like programming. The display method varies by theme, but the basic setup steps are the same.
We encourage you to use the method introduced here to run an effective sales strategy.
Finally, the blog article below introduces sale tactics you can run on Shopify. Please use it as a reference.
