Chandler Olson
June 30, 2022
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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!
