Our easy-to-use discount calculator was designed to help ecommerce store owners and retailers select the perfect discount for virtually any product. As a consumer, you can also use our calculator to determine how much you’ve saved on a product, and compare the prices shown on different stores.
If you have a coupon or voucher, you can determine how much the final price of your purchase is going to be when you add your 15% or 20% code, without going through the full checkout process. After all, discounts can be tricky. Business leaders need to ensure they’re choosing the right reduction to engage their audience, while maintaining profit margins.
Consumers need to ensure they’re getting the best deal, without being distracted by flashing “sale” banners and attractive coupons. Scroll down to use the calculator yourself, or to learn more about choosing the perfect discount.
Discount Calculator
We created this discount calculator to be as simple as possible. You can use it to find the reduced price of a product after you add a coupon code or voucher, or to determine what the sales price of a product you’re selling will be after you add your reduction.
Simply enter the price you or your customer would pay for the item into the field below, and use our convenient slider to choose a discount percentage. The algorithm will automatically calculate the original price of the product, and the amount saved.
If you’re an ecommerce store owner, you can also use our other calculators to learn more about everything from the ideal markup cost for your products, your EOQ and more.
Discount Formulas
Amount paid + [discount percentage] = Original price
Original price – Amount paid = Amount saved
What is a Discount?
A discount is a financial mechanism retailers and ecommerce store owners use to reduce or slash the cost of purchasing an item by a specific percentage.
Discounts are used for a variety of reasons in the retail space. Sometimes, companies add discounts to products to help them sell if inventory isn’t moving quickly enough. Discounts can also be a great way to encourage new customers to buy products, as they reduce the risk involved in making a purchase. Some companies also offer discounts for specific events or reasons.
For instance, throughout the year, an ecommerce store owner may apply discounts to their products at various times, to celebrate occasions such as Black Friday, or the launch of a new product. Used correctly, discounts can be an excellent way to increase customer loyalty, boost revenue, and even generate additional sales for a retailer.
For a consumer, a discount is a fantastic way to save money on a specific product. However, it’s important to ensure the discount price is lower than the price you would pay on any other store.
What are the Common Types of Discount?
Discounts come in a variety of different styles, some of the most common include:
- Quantity discounts: Quantity discounts allow customers to save money when they purchase a specific number of items at the same time. In some cases, the more “units” a customer buys, the higher the discount will be.
- Trade discounts: Trade discounts are price reductions provided by a supplier or manufacturer to distributors. For instance, a wholesale manufacturer may provide a discount on the base price of a product, to help retailers achieve a higher profit margin.
- Promotional discounts: With a promotional discount, retailers attempt to increase sales and generate engagement from audiences, by offering a price reduction as part of a specific sales or marketing campaign.
How to Calculate Discount Percentage
Calculating the right percentage for a discount is relatively straightforward. All you need to do is subtract the post-discount price from the price of the item before the discount. Divide this new number by the pre-discount price, and multiply the resulting number by 100.
Subtract this number from 100 to see the total discount percentage.
For instance:
$100 (Pre-discount price) – $90 (Post-discount price) = $10.
$10 / $100 = 0.9
0.9 x 100 = 90
100 – 90 = 10%
Discount Pricing FAQ
What are fake discounts?
Fake discounts are a practice some disingenuous retailers take part in. In these instances, the pre-sale price of an item is inflated, or the post-sale price is actually its standard market price. This is intended to trick consumers into thinking they’re saving money when they’re actually paying the normal price.
Why do companies give discounts?
As mentioned above, companies can provide discounts for a number of reasons. In the fashion industry, for instance, clearance sales are common to help retailers sell seasonal items before they lose their appeal. They assist in ensuring older products don’t clog up warehouses when companies want to produce new products. Discounts can also be a way to increase sales during important seasons, or improve customer loyalty.
What is a percentage discount?
A percentage discount is a discount added to a product or service which is given as an amount out of 100. For instance, a 20% discount on a $100 item would give customers a new post-sale price of $80.
How to calculate a discount in Excel
It’s much easier to calculate a discount using the calculator we’ve created above. However, you can calculate a discount rate in Excel too. You’ll need to:
- Enter the pre-sale price into cell A1
- Enter the post-sale price into cell B1
- Subtract the post-sale price from the pre-sale price into cell C1 (Input A1-B1 into cell C1)
- Divide the new number by the pre-sale price and multiply it by 100 in D1 (Enter (C1/A1)*100) into cell D1)
- Right click on the final cell and select “Format”
- In the “Format Cells” box, under “Number”, click “Percentage”
How do you find an item’s original price?
You can use the calculator above to determine the original price of the item you’re purchasing, by entering the price you paid, and the percentage for the discount. Alternatively, you can divide the discount by 100, subtract the number from 1, and divide the post-sale price by this new number:
$20 (discount amount) / 100 = 0.2
1 – 0.2 = 0.8
80 / 0.8 = 100
