no. 008 · the price-visibility species
Designing for trust
E-commerce isn't only about conversion. People have to believe what the page is telling them first.
stats
- roles, each seeing a different truth
- ~15
- suppliers, none preferred
- 1,700+
moves
- price visibility
- data transparency
- fairness
field notes
E-commerce isn’t only about conversion. People have to trust what the page tells them before they’ll buy, and at our size the design decisions that build or lose that trust have legal and reputational consequences.
Three of them come up all the time.
Price visibility
We have about 15 user roles. The same part page has to show a signed-out visitor, a fleet manager on contract and a dealer three different prices, and never show anyone the wrong one.
Part no. A22-74185-000
Air disc brake caliper, front left
List price
$486.00
In stock · ships today
- Fits
- Cascadia · 2019–2024
- Core charge
- $85.00 refundable
WhyCore charge is stated up front, not at checkout.
When it matters, I design each role separately. It’s slower, and it’s the only way I’ve found to be sure dealer net pricing never ends up on a printed quote.
Data transparency
Telling people how we use their data right where they’re entering it is worth more than a policy link in the footer. A line next to the field beats a page nobody opens.
Fairness
We have more than 1,700 parts suppliers, and all of them want to sell. We can’t play favourites. Listings sort by relevance, availability and price, never by what we make on them.