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Upselling has beenone of the most important ways to increase revenues in the e-commerce world.It's indeed a key method for raising revenues on Shopify, as it offerscustomers complementary or high-value products at critical points in theirshopping journey. Of the varied upselling apps available, the right one couldliterally make all the difference in your store's success. Let's compare InCart Upsell to other leading Shopify upsell apps by features, pricing, andeffectiveness to help you make an informed decision.
In Cart Upsellspecializes in providing relevant upsell offers directly inside the shoppingcart. One of its unique features is smart product suggestion, which is based oneither current cart content, browsing history, or past purchases to ensurerelevancy. The application is user-friendly and extensively customizable, witha free plan and tiered pricing starting at $9.99 per month. It's thereforeaffordable for any business. Many merchants report that this app increases AOVand customer satisfaction to a great extent. In Cart Upsell is one of the topchoices for Shopify stores looking to improve their upsell strategy.
Upsell App by CartUpsell Pro comes out strong as well. With it, you could give bundling optionsthat would change dynamically on the basis of inventory and customerpreferences. It features personalized product recommendations at the core.However, the selling point of this app lies in bundling. It's a pocket-friendlyalternative with pricing starting at $6.99 per month; a free plan is available,too.
While offeringhighly powerful features, Upsell App will not provide the advanced targetingand intuitive interface that In-Cart Upsell does. Upsell App will be attractiveto merchants looking to create product bundling, but those seeking a morecomprehensive upsell tool would prefer In-Cart Upsell.
Selleasy was madefor ease. It allows for easy-to-create upsell and cross-sell offers at variouspoints along the customer journey. It's an excellent choice for merchantslooking to have something simple and hassle-free. With a free plan and pricingstarting at $9.99 per month for Tier II, it definitely fits the budgets ofsmall and start-up businesses trying to start upselling. However, when comparedto In-Cart Upsell, Selleasy offers basic features with no advanced targeting ordetailed customizing. Pick Selleasy if you place ease of use above featurecomplexity.
Wiser has a nichein AI-powered product recommendations. It makes suggestions throughout theshopping experience all the way to post-purchase. Its philosophy is to takeevery opportunity to place relevant products in front of the customer. Thatsaid, Wiser is more of a general-purpose recommendation engine rather than afocused upsell tool.
Although quiteeffective at what it does, Wiser's features are less specialized compared towhat In-Cart Upsell dedicates itself to, which is maximizing upsellopportunities within the cart. Pricing starts at $9 per month for 100 ordersand goes all the way up to $49 per month for 500 orders. Wiser is thus moresuitable for big stores with the budget for advanced AI tools, while In CartUpsell serves those seeking a laser-focused, cost-effective upsell solution.
Cartly Slide CartDrawer natively embeds upsell offers in the cart drawer when it matters most.It features manual and AI-driven upsell options, bringing versatility andeffectiveness. Starting at $12.99 per month, it's also very pocket-friendly forthe merchant who wants to focus on cart-specific upsells. However, the featureset is still a bit more limited compared to In Cart Upsell, most notably aroundcustomization and advanced targeting. If you're thinking cart-first, thenCartly Slide Cart Drawer is a good choice.
Zipify OCU is arobust upsell tool with an excellent standing in its extensive setup of upsellfunnels that take the customer through a line of offers, especially right afterthey complete their purchase. This alone may raise the value of your averageorder. The app has a 30-day free trial, with prices starting at $35 per monthfor Tier 1.
On the downside,the advanced functionality of Zipify OCU could be overwhelming for manymerchants. While it might be a better fit when creating complex upsell funnels,In Cart Upsell remains an even more approachable, yet equally powerful,solution. It's handy, especially for merchants who crave simplicity withabsolutely no trade-offs in results.
With advancedtargeting, ease of use, and customization capabilities, In Cart Upsell hasalways stood apart in the Shopify upsell market. While each app presented hasits unique strengths, it's how In-CartUpsell strikes abalance between simplicity and rich features that make it by far the mostversatile choice. It powerfully enriches upselling without overwhelming themerchant. Hence, businesses of all sizes will find it invaluable.
For all thoseShopify merchants who look forward to doubling profits through their upsellstrategies, In-Cart Upsell becomes an indispensable tool that offers bothease-of-use and proven effectiveness. Here is your chance to elevate your storewith the help of In-Cart Upsell. Get in touch for a free demo today.
When it comes to getting more sales in ecommerce, two of the best strategies to leverage are upselling and cross-selling. When you upsell something, you suggest another product to someone after they have made a purchase or when they are about to. Cross-selling is the act of suggesting complementary products to customers before they've made a purchase. Both have unique values to ecommerce owners, and each one can drive more revenue to your store with the right tactics.
In this article, we'll help you master the art of upselling and the cross sell in ecommerce, and help you make it easier than ever with the In Cart Upsell plugin.
Upselling and cross-selling offer convenience to customers, and it makes their lives easier. McDonalds' classic, "Do you want fries with that?" is a prime example of a cross sell that most customers always want. What's a burger without fries? Similarly, what's a product that goes with yours someone wouldn't want to go without? Think of vacuum bags for a new vacuum cleaner, or a new pair of sunglasses to go with a bathing suit someone just purchased.
Upselling and cross-selling also helps people feel as though they're taking advantage of a good deal. If they don't take the chance to buy something "better" or add something to their purchase, they might feel as though they're missing out. Leveraging FOMO ultimately helps ecommerce stores convert closer to check-out.
Upselling is offering someone a better (and usually more expensive) version of something they're buying. Take a pair of underwear. You could offer people the chance to purchase a bundle and get three pairs for a slightly lower price than buying three separate pairs.
The most common way to upsell is to offer people the chance to upgrade a product in their cart. You can show them a "You Might Like" or "Why Not Try" product recommendation. You can also have product recommendations underneath a product, listed under headings such as "Most Popular" or "Customers Also Buy."
Since cross-selling is all about offering complementary products, you want to make sure that you offer it at the right moment. For example, if someone just placed a purse in their cart and is headed to check out, now is the perfect time to show them a matching wallet.
Cross-selling can also work well when you show "Similar Products" and "Frequently Bought Together" product categories. Amazon makes this easy by showing common product combinations and giving shoppers the option to add all of the items to their cart with a single click.
The easiest way to integrate cross-selling and upselling strategies at the right times. This requires knowing your customers' unique journeys and understanding the basic principles of consumer psychology.
Once people have added an item to their cart, they are more likely to add other items too, especially once that go with their purchase and enhance its utility. For example, if someone just bought a frying pan, having a new spatula to go with it could be ideal. But when do you present this option?
Timing is key. Upselling and cross-selling strategies are most often presented in a cart, but they can be done on your site, too. Pop-ups after someone makes a purchase or showing them popular bundles directly beneath an item, they just added to their cart are common approaches.
Mastering the art of upselling and cross-selling techniques may feel difficult, but there is a tool that can make it extremely easy. With In Cart Upsell, you can automate the process by using built-in personalized recommendations and triggers to convert more customers at check-out.
This plug-in takes all the guesswork out of offering upgrades or complementary products to your customers. Thanks to its automated approach, you can boost your average order value and achieve a higher revenue per visitor (RPV).
With various options to choose from, you can promote upgrades and supportive products to your audience at just the right time. Every recommendation is customized based on a user's unique shopping experience.
For example, a user may receive an upselling suggestion for a discount when they place an item in their cart or before they checkout. The ability to take advantage of a discount they can only acquire through making a purchase is more likely to drive sales.
In another case, users may be given a prompt to purchase a bundle of products to complement their current order. In either case, you don't have to worry about creating recommendations. Instead, you can customize the plugin to perform how you'd like and let automation handle the rest.
By learning to sell more products to customers, ecommerce owners can boost their revenue and earn more without working harder or expanding their product catalog. Mastering the ability to effectively time when you recommend upgrades or more products can even help increase revenue without increasing marketing efforts.
To get started, begin reviewing customer trends. Historical ecommerce data can let you know what products were most frequently purchased together, so you can suggest them on future sales.
With upselling, you can implement automatic recommendations in cart for people to make their purchase even better, whether it's by purchasing a greater quantity at a discount or adding additional features.
Other helpful tips include segmenting your audience to understand which customers are most likely to make higher purchases and creating individual customer journeys based on factors like where they are in the sales cycle.
It's also important to make sure your product suggestions aren't forced. Your goal isn't to make a customer feel pressured into buying more; you should be offering them something that benefits them. The best way to do this is by understanding their pain points, needs and desires.
Through customer analyses and strategic product recommendations, you can get
With the In Cart Upsell platform, you can start making more sales and improving your customers' experience right now. Download the free version today!\
Retailers have long employed the practice of upselling, i.e. moving a customer to purchase additional goods and/or services or, alternatively, purchase an expanded -- and more expensive version -- of the item of interest. Since holding onto current customers demands less investment that acquiring new ones, businesses seek to improve profitability by drawing in more revenue from the established clientele. E-commerce entities benefit from this practice because it strengthens relationships with buyers; increases customer lifetime value; and brings in new consumers who are looking for premium offerings. Marketing automation tools help outlets like Shopify widen the consumer pool and establish more consistent connections with current customers.
The best upsell apps are those that an e-retailer can easily incorporate into the online platform. The good news is that there are upsell apps specifically designed for Shopify store sites. These tools are simple to install and maintain; can be tailored to coordinate with the owner's brand; can target specific segments of the customer base; and will analyze and report on the effectiveness of each offer.
In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell puts more products/services front and center during a customer's Shopify experience than competitors do. These apps mesh well with shopify platforms for three reasons:
Upselling that works best utilizes astute strategy as opposed to the wholesale plastering of offers on every page. Ideal offers, in a real sense, perfect the page where they appear and in no way distract from the product on that page. Key to effectiveness is that the upsell offer reminds the shopper of the product's quality while suggesting ways to maximize its virtues. This is what makes the offer seamless -- it does not compete with the featured item but, instead, highlights its virtues while advancing the desirability of a related service or article.
In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell takes intelligent recommendations seriously. Its advanced recommendation engine employs artificial intelligence to identify like products to those featured and to suggest items that enhance the subject or even improve upon it.
Retailers in e-commerce should always be able to amend or edit underperforming offers. Likewise, they should also have the capacity to swap out one product for another when inventory expands or is otherwise adjusted. What are the boundaries surrounding this necessary flexibility? For one, there must be a limit to the expense of the offer. Twice as much money -- 100 percent increase -- is unacceptable. 25 percent maximum is a respectable rule of thumb. Meanwhile, the offer should be of limited duration. Content-wise, the upsell must convey a concrete incentive for spending more.
Yet, within those parameters, In Cart apps allow for Shopify operators to customize the recommendations according to changes in their holdings and in consumer behavior. In fact, the offer is subject to editing of color, text, layout, borders, pixel size and other appearance traits. The ability to make such changes keeps offers fresh and up to date. Another flexibility feature is the autopilot offer -- an AI function that draws from order history and current inventory to generate new offers without prompting. These are a few ways that an In Cart Shopify Upsell app equips business owners with maximum maneuverability in sales and marketing.
The In Cart Upsell app for Shopify is not only a modifiable application, it is also an informational one. Businesses -- more so today than ever -- need to stay on top of market dynamics and customer preferences. In Cart's Track Conversion function monitors all upsell offer items that move from cart to check-out. This tracking occurs in real time, enabling the merchant to determine the success level of each offer. With reports generating on daily, weekly, monthly and annual bases, the business owner can view all these patterns on the app's dashboard.
Upsellers and cross-sellers know the value of A/B testing. This tool reveals how consumers are reacting to offers as well as how the offers can be altered to align better with shopper preferences. Through the testing of various permutations and combinations of offers, merchants discover which ones should be kept and which should be discarded. The wording of the offers and calls to action are also subject to evaluation. Furthermore, this program saves entrepreneurs countless hours of trial and error. In Cart Upsell's A/B testing action is simple to access and set up.
Fussing with offer verbiage and display is a time-consuming and stress-inducing activity. Merchants often have other responsibilities to attend to. The right upsell app performs the menial task of creating attractive offers, managing them and shifting them around when market circumstances dictate. While the business owner should stay on top of those circumstances, the app serves as a dependable delegate for the purpose of management. What characterizes this reliability?
There are more than a few upselling apps available. However, few meet the criteria outlined above as does In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell for Shopify merchants. From the clean and transparent operation to its power to focus on particular slices of the customer pool, In Cart's software optimizes sales and makes owners more efficient. If these are developments that appeal to you, give In Cart Upsell a free trial.
There's no secret strategy for boosting sales in the eCommerce niche – but there're several best practices business owners can implement, and using an upsell app is one. Here, you get to rely on a smart and powerful marketing tactic that will add value for both you and your clients.
On your end, you can leverage these upsell platforms to enhance customer satisfaction and increase average order value (AOV). For the customers, deploying this strategy brings with it numerous financial incentives and enables them to find product matches easily and quickly.
Growing your average order value is a lot easier compared to boosting your conversion rate. As many salespeople know, you'll have a much simpler time convincing a customer that already wants to buy from your store, than it is to convince a visitor to go through your sales funnel!
Look at it this way: if your store records 1500 customers monthly with a revenue stream of around $120,000, that works out to about $80 for each order. So, what'd happen if you were to convince each customer to spend $5 more?
This would bring in an additional $7,000 with 50% of the work. In cart upselling can help with this. The strategy works because it encourages your customers to purchase additional or costlier products that better meet their needs.
You can increase your average order value in tons of ways. Below are five strategies to use to incentivize your customers to spend a little more on each order.
Highlighting and recommending popular choices is an excellent way to get started on increasing your AOV. It works because it shows social proof and can assist in building FOMO. Ensure you add best sellers on the exit-intent popup and to use microcopy to highlight added urgency.
Even as you try to differentiate between In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell, you shouldn't overlook the benefits bundles can offer. Creating a bundle involves taking a few products that are related in terms of use and category and providing a small discount on the final price.
If the customer wants, they can purchase each item individually. However, bundling provides them with an all-in-one offer along with a small discount, providing them with a good reason to opt for it.
Tiered pricing, or the rule of three, is another strategy you ought to consider. For example, the best approach to pricing, a study by the Harvard Business Review on the insurance industry reveals that customers always go for the "middle tier plan" than the others.
The same mentality holds when it comes to coffee shops. Most customers will choose to but the medium option when given a choice between small, medium, and large. Tiered pricing lets the customer consider every opportunity, leaving them to choose the "best of both worlds."
Post-purchase one-click upsell is proving to be one of the best strategies to prompt high-value conversions for eCommerce ventures. For this approach to work, you must ensure that you've already earned from the customer before sending them any offer.
You can send them an email highlighting higher plans, bundles, or relevant products. For apps, consider using a popup that offers a better alternative at a discounted rate. If the popup has an appealing design or if the email copy is well written, many will consider the offer.
Time-limited deals can significantly increase the AOV of your online store, as many internet shoppers can't resist a bargain when they see one. This particularly holds when the said bargain comes with a sense of urgency attached to it.
In this regard, you may want to launch a countdown for select discounted products or create a limited edition of certain products. Demonstrating social proof works well here, as other customers are likely to make a purchase after seeing that others have done so.
Understanding the psychology behind customer behavior is vital in determining the In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell strategies to use. At its core, upselling is dependent on your ability to develop a trusting relationship with your current customers.
As is the case with any other relationship out there, this calls for understanding, attentiveness, and support. That said, knowing how to time the strategy can make all the difference. Marketing experts recommend including it at the pertinent touchpoint, which may vary depending on niche.
Viable options include placing it on the checkout page or in the form of a popup alert.
This is where an e-commerce business strategy consultant can add value by pinpointing the most impactful touchpoints for your unique business model.
The reality is that not all opportunities are created equal. Learning how to identify the best can make all the difference in your journey to increasing your AOV. The following are tips on how to do this:
Getting the most out of the existing customers is an excellent way to boost revenue, but there're certain pitfalls that come with this territory. They include:
An upsell app is much more than a marketing platform – it's an avenue to build long term relationships with your customers. The benefits provided by an efficient In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell strategy go beyond merely increasing your AOV.
If developed and tailored to your existing customer base, ICU can strengthen your customer relationships, thus making it easier to instill trust in your products. Relationship building is particularly crucial for businesses that rely on customers to fuel their recurring revenue.
Make it a point to solicit customer feedback regularly and monitor AOV over time to ensure the in cart upsell techniques are resonating with the clients. With time, the results will be clear for all to see.
If running an online business, this is the time to consider In Cart Upsell for your business needs!
You already know that upselling is an important component of your marketing strategy on the Shopify platform. Convincing people to buy complementary products or Shopify upsell bundles can move them along the customer journey, turn them into loyal buyers, and help you hit record-breaking sales. What’s not to like?
Yet knowing you need to upsell and knowing how to get sales on Shopify are, of course, two different prospects.
Success with upselling and cross-selling means understanding both the native Shopify tools and the third-party Shopify marketing apps that can bring your upsell strategy to life.
Unfortunately, Shopify is pretty limited when it comes to either of those functions. In the absence of those native tools, several apps have popped up to enable effective upselling and cross-selling. So today we’re setting out to review how upsell apps work, which are the best at what they do, and how to get started.
A Shopify upsell app is a third-party tool whose functionality is designed to help you increase the average order value of your shop. It does so via premium upgrades, product recommendations, and product bundles meant to showcase the full range of your products.
Some product upsells work by simply listing standard and premium offerings next to each other, with premium options highlighted. Other upsell alerts occur by way of popups, thumbnails below the main product on a product page, or notifications of additional products and add-ons once the shopper reaches the cart page. Such upsell offers are meant to show buyers a better version of the product they’re considering.
For example, a standard t-shirt listing may show that it comes in a cotton/polyester blend and costs $10. However, with an upsell app, you have the option of adding a new option to that product listing, offering the same shirt in a Dri-fit material for an additional $3. This is an example of an upsell.
Cross-selling, on the other hand, would showcase the same design from that t-shirt, also available on ball caps, canvas totes, or custom-printed socks. These are supplemental yet related offers that go beyond the product that the customer had originally been interested in.
Of course, since Shopify doesn’t natively offer this kind of functionality, you’ll need upsell and cross-sell apps to get you there.
A Shopify upsell app can help you optimize your shop, improve its sales algorithm, and increase your average order value (AOV). However, it also costs money. Plus, you’ll face a new learning curve as you figure out how to put eCommerce widgets to work increasing your conversion rate and showcasing related products.
If you want to see more moolah, though, learning how to upsell on Shopify is worth its weight in (figurative electronic) gold. Let’s consider why.
That said, exactly what app should you use? Here are seven of our favorites to consider today.
The seven apps noted below are the best Shopify upsell apps on the market today. They offer customizable functionality across your website, from your homepage and product pages to campaign-specific landing pages, and even cart pages. They also offer widgets for add-ons, product bundles, and other incentives. If you’re looking to take your upsell strategy to the next level, start here.
In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell is No. 1 on our list of upselling apps, capable of managing as many as 500 simultaneous offers to help boost sales. The app relies on automatic A/B testing to see which offers perform best, then utilizes AI to intelligently target individual customers with the offers that they’re most likely to purchase. On-page upsell offers appear natively within the product page, cart page, or cart drawer — no annoying pop-ups — while shoppers actively make their purchases.
On the back end, Shopify store owners can dive into robust analytics via real-time conversion tracking dashboard that details the performance breakdown for each offer.
What Users Love:
In Cart Upsell & Cross Sell offers a free plan for up to 50 monthly store orders and $7.99 after that, but its low ceilings mean most customers will likely reach their limits too quickly and have to spend out.
Bold Upsell is all about upselling and cross-selling across your store. With it, you can quickly create upsell offers that encourage more purchases, help customers reach free shipping minimums, and employ funnels to increase their spending even more.
What Users Love:
Pricing starts at $9.99 per month after a 14-day free trial.
ReConvert Upsell & Cross Sell seeks to make upselling effortless on your part. Once you set up the upsell offers, you can leave them to do their work for you on the checkout page, thank you page, and wherever else you want them to be.
What Users Love:
30-day free trial with a free plan available for limited features, or paid plans starting at $4.99/month.
If you’re looking to increase your AOV on every page of your site, you might want to try Honeycomb Upsell & Cross Sell. It helps you set up a huge variety of upsell and cross-sell offers, then matches your best offers to the shopper’s intentions, so you can feel sure you’re getting the best match for each shopper. With limited customization, though, some find it isn’t versatile enough for them.
What Users Love:
Get a 7-day free trial, then choose to stick with their free plan or upgrade to a paid plan starting at $49.99/month.
One-Click Upsell focuses on both pre- and post-purchase upsells, helping you target customers at every stage of the journey. Customers can make true one-click purchases after their sale, meaning they don’t need to reenter their payment info to get the perfect cross-sell addition to what they’ve already paid for.
What Users Love:
The app offers a 30-day free trial followed by paid plans starting at $35 a month.
Frequently Bought Together bills itself as a Shopify upsell app that creates “Amazon-like upsell bundles that work.” Its raison d’être is giving customers the means to buy items that go together easily with one click. In that sense, it’s a better cross-sell app than an upsell app.
What Users Love:
Frequently Bought Together offers a 30-day free trial that rolls over into a $9.99 per month subscription.
Zoorix is a good app for creating offers quickly and easily. It’s also a smart option for store owners who want to target specific audiences via segmentation with mix-and-match pages dedicated to niche interests or product categories. It allows you to avoid showing shoppers items they won’t upgrade to – or buy in tandem with your products – and start showing them what they’re looking for.
What Users Love:
Zoorix offers a 30-day free trial with a free plan available, though the latter is quite limited and additional charges may apply.
As you can see, there are a ton of apps out there to help you create effective upsell funnels … you just need to decide which is best for your store and your needs.
In an apples-to-apples comparison, In Cart Upsell tends to come out ahead of the others. Its auto A/B testing feature makes sure only the best offers are shown, and its ability to “autosuggest” and show the right upsell offers to the right customer leads to significant AOV increases.
If you’re ready to boost your sales in your online store, encourage larger orders from customers, and see better profits today, it’s time to head to the Shopify app store. Start your 14-day free trial today!
If you’ve ever thought, “I really want to implement some upselling and cross-selling strategies on my Shopify store, but I don’t know where to start,” this article is for you.
In case you need a refresher on eCommerce vocab, upselling is when you sell an upgraded version of an existing product to a customer. For example, it’s like suggesting a customer upgrade to a computer with more storage for a higher price, or suggesting they add insurance to their existing purchase. Cross-selling, on the other hand, is when you suggest a complementary product to a customer. It’s like adding a case to a laptop or suggesting that a customer also buy a mouse.
Upselling and cross-selling are super common sales tactics, and they’re surefire ways to increase customer satisfaction, average order value (AOV), overall sales, and revenue. If you’re looking to add some of these strategies to your site as easily and quickly as possible, keep reading for some easy-to-implement ideas by industry.
If you’re an eCommerce jeweler, upsell and cross-sell opportunities are plenty. Take, for example, a customer looking for necklace charms. If a customer adds a new pendant to their cart, they can’t wear said pendant without a matching chain. Maybe they have a chain at home, but maybe they don’t! Either way, to be safe, you should cover your bases and suggest a matching chain as a cross-sell to their existing purchase.
If you’re a jeweler selling pricier pieces—i.e., diamond-adorned rings that are perfect for a proposal—adding an insurance upsell would make a lot of sense. Customers are paying a lot for this purchase (a sentimental purchase, at that) and probably want to protect it, if they can. Offering insurance is an easy revenue layup if you want to increase cart value and AOV.
If you run an online pet supply store, there are a lot of upsell and cross-sell opportunities that you can take advantage of. First, let’s say a customer is shopping for a new collar. The perfect companion cross-sell in this instance? A matching leash. Similarly, you could also suggest a matching charm to link to the collar.
In a different instance, let’s say a customer is browsing for a new poop bag holder. It’s a pretty safe guess that this customer will need some new poop bags to fill this dispenser, too. So, a no-brainer cross-sell in this instance? Poop bags. Similarly, if a customer is browsing for a new dog food bowl, they also might need some dog food to fill it with.
Let’s say you’re an eCommerce retailer selling shoes, and let’s say a customer is searching for white sneakers. The perfect cross-sell opportunity for this product? Shoe cleaner, which just makes sense to purchase with those soon-to-be dirty white sneakers.
If your online store sells more than shoes—say, shirts, tops, dresses, and more—your store is prime for a “complete the look” type cross-sell. That means suggesting a shirt to pair with a pair of jeans, or a light jacket to wear over a dress. Think: if a customer is searching for a particular pair of pants, what items might pair well with it to “complete the outfit?”
Shopify merchants selling home goods also have tons of potential upsell and cross-sell opportunities to take advantage of, too. Take, for example, candles. Someone buying a candle will surely need to trim the wick of their candle at some point. Thus, suggesting a wick trimmer as a cross-sell makes sense. Candles are products that also can burn out—literally—quite quickly. Thus, suggesting multiple candles for a discounted price might be a smart upsell.
Now, let’s say a customer is searching for new bed linens and adds a duvet cover to their cart. This duvet cover can’t really be used, though, without a duvet filler. Thus, you should probably suggest that they add a duvet filler. Similarly, let’s say a customer is searching for a new pillowcase. This pillowcase also can’t be used without a pillow insert. Thus, you should probably suggest that the customer add one.
For the sake of one final example, let’s say a customer is buying a new vase for their dining room table. It might make sense to suggest some fake flowers to fill this vase with, in case the customer doesn’t yet have any or doesn’t want to fill it with real ones.
Makeup and skincare products are ripe for upsell and cross-sell opportunities, since these products often function best when used with other complementary products.
For example, let’s say a customer is buying a new face cleanser. In the world of skincare, face cleanser isn’t meant to be used as a standalone product—rather, it’s meant to be paired with various serums, lotions, masks, creams, and more. Thus, there are many complementary products available to cross-sell with a simple skin cleanser.
Makeup is very much the same. For example, a customer searching for eyeshadow probably isn’t planning to wear that eyeshadow on its own. They’re probably planning to complete their eye look with mascara, eyeliner, primer, and more. Thus, it makes sense to suggest these products either at or before checkout.
In case your industry was left out (#SorryNotSorry), the trick to coming up with all of these ideas? Getting into the customer’s head. No matter your industry, imagine their journey and any blockers they may run into as they’re buying certain items. This will lead to potential items to suggest as upsells and cross-sells across your store.
Looking at customer data, too—particularly seeing which things customers typically purchase together – can also help to inform which items you should be upselling and cross-selling.
Want to start adding all of these upselling and cross-selling strategies to your eCommerce store? Lucky for you, implementing them is easy with the InCart Upsell app.
The InCart Upsell & Cross-Sell app, which uses AI to recommend products that your customers are most likely to buy, makes upselling and cross-selling on product pages during checkout easy.
Try it out for free today and start seeing improvements to your AOV and site conversions tomorrow.
If you’re reading this article, you may be a Shopify store owner looking to implement upselling and cross-selling on your eCommerce site. (Or you might just be a competitor peeping on our marketing materials. Either way, all are welcome here.) But before you actually start upselling and cross-selling on your eCommerce site, you have to remember one thing: Upselling and cross-selling come in many shapes and sizes, aka there are many ways to upsell and cross-sell.
Read on to learn more about what upselling and cross-selling are and the various ways you can implement them in your Shopify store.
Upselling is when you sell an upgraded version of an existing product to a customer. For example, it’s like suggesting a customer upgrade to a computer with more storage for a higher price, or suggesting they add insurance to their existing purchase.
Cross-selling, on the other hand, is when you suggest a complementary product to a customer. It’s like adding a case to a laptop or suggesting that a customer also buy a mouse.
Upselling and cross-selling are super common sales tactics, and they’re surefire ways to increase customer satisfaction, average order value (AOV), overall sales, and revenue.
If you’ve ever noticed a small cart that slides out onto a webpage after you add an item to your shopping cart, that’s called an Ajax cart. Upselling “suggested items” directly in this cart is an extremely savvy strategy to implement on your eCommerce site. Why? For several reasons.
First, it grabs customers’ attention. The action of this small side-cart sliding out into your view is in itself attention-grabbing, which means customers are guaranteed to peep the other “suggested items” below their already-selected items.
Second, customers are already intending to purchase. Thus, since they’ve already committed themselves to the checkout process, this means that they’ll likely be more easily convinced to add other items to their cart. They’ll be especially convinced if these suggested items enhance their already-intended purchase.
In addition to adding suggested upsells to the pop-out Ajax cart, you can also add them directly to a customer’s actual shopping cart. Since customers are already intending to purchase (just like with the Ajax cart), suggesting items here is a potentially easy extra sale. Plus, it’s your last chance to drive up a customer’s cart value—why not just give it a try?
Aside from placing upsell and cross-sell suggestions directly in a customer’s cart, you can also add them to a PDP, or product page. You’ve probably noticed this kind of placement for yourself in your own shopping experiences.
The product page upsell is nice because it usually blends in with the existing product page. It’s often less loud or attention-grabbing, but it provides the customer with a seamless shopping experience.
A discount upsell is when you offer your customers a discount when they add additional products to their orders. It’s like “unlocking” 10% off when you spend $50 or more, or getting free shipping with the addition of a certain item. It’s a win-win for you (more sales) and your customer (getting a discount).
The benefits of discount upselling are plenty.
Like upselling in the Ajax cart, the discount upsell only occurs when customers have added something to their cart—when they have an intent to buy. This means that adding an additional item to their cart is less of a barrier. Even more, this kind of upsell comes with a high incentive—a discount! It’s a pretty surefire way to drive not only AOV, but customer satisfaction, too.
A bundle cross-sell is when you suggest complimentary items that would create a perfect bundle. Think: when you’re shopping on Amazon, add something to your cart, and are greeted with “would you also like to add” pop-up.
This kind of upsell is smart for items that are extremely complementary. For example, if you buy a poop bag holder for your dog, you’ll probably need poop bags, or if you buy a new phone, you’ll probably need a phone case. Bundle cross-sells are often easy layups in terms of sales since the products are so complimentary, and they enhance the customer’s shopping experience, too.
The quantity discount bundle is similar to both the bundle offer and the discount upsell in that you suggest complementary products that would “round out” a bundle, but with a quantity discount—i.e. “Add two for 15% off.” It’s an extremely attractive offer, both because of the complementary nature of the suggested items and—of course—because of the discount.
Want to start adding all of these upselling and cross-selling strategies to your eCommerce store? Lucky for you, implementing them is easy with the InCart Upsell app.
The InCart Upsell & Cross-Sell app, which uses AI to recommend products that your customers are most likely to buy, makes upselling and cross-selling on product pages during checkout easy.
Try it out for free today and start seeing improvements to your AOV and site conversions tomorrow.
Upselling, in general, can have a big impact on your eCommerce business. Some studies show that it can drive revenue by 10-30%! Not all upsells, however, have to be hefty sales in order to make an impact. Sometimes, selling just a little bit—consistently, over a long period of time—can add up to a lot of revenue a year or two later.
Think about it. Let’s say you set aside $200 a month to invest in your savings. At the end of the year, that adds up to $2,400 saved. And at the end of 5 years, that adds up to $12,000! While $200 a month may not seem like a lot initially, a little can go a long way.
Keep reading to learn more about upselling, small upsells in general, and why you should start implementing them on your Shopify store.
Upselling is when you sell an upgraded version of an existing product to a customer. For example, it’s like suggesting a customer upgrade to a computer with more storage for a higher price, or suggesting they add insurance to their existing purchase. In more everyday terms, it’s like adding extra bacon to your cheeseburger.
Upselling has a lot of upsides for your eCommerce store. First, since it incentivizes customers to buy more with every purchase, it drives AOV (average order value). Next, since upsells typically enhance the value of a customer’s already intended purchase, they drive customer satisfaction (i.e. adding bacon to your cheeseburger makes it taste SO much more delicious, making for a more pleasant dining experience.). This, in turn, leads to higher retention and higher customer LTV (lifetime value), since customers are coming back more often and buying more with every purchase. In the end, this all adds up to more sales and more revenue for your eCommerce business.
“Small” upsells are those that typically fall within the $10-$15 range. They’re not a heavy additional lift for the customer financially, and they often sort of just make sense with their existing purchase.
For example, upselling shoe cleaners with a pair of white sneakers (that are guaranteed to get dirty in less than a month) is sort of a no-brainer for a customer who hopes to keep their sneakers white. Similarly,
selling a $5 3-pack of razor refills is cheaper than an almond milk latte and will definitely be needed at some point (if a customer is buying a razor). Now if you’re able to upsell just 1,000 razor refill packs over the course of a year, that’s an extra $5,000 in the bank for your business—cash that before would never have even existed.
To spell this all out a bit more clearly, let’s look at some examples of some “small” upsells in action.
First, let’s look at Hyggelight, an eCommerce retailer selling candles-turned-planters. Let’s say you come across their Willow candle. “This is perfect for my living room,” you think, and promptly add it to your cart. Upon adding it to your cart, you’re greeted with an upsell: Add a wick trimmer for just $14.
A wick trimmer is probably something you’re going to need at some point. (Assuming that you intend on burning your candle. But then again, why would you buy a candle if that wasn’t your intention??) Eventually—in a few weeks’ time—you would probably head to the store to buy one. But why would you create future to-dos for yourself when you can buy a wick trimmer, like, right now. For as low as $15, adding the wick to your cart just makes sense.
Next, let’s look at The Kiddospace, an online retailer selling things for kids. Let’s say you’re looking for a gift for your nephew and come across their Kiddostamp Customized Name Stamp. You think this is the perfect gift, and go ahead and add it to your cart. When you add it, however, you notice an upsell in your cart: White Ink Refill for just $14.99.
Similar to the wick trimmer example, an ink refill is probably something you’re going to need at some point. It doesn’t make sense to wait for it to run out—your nephew will become frustrated and you’ll have to make a trip to the store anyway. To prevent this future frustration, it just makes sense to add this small $15 purchase to your cart right now.
Lastly, let’s look at Adretto, an eCommerce menswear retailer. Let’s say you’re looking for some new work shoes for your husband as a birthday gift and find their Shoes Cognac, which are just his style. When you add them to your cart, you notice something: the option to add damage insurance for $12, failure insurance for $9, or a rental extension for $25.
Your husband happens to be very clumsy; the chances of him damaging his shoes in some way are super high. Even more, the low $9 price of damage insurance is far lower than you would have to pay the cobbler in the future, should your husband damage his shoes. Adding this damage insurance for such a small price is just a no-brainer.
In all these instances, all of these examples incrementally increased AOV for all these Shopify stores (which, as we discussed, adds up to a lot of additional revenue over time). Beyond this increased AOV, however, these examples all offered something more: an enhanced customer experience.
With the wick trimmer, the customer could trim their wick as they used their candle over time— the hassle of future, out-of-the-way trips to the store was avoided. With the ink refills, the customer avoided a future meltdown from their nephew, while also avoiding a future trip to the store. And with the shoe insurance, the customer helped her husband to get more wear out of his shoes over time while avoiding costly future trips to the shoe repairman. All in all, all of these examples resulted in enhanced, satisfactory customer experiences—all of which will lead to more loyal customers, high customer LTV, and even more revenue for each of these respective Shopify stores.
Convinced that you should add upselling capabilities to your site? Lucky for you, implementing it is easy with theInCart Upsell Shopify App.
The InCart Upsell & Cross-Sell app, which uses AI to recommend products that your customers are most likely to buy, makes upselling and cross-selling on product pages during checkout easy.
Try it out for free today and start reaping the benefits of upselling as soon as possible.
Looking for an easy way to drive sales and revenue across your eCommerce business? We can help. (Hint: it’s as easy as downloading two apps.)
Keep reading to learn more about what upselling, cross-selling, and product customization are, why you should be doing all three on your Shopify store, and how to quickly implement these tactics using just two easy-to-use apps.
Upselling is when you sell an upgraded version of an existing product to a customer. For example, it’s like suggesting a customer upgrade to a computer with more storage for a higher price, or suggesting they add insurance to their existing purchase. (Or in more everyday terms, it’s like adding extra avocado to your lunchtime sandwich order.)
Cross-selling, on the other hand, is when you suggest a complementary product to a customer. It’s like adding a case to a laptop or suggesting that a customer also buy a mouse. (Or in more everyday terms, like adding a soda to go with your lunchtime sandwich order.)
Upselling and cross-selling are super common sales tactics, and they’re surefire ways to increase customer satisfaction, average order value (AOV), overall sales, and revenue.
Product customization is when customers can customize certain products according to their unique liking. For example, it’s like offering different colors of a computer (gray, gold, rose gold) at the most basic level, or like offering custom engraving on jewelry at a more customized level. (Or in more everyday terms, it’s like choosing the build-your-own sandwich at lunchtime.) Product customization is a great way to elevate a customer’s shopping experience, increase satisfaction, increase AOV, and drive customer loyalty.
Implementing all of these strategies together on your Shopify store is a winning strategy for your eCommerce business —and super easy to do using the InCart Upsell App in tandem with the Product Customizer App. Why? Because you’re amplifying the benefits of both, with tons of subsequent upsides for your business.
Upselling and cross-selling, in general, enhance a customer’s shopping experience by suggesting intuitive upgrades or complementary products that will enhance their purchase. Product customization, too, enhances a customer’s shopping experience by making it feel extremely personalized. Now these two together? The customer is happier with their customized purchase, and they’re also happier with their enhanced purchase. Customer satisfaction is thus amplified, leaving you with one extremely elevated shopping experience—and one extremely content customer.
One of the main benefits of upselling and cross-selling is increased AOV. Why? When you upsell something, the customer is literally adding more to their cart. The monetary value of their order, thus, increases. And one of the main benefits of product customization? Also increased AOV. Why? Because customers are willing to spend more on their personalized, customized piece. Thus, you’re able to essentially add two more “items” to a customer’s cart (the upsell or cross-sold item + the customization), drastically increasing their total purchase and in turn, AOV.
Since these customers are doubly satisfied with both their “upgraded,” enhanced products (upsells & cross-sells) and their customized purchases, they’re more likely to come back to shop again. And again. Anddd again. In business terms, this means customer loyalty and customer retention increases, which also means increased LTV and recurring revenue over time.
Enhanced customer experience plus increased AOV plus increased retention all together add up to increased sales and revenue for your Shopify store. Just to prove it, let’s break this all down with a real-life example.
Let’s look at Link Before You Sink, an eCommerce retailer selling jewelry. Link Before You Sink uses the InCart Upsell & Cross Sell app to create upsell and cross-sell experiences on their Shopify store. They also have the Product Options & Customizer Shopify app installed, which allows them to sell more expensive, customized, engraved versions of their jewelry.
Let’s say you’re a customer looking for a necklace to gift your mom. You come across a Dainty Bar Necklace—simple and classic for just $44. However, as you continue browsing, you come across a customized version of the same Dainty Bar Necklace. Curious, you click through to the PDP and discover you’re able to add a custom engraving! This custom version is $58—$14 more than the unengraved version—but well worth it to add a heartfelt message to your mom. Excited, you add it to your cart.
Upon adding it, you’re prompted with a suggestion (cross-sell) directly in your cart: Add a Double-Link Necklace, perfect for layering chains. You think about how beautiful this necklace could look both layered with your mother’s engraved necklace and also on its own. So, you gladly add it to your cart for an additional $44. That additional item added to your purchase was a no-brainer.
In the end, you’re much happier with your purchase. Initially, you intended to buy a simple necklace for your mom. However, you were able to add a customized message—something your mom can wear daily and keep close to her heart, literally. You were also able to gift her not just one, but two necklaces for added versatility and style. In the end, your intended gift was elevated from simply “nice” to extremely sentimental and cry-worthy.
AOV increased in the end, too. What was initially just a $44 purchase increased to $100 in total, or $56 more. And this was just with one customer and one order—think about all the returning loyalists and other subsequent customers who will continue to spend more than they intended, all from simple upsells, cross-sells, and custom engravings.
Link Before You Sink is left with happier customers who spend more—and who are so happy with their enhanced, personalized shopping experiences, they’re likely to return time and time again.
Convinced that you should add both upselling and product customization capabilities to your site? Lucky for you, adding both is easy with the InCart Upsell and Product Customizer Apps.
The InCart Upsell & Cross Sell app, which uses AI to recommend products that your customers are most likely to buy, makes upselling and cross-selling on product pages during checkout easy.
The Product Options & Customizer app, on the other hand, gives your customers the power to easily customize products on your Shopify store.
Try them both out for free today and start seeing improvements to your AOV tomorrow. (Well maybe not literally tomorrow, but you get the point.).
When you go out to dinner at a restaurant, you’re constantly being upsold and cross-sold by your waiter. Just think about it: whenever your waiter “suggests' ' a more expensive bottle of wine, you’re being upsold. Similarly, whenever you’re recommended a complimentary dish (“Would you like some bread for the table” or “Would you like to round out your meal with some dessert”), you’re being cross-sold.
As a customer in a restaurant, though, these suggestions don’t come off as savvy sales strategies; rather, they simply come off as good customer service. As a customer, you feel satisfied and taken care of. So if you’re a Shopify merchant selling nice vino online, why would you not similarly approach your website like a 5-star restaurant?
Read on to learn all the benefits of upselling and cross-selling as an eCommerce wine store owner. (And yes, increased customer satisfaction is one of them.)
This first benefit is pretty straightforward: the more you upsell and cross-sell, the more the customer buys and the higher their cart value. Luckily with wine, the upsell and cross-sell options are endless. Whether you try upselling a fancier, more expensive bottle of the same type of wine or attempt to cross-sell some complementary wine accessories, each extra “Add to Cart” click results in more sales and a higher AOV (average order value).
Going back to the restaurant example, upselling and cross-selling to a customer—particularly in regards to wine, which is a high touch, customer-service-forward industry—makes them feel like they’re really being taken care of. In the instance of a customer browsing your Shopify store, they’ll feel like the website is looking out for them.
People shopping for wine are often seeking help. At a restaurant, they might take suggestions from the server or in a store, they might ask for suggestions from the store owner. Wine is something that is also widely tasted—it’s something that you’re invited to explore and really take your time choosing. Upselling and cross-selling on your eCommerce wine store, thus, is almost a replacement for this “help” or “suggestion.”
Even though customers are shopping online, they’re still accustomed to (and often looking for) these kinds of suggestions given that they’re shopping for wine. Upselling and cross-selling, therefore, really comes across as stellar customer service. In turn, this leads to happier customers and increased overall customer satisfaction.
This increased satisfaction, of course, leads to customers coming back for more and more and more, at which point these repeat customers become loyal customers (look how easy it is to become their go-to e-wine retailer). Since customers are #loyal and coming back more often, and since they’re buying more with every purchase (the “increases AOV” point), this means that customer LTV (lifetime value) is higher.
Now all of this together? Let’s do the math. More customers buying more wine and more wine-related things with every order, for a longer period of time? More sales, more revenue, and more cash in the bank to sustain your eCommerce wine store.
Okay, now for the sake of a visual example, let’s put this all together and take a look at upselling and cross-selling wine in action. Let’s look at Noughty, an online retailer selling zero-proof (alcohol-free) wine.
Let’s say you’re in the mood for wine, but you’re staying sober. You land on Noughty’s site and instantly find their non-alcoholic Blanc, aka their white. You click through to the PDP and decide to add it to your cart. Upon adding it, though, you’re greeted with a cross-sell: “You might also like” followed by some other non-alcoholic options like rosé, sparkling rosé, and rouge. As a sober-curious drinker, these additional zero-proof options make a lot of sense (and are also pretty enticing!) You now have SO many drink choices for when you don’t feel like drinking. In this instance, this cross-sell simply comes across as good customer service.
If Noughty had more SKUs on its site, its possibilities for additional upsell and cross-sell opportunities could be endless. For example, if they had other types of white wine, they could “suggest” (upsell) a more expensive bottle. If they sold wine accessories, like bottle openers or glasses, they could cross-sell these items as a way to “upgrade your wine experience.” And if they had merch, they could upsell branded t-shirts or hats—perfect for the now-loyal Noughty stans.
If you’re an eCommerce wine merchant and are sold on implementing upselling and cross-selling on your Shopify store, look no further than the In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell Shopify app.
This app, which uses AI to recommend products that your customers are most likely to buy, makes upselling on product pages during checkout easy.
Try out In Cart Upsell today with a 30-day free trial. With a 30-second setup and immediate results, you’ll be selling more (and more and more) vino in no time.
An easy way to increase AOV (average order value) and revenue for your eCommerce store? Upselling and cross-selling. Another easy way to increase AOV and revenue for your eCommerce store? Building and selling bundles. Now using all these methods in tandem? Call it a match made in eCommerce heaven.
To prove our point: Upselling and cross-selling can drive up to 30% of revenue in some instances, while one DTC brand saw a 15% increase in AOV from bundling alone. Now think about how much that could drive revenue for your Shopify store.
Still not convinced? Keep reading to learn more about why you should start upselling and cross-selling bundles in your eCommerce store if you’re not already.
Bundling is when you group multiple items together at a set price. Typically, the bundle price is cheaper than the cost of buying all products individually, but more expensive than the cost of any single item. Bundles are often composed of multiple of the same item (i.e. a 3 pack of shampoo) or multiple items that are related or complementary (i.e. shampoo and conditioner).
Bundling is a great (and sneaky) way to raise your AOV while simultaneously making your customers feel like they got a good deal, improving their satisfaction. It’s also a great way to help push slow-moving products off your eShelf and into consumers’ hands.
Upselling is when you recommend an upgrade, enhancement, or more premium option to a customer’s existing purchase. Cross-selling, on the flip side, is when you suggest an additional product that’s complementary or related to a customer’s existing purchase. While these two selling techniques are slightly different, they have the same lucrative impacts on your business.
In general, upselling and cross-selling are surefire ways to increase AOV, since they encourage customers to buy more with every purchase. They also result in increased customer satisfaction, which in turn results in higher retention rates and higher customer LTV. And all this together? Higher revenue for your eCommerce business.
Call it a match made in heaven. It’s basic math: upselling or cross-selling a bundle = higher sales than upselling or cross-selling individual items. This means even higher revenue for your Shopify business. And no, this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t upsell or cross-sell individual items; we’re just saying that you should throw some bundles into the mix, if and when relevant.
Now you might be wondering: how do I know if and when it’s relevant? We’ll help you out with a few examples.
Example #1: eCommerce store Sebastian Says. Sebastian Says is a boutique retailer selling an assortment of dog apparel and accessories. Now let’s say you’re searching for a new poop bag holder and stumble across their stylish Curly Poop Bag. You love it, and immediately add it to your cart. Upon adding it, you’re prompted with two cross-sell offers: World’s Best Poop Bags x 1 roll for $4, or World’s Best Poop Bags x 3 rolls for $10. This is an example of cross-selling a bundle.
In this instance, both the general cross-sell and the specific bundle cross-sell make sense. If someone is buying a poop bag holder, it’s safe to say they probably need some poop bags to keep inside of it. And if someone is buying poop bags for their daily dogs walks, it probably makes sense to stock up while they can — particularly at a discounted rate (3 rolls for $10 is $3.33, aka less than buying 3 rolls individually for $4 a piece).
In this example, the individual cross-sell on its own would increase the customer’s cart value buy $4. However, this no brainer bundle cross-sell would increase the customer’s cart value by $12. This difference might not seem a lot at this scale, but multiply that by 100 customers and it’s a $400 vs. a $1,200 increase on sales
Now let’s look at another example: Alton of Sweden, a retailer selling premium bracelets. Say you’re looking for something simple and delicate, like their silver cuff. You add it to your cart and are prompted with a suggestion: BUY 2 FOR 15% OFF. In other words, bundle your silver cuff with another bracelet for 15% off.
This bundle upsell suggestion is savvy because it offers a 15% discount with a catch: you have to buy two, or bundle the bracelet, in order to unlock the discount. In this instance, suggesting a bundle of bracelets makes sense for the specific product because people often layer and wear bracelets together. Adding a second one to your jewlery rotation wouldn’t be too far fetched of an assumption. Even more, you’ll FEEL like you’re saving (15%!!) when actually you’re spending more, which in the end is good for Alton of Sweden.
The easiest way to implement bundled upsells and bundled cross-sells in your eCommerce store? Using the In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell Shopify app.
This app, which uses AI to recommend products that your customers are most likely to buy, makes upselling on product pages during checkout easy.
Try out In Cart Upsell today with a 30-day free trial. With a 30-second setup and immediate results, your eCommerce you’ll be reaping the rewards of upselling and cross-selling bundles in no time.
One of the most surefire ways of increasing revenue — and end-of-year profits — for your eCommerce store? Upselling. Sadly, though, a lot of Shopify merchants aren’t doing enough of it.
Let’s start with the basics: Upselling is when you convince customers to buy an upgraded version of a product, more of a particular product, or other complementary add-ons to a product as a method of increasing overall cart value. For example, upgrading your laptop to a version with more storage or adding insurance to a wedding ring are both examples of upsells.
Upselling is truly a win for both sides: the customer is happier with their upgraded or enhanced purchase, while Shopify merchants like you are happy with increased metrics across the board (increased AOV, LTV, and revenue).
Keep reading to learn our top five reasons why you should be upselling on your Shopify store if you’re not already.
Usually, upsell upgrades or add-ons are no-brainers for customers. While they might not initially think of them as something necessary to their purchase, they’re often times happier after the fact.
Take, for example, AppleCare on an iPhone. When you start shopping for an iPhone online, you’re not necessarily intending to buy a warranty. However, when you’re asked at checkout if you’d also like to add insurance to protect your precious $900 purchase, buying coverage just kind of makes sense (because let’s be real, an iPhone isn’t just a purchase — it’s an investment at that price point.)
With this type of upsell, one could argue that risk-averse customers might even feel grateful to Apple for having their back. “Upselling” feels almost interchangeable with “customer service” at this point.
It’s pretty straightforward: the more a customer buys, the higher the value of their cart. In other words, the higher their AOV — average order value. And at the end of the day, more money per cart = more money at the end of the day for you and your business. You don’t have to be an MBA student to understand this concept, right?
For more of a straightforward explanation, let’s go back to that iPhone concept. The cost of an iPhone 14 Plus is $899. Now the cost of said iPhone with an Apple Care upsell is $899 + $179, or $1,078. Thus, the order value of just one customer increases by $179 with this commonsense upsell. Now imagine even just 100 customers also AppleCare to their carts — that’s an extra $17,900 in the bank!
This goes back to our earlier “leads to higher customer satisfaction” point. How? Because happy customers are more likely to come back time and time again — especially when they feel like they’re receiving stellar customer service.
Why this is beneficial to your business: because it’s MUCH cheaper to keep customers than it is to acquire new ones. One study found that acquiring a new customer costs 5-25x more than acquiring new ones, while another found that increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits by 25-95%. Upselling is a pretty easy way to start ticking up that retention rate.
Customer lifetime value — LTV for short — is the revenue a business can expect from a given customer over the entire duration of their relationship. Given that upselling leads to customers who are both buying more and sticking around longer, it makes sense that the average monetary value of a customer would equally increase over time.
All roads lead to…higher revenue for your business. Think about it:
Higher average order value = more money in the bank
Increased retention = even more money in the bank
Higher LTV = (you guessed it) more, more, more money in the bank
And this all together? A lot more revenue at the end of the day for your eCommerce business.
For the sake of offering one final, more comprehensive example, let’s look at Akelare, an eCommerce retailer that sells skincare products. Let’s say you’re stocking up on some items for your daily routine and throw a gel face wash and a rosewater spray into your cart. Upon checking out, you’re asked if you want to also add a cream with hyaluronic acid to your order. (Hyaluronic acid is a daily MUST for the skincare savvy, FYI.) You add it to your cart, resulting in an extra $60 of sales for Akelare and a total purchase of $128.
Now let’s say you later come to fall in love with this trio of face products, particularly for how they function as a unit to cleanse, hydrate, and clear up your skin. When the bottles run out, you immediately head back to Akelare for more. This time, though, since you were SO pleased with the initial results of their products, you also buy a face mask to try out.
Month and month again, you keep returning to Akelare to restock your skincare goods. Their products have grown to become daily staples for you, and you’ve grown to become a very loyal customer for then.
Okay, now let’s break this all down in terms of “why upselling is good.” The initial upsell of the hyaluronic cream increased your first cart’s value by $60. Then, since skincare products often function best when used together, you came to love the results of your initial purchase and returned to Akelare later to buy more. In other words, they retained you as a customer.
Since you had come to trust Akelare’s products so much, you also occasionally tried out other products whenever you returned to restock your core set. Since you were buying more with every purchase AND coming back often, your lifetime value as a customer — LTV — also increased.
Now, what’s this mean for total revenue? Let’s say you had never been prompted with the initial upsell. You bought just two items for a total of $68. Upon trying them later, you weren’t as happy with the results because you were unknowingly missing a crucial hydration component (the hyaluronic acid). You came back to Akelare to restock these two products later, but just 2 times that year. In total, you spent about $204.
With the hyaluronic upsell, though, your initial purchase was $128 — $60 more. Since you were SO happy with the results, you returned 8 times that year to restock your goods and to try out more. That year alone you spent $1,204 at Akelare (if not more with the occasional face mask purchase), or $820 more than you would have had you not bought the hyaluronic acid. At the end of the day, that’s a lot of easy extra revenue for Akelare from one simple upsell.
The easiest way to implement savvy upsell techniques in your eCommerce store? Using the In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell Shopify app.
This app, which uses AI to recommend products that your customers are most likely to buy, makes upselling on product pages during checkout easy.
Try out In Cart Upsell today with a 30-day free trial. With a 30-second setup and immediate results, your eCommerce you’ll be reaping the rewards of upselling in no time.
Ah, the classic upselling vs. cross-selling debate. As an eCommerce store owner, you probably know that you should be doing both of these things, but sometimes might be wondering: “What’s the diff?” And you’re not alone; these two terms are commonly confused.
Long story short: upselling and cross-selling are two different things. They do*,* however, often lead to very similar wins like increased AOV (average order value), higher customer satisfaction, and increased customer loyalty. And in the end, all that translates to higher sales and revenue for you and your business (upselling and cross-selling can drive up to 30% of revenue in some instances). Since upselling and cross-selling can be *very* confusing but — as established — are also both *very* important, we decided to break them down for you. So you can spend less time trying to figure out what they mean and more time, well, actually upselling and cross-selling.
Upselling is when you recommend an upgrade, enhancement, or more premium option to a customer’s existing purchase. In more elementary terms: It’s like adding avocado or extra pickles (personally, ew) to your takeout burger order. Or for the Apple stans out there, it’s like upgrading your iPhone to a version with more storage or adding Apple Care.
Upselling is a win-win: customers are happy with the enhanced value they’re now receiving, and merchants like you are happy with the increased AOV.
Cross-selling, on the flip side, is when you suggest an additional product that’s complementary or related to a customer’s existing purchase. In other words, it’s an entire other purchase. It’s like adding fries and a milkshake to your takeout burger order, or like adding Airpods or a phone case to your purchase of a new iPhone.
Like upselling, cross-selling is also a win-win for pretty similar reasons: customers are happy for their now full suite of complementary products, while merchants like you can rejoice over your business’s increased AOV and profits.
Okay, we get that you’re probably not selling cheeseburgers or iPhones on your Shopify store. That’s why we collected some live, potentially more relatable upsell and cross-sell examples from current In Cart Upsell customers to break things down for you even further.
Stone and Rose is an online retailer selling pajamas and clothing made of bamboo for babies and toddlers. Let’s say you’re in search of new pajamas for your daughter and come across the perfect long-sleeve, rose-adorned set. “Love,” you exclaim and add it to your cart. Suddenly, you’re prompted with a suggestion to “complete the look” with a matching bow. This suggestion? It’s an example of an upsell.
The set already includes a top and a bottom — it’s already an outfit. In this instance, tacking on a $12 bow completes the outfit and rounds out the whole set. It’s sort of like adding an avocado or some other type of topping to your cheeseburger. Adding this kind of upsell to the checkout process is pretty much a no-brainer and an easy layup for increasing cart value.
Hyggelight is a sustainable candle retailer. Let’s say you’re browsing their site in search of some new candles for your home. You find a candle you like and when you add it to your cart, you’re prompted to “Buy TWO, get one mystery candle.” This is an example of a discounted upsell.
You’re not being prompted to explore complementary items — rather, you’re being enticed to just buy more of the same thing. (Upgrading from a regular to a double cheeseburger, if you will.) And in the instance of candles, this sort of upsell is also a no-brainer; candles eventually burn out and ultimately will have to be replaced, so it makes sense to stock up while you can.
Point No Point Studio is a jewelry retailer specializing in engagement and wedding rings. Let’s say that you’re looking for an engagement ring for your special someone. You find a piece you know (hope) they’ll love, select their ring size, and add it to your cart. Upon adding to your cart, you’re prompted with a suggestion: add insurance. This is an example of an upsell.
Adding insurance protection is sort of an enhancement of the ring itself. And when buying such a high-investment piece — from both a financial and an emotional standpoint — it makes sense to buy some sort of coverage in case the ring someday becomes lost, stolen, or damaged. It’s like adding Apple Care to your new iPhone, whose eventual cracked screen is inevitable. Suggesting insurance is thus another easy layup of an upsell.
Okay, now for some cross-sell examples. Let’s say you’re searching for a corset and come across Timeless Trends, a retailer that specializes in corsets. Upon finding one you like and adding it to your cart, you’re prompted with a suggestion to add a modesty panel. This is an example of a cross-sell.
You don’t need a modesty panel in order to wear your corset. Rather, it’s a nice-to-have should you want a little more privacy. It’s a complementary add-on item, but one that could make a lot of sense should extra coverage be something you’re looking for.
Ecokind Cleaning is a retailer selling sustainable cleaning products. Let’s say you’re looking for some products to clean your bathroom and come across their Toilet Cleaner Tablets. You decide to give them a try and select “Add to Cart.” After adding, you’re greeted with a suggestion: “You might also like: Cleaning Essentials Kit.” This is an example of a cross-sell.
The Cleaning Essentials Kit, again, is a complementary item. It could round out their Toilet Cleaner Tablets quite well should you be stocking up on general home cleaning supplies, but it’s not necessary for using the Toilet Cleaner Tablets on their own. Still, if someone is already open to buying new home cleaning products, it could be an easy cross-sell to help drive up their cart value.
Less confused? We certainly hope so. Now that we‘ve cleared things up, let’s start actually upselling **and cross-selling.
Implementing savvy upselling and cross-selling techniques across your email campaigns, product pages, and your checkout process is an easy way to drive AOV and boost customer satisfaction and loyalty. And the easiest way to implement these techniques? Using the In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell Shopify app.
This app, which uses AI to recommend products that your customers are most likely to buy, makes upselling and cross-selling on product pages during checkout easy.
Try out In Cart Upsell today with a 30-day free trial. With a 30-second setup and immediate results, your eCommerce store has so much upselling and cross-selling to gain and literally nothing to lose. (It is a free trial, after all.)
If you’re like most ecommerce business owners, the first thing that will come to mind as you try to think of ways of boosting your revenue is acquiring more customers. While it’s a good approach, it has a price due to increased marketing expenses.
Fortunately, there’s a more cost-effective way to grow your revenues while relying on your existing customer base: increasing your Average Order Value (AOV). Squeezing more value from your existing customers will save you five times more than getting new customers to your store.
But where do you start? Read on as we explore four strategies to boost your AOV on Shopify.
Before we dive into the AOV optimization strategies, let’s define what Average Order Value means. Your AOV is the average amount of money customers spend each time they hit your checkout page.
You calculate the AOV by dividing the total revenue you generate by the total number of orders placed. For example, if you generate total revenue of $2,500 from 100 orders placed during the month, your AOV will be $25. AOV helps you understand how much customers spend on each purchase.
There are various strategies to increase your AOV on Shopify, but here are four of the most effective ones.
Upsells and cross-sells are great ways to get customers to spend more on each purchase. Let's take a closer look at what each strategy entails:
Upselling is a sales technique that encourages customers to purchase a more expensive version of the product they already intend to buy. This technique benefits both you and the customer by allowing customers to get more value from their purchase while increasing your business profits.
One example of a brand excelling at upselling is Pro Flowers.
This flower retailer gives customers three or four bouquet size options when shopping for flowers, including standard, deluxe, premium, and exquisite. The brand has a clever way of automatically selecting the second-lowest-priced bouquet size, which increases the possibility of upselling.
Cross-selling involves suggesting related or complementary products to the ones customers are already buying. This technique can increase customer satisfaction by providing them with the complete set of items they need to get the full value from their purchase.
An example of a brand successfully leveraging cross-selling is Quince, a fashion brand offering sustainable products.
When customers add a dress to their cart, the store suggests related items, such as jewelry, to complete the look. This way, customers get everything they need in one purchase rather than purchasing separate pieces. By cross-selling complementary items, Quince increases its AOV.
You can use upselling and cross-selling tactics in your email campaigns, on your product pages, and during the checkout process on your ecommerce store. There are various Shopify apps that make it easy to set up upselling and cross-selling in your store.
One is Product Options & Customizer, which has an up-charge pricing feature that allows you to add additional charges to certain products or variations. This app also supports the creation of custom product pages, making it easier for customers to personalize their purchases and increase their AOV.
Another app is Sales Rocket, which has an In Cart Upsell feature. This feature helps you increase your AOV by suggesting add-on products to customers right after they’ve added the main item to their cart.
Implementing upselling and cross-selling effectively is key to increasing Average Order Value (AOV) in your Shopify store. This complex strategy requires not just a deep understanding of your product line but also a nuanced approach to customer behavior. Leveraging the expertise of like Weberous can make this task significantly more manageable. Their seasoned advice can help tailor your upselling and cross-selling techniques to fit your unique brand, ensuring these strategies work harmoniously to enhance your store's AOV.
One of the best ways to eliminate customer hesitation to buy more is by offering free shipping thresholds. This technique allows customers to get free shipping when they reach a certain purchase amount. For instance, you can offer free shipping on all orders above $50.
The real task here is to determine the appropriate threshold. You want to ensure the threshold is high enough to increase AOV significantly but not so high that customers are discouraged from buying altogether.
To determine the ideal free shipping threshold, Aaron Zakowski, a digital marketing expert, recommends adding 30% to your AOV. For instance, if your AOV is $25, you can offer free shipping for orders over $32.
You can include a notification bar on your product pages, which tells customers that they must add X dollars to their cart to get free shipping. This can be an effective way to encourage customers to buy more and increase your AOV.
Bundling involves combining multiple items into one product or package at a discounted price. For best results, ensure that the price of the product bundles is less than the sum of all individual items. Bundling can increase AOV by offering customers the convenience of buying multiple items in one purchase.
The strategy also increases the perceived value of the items while allowing customers to save money and get everything they need with one purchase. It also encourages impulse purchases since customers don’t have to think too much before buying.
One bundling approach is to offer product packages that provide an all-in-one solution for customers. For example, Beard Brand offers grooming kit bundles comprising products for beard, face, hair, and skin grooming.
The products include a cleanser, conditioners, shaving lotion, and a styling gel for hair and beard. Since this package provides convenience by allowing customers to get everything in one package, they feel encouraged to buy more, which increases the AOV for the brand.
Shopify store owners can use apps such as Bulk Discount Now to encourage customers to purchase bundled items at discounted prices. It shows them how much they're saving when they buy in bulk. As a result, they are incentivized to buy more, increasing the AOV.
Consider setting up a loyalty program that rewards customers for buying more or making repeat purchases. The program will boost retention while encouraging customers to purchase more items. It also builds strong relationships with existing customers, which increases customer satisfaction and leads to better results in the long run.
You can offer points or discounts to customers when they reach a certain spending threshold, encouraging them to buy more items from your store and increase AOV. You can reward loyal customers with exclusive offers such as early access to new products or special prices for specific items. This makes them feel valued and encourages them to purchase more items.
You should keep revising your loyalty program to match customer preferences or market trends. For instance, if your competitors offer free gift cards, consider adding this benefit to your loyalty program.
Increasing AOV can be a great way to boost online sales and improve customer satisfaction. With the right strategies, you can easily increase AOV without sacrificing the customer experience. If you would like to boost your AOV through upselling and cross-selling, consider using the In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell app.
This Shopify app makes it easy to upsell and cross-sell on product pages and in shopping carts. It uses AI to automatically recommend products that your customers are likely to buy. The app's advanced targeting capabilities make recommending products to your customers easy based on order amount, cart content, and location.
Start your 30-day free trial to see how the In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell app can help you increase AOV.
But like most marketers, it’s easy to forget about your current customers, especially when you’re putting all your blood, sweat, and tears into finding new ones. In most cases, your best results will come from nurturing your current customers.
One of the best ways to do this is by upselling and cross-selling. According to a recent survey by HubSpot, 74% of salespeople who cross-sell and 72% of those who upsell say that the techniques increase revenues by 30%.
But where do you start? Here are 10 inspiring examples of upselling and cross-selling that you can apply to your eCommerce store.
Upselling is a sales technique that encourages customers to purchase an upgraded or expensive version of the product they’re interested in. When upselling, you offer add-ons that increase your product’s functionality. Upselling aims to increase your total sales while introducing customers to options that can meet their needs better.
Various brands have already mastered the art of upselling up their sleeve. Examples of these brands include:
Dollar Shave Club is an eCommerce retailer selling grooming and shaving products. The brand keeps expanding its selection of products and uses upselling to increase the sales of the higher-end ones.
You'll first see the bundled options on the products display page, including shave bundles and special value bundles. These are more expensive that the products in the single-item category.
Visitors to the Dollar Shave website will first see the most expensive items, including the double-header electric trimmer, the newest addition to the shaving products family. The cheaper options, such as the option to buy only a blade appear lower on the products page. By cleverly displaying the expensive products first, Dollar Shave Club increases the chances that visitors will order the pricey, valued-added items.
The tech giant is upselling its latest iPhone 14 through a trade-in deal. This is a brilliant technique as it entices even the most discerning customers to upgrade their devices and take up the more expensive model. Plus, it’s an incentive for people on the fence about spending a hefty amount of money upfront.
Trade-in as an upselling technique also appeals to customers who are conscious about their environment. It’s possible to recycle some smartphone parts, so it’s more eco-friendly to return an outdated gadget and get a discount to buy the upgraded and better version.
Did you know you can upsell by creating a sense of urgency? Evernote, a popular app for note-taking and archiving, upsells its higher subscription plans by offering time-limited deals. Currently, Evernote is offering a 50% discount for those who subscribe to its personal plan before January 26, 2023.
This upselling strategy encourages customers to act quickly, as the offer is only valid for a limited time. By creating a sense of urgency with its upsell message, Evernote ensures it doesn’t miss out on potential revenue.
The offer is placed side to side with the free plan. However, the personal plan has more features that make people perceive it as more worthwhile.
Are upsells only for tech companies? Absolutely not!
Italian fashion brand O bag upsells its products with personalization options. That’s right. Customers can tailor their bags by adding patches, straps, and accessories in all sorts of colors and materials.
Upselling via personalization is a great way to increase customer loyalty, as people love to have unique items that reflect their style. Upselling through personalization also helps the brand keep up with the latest trends. Customers can find the most up-to-date colors, materials, and designs in their product range without O bag having to invest a lot of effort in creating new products from scratch.
The bags become more fashionable and appealing as customers add more features such as handles, inner bags, and trims. However, the more features, the more expensive the product becomes. And since most customers are willing to pay up for customizing their bags, upselling through personalization can greatly increase the average order value.
Molekule sells award-winning air purifiers equipped with technology to destroy pollutants like mold, bacteria, and viruses. The company upsells its air purifiers by highlighting its high-end products with customer reviews.
In today's market, most customers will look up reviews before making a purchase decision. These customers are more likely to buy your products if they have amazing reviews from people who have tried them.
Molekule understands this perfectly, upselling its products by displaying reviews from users of their high-end air purifiers. People get the assurance they need to spend more on a product that will last them years and offer better air quality than cheaper alternatives.
Cross-selling is a sales technique that encourages customers to purchase complementary products or services related to the product they’re already buying. It’s one of the easiest strategies you can use to grow your business because you’re leveraging the relationship you already have with your clients to sell the products that are most likely to meet their needs.
Retailers cross-sell sell every day, and customers often buy cross-sold items without even realizing it. Here are five examples of cross-selling to give you an idea of how it works:
iHerb is an online retailer that sells natural and organic health products. The company cross-sells its products by showing customers the combinations other customers often buy with the items they select. iHerb displays the complementary products under the “frequently purchased together” section.
By cross-selling products together, iHerb makes it easier for customers to purchase items they might not have considered before. At the same time, the company can increase its average order value and maximize revenue from each customer.
TheOutnet is an online luxury fashion retailer known for offering designer clothing, shoes, and accessories. The company cross-sells its products using "the complete the look recommendations" technique. It encourages customers to purchase clothing pieces that are likely to match the items they already have in their cart.
TheOutnet’s cross-selling strategy offers its customers more product options and makes them perceive it as more worthwhile by offering them a complete look. If you're a fashion retailer, this cross-selling strategy can increase your credibility because when you give styling advice, customers are more likely to believe you’re an expert seller. You’re not only giving them the product they come to buy but proving that you understand fashion and style.
MAKE Beauty is an online cosmetics retailer that cross-sells its products by showing customers other products that pair well with products already in their cart. They do this by displaying a "pairs best with" section for every item customers click on. This section shows some other products customers can buy to complete their makeup look.
MAKE Beauty's strategy of suggesting complementary items that go well together helps customers get more out of what they’re already buying. Plus, it helps them discover new beauty products they might not have considered before.
Cleancult is an eco-friendly cleaning brand that sells sustainable cleaning solutions. The company cross-sells its products by using the bundling technique. This involves offering customers packages that include several items at a discounted price. For instance, customers can buy bundles of dishwasher tablets, hand soap bundles, or a complete home bundle consisting of different solutions customers would need to clean various surfaces.
Cleancult's strategy encourages customers to buy more items and helps them save money. Plus, the complete sets of products help customers create a convenient and sustainable way to clean their homes quickly. But beyond that, the cross-selling technique makes the brand's products seem more attractive by helping them stand out from competitors who don’t offer bundled deals.
Showing your customers what others are buying is a great way to increase sales. Aesop, a natural skincare and home fragrances brand, cross-sells its products by displaying the “others also considered” section on every product page. This section shows customers other products that previous customers bought alongside the items they’re considering.
This cross-selling strategy is more like showing customers a section of "you might also like" items. It encourages customers to explore products they weren’t interested in and helps them discover products that are likely to yield the best results when used together.
Like with customer reviews, customers are more likely to trust other customers’ opinions than the company itself. So, displaying this section can increase purchase decisions. Moreover, it increases engagement by giving customers a personal feel that shows the brand cares about their shopping experience.
You now have some of the best upselling and cross-selling examples that you can use to increase your sales and customer loyalty. Learn from these brands and combine some of their strategies to grow your eCommerce store.
If you want to automate your upselling and cross-selling strategies, consider using the In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell app. This Shopify app will help you create more opportunities for your customers to buy more when shopping at your eCommerce store by automatically displaying what they’re more likely to buy. Start your 30-day free trial today.
Statistics suggest that almost one-third of retail sales occur between Black Friday and Christmas Day, so you must capitalize on it. After all, consumers spend around $789 billion throughout the festive season.
However, here’s the truth of marketing: you must upsell and cross-sell to customers on your Shopify store. It will boost sales from existing traffic already interested in buying your products, and enhance the customer experience.
The holidays are the best time of the year for eCommerce merchants. Although people traditionally love to visit retail stores—they also like the convenience of making purchases off of Instagram and TikTok ads. If you're spending money to acquire customers, you want to maximize the ROAS with a higher AOV. Therefore, the goal is to smash your sales this holiday season.
These are the most substantial days for your eCommerce business, and here’s how you make the most of them:
There’s no better way to ensure sales than by personalizing the customer’s experience, and both upselling and cross-selling do that. For example, customers actively engage with brands that offer them product recommendations and relevant suggestions.
One of the best ways to do this is through a live chat.
Many businesses don’t have the resources to answer customer queries and product recommendations 24/7. However, live chat software can help you to overcome that. Research suggests companies with a live chat feature have a 2.4 greater annual increase in upselling and cross-selling revenue. So as you can see, it’s a simple no-brainer for your store.
Ensure your website has a live chat option to ensure upselling and cross-selling. Many companies still don’t have one and lose sales because of it.
A successful upselling and cross-selling strategy will boost the revenue of any eCommerce merchant. Remember, this is when customers need extra gifts for themselves, friends, and family. Better still, you can assist them with relevant product suggestions.
Offer additional products that customers can purchase to boost total revenue is the easiest way to increase your average order value per customer.
If you want a successful Shopify store, you need to boost the value of every sale. You can do this with a successful upselling and cross-selling campaign. Better still, the holidays are the absolute best time of year to upsell and cross-sell your customers.
Don’t let your customers leave without getting all the products they want for the holidays.
There’s no point in having incredible holidays in 2022 and losing those customers in 2023. You must ensure those customers feel valued and return to your store as ongoing customers. In addition, it’s essential to offer customers plenty of product suggestions to prevent them from going elsewhere. That's why when you sell on Amazon it's so successful because they bundle everything together and make it easy to sell multiple complementary products to one customer in one shopping cart.
Both of these benefits make upselling and cross-selling crucial during the holidays.
If there’s one thing all customers love—it’s convenience. If you offer customers relevant upselling and cross-selling options, you’re making their life far more comfortable because you ease the customer’s decision-making process.
One way to achieve this is by bundling relevant products together. In turn, you’ll make the customer's shopping process more seamless.
A benefit of an upselling and cross-selling strategy is how you can balance new and existing customers, which is essential to the survival of your business. You can maintain your current customers if you offer them helpful and complementary product suggestions.
In addition, offering new customers product suggestions means you’re more likely to keep them as loyal customers. As a result, you’ll get the best of both worlds and create the ultimate balance.
Now you know the benefits of upselling and cross-selling your customers during the holiday period, you’re probably wondering how to do it. The best way is by using a third-party Shopify app.
If the third-party Shopify software has these excellent features, you’ll run a successful marketing campaign during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and New Year.
There’s no doubt about it: you need a successful marketing strategy for your Shopify store during the holidays in 2022. And the best way to achieve this is through upselling and cross-selling.
In Cart Upsell makes it easy to offer upsells through AI driven technology that makes smart decisions about which products to offer to complement existing purchases. Install for free for 30 Days on the Shopify app store.
Upselling and cross-selling play a pivotal role in an eCommerce marketing funnel, targeting existing customers who already love your brand and encouraging new customers to try more than one product. The strategy helps retain loyal customers and grow lifetime value.
So, what do upselling strategies look like, and how can you implement a successful cross-selling campaign?
Before we dive into practical (and effective) examples of upselling products, it’s important to understand the benefits of the strategy. While upselling and cross-selling are often used interchangeably, they work slightly differently.
Upselling encourages customers to purchase a higher-end product than the one they are interested in. By exposing online visitors to better models or versions of a product, it’s possible to increase the average order value (AOV) and improve customer satisfaction.
Cross-selling suggests related or complementary items to the customer, encouraging them to make an additional purchase. Effective cross-selling suggestions can increase sales and profit, reduce the selling cost, increase customer loyalty and provide a better understanding of customer needs.
Before making suggestions, it’s important to consider the customer journey and make the prompt at a strategic time. Consider the following tips when implementing an upselling strategy;
There are different ways to implement upselling and cross-selling strategies, helping to boost the AOV of your eCommerce store. The following Shopify stores showcase effective strategies with the help of a Shopify Upsell App.
Aviator Nation is a California brand inspired by the 1970s. The brand launches regular collections of stylish apparel, targeting new customers and retargeting existing customers. While launching its artist collection, Aviator Nation takes advantage of cross-selling strategies.
When customers view a hand-dyed zip hoodie, they are provided with a well-written product description, followed by a complementary product — hand-dyed sweatpants! By placing the two complementary products alongside one another, a customer can see the full look and be inspired to get the complete outfit.
Aviator Nation uses strategic wording and encourages the shopper to “Complete the look” with the second half of the full outfit. Further down the product page are “More items to consider,” which is a section that showcases other products that are similar in style or design.
Loot Crate taps into pop culture, fandom, and cult followings by selling collectibles, apparel, and gear using a subscription model. Loot Crate allows customers to geek out with a surprise unboxing by tapping into the fan culture.
One of the ways that Loot Crate boosts sales and captivates buyers is through the limited edition crate series. For example, the Junji Ito Artist Collection encourages fans to take advantage of the non-recurring crates.
By bundling licensed apparel, collectibles, and gear in honor of the Japanese author, Loot Crate cross-sells their products in a bundled crate. The campaign increases urgency and encourages a speedy sale by making the crate a limited edition purchase, grouping more than one item together and labeling the crate as a “surprise.”
MNML believes in keeping things simple and selling progressive apparel designs at fair prices. It’s not only their business that works effortlessly, but they also strive to create an easy shopping experience for their valued customers. Part of this strategy includes recommending products based on consumer interests.
For example, if a consumer shows interest in a paint splatter shirt, then the online shop recommends similar items below the product description. The online store’s system selects similar products to cross-sell based on the customer’s previous behavior.
As the customer browses the details of their selected shirt, they are presented with other similar design items, encouraging additional purchases. By branding these suggested items under the heading “Recommended for you,” customers are offered a personalized shopping experience that meets their needs and improves brand loyalty.
Limited Run Games produces small batches of digital and retro games. Not only does their small batch approach increase the sense of urgency for purchase, but their cross-selling technique further encourages the purchase of highly collectible items.
Limited Run offers the opportunity to pre-order products before they are available. As a customer adds a product to their cart, they are prompted to add another less-expensive, complementary item.
For example, when adding a PS5 Limited Run River City Girls game to the cart, the customer is prompted to add a limited trading card booster pack at a fraction of the cost. The low price makes it easier to decide, coming in cheaper than the original item.
The Jays Care Foundation is a charitable arm of the Toronto Blue Jays, promoting baseball as a tool to teach children essential skills, mainly focused on creating lasting change for marginalized youth. Jays Care 50/50 is a licensed raffle where individuals purchase tickets with the opportunity to win 50% of the total money raised.
In addition to early bird tickets, Jays Care 50/50 offers four raffle ticket bundle options.
For example, buying five tickets costs $10, making the cost of each ticket $2. The more tickets that a consumer buys, the cheaper the total cost of the ticket. To continue the example, the cost of 15 tickets is $20 (the cost per ticket is $1.3), the cost of 100 tickets is $50 ($0.50 per ticket), and the cost of 250 tickets is $100 ($0.40 per ticket).
The upselling technique encourages customers to buy more tickets to get the most value out of their money.
Create opportunities for your customers to buy more while they are already shopping on your eCommerce store and are in the purchase flow.
Upselling strategies encourage customers to buy something in addition to their original intended purchase. These methods work best for merchants who sell product bundles or have complementary products and want customers to discover more products that meet their preferences.
Upselling and cross-selling methods introduce customers to new relevant products and increase customer satisfaction. These strategies also increase cart value and boost revenue.
There are various ways to incorporate upselling strategies, such as the following:
These efforts can be offered on product pages, cart pages, and post-purchase upsells encouraged after the inital sale on the confirmation screen.
Of all of these strategies, a most powerful way to create these opportunities is through a Shopify app that integrates with your Shopify store, automating cross selling related or complementary products and tracking performance.
There are various upselling strategies to adopt and tools that help achieve this goal. Consider the following as a starting point.
Technology has come a long way in refining processes, and artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful development. AI has the potential to automatically recommend the exact product that your shopper is most likely to add to their cart next.
For example, if a shopper adds a pair of blue flare denim trousers to their cart, then the AI may recommend a product with the same fit in a different color. The recommendation introduces the shopper to a similar product that already fits their style and size.
Customers love to save money when spending money. Store owners can appeal to the savvy spender by offering discounts on related products. There are various ways to offer a discount, such as offering discounted rates for additional products or offering a reduced price for the same product.
For example, if a shopper adds a black, beaded bracelet to their cart, you can offer 15% off the price if they add a second one. Another option is to offer a discount after the purchase — for the exact same bracelet to be given as a gift or kept as a spare.
Have you ever noticed that the leather belts are displayed next to the denim trousers in a physical store? Or that kitchen pans may be stocked alongside the spatula utensils? Online shop owners may not be able to stock items in this way, but cart cross-sell methods can be used to recommend products that are often bought and used together.
For example, if a shopper adds several notebooks to their cart, you can recommend pairing the purchase with a set of pens at the checkout page. By suggesting items typically used together on the cart page, it encourages an impulse buy as a cross-sell.
Bundling products together combines cross-selling and discount methods. By bundling similar items and offering discounted rates on the product page, the products become more appealing while increasing the chance of making a sale.
For example, on the product page listing a beanie, a pop-up advertising a discounted Trucker encourages an additional purchase. The discount is appealing, the products go well together, and both items are added to the cart from the product page.
In Cart Upsell is a robust and dynamic Shopify app that offers laser targeted upsell and cross-sell opportunities. With AI-powered and 100% customizable offers, the tool increases sales, boosts conversion rates and is easy to use.
The first step to establishing a winning upsell strategy is to identify the opportunities for upsells and cross-sells in your eCommerce business. To get you started, let’s talk about four options that work for many Shopify stores.
Upsells come in the shape of offers that allow customers to move up from one basic product to a more advanced or more valuable product. You may still end up with just one sale, but it’s a more lucrative sale that allows you to profit more.
Dollar Shave Club is a great example. They started out with a simple delivery service for shaving blades. Today, they’re upselling new and existing customers for a more expensive box that includes a customized blend of grooming and shaving products. They use a quiz to help shoppers decide on what they want in their box, resulting in many that will sign up for a more expensive box than the basic blade service they might have otherwise.
Cross-sells are offers that encourage customers to purchase accessories or add-ons that complement their purchase. They still buy what they initially put in their cart, but they can also add an item or two.
Online flower delivery services are excellent examples. You select a bouquet of flowers and then have the option to add balloons, chocolates, stuffed animals, and other items to make your gift even more special—and their order a higher average. You can do the same with virtually any product. Just come up with optional add-ons that you can offer at checkout.
Keep these differences in mind as you look for opportunities to improve sales for your Shopify business. Most online shops can implement upsells and cross-sells at different points in the buyer’s journey.
Product upgrades are upsells. If you have multiple complementary products that could be bundled or frequently sold together, your goal is to encourage shoppers to invest in making that purchase altogether. This can happen after someone purchases one of your most affordable products and experiences the value firsthand, but you don’t have to wait.
You can also make offers for upgrades during the checkout process. Once a shopper adds a product to their cart, you know what products interest them and what problems they may need to solve. You can offer an upgraded version of that product to encourage a more profitable sale.
For example, when a customer adds a single product to their cart, you may offer them something smaller that would be a low cost to them that would easily complement what they are already purchasing.
Insurance or protection plans are cross-sells because you’re offering an add-on rather than moving to a more expensive product. What you’re offering is peace of mind that the investment a customer is making is protected in some way.
This works especially well for products that have a higher price point. When customers are investing in say a pair of Yeezy's, luggage, or a luxury handbag, they might want peace of mind while at the checkout making that purchase.
Bundles are the ultimate cross-sell opportunity. Your goal is to find products that complement one another and offer them as a packaged deal. Another option is to bundle multiples of the same product. Candles are a great example of this. Economies of scale help customers save money by purchasing bundles of candles during a single purchase.
You can do bundles with a variety of products. You can bundle some of your bestsellers for a can’t-resist offer, come up with themed bundles, or just offer a bundle for major holidays. Just make sure the pricing allows for a slight discount over purchasing the products individually.
We talked about encouraging upgrades, but this is slightly different. If you have a premium product or service that delivers substantial profit, you want to encourage shoppers to go that route. You will need multiple product options that are similar to make this work. When a shopper adds the lower quality product to their cart, you offer an irresistible deal on the premium upgrade.
If you don’t offer premium versions of your products today, this may be a product expansion opportunity to consider. How can you amplify your current products to create a more advanced or valuable version in the future?
Are you starting to think about new ways to create upsells for your Shopify store? You can use these ideas as a starting point, and we also can help. With In Cart Upsells recommendation engine, the guesswork is left out and the AI will find the best offers to present to your customers on the product pages, Ajax cart, and cart pages to make it easy for your customers to add and check out.
Start Your Free 30-Day Trial on In Cart Upsell on Shopify Today!
If you want to make more money, you have to spend more money on ads so you can acquire new customers.
But what if you could make more money without the ad spend? Sound too good to be true? It isn’t! It’s simply a matter of encouraging people who are already buying from you to spend more.
Let’s dig into Average Order Value (AOV) and look at 6 strategies for increasing this metric. Thus, you’ll earn more without spending more on ads!
Has this ever happened to you when shopping online? You’ve chosen the items you want and when looking at your cart you realize that the total amount is just under the minimum order amount to qualify for free shipping.
Would you rather spend the money on shipping or find something else to buy to get free shipping and enjoy an extra item?
It’s a no-brainer, right? Most people will look for something else to buy to meet the minimum. After all, they have to spend the money anyway, they might as well get something for it.
Bottom line: offer free shipping over a certain dollar amount. Base this amount on the average price of items in your Shopify store. If you’re already making a few sales, choose an amount somewhat higher than your current AOV.
Someone comes to your eCommerce store and they want to buy a product. But what if you have a different version of the product? A better one with more features and a higher price tag?
You already know they are interested enough in the simpler version to buy it. This is the perfect opportunity to remind them or let them know about the more expensive version.
However, you never want to interrupt someone who is about to hand you money. An annoying popup ad showcasing the more expensive product could be enough to frustrate the customer and you end up losing them.
That’s why an app like In Cart Upsell is gold. This app casually slips information about your more expensive product seamlessly into the webpage your customer is already viewing. If the customer takes the bait, you’ve effortlessly earned a little extra money on that sale.
Cross-selling is another fabulous technique for getting a customer to buy more items. However, like upselling, it is important to keep it low-key and seamless.
Annoying popups jumping out at shoppers can scare them away. But helpful recommendations that relate to the product they want to buy are much more welcome in the customer’s view, and thus more effective.
For example, customers buying shoes will appreciate a recommendation for socks that compliment them. They might be annoyed, however, by a recommendation for a completely unrelated item (like a random tote bag). It looks tacky and feels like you’re just trying to get more money out of them. You are, of course, but you don’t want it to be so glaringly obvious.
Again, In Cart Upsell makes this a seamless process. Using AI technology, the app figures out what your customer is most likely to buy next and gently slips in the recommendation.
Down selling sounds like something you would want to avoid but consider this. What if your customer is considering an item but, deciding the item is too expensive, they click away? Then they get a gentle suggestion offering a similar item with fewer features at a lower price point.
If the price was the issue, they are primed and ready to buy the item but they didn’t want to spend quite that much. With this tactic, you make a smaller sale — but hey, a smaller sale is better than no sale!
Discount codes are a fantastic way to encourage people to buy more. Customers love it when they feel like they are getting special treatment.
And while blanket discount codes are great, targeted ones are even better! This is what makes customers feel like you’re rolling out the red carpet.
While targeted offers might sound complicated, In Cart Upsell makes the process super simple. You can create the offers based on the customer’s location, cart content, number of items in the cart, and more.
You can also reserve these offers for special customers, such as those on your email list, returning customers, or wholesale clients.
How do you know your upsell offers are as good as they could be? What if you could test them to find out?
Again, In Cart Upsell takes care of all the heavy lifting. Design two versions of your upsell and activate both. Then, forget about it.
The app will analyze how each version of upsells is performing. It will automatically optimize the upsell offer that does the best. It doesn’t require any extra effort on your part (other than creating the second offer). Yet you can rest easy knowing your upsell offer is working as well as it can.
Bundles are a great way to boost your sales and generate more revenue from each visitor to your store. You can create bundles and sell them as single products, or offer bundles as optional add-ons on your product pages. When setting up bundles in your e-commerce store, it's important to make sure the products you bundle together give value to the customer.
Check your existing sales history and create bundles of products that are commonly purchased together - your sales will skyrocket! You can use PickyStory to create upsell and cross-sell bundles that can be displayed on your pages or as popups. You can add optional discounts to your bundles, and inventory is automatically tracked for each individual product in the bundle.
There is a huge potential for Shopify store owners to make a decent living from the comfort of their homes. However, eCommerce isn’t as easy as some people make it out to be. To get the result you want, you’ve got to be willing to put in the work.
Thankfully, apps like In Cart Upsell make the process a lot simpler. Plus, an AI-based app like this is more effective than you. It can customize upsells and cross-sells according to what that individual customer is more likely to buy. It does this based on evidence, not the random guess you would have to make!
A post-purchase upsell is a type of offer made by stores to shoppers after they have already purchased to encourage further purchases. It's crucial to realize that an upsell doesn't always mean raising the actual selling price; it might also mean raising the average order value (AOV). This is frequently accomplished by providing comparable products to your store that you feel a shopper will benefit from as well. For example, if you offer dog treats and have an upsell to online training tools because they compliment your products well, you may encourage customers to buy both together.
This often features comparable goods that your online store believes the shopper may be interested in purchasing next.
To begin, let us define the average order value or AOV. AOV is the average amount of money a shopper spends on your store during a single transaction. Divide the total revenue by the number of orders per period of time to get your current AOV. Because individuals are already going through the checkout process and paying for delivery, why not persuade them to spend a little more with your store?
Because the AOV is the total amount paid per order, adding things to the cart after a purchase that were not there before raises the AOV. By including post-purchase upsells on your store, you may boost your revenue per shopper.
When it comes to improving your average order value, post-purchase upsells may be beneficial. Rather than concentrating just on how to upsell the consumer before the purchase, post-purchase upsells are becoming an increasingly important component in increasing your AOV. The difficulty is to understand what motivates customers to make subsequent purchases after their original purchase; this is a tool that is largely informed by psychology and marketing theory, as well as experimentation and testing.
When it comes to eCommerce optimization, many merchants tend to focus on the initial sale of a shopper. But there's more to the puzzle than just one purchase.
The average order value (AOV) is an important indicator in analyzing your store's overall performance and profitability. It is critical to not only enhance your AOV but also to ensure that it is maximized for each consumer on every order.
The most efficient approach to accomplishing this is to include post-purchase upsells or cross-sells during the checkout process. These upsells might assist you in increasing your AOV with little effort.
While some shoppers may be hesitant about the usefulness of these offers, there are various methods to counteract these preconceived beliefs and offer post-buy upsells or cross-sells that will truly benefit your customers and get them enthusiastic about making a larger purchase from your store.
Because shoppers are already familiar with your brand and are in the suitable mood to make future purchases, the post-purchase upsell is an excellent strategy to improve your Average Order Value.
The good news is that using In Cart Upsell to enable post-purchase upsells is simple.
Let's dive into the importance of post-purchase upsells and their significance to your store.
It's easy for customers to add an item to their order before they checkout. But what happens when they've already completed their purchase? You may think that it's too late to offer an additional upsell at this stage.
People are more likely to buy more if they have already bought something else.
Remember: post-purchase upsells don't necessarily have to come in the form of additional products.
You could also use this opportunity to highlight other areas of your business and encourage repeat purchases by offering your customers a discount or coupon code on their next visit.
This strategy seems to make sense: the customer has already purchased something, so you might think it's the perfect opportunity to offer them more. But it's not. If you wait until after the sale to offer another product or service, you'll get better results with less effort.
To understand why this is the case, consider what your customers are thinking immediately after they make a purchase: they're happy. They're excited about their new product because they just got what they wanted—and at that moment, your brand is strong in their mind because of it. That means that right after making a purchase is the best time for you to get in front of that customer and offer them something else—otherwise known as an "upsell."
Post-purchase upsells can be a great way to increase average order value. It keeps customers in your funnel longer, increasing their chance of making another purchase in the future. The key is to make sure that you are not spamming them and truly providing them with value. Always be sure to have an upsell offer that is specific to the customer's purchase and you will be fine.
It allows you to make up for any sales that may have been lost during checkout or due to abandoned carts. To truly put the technique to work, analyze your worst performing products and determine what could be done to improve their performance. This way, if a customer orders one of your underperforming items, they'll notice an increase in value and will likely be more willing to purchase other products after the fact.
The idea is to create a post-purchase upsell that will convince the shopper to add just one more item to their cart. This message should be personalized, very clearly stating the value of the product you are offering and why it would be helpful to them. If you can get customers to add one more product to their order they will not only buy it but they will also make another purchase in the future, as well as tell all of their friends about how great your store is.
No, you can’t just add upsells to your online store and expect them to convert. But when you carefully select the right products and sequence the upsells logically, you can increase your average order value by 10 – 20% with minimal effort.
So, don't think of post-purchase upsells as an additional burden. Instead, think of this as one more chance to help your customers, who are already happy with their purchase.
This sounds too good to be true, but it's not.
People always buy more than they think they'll need. The average online shopper buys twice as many items online as they expected to. More and more people are turning to online shopping because the convenience is off the charts but what's most surprising is that 50 percent of people buy more than they ever thought they would.
That's right, half of your shoppers will buy something extra while they are browsing your Shopify Store.
This is how online stores entice buyers to purchase things that they might not have considered right away. You can upsell products with special discounts or simply encourage them to shop more by adding items they may want or need. There's no limit to what type of products or services you can offer, but it's important to keep track of your offers so you don't confuse the buyer.
Amazon, one of the world's largest e-commerce marketplaces, reported that cross-selling and upselling account for up to 35% of their earnings.
Therefore there’s absolutely no reason why upselling shouldn’t work for your Shopify store.
If you're the owner of a Shopify store, then this is great news for you!
This enables you to add upsells and cross-sell opportunities throughout the shopping experience from the product page to the cart drawer. In one of our previous articles, we discussed the importance of upselling products to your customers and how you can combine upselling with product options to help increase your average order value and increase customer loyalty as it gives them more value for their money.
In this article, we will dive into what you should know about upselling and educate you on what you might not know about upselling.
Upselling has been demonstrated to increase eCommerce sales by up to 30%, with targeted product recommendations accounting for up to 30% of revenue. Furthermore, marketing to existing clients (or those who have expressed an interest in becoming customers) is significantly easier than beginning from scratch.
If you are not offering products that compliment your consumers’ initial purchases (or, better yet, take them to the next level), you are leaving money on the table.
According to Marketing Metrics, the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%.
What this statistic means is that shoppers who are just visiting your site for the first time are less likely to purchase a product when compared to selling to an existing customer the probability is higher.
For Shopify stores, we've found that when you create a highly targeted upsell offer, display it in your cart, and make it easy for customers to access, you can increase the average order value by 20% or more.
When you upsell, you’re gaining a better understanding of your customers and their needs.
The key to successful upselling is knowing the right time to make your offers. Timing is everything. You need to consider the customer’s context and what they’re looking for before prompting them to take action.
When you have the right tools in place, you can spend less time worrying about making the sale and more time focusing on your customers.
The better you know your audience, the easier it will be for you to know exactly how to reach out to them to close more sales.
Upselling and cross-selling represent two of the most important sales strategies for increasing revenue from an existing customer base. Upselling is thought by some experts to be up to 10 times easier than selling at full price for the first time. This is mainly because customers who have already purchased from you once have demonstrated that they trust your brand enough to buy from it once; therefore, it's likely that they will buy from your store again in the future.
The bottom line is that upsell offers work. If you implement an upsell offer on your site, there is a very high probability that you will see your average order value go up significantly. It’s a great way for Shopify store owners to take their orders to the next level, and it’s certainly something that we would recommend doing.
There are two types of upsells: related items and additional products. Related items attempt to sell additional items with obvious connections to the shopper's original purchase. While these inspired suggestions might be helpful, too much unrelated upselling can distract the customer from their original purchase intent. The second type of upselling is an additional product: carefully crafted to be relevant to your target customer and designed to complement or enhance their original purchase in some way. So get out there and upsell your customers. They love it, and it will help you increase your sales.
Upselling is a natural next step when a customer has expressed interest in your product. Whether they’re purchasing or browsing, they are open to the idea of adding to what they’re getting. That’s the time and opportunity for you to offer other products that will appeal to them. Consider and prioritize those who have expressed more interest in your products and make extra effort for them.
There’s no denying that increasing customer value is the proper goal of any eCommerce store, but finding ways to do it creatively and effectively is easier said than done. Some businesses rely on the tried-and-true tactic of coupons or loyalty programs, while others push users to make larger orders by lumping multiple purchases onto a single bill. However, the best stores for upselling take a different approach: making it completely transparent and easy for customers to add products to their order that they otherwise might not have added on their own.
Most Shopify store owners are familiar with the term upselling. In short, upselling is when a store recommends or encourages a shopper to buy a higher-priced version of a certain product. The reason why it is called upselling is that you are being "up-sold" to make a purchase that is above and beyond your original decision. Upselling and cross-selling are often used interchangeably.
However, there is a difference between the two. While both are an attempt to increase overall sales by making additional offers to consumers, they differ in how the customer is approached. Cross-selling refers to making offers based on related items that are not specifically asked for by the consumer while they are making their purchase. For example, when you check out on Amazon or eBay, they will usually recommend accessories or other items that complement the existing item in the shopping cart as a bundled purchase ultimately cross-selling the purchaser on related products that complement each other.
Upselling refers to making offers based on an item that was specifically asked for by the consumer and ultimately offering them to buy a more premium version of the product or increasing the value of that purchase on the particular item in the cart.
Cross-selling is one of the most powerful strategies that a Shopify merchant can utilize. Looking for cross-selling opportunities and implementing them plays a vital role in customer satisfaction. When it comes to acquiring new customers, eCommerce stores have to optimize and identify target audiences to retain their current customers. This article will discuss ways to identify a cross-selling opportunity for a customer.
To be successful, merchants have to create and present cross-selling opportunities that match the needs of customers and unfold the maximum revenue potential. This is what separates the winners from the losers.
Cross-selling is one of the most effective methods of marketing. When done right, it can increase the average order value and it can also improve customer satisfaction by providing customers with everything they need to use their new product correctly and effectively, which in turn also turns them into repeat purchasers. Cha-ching.
Upselling random products to buyers causes confusion in the sale and will force them to abandon the purchase mid-purchase flow. Customizing upsell offers to give shoppers what they actually want is much more effective at convincing them to buy. For example, if a customer buys a laptop, then you could offer them a wireless mouse, that complements their purchase.
If you were to offer a sweater instead, that’s probably not something they’d be interested in and likely won’t increase your average order value.
Many eCommerce sellers offer products that complement each other — for example, a vacuum and a set of replacement filters. But identifying cross-selling opportunities is more than just paying attention to product categories.
The most effective cross-sell opportunities are based on shopping behavior. They're not just about selling similar products to the same customers, but instead about how you can help your customers be successful by offering the right products at the right time.
What have your customers purchased in the past? It's likely they've purchased items that you sell as part of a package, like a camera and accessories. Cross-selling isn't just about selling similar items, though — it's also about solving the customer's problem or helping them achieve their goals. For example, if you sell cameras, you already know your customers are interested in photography. You may be able to sell them printers or picture frames to go along with the initial purchase.
Many Shopify stores offer products for different purposes. Some shoppers may be aware of these relationships between products, but many won’t know about them until they see a suggestion at checkout or on product pages. By pointing out these relationships in your store and showing customers additional items they might like, you can increase your sales by giving customers what they need.
The cross-sells you suggest need to be relevant and valuable for your customers if you want to influence their purchasing decisions. To find the most relevant items, you need access to data about your customers' personas and purchase histories — i.e., what they like, what they need, what they have bought in the past, etc. You also need access to data about your products — descriptions, price ranges, and other characteristics that would help you, group, similar items together.
A good rule of thumb to follow is that cross-sells should be complementary products, not substitutes. For example, if a customer is buying a blender, don’t suggest an immersion blender as a cross-sell. Instead, recommend a set of mixing bowls or whisks since they are complementary products that go hand in hand with a blender.
If customers have an issue or pain point, they need help solving it. If you're not recommending products or solutions to fix these problems, then you are missing an opportunity for cross-selling.
If you can make customers happy by offering effective solutions, they will be more likely to become repeat customers and recommend your store to others. This is one of the biggest gains in cross-selling – a happy customer is much more likely to buy from you again and recommend your business than a customer who didn't receive any relevant product recommendations.
Cross-selling is more cost-effective than acquiring new customers and offers a higher ROI. Existing customers have lower marketing costs because they are already familiar with your brand, and they are more likely to buy a new product as they already trust you.
The most important thing to remember is that cross-selling is a means to an end; it is not the end itself.
Use this technique only when it makes sense for your store and your customers. You won't lose your customers' trust, which is a lot harder to regain than to build.
* The product you're offering will help the customer reach their goal
* Your customers are likely to buy the product again in the future
* You offer items at different price points (to appeal to a wider range of customers)
* The products you're offering are related, but not identical (e.g. a variety of different types of tea, instead of different varieties from the same brand)
In the end, the key is to present cross-sells and upsells in a way that does not interrupt your customers or push them to buy, but rather guides them gently toward buying. The best cross-selling opportunities are placed where your customers will see them often but won’t feel like they’re being pressured into buying. They are positioned where customers can easily recognize their relevance and are encouraged to act on that relevance.
Ultimately, the best way to identify cross-selling opportunities is to get to know your audience as best you can and understand what they need. Use that information to identify additional products or services you could offer customers through your app. It is a lot of work first identifying these opportunities, but the payoff for you is worth it.
In this article, we will discuss how you can use product customization and upselling in tandem to create the winning formula for your Shopify store.
Upselling and product customization are essential elements of a successful e-commerce business. The keys to both of these strategies are to do them together. Both these strategies can be combined to get better results for your business.
Upselling is the process of selling a shopper an additional product along with the product they are already purchasing. This is usually effective when the product complements the existing purchase. For example, if you are purchasing a pair of sneakers, upselling socks or shoelaces makes sense to complement the purchase. The benefit is that it increases the average order value so you're selling more to an individual customer while deepening your relationship with that buyer.
Product Customization in eCommerce is the process of tailoring a product to the customer's needs. The more you can offer to your customers the exact product they are looking for in terms of color, size, shape, embroidery, and other personalization options, the easier it is for them to find exactly what they're looking for.
When used effectively, these two methods can help generate more revenue for your store and make your customers happy.
Upselling and product customization are two critical business growth methods. By combining them, you're giving customers what they want or evoking a sense of emotion, which can lead to brand loyalty.
You're a business, but you're also a person with a personality. Make your business one-of-a-kind to show your shoppers your uniqueness.
Shoppers like to feel like they're getting something extra when they buy from you, so give them what they want!
Upselling and product customization provide you as the store owner with more information about your consumers' demands than just asking them what they want.
Your consumers will appreciate having alternatives, and you will like providing them with options without breaking the budget!
There are several strategies to increase customer interest. One of the most effective methods is to recommend a product to a customer based on their browsing habits. Today's shoppers are inundated with upsell offers, but many of them fail. Why? Because the offer is irrelevant to the shopper's current shopping experience.
These failures stem from a lack of understanding about the shopper's intent. Before you can optimize your upselling efforts, you need to understand how customers make purchase decisions.
Think about how you shop for products online.
Do you go directly to a specific product page?
Do you search for products based on keywords or browse through collections of similar items?
Do you look at multiple products at once or focus on one product at a time?
Understanding these different types of shopping behaviors puts you in a better position to optimize your upselling strategy to maximize revenue.
When it comes to eCommerce, the success of a store is not just about the products it sells, but also about the way its customers feel when they buy those products. A high cart abandonment rate can largely be due to the inability of customers to customize their purchases.
It makes the customer feel special and ready to buy immediately. This can be done by offering your customers various options for customization. You can offer three different sizes for shoes or various accessories for a watch. A lot of times, these add-on purchases will trigger an impulse buy from your customer because they're already in that mindset where they're thinking about purchasing something from you.
You can let your customers customize their own products by adding color, size, or design elements to their orders. For example, if you sell t-shirts, you could offer your customers a selection of color patterns and designs. Once they decide on the t-shirt they love from your store, it's natural to offer an upsell on a hoodie with custom logos or an embroidered name patch to go with it.
Marketing is one of the most important components in the success of any eCommerce business.
When you combine upselling and product customization, you increase the chances of your buyers sharing their purchases from your Shopify store on social media. For example, you may use an upsell popover to put tailored items based on the customer's activity on the front of a shirt. Shoppers love that you recognize their likes and cut down on their shopping time, combined with the ability to customize material. This increases the likeliness of them sharing their excitement on TikTok or Instagram.
Online shoppers tend to be very interested in finding out more about brands that they like. Using personalized marketing materials gives you a chance to tell them more about yourself and your brand in an easy-to-digest format. People love sharing their purchases on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, Twitter, and Snapchat. When they do this, they'll either tag you or link back to your store, which is great for SEO purposes.
It’s not just the products that consumers buy from your store, but also the experience. To be successful, you need to focus on how to provide customers with the best experience. This is not just about products and services, it's also about building trust and relationships with your customers.
We've all had that feeling when we're purchasing a product. It's not quite perfect, but we don't want to walk away empty-handed. That's where upselling and product customization comes into play. Treating your customer as an individual is a great way to build trust. And it's also a great way to increase your customer's purchase! When you're successful at selling an additional product or service to your customer, you're demonstrating that you understand what they need and can provide exactly what they want.
The best way to drive sales is by offering your customers more. Giving them the ability to customize their products with you not only gives them exactly what they want, but it also gives you the opportunity to upsell them on additional items or services. This can help increase your conversions and generate more revenue.
Customers tend to buy more expensive items when they're asked, as compared to when they're not. A typical e-commerce store actually has many other products that it offers but doesn't sell because it isn't able to convince customers to choose them over the items they've already selected to buy. In other words, many e-commerce stores are leaving millions of dollars on the table by not using these strategies effectively. This is because customers are only willing to make a single purchase at a time, so you need to make sure that they choose your best-selling products instead of others. By offering additional choices or making them complete certain actions before proceeding to the checkout page, you can easily increase your sales which is why upselling and product customization is such a great combination.
A great example of this is In Cart Upsell’s redirect to the product page option; instead of adding the item to the cart, it redirects the customer to the product page where they will be able to customize their purchase. This customizability feature provides an opportunity for merchants to get creative with how they upsell and offer product customization options to their customers.
Remember that no matter what you choose, it’s all about keeping your customer in mind. If you don’t have an option for what they need then they might not come back again. There are plenty of other online stores out there, so if you aren’t able to meet their demands then you’re just wasting your time.
Upselling and product personalization are both effective on their own, but combining them is frequently the winning formula for merchants. Customers will benefit from the combination of the two since it will provide a better shopping experience that will optimize their spending power without pressuring them to buy more than they desire. When upselling and product personalization are merged, regular shoppers may be transformed into devoted fans who return for more and tell their friends about their experience. Customer loyalty, brand affiliation, customer lifetime value, and repeat purchases all grow as a result. This specific combo may be a highly effective marketing strategy since it adds another stage of engagement with your consumer while soliciting their feedback on their requirements. This extra step in the purchase process nearly always leads to an increase in average order value and conversions. Although upselling and product customization are fantastic on their own, they appear to be a natural match when utilized together.
Upselling is one of the most effective, if not crucial means, of increasing sales for your online store. It's necessary, and if you're not capitalizing on upselling to existing customers already making a purchase, you're leaving a lot of money on the table. But don't worry, we've got you covered with some simple yet highly effective strategies that will change the game for your Shopify store and will undoubtedly increase your average order value.
To use upselling to your advantage, you have to first understand what upselling is and how it helps not only you but your customers. Upselling is a sales tactic that persuades customers to buy more. Sounds easy enough from an outsider's perspective but it requires precision and care and if done correctly it can yield great returns and results that will benefit not only your store but will help your shoppers have a great shopping experience. And at the end of the day, the best customer experience is a top priority to retaining clients and turning them into raving fans.
The question remains, how do you persuade customers to purchase more items or a more expensive version of an item, without affecting the buying process or turning your customer off?
We're glad you asked!
The vast majority of first-time buyers who visit your product pages are conducting research. They are in the first stage of the buyer's journey. These buyers have expressed interest in purchasing a product that will provide value and are now researching to decipher what product or products will suit their needs the best.
This is the perfect opportunity to show your buyers more than one product at a time to make the process easier for them. The goal here is to push them further down the funnel into the purchase phase.
This time is also an excellent opportunity to go wide and deep within your product line to deepen your relationship with the customer and offer an upsell opportunity early in the buyer's journey. Customers expect more out of the buying experience and want to be given choices that make sense to save time, create a wow experience, and give them options to love your brand more. You won't lose out if the buyer sees something they might need and decide to add that to their cart as well, you will however lose out if you don't show them that you have an item that they might need and they end up buying that item from another store.
The most annoying thing that a customer can experience is unnecessary disturbances when they reach checkout. It can be perplexing and can turn the customer off when you interrupt their shopping experience with annoying pop-ups that will interrupt their thought process.
The first step is to decide what to offer on your upselling, and then decide where you want to place these offers on the page. This step is a tricky part because displaying upsell offers during post-checkout is like standing in line at a brick-and-mortar store. The items you offer in the cart, at the end of the buyer's journey are crucial in making sure you get it right. It has to be relevant, it has to be a complement to their existing purchase, and the price has to be in such a way that they can't say no. The key here is finding that sweet spot where the buyer has made their decision and has decided to checkout.
Imagine yourself as a customer on the hunt for a t-shirt and seeing a pop-up for a tongue scraper. Random, right? It seems like a huge disconnect and you better believe that the buyer will notice it too. If the item or items offered are in the same category, the likelihood that a customer will add that item is significantly increased.
In this instance, you can also attempt to cross-sell. Cross-selling is simply selling complementary products that meet the demand that the original item does not fulfill. Cross-selling is a brilliant way to increase your average order value, and it's complementary to upselling so they can be used together. The difference between upselling and cross-selling is that, while upselling focuses on upgrading to a more expensive version of a product that may not necessarily be the case with cross-selling, with cross-selling you can sell a more budget-friendly item.
Upselling your best SKUs can be a good strategy when deciding on exactly which items to upsell. Capitalize on the items that are popular, low costs, and are easy add-ons to existing purchases. This is an effective way to see results as these are items that are proven based on your data to sell faster.
A great aesthetic can be a huge selling point and a driving force to push customers into accepting your offers. In Cart Upsell has an autopilot feature styled to fit the look of your store's theme with several layout and customization choices to keep your brand equity consistent and flawless on your store. This will ensure that your upsell offers will blend in perfectly with your store's look.
Creating a sense of urgency on your upsell offers by making the customer feel like they're going to miss out if they don't act fast and take advantage of the offer.
The power is in the words. Word your offers in such a way that drives this strategy home! The type of language you communicate will be the determining factor in how effective your upselling offers are.
Exclamation points are a great way to start this sense of urgency!! By adding exclamation points to urgent messages, it makes the customer feels like they NEED to take action, and they want to take that action as a result.
Some examples include:
These **** strategies are guaranteed to put you on the path to increasing your average order value. Start 2022 with a bang, and make sure you have an upselling strategy in place. It could make all the difference in increased average order value and kick start your year strong.
Join In Cart Upsell on Shopify for free today to upsell and cross-sell on your product pages, cart pages and cart drawers.
Customers expect a lot more out of their shopping experiences on your eCommerce store than they ever have before. You want to surprise and delight them with every page, and every area of that page leading them down the purchase funnel.
Utilizing AI-powered tools like Prompt Vibes AI allows you to simplify generating prompts and allows you to delve into your customers' preferences and behaviors. By analyzing data such as browsing patterns and engagement metrics, Prompt Vibes AI provides insights into what your buyers are truly looking for. This enables you to tailor your content and product offerings to better meet their needs, creating a more personalized and satisfying shopping experience.
One of the most impactful ways to generate more opportunities for both your business and your customers is to place upsell offers anywhere on the product page, the cart page, or AJAX/Slider cart.
This should be done very seamlessly and without interrupting the shopping experience like pop-ups or any other distractions that might make them exit out of your store.
The answer is simple; these locations are where customers spend most of their time when shopping online. Customers are either looking at a product, checking what's inside their cart (AJAX/slider cart), or checking out. Now that you're aware of the ideal locations, let's dive into the ideal position to place your offer on the cart page, product page, and AJAX/slider cart.
Our data suggest that offers are accepted more when upsells are placed above the cart items. When a customer visits the cart page more than often they are ready to checkout their goods. This gives merchants one last opportunity to upsell or cross-sell. Additionally, you can increase the chances of the customer accepting the offer by giving the first impression by placing it at the top and customizing the upsell to look native to the theme.
When it comes to the product page, you would ideally want to place your upsell just before or right after the Buy Now or Add To Cart button. This is to ensure that the offer is seen right before the customer makes their decision of purchasing. Also, the product page is where you want to be more specific with your upsell by adding conditional logic. Let's say your customer is viewing a T-shirt of a specific brand like Nike. You would then want to offer Nike shorts and not a Jordan or Adidas as an upsell. This saves the customer time when browsing around your website looking for additional shorts and also builds the sense that they are being catered for.
This is where you want to go crazy! Essentially, the AJAX/slider cart is for occasionally checking what's inside your cart and customers can access this cart anywhere through the website. Therefore, you can upsell and cross-sell pretty much everything. However, upselling and cross-selling low-cost add-ons work best. Now on to where to position the upsell. There are two ideal positions to place the upsell when it comes to the AJAX/slider cart and they are right above the cart items and also above the View Cart/ Checkout Button. This decision solely depends on your preference but can sometimes be influenced by the theme's design.
Now that you have the insight on how to position your upsell on all available locations, you can now get the most out of every promotion and dollar you spend to drive traffic to your Shopify store. Make just a few changes today on your store and watch your AOV increase.
"This app is very powerful, I increased my AOV by the first day! And the technical support is fast and helpful 5 stars!" - Van Dogh
"I recommend this app, easy to use and customize. It's a must-have app if you want to increase your AOV." - INFINEZA
"Simple and it works, support was very responsive and helpful. It has helped drive some additional revenue by increasing our AOV." - Meta Meals
What if I told you that you are wrong? And the solution is much easier than you think! All you need are these two incredible partnered apps that work well together. The two apps we're referring to are PageFly and In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell that can be downloaded on Shopify's eCommerce platform.
PageFly allows you to create industry-standard websites without any coding experience. All websites created with PageFly are mobile-responsive. This means that you'll be able to build a single website that looks and feels the same on both large screens (desktop and larger) and mobile devices. PageFly offers an easy-to-use drag and drop feature that enables you to add blocks, images, videos and text. Also, if you're not the creative type and you don't know where to start, you can choose from the many available templates.
Using templates can decrease the development time by up to 80%. All you need to do is insert your company information, logo, images, video and you're done! They offer a free plan and more advanced featured plans starting at just $19 a month.
Now that you know the easiest way to create a website, how do you start making money?
Think of the In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell app as your very own personalized salesperson that is tailored to each customer's needs. Remember that time you went to the store and purchased a t-shirt and the salesperson offered you matching pants? Or right before checkout when your eyes gazed at all the cheap in-reach items that you eventually ended up adding to your cart?
All of those cross-selling opportunities like recommendations based on what you are viewing in specific collections, frequently bought bundles, and add-ons to complement existing items already in the shopping cart ready for purchase are available to your customers through cross-selling and upselling apps like In Cart Upsell. Now, what if you don't know what to upsell? The app also has a solution for this! In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell features an AI Autopilot. The Autopilot feature has been trusted by over 10,000 store owners over the past five years! With just a one-time click of a button, the Autopilot will analyze your entire sales data and intuitively select the best products to offer to your customers.
Personalization on site is more valuable to a customer than it's ever been, and in turn, can be a huge boost in overall conversions to existing site visitors. Your customers want to know that you are catering to them at every step of the sales funnel as they are running around your store. It's almost like a salesperson being their white-glove service attendant popping in at exactly the right moment when a recommendation is needed to complement their interests.
Remember the time you went to the store and purchased a pair of pants and the salesperson offered you socks to match your existing purchase? Or that time that you were buying lip liner and the sales representative offered a lip gloss to go with it? Or maybe that time you were at the checkout line and it zig-zagged around with a bunch of low-cost items you could easily grab and add to your cart at the last minute before checking out?
All of those cross-selling opportunities like recommendations based on what you are viewing in specific collections, frequently bought together bundles, and add-ons to complement existing items already in the shopping cart ready for purchase are available to your customers through cross-selling and upselling apps like In Cart Upsell.
In Cart Upsell makes it easy for customers to buy from your store because of the intelligent personalization that it offers your customers.
The In Cart Upsell Autopilot feature has been trusted by over 10,000 store owners over the past five years! With just a one-time click of a button, the Autopilot will analyze your entire sales data and intuitively select the best products to offer to your customers.
If you don't feel like setting up the Autopilot feature yourself, our support heroes will do it for you in less than 5 minutes for no additional cost!
Security is very important now more than ever, so In Cart Upsell only uses anonymized order data to power the app’s Autopilot suggestions, and any personal customer information isn't captured or stored whatsoever.
Autopilot can also be customized to match the aesthetic of your theme. An upsell should not stick out like a sore thumb and that's a core belief at In Cart Upsell & Cross-Sell. There are many layout and customization options to choose from to keep the brand equity consistent and seamless on your store.
Let the Autopilot feature take care of the heavy lifting for you while you reap the rewards. Take advantage of the power of In Cart Upsell free for 30 days!
