How Retailers Are Still Playing Mind Games With Your Wallet

The numbers don't lie

Let's break down what we found across 120 major eCommerce platforms worldwide:

• 30.2% of prices end in psychological decimal points (.99, .95, .97, .49, .79)
• 29.4% of prices use integer-based psychological pricing (ending in 9)
• 19.95% of all prices end specifically in .99, the oldest of pricing tricks
• Only 12.9% of prices are clean, round numbers

The .99 ending alone accounts for nearly one-fifth of all prices in eCommerce. That's not a coincidence. That's a coordinated, industry-wide agreement that consumers are susceptible to a one-cent difference that, rationally, shouldn't matter at all.

But here's where it gets interesting – not every retailer plays the same game, and some refuse to play it at all.

Retailers who are using psychological pricing

Some retailers use psychological pricing so aggressively that round numbers have practically disappeared from their sites.

Newegg

The electronics retailer achieved something remarkable in our analysis – 100% of their prices used psychological pricing. Not a single round number to be found among 24056 price points. When you're shopping at Newegg, you're choosing between $299.99s, $1,499.99s, and $49.99s. The commitment to this psychological trick is truly impressive.

Mango & Zara

The fashion giants are neck-and-neck in the psychological pricing race. Mango hit 100% psychological pricing, while Zara matched them exactly. But Zara's approach is particularly interesting – 75% of their prices end in .95 rather than .99. That extra 4 cents they're "giving back" to customers? Research suggests that .95 price endings feel slightly more "honest" than .99 while achieving the same psychological effect.

Best Buy

At 96.8% psychological pricing, Best Buy is running the .99 prices across almost all of the tracked products. Our analysis uncovered that 80.4% of their prices end specifically in .99 cents. Makes you think – when was the last time you bought something from Best Buy that had a clean, round price tag instead of ending in .99?

H&M

H&M takes a different path to the same destination. With 95.1% psychological pricing but only 11.7% using decimal tricks, they've gone all-in on numeric psychology. Their prices end in 9s. $29, $49, $79, clean-looking numbers that still utilize the left-digit effect.

CVS

Even your pharmacy isn't above applying psychological price tricks. CVS achieved 94.6% psychological pricing, with virtually all of it in decimal form. When you're buying medicine, that bottle of cough syrup will be $8.99, not $9.00. Because sometimes it makes you think that you’re getting the best deal.

Brands that refuse to manipulate

In a sea of .99s, some retailers have taken a radically different approach: honesty.

Uniqlo

Japanese retailer Uniqlo stands out with 0% psychological pricing and 100% round numbers. Every single price in our dataset was a clean, whole number. $20. $50. $80.

This isn't accidental, it's philosophical. Uniqlo's parent company, Fast Retailing, has explicitly stated that round-number pricing reflects its commitment to "honest value." In a marketplace drowning in .99s, Uniqlo's pricing feels almost rebelliously straightforward.

Daiso Japan

The Japanese variety store Daiso stood out with 100% round-number pricing, reflecting its roots as a 100-yen shop. There’s a certain clarity in a retailer that uses straightforward, full prices, it makes costs easier to understand at a glance. It also keeps the shopping experience simple and predictable for customers.

Sephora

Luxury beauty retailer Sephora stands apart with relatively limited use of psychological pricing at just 8.95% and a higher share of round-number prices – 18%. At higher price points, small cent-level adjustments tend to matter less in purchase decisions, so pricing often appears more straightforward.

This approach aligns with a brand positioning that emphasizes product quality, experience, and perceived value, where clarity and consistency in pricing can support a more premium shopping environment.

The great regional divide

One of the most interesting takeaways is how much psychological pricing differs depending on the region. Retailers don’t apply a single global strategy. Instead, pricing patterns shift based on local shopping habits, cultural expectations, and competitive norms. In some markets, .99 endings dominate across categories, while in others, round numbers are far more common and widely accepted.

North America is the global capital of psychological pricing, with over 57% of prices designed to trick your brain. European retailers aren't far behind at 50.8%.

But Asia tells a completely different story. Only 20% of Asian prices use psychological tactics, while a remarkable 38.7% are round numbers, 7 times the rate of North America. Japanese and Korean eCommerce platforms like Rakuten, Coupang, and Musinsa overwhelmingly prefer clean, honest numbers.

Bottom line

Psychological pricing is widely used because it influences how people perceive value. Various studies show that prices like $9.99 often feel noticeably lower than $10.00, even though the difference is just one cent. Our brains tend to focus on the left digit first, which shapes the overall impression of the price.

So when you see a price ending in .99, it’s worth pausing for a second look. The small difference may not change your budget, but it can change how the price feels, and that feeling often plays a bigger role in decisions than we realize.

Curious how pricing psychology differs across regions, industries, or specific retailers? Dive deeper into Decodo’s Dynamic Pricing Index.