Chandler Olson
May 25, 2023
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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.
