The Ordinary’s Choose-What-You-Pay Pricing

The new pricing model recognises consumers’ decreased budgets for non-essential health and beauty purchases and seeks to make effective skincare regimes accessible for all. Centred around The Ordinary’s simplified three-step daily skincare set (which includes a squalene cleanser, moisturiser and hyaluronic acid treatment), the pricing initiative will run both in-store and online between September 10 and October 31. Online customers can select either full price ($21.70), 23% off ($16.71) or 40% off ($13.02) options or use discount codes “CHOOSE23” or “CHOOSE40” to access the discount at checkout.

Social media messaging emphasises that the success of this strategy rests on the brand’s community: “Those who are able to pay the regular price will support our ability to make this idea possible. They will make quality skincare accessible to many more people.”

The tactic is a continuation of The Ordinary’s reputation for radical transparency, which disrupted the beauty industry when it launched. Best known for its affordable clinical formulations, minimalistic packaging and no-nonsense marketing, it recently ranked as American Gen Zers’ second favourite skincare brand after CeraVe (US; Piper Sandler, 2023).

In May 2024, a global out-of-home campaign spotlighted The Ordinary’s transparent, science-backed approach with ultra-honest typographic billboards featuring slogans like: “People find it odd that we don’t name our products. We tried it once. But scientists are terrible copywriters.”