Why and How to Use a Hide Price Extension on Your E-commerce Site

The Hide Price strategy has gained traction among e-commerce businesses looking to enhance customer engagement. By keeping prices hidden, these websites create a sense of curiosity that encourages potential buyers to take action.
In this blog, we’ll explore what the Hide Price Extension is and how it works. You’ll learn about the benefits of using this feature and discover common scenarios where hiding prices can be particularly effective. We’ll also provide insights into implementing this extension on platforms like Magento, showing you how to set it up and optimize your online store for better conversion rates.

What is the Hide Price Extension?

The Hide Price Extension is an e-commerce tool that conceals product prices until specific actions are taken, such as logging in or adding items to a cart. This feature temporarily hides prices for certain products, revealing them only under specific conditions.

Why Businesses Use Hide Price Extensions

Businesses use Hide Price Extensions to create an air of exclusivity, encourage customer interactions, and sometimes even manage complex pricing structures. This feature can increase user engagement by prompting customers to contact the store, boosting the likelihood of conversations that lead to sales. It's especially popular among wholesalers, luxury brands, and B2B companies where pricing may vary.

Common Scenarios for Hiding Prices on Product Pages

Wholesale Pricing: A wholesale site might hide prices until customers sign in, so only registered businesses see bulk prices.

Luxury Items: Luxury brands often hide prices to add a sense of exclusivity, requiring users to contact them for more details.

Negotiable Prices: Some companies allow prices to be negotiable and prefer customers reach out directly, fostering a more personalized purchasing experience.

Regional Pricing Differences: For international stores, pricing may vary by region due to shipping costs, taxes, or currency exchange. The site may hide prices until users select their location, ensuring they see accurate pricing.

Membership-Only Discounts: Membership-based sites may hide special pricing, only revealing it to logged-in members who are eligible for exclusive discounts, creating a sense of exclusivity and rewarding loyalty.

Pre-Launch or Limited Edition Items: For pre-launch products or limited-edition items, some brands hide prices to generate intrigue and anticipation, revealing them only on the launch day or after a customer registers interest. This can build excitement and drive traffic back to the site.

How Does the Hide Price Extension Work?

The Hide Price Extension conceals prices until specific conditions are met, such as logging in or clicking a button. This tool uses custom settings to decide who sees prices, helping businesses control visibility based on user actions or status, like membership or location, creating a more personalized shopping experience.

The Mechanics Behind Hide Price Functionality

The Hide Price Extension works by modifying product page settings so that prices only appear after certain triggers, like signing in. It’s often configured within the e-commerce platform, using permissions or customer groups to determine who can view prices. This helps businesses tailor price visibility, keeping information restricted based on custom rules.

Different Methods to Hide Prices on E-commerce Sites

Login Requirement: Prices are hidden until the user logs in, which is ideal for wholesalers and member-only pricing.

Add-to-Cart Reveal: Prices appear only when an item is added to the cart, often used to drive deeper engagement.

Contact for Pricing: Sites display a "Contact for Price" button, encouraging customers to reach out directly for pricing information.

Location-Based Visibility: Prices are shown based on the user’s geographical location, which is useful for international pricing differences.

Membership Access: Prices are hidden until the customer is verified as a member, rewarding loyal or exclusive groups.

Examples of Websites Using the Hide Price Extension

Grainger – A major industrial supplier, Grainger hides prices for certain B2B customers until they log in.
Wayfair Professional – Offers trade-only pricing to registered professional members.
Alibaba – Many sellers hide prices for bulk items, requiring login or inquiries.
Nordstrom – For some designer items, prices are only shown in the cart.
Costco – Requires membership login to view prices on select products, particularly high-end items.

Why Should You Use a Hide Price Extension on Your Site?

If you’re wondering whether a Hide Price Extension is a good fit for your website, check out the advantages it can offer. From boosting customer engagement to protecting pricing strategies, this feature has some compelling pros—and you can always A/B test to see how it impacts your site!

Benefits of Hiding Prices in E-commerce

1. Encourages Customer Interaction. By requiring users to log in or contact you, hiding prices opens the door for direct communication, allowing you to build relationships with potential customers.
2. Adds a Sense of Exclusivity. Concealing prices can create a premium feel, especially for luxury items, making customers more intrigued and likely to engage.
3. Protects Pricing Strategy. Hide Price Extensions allow businesses to protect pricing details from competitors, making it harder for others to undercut their prices.
4. Enables Flexible Pricing . For businesses with fluctuating prices based on quantity or customer type, hiding prices until a login or inquiry provides flexibility.
5. Boosts Membership Sign-Ups. Requiring customers to log in or sign up to view prices can increase membership, helping you build a dedicated customer base.
6. Improves Regional Pricing Management. Hide Price Extension lets you tailor prices by region or market segment, revealing prices only to relevant customers.
7. Promotes Contact for Custom Quotes. Ideal for B2B sales, hidden pricing encourages customers to reach out for personalized quotes, enhancing the value perception.
8. Controls Discount Visibility . By hiding prices, you can restrict who sees discounted rates, keeping promotions exclusive to target customer groups.
9. Supports Limited-Time Offers. Hide pricing until a specific launch date to create hype and urgency, particularly for new or limited-edition products.
10. Reduces Price Shopping. Concealed prices discourage comparison shopping and help keep customer attention focused on the product's value rather than cost alone.

How to Implement Hide Price Extension in Magento

If you’re using Magento (now Adobe Commerce), we’ve got just the solution for you! We’ve our own Magento Hide Price Extention and implementing it into your strategy can streamline your sales process and enhance customer interactions. 
With our guidance and extension, you can easily set up this feature to create a more engaging shopping experience and ultimately drive more sales.

Can You Hide Prices in Magento?

Yes, you can hide prices in Magento, just like in many other e-commerce platforms. However, Magento offers more advanced customization options compared to simpler systems.

While platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce have basic hide price features, Magento's flexibility allows for tailored solutions based on customer groups or specific products, making it a powerful choice for businesses with unique pricing strategies.

Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Hide Price Extension in Magento

Let’s walk through the setup process using the ProfStep_Quotation module as an example. 
If you’re ready to dive into the full document with detailed steps, you can find it here.

Install the Extension

Adding new features to your Magento store is made easy with extensions. Here’s how to install it:
You have several options for installation:

• ZIP Package : Download the extension as a ZIP file.
• Composer: This is the recommended method for easy management.
• Magento Marketplace: Purchase and download directly from Magento's official site.
• Quick Tip: Always back up your files and database before installing any extensions, especially on a live site.

Installing as a ZIP Package

1. Download the Required Files: Start by downloading the ProfStep_Core module ZIP file from our website.
2. Using Windows:

• Connect to your server with an FTP client like WinSCP.

•  
  Navigate to the Magento source folder and upload the modules to the app/code/ directory.
   

  Open the command line in your Magento root folder and run the following commands:

   
  php bin/magento mod:en ProfStep_Core ProfStep_Quotation
  php bin/magento setup:upgrade
  php bin/magento setup:di:compile
  php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy
   

 3. Using Linux:

• Connect via SSH and upload the ZIP file using the rsync command.
• Move the ZIP file to the app/code/ directory and extract it.
• Run the same commands as for Windows to enable the modules.

  4. Using MacOS:

• Similar to Linux, use the rsync command to upload the ZIP file.
• Follow the same steps to move and extract the files, then enable the modules with the commands.

Installing via Composer (Recommended)

• Connect to your server.
• Run the command:

 
composer require profstep/module-quotation
 

• Enable the modules and update your Magento installation with the same commands used in the ZIP installation.

Installing from Magento Marketplace

1. After purchasing the extension, find it in the "My Purchases" section.
2. Copy the component name for the Quotation module.
3. Connect to your server and run the same Composer commands to install and enable the module.

Additional Steps

To ensure everything works smoothly, start by installing the ProfStep_Core module first, as it is essential for the ProfStep_Quotation module to function properly. You can grab this module from GitHub by cloning the repository or downloading it as a ZIP file, then moving it to the app/code/ directory.