Chandler Olson
December 20, 2021
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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.
