When used with the appropriate product, each of these three techniques: upselling, cross-selling, and down selling, can increase your revenue without you having to spend more than the original budget for the items in question, making them an extremely efficient way to boost sales.
What is An Upsell?
By definition, an upsell is a product you recommend to your customer after purchasing. In reality, the upsell should be related to the original purchase but be something the customer hadn’t considered. I like to think of it as “adding gravy on top.”
The meaning of upselling is giving your customer extra products or services. The right upsell will make the difference between a small sale and a big one. You can easily apply upselling to any product: eBooks, software, courses, physical products, and more.
The Right Time To Offer An Upsell
The best time to offer an upsell is after they’ve completed the checkout process for their first order.
Customers are more likely to spend additional money on your site when they’re already making a purchase. They’re also in a state of mind that’s open to spending more because they just finished buying something from you!
An additional benefit is customers tend to feel good about themselves if they complete an order on your website. It becomes even easier for them.
You might also hear upsells referred to as an order bump.
The Benefits of Upselling
There are several benefits to upselling. First and foremost, you’ll increase your overall revenue and profit by offering an additional product to the customer. Additionally, the customer is more likely to buy something they weren’t initially looking for.
Upsells tend to boost customer retention as people who may have already purchased from you will be more likely to make another purchase than someone who has never done business with you before.
Upselling can help avoid cart abandonment. More than half of the visitors on a website with items in their cart leave without ever purchasing.
Upsells Improve Conversions. Offering an additional product to the customer gives them a chance to make another purchase from you during the checkout process.
If they were on the fence about purchasing from your website, this might give them the push they need to complete their transaction with you.
What Products Make the Best Upsells?
The best upsells are related to the original purchase and offer something additional without being too expensive or complicated.
For example, if someone is buying a book on JavaScript, an inexpensive book on jQuery might be an excellent way to turn that one-time customer into a recurring visitor who buys additional books and other products from you in the future.
It’s also beneficial for your customers to know they aren’t getting ripped off because they were already interested in your product.
Another popular product is an extended warranty. People like purchasing items with protection against accidents.
Offering extended directly from the manufacturer is a great way to upsell your customers if you sell electronics.
For a dentist selling teeth cleaning appointments on a website, an upsell might be a deep cleaning. They are both appointments that are related to teeth, but one is more expensive.
A Cookbook is an ideal upsell to someone who downloaded a single recipe.
Likewise, custom Content is a great upsell for someone that just ordered a new website.
I remember when I was buying slime for my daughter. I purchased a four-pack in a variety of colors. When I got to the checkout, the company offered me a bundle that included the four-pack, plus another eight including more colors and glitter!
They got me for sure! I bought it all.
Teachable, a popular course builder, offers upsells within its platform for course builders. Now, when someone purchases a course in teachable, the creator can offer an upsell to a sister course or coaching.
An upsell for an Airbnb business might be a deluxe package of towels or extra cleaning.
A bartender can make an upsell by offering a double shot when someone orders a single shot.
How To Upsell: A Step-by-Step Guide
Here’s a step-by-step guide to successfully executing an upsell on your website:
1. Determine what you’ll offer as an upsell Related to the final product but something the customer may not have considered.
2. Understand where and when you should offer an upsell. Most people place their upsells immediately after or below the original add to cart button Offer during the checkout process (this is where it works best).
3. Present the value of the product and price Everyone loves a sale. Make an offer the customer can’t refuse!
4. Set up payment information for your finance team To make sure they get paid.
5. Track your upsells, reorder rates, and referral sources. Focus on what’s working and drop what isn’t
6. Follow-up with your customers. Offer an email series or another related product to “upsell” them into more purchases.
Cross-Sell vs. Upsell
A cross-sell is a product offered to a customer who did not add it to the shopping cart.
For instance, if a customer was looking at your dog sweaters and decided to check out without adding any sweaters to their cart, you could show them related products such as leashes or doggy treats.
When you upsell, you offer a more expensive version of an item someone has already considered buying. With cross-selling, you’re suggesting completely different products that might be useful in conjunction with the original purchase.
For example: If someone was looking at a basic website plan, the upsell might be to purchase a more expensive, customizable design. But if someone is buying dog sweaters, you could cross-sell by suggesting they also need a leash and treats for their new pet.
Upsell Software
Sweet Upsell: With Sweet Upsell by Sweet Apps, you don’t need to worry about creating individual upsells for each product anymore!
The app automatically creates upsells based on what’s already in their cart, so every customer gets one – no matter how many items they buy or which pages they visit before checking out.
And since the Sweet Upsell app works right inside Shopify’s native checkout process, you’re able to show upsells at precisely the right time – when people are most likely to make another purchase!
That means more revenue for you without any extra work required from your end!
You can use their easy-to-follow video tutorials or read their comprehensive documentation to get started with Sweet Upsell in minutes!
Once installed, enter your product IDs into one of the pre-built templates, customize them if necessary, and let Sweet Upsell do all the work for you!
The software will automatically add an upsell offer after every purchase on your store, so there’s no need for manual intervention – ever! All this without any coding required from your side.
It couldn’t be easier than this!
And don’t worry about losing sales because they’ve got that covered too with automated email follow-ups when someone doesn’t complete their order (these are called these abandoned carts).
With just one click of a button, they’ll send out emails offering discounts on products they didn’t buy during their initial visit – helping ensure they come back and complete their purchase next time around.
SamCart: SamCart is a complete eCommerce shopping cart and membership site solution that offers upsells and cross-sells. It’s easy to use with advanced features such as A/B testing built-in.
System.io offers both cross-selling and up-selling functionalities out of the box with their software to help drive conversions by using an optimized path to purchase for customers through relevant products or services.
You can create landing pages, add quick buy forms to blog posts and social media, sell subscriptions, handle customer data, and even retarget.
My favorite feature is the “One Click Upsell” option. You can automatically show an offer to your visitors when they add something to their cart for a limited time or if they abandon their shopping cart without completing a purchase.
Click Funnels: Clickfunnels is a complete sales funnel solution. It’s an all-in-one platform with landing pages, shopping carts, email automation, and so much more!
The best part about Click Funnels is the upsell feature that lets you offer a product or service to your customers when they add something to their cart.
You can even set it only to display the upsell if the customer didn’t purchase during their initial visit to your website.
Offer the customer an upsell offer right after the initial purchase with click-to-claim fields for fast and easy redemption.
So whether they want an upgraded subscription, exclusive deals on your other items or any other premium add-on sale, they’ve got it all under one roof!
The app was designed specifically for use by owners of smaller eCommerce stores who still want their customers to enjoy speedy checkout experiences while increasing revenues through sophisticated marketing integrations such as integrations with Facebook Ads and Google Analytics Access Control Services (ACS).
Honeycomb’s upsell app is the only feature-rich solution you will need to create win-win scenarios for your business.
Honeycomb is a great upsell add-on to Shopify stores.
Kartra: Kartra is a comprehensive suite of lead generation, business automation, and CRM tools that can be used together or separately.
The Kartra Upsell app lets you offer complementary products to your customers at checkout with quick access links to claim the offers without leaving their Checkout page.
Once the customer has claimed an upsell, it will automatically be removed from the list to avoid confusion for other visitors.
This feature eliminates nuisance claims while giving repeat customers discounts on future purchases they are likely to make.
Kartra also allows you to create custom fields for each product in your store, making it easier than ever to personalize upsell offers based on what the customer is purchasing today.
ThriveCart: Thrivecart is an eCommerce platform built for online marketers. It’s easy to use and includes everything you need to sell anything, anywhere.
ThriveCart makes it simple to upsell products using PayPal Advanced, Stripe, or Authorize.net with the click of a button.
With just one click inside your cart, you can add another product that perfectly complements their purchase.
No complex setups or programming knowledge is necessary!
Thrivecart offers five different types of upsells:
-Cross-Sells (two related products)
-Related Products (3 or more similar items)
– Added Value (a package including the main purchase plus two other options)
-Time-Limited Specials (products offered at special pricing for a limited time)
– and BOGO (Buy One Get One Free).
WooCommerce for WordPress: WooCommerce is the world’s leading free eCommerce platform. Powering over 18% of all online stores, this easy to setup plugin allows you to sell physical or digital products in various currencies.
WooCommerce has built-in options for adding upsells and cross-sells to your purchase process, which increases sales on your website!
The WooCommerce Upsell App helps you offer more features, functionality, and products to go along with what they’re buying already.
The app also makes it easy for customers to buy together or separately when they add upsell items into the cart. You can even set it so that multiple items get offered as one big bundle instead of displayed individually.
This way, customers get everything they want
OneClickUpsell (OCU) by Zipify: OCU is a plugin and Shopify add-on that allows you to upsell from your existing store. OCU uses a popup window to show the visitor an additional product/s to buy at checkout, reducing cart abandonment and increasing average order value (AOV).
OCU has built-in social proof features such as customer testimonials and “People who bought this also bought” options that help convince visitors into making another purchase and increase the likelihood of them coming back for repeat purchases in the future.
With OneClickUpSell, you can now build trust with visitors before asking them for money!
Upselling Techniques
Offer the customer an upgraded version of what they are buying. For example, if you are selling a drill, offer one with more advanced features when the customer adds it to their cart.
If someone is buying wrapping paper or boxes, offer different types at checkout. You can even take this upsell one step further by providing gift suggestions to cross-sell your products.
The key to remember when it comes to upselling is that you need to provide your customers with something that will benefit them somehow.
When done correctly, upselling can be an excellent tool for increasing revenue, but only if you use it correctly and only provide items that won’t leave your customers feeling like they are being sold.
Customers have been trained to expect it every time they go online, and by using this tried and true method of generating more sales, you can increase your profits in no time.
Down selling
Also referred to as “product bundling” in some circles, down selling is the art of selling one product but getting another for free if the customer purchases it along with something else.
Down selling can be combined with upselling when you are selling an accessory or complementary product that will go well with what they are already adding to their cart.
You can offer this item as an automatic add-on when they purchase the main product, giving them an incentive to buy it right away instead of waiting.
For example, let’s say someone is looking at buying a camcorder; you could offer them a lens cleaner that would work best for that particular camera model when they check out.
This way, you make another sale and increase the lifetime value of your customer because they are purchasing something that will benefit them for years to come.
Down selling allows you to turn a one-time purchase into a recurring sale where people will return time and time just to get their hands on whatever it is you’re offering.
You could even tie-down selling into upselling by adding a product that would be perfect if they were planning to buy something else anyway.
For example, say someone wants to buy a telescope; why not offer them eyepieces or filters at check out instead of having them add these items onto their cart later?
The more things you can include to increase the cart value, the better.
The key to using either of these techniques is not only knowing how and when to use them but what will benefit your customers and turn a simple one-time purchase into a long-term relationship where you both win.
If someone does not want something that you are offering as an upsell or down-sell, they should be given the option to uncheck it so that it doesn’t get added onto their cart by accident.
Down selling is another tried and true method of generating more sales; however, instead of asking for more money, such as with upselling, this technique offers something else for free if they buy it along with something else.
This way, you are getting two sales for the price of one!
The key to upselling and down selling is offering something extra for free and giving the customer the option to uncheck it so they don’t accidentally add on items they won’t use or benefit from.
Summary
Upselling, down selling, and cross-selling are all techniques that have been used by many of the most successful e-commerce websites to increase revenue.
Each technique has its benefits and limitations; however, if done correctly, you can see an improvement in your online sales within mere days.
While upselling offers an additional product at a higher price point, down selling gives customers something for free when purchasing another item, so it is crucial to decide which technique will work best for your specific industry or niche.
Cross-selling combines the two methods by offering additional products that would go well with what they are already buying.
