Use upselling in your store if you’re looking for a quick way to raise your average order value(AOV) and improve SALES. We’ll discuss several tried-and-true upselling techniques you may use to increase eCommerce sales.
Let’s say you walk into a café and order a regular cappuccino. The shop owner avails that you can have an extra shot with a few different quarters of the cost of the drink you are buying. That sounds like a good deal. Almost two beverages are available for the price of one.
This is upselling!
And what about if you get some extra cookies with it? Cross-selling.
One of the best ways to boost sales on your e-commerce site is — upselling.
Though website development is a tricky task – boosting sales can be trickier. And, if your company is looking for ways to increase your sales and business, Upselling is the perfect custom-made solution for you.
As a brand, there are different kinds of strategies and approaches that you might adopt to reach your target business and increase your overall revenue. The various selling techniques include:
- Omnichannel marketing,
- Cross-selling,
- Bundling,
- Upselling, and many more.
In this blog, we will discuss in-depth Upselling, the difference between cross-selling and upselling, and how to increase your eCommerce store trading with a few examples. Let’s begin with What upselling is…
All You Need to Know about Upselling!
When a brand offers an upgrade for a product or service that the consumer already has, we call it “Upselling.”
According to Wikipedia, “Upselling is a sales technique where a seller invites the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons to generate more revenue. While it usually involves marketing more profitable services or products, it can expose the customer to other options that were perhaps not considered.“
Let’s take the very common example of Spotify–
While listening to songs over Spotify, you all must have experienced getting a pop-up of an advertisement where that asks to upgrade to Spotify’s premium version to enjoy Ad-free music. They are trying to upsell their customers.
Upselling is a method that seems to MAGICALLY BOOST revenue for businesses; with the proper execution, you can gain the loyalty of your clients. Also, your customer lifetime value (CTV) will consequently soar.
Did you know that while there is only a 5–20 percent chance of converting a new customer, there is a 60–70 percent possibility of selling to an existing customer?
What a HUGE difference!
As per the survey conducted by Forbes,
“48% of airline passengers and 59% of hotel guests are interested in upgrades and additional services.”
Upselling is an excellent selling technique that all companies are taking up to make their business efficient. This selling technique adds value to the customers and helps your company make extra profit, i.e., a win-win situation for both parties.
There is another strategy close to upselling, i.e., cross-selling—baThection or practice where the company sells additional products or services to the existing customer.
You can always use WPSwings Upsell Order Bump Offer free plugin for your store to create the number of upsell offers for multiple products in the easiest way possible!
Now, let’s embrace the differences between cross-sell and upsell!
Upselling vs. C.ross-Selling; The Actual Difference
“Would you like to have some fries with that burger?”
Does that query ring a bell to you? You have already experienced upselling and cross-selling if you have ever gone to McDonald’s and ordered a pack of fries to go with your meal.
Instead of upselling by making the burger better, you would cross-sell by offering other choices besides and apart from the burger.
Both upselling and cross-selling are selling techniques to increase the company’s sales. There are times when these terms are used interchangeably, but you must understand that these are two separate selling practices.
Some of the key differences are:
- In Upselling, the sellers emphasize buying the better version of a product or service instead of buying the product that the customer was purchasing previously, which increases the revenue. On the other hand, cross-selling is when the seller convinces the customers to buy complementary products along with those they are purchasing. This increases the number of products the business house was selling that, in return, adds to the sales value.
- The objective behind upselling is to increase the actual value of sales, whereas cross-selling increases the overall value of sales.
- Upselling focuses on increasing the average bill value. But cross-selling increases the average bill value as well as the overall sales.
What Are the Different Types of Upselling?
There are different types of upselling that you should know about if you are a seller who wants to boost the store’s overall revenue by implementing upselling to your eCommerce platform.
Customization
The company lets the customer customize the existing products by just asking for some extra money for the customization.
For example- There is an E-commerce website called Toesmith. This website enables customers to customize their selected sneakers or sliders by asking for a minimal customization fee.
Premium Versions
As discussed above, this type of upselling allows the company to make an offer where they provide the customer with the premium version of the purchased product or service.
For example- WPSwings offers its existing users the premium version of its WooCommerce plugins. In contrast, its existing users already using the free version can avail of the pro version for the add-on features.
Risk
This is where the company uses the element of risk to convince the customers to upgrade their purchase of products or services.
For example- You bought a new iPhone 11. The salesperson can try to convince the customer to get a warranty or an extended warranty for the purchased device by paying some extra amount during the checkout. There is a high chance that the purchaser ends up with an extended warranty. This means an increase in the profits of the company.
Services
Sometimes brand like WPSwings provides the consumer with additional WooCommerce services as an upselling practice.
For example, additional consultation services are provided with the purchase of software. This enables the vendor to build a close relationship with its customers, which can result in future profits from the same source.
Popular Items
There are instances when the sellers do not sell their complementary products but convince their customers to purchase their best-selling products.
For example- An eCommerce website can convince its customers to purchase its best-selling book on upselling while they purchase software from them.
Create post-purchase upsell and cross-sell offers to increase your sales with WP Swings one-click upsell pro and one-click upsell free plugin to grow your sales on your checkout pages. They even have a demo page to ease you through every step.
Strategies That Can Be Beneficial for You
Now that you know different types of upselling, it is also important to understand how and why it works. For example, have you ever wondered how something as simple as upselling could increase sales by quite a percentage?
In this segment, we will discuss strategies you can implement to run your business and increase your profits effectively.
Offer a Side-by-side Comparison of the Target Product/ Service
Let us start with the basic strategy, where the brand compares different products. The objective here is to show the customer that the upgraded product has better features than the one they are currently using or planning to purchase. , like the one shown below for one of the WPSwings plugins.
Spotify has also used this strategy for its upselling sales technique.
The advertisement keeps on popping while you are using Spotify. They ask users to upgrade to Spotify Premium to enjoy Ad-free music or podcasts. There is a high chance that the music enthusiast will go with the premium version instead of the free version after going through all mentioned features. While we are at it, let us discuss another important strategy for the sellers to adopt.
Present Acceptable Alternatives
As we were discussing, Spotify came up with the premium version of their application because that was an acceptable alternative to their customers.
The brands must ensure that the alternatives they offer match the customers’ tastes and preferences. This doubles the chance of them making a profit through this strategy.
Take the example of WPSwings; if their customers do not buy a plugin because it is expensive, they try giving them alternatives like Points and Rewards, Gift Cards, Subscriptions, or Memberships. In addition, their Coupon Referral can help a lot to increase your sales.
Display the Upgrades
This is another popular strategy that is being used by owners a lot. The brands upload pictures of upgraded products inducing the users to purchase the upgraded products. This doesn’t seem pushy as well and looks extremely subtle. You are simply letting your purchasers know that there are other available options as well.
Companies use this strategy for the customization type of upselling, allowing customers to make different customizations.
Show an Alternative with a Better Rating
Amazon is a living example of using this strategy successfully. One major benefit of this example is that you are increasing your sales rate and also providing the customers with good quality products.
For example – You are on amazon’s website looking for a good laptop, and you like one that matches your budget. But while checking the ratings, you figure out they are pretty low. So now, while scrolling down, there are ample options available. They have even listed their best-selling laptops in this section. This way, you are persuading the customer to upgrade without pushing them.
How to Increase eCommerce Sales with Upselling?
Now that you know different actionable strategies or WooCommerce plugins that expand your online business by increasing sales and lead generation, we should also inform you about the other ways to increase your eCommerce sales.
Bundle Things Together to Reduce Indecisiveness
Every action the user takes to place the order includes some decision-making process. Therefore, sellers must focus on making buying easy for the customers; this is where the concept of bundling comes in. Buying products individually includes more steps; however, bundling in one enables the customers to purchase together.
Product bundles allow a buyer to purchase several products at once.
Offer Value and Be Helpful
The key objective of upselling as a selling technique is to offer customers value and engage them with offers that result be helpful to them. eCommerce store owners can use the customer data that they have collected and provide them (the customers) with customized offers.
Use Price Anchoring
Consider this situation. A customer is looking at a branded and expensive watch. Show them basic-looking watches for a higher price without any add-ons and the same watch with add-ons at the same price. The retailer can upsell it with proper communication. In this way, you are offering the customer value, and you have a high chance of making an upsell.
Tips and Tricks to Keep in Mind
What tips must you remember as an eCommerce store owner when you plan to use this selling strategy to make extra monthly profits?
Use This Strategy with Your Best Selling Products
Planning the strategies to upsell a product or service is very tedious. So, it would be best if you only wasted time upselling the product or service that you know will interest your potential and existing customers and result in a substantial profit.
Upsell When the Customer Is Ready for the Check
This is the best time to grab your customer’s attention. While he is paying for the product he has purchased, you can subtly put forward the add-on they might consider buying along with the product. And the chances of the customer being convinced and accepting upsell offers are high at this point. But there is a catch here, as a seller must ensure that the offer seems relevant.
One-click upsell plugin of WPSwings is the perfect fit for creating offers on the checkout page.
Keep It Subtle
As an eCommerce owner, you must ensure that your upsell offer should be practical for the customers. The brand should not seem pushy and should be subtle instead. You should not bombard the users with offers that provide them with value propositions.
Keep Your Options Limited
You don’t want to confuse or overwhelm your customers when upselling a product or service. Instead, give them fewer options to choose from. Start with 3 or 4 upselling options, and see what works best for them.
Tools to Automate Your Upselling
Now you know all the strategies, tips, and tricks for selling. How do you implement these in your eCommerce business? You are lucky because we have listed fully automated tools for your store.
WooCommerce Recommendations
WooCommerce Recommendations enables you to display the available and relevant recommendations on your shopping cart and similar products on your website.
One Click Upsell
One Click Upsell Funnel for WPSwings is one of the best-selling plugins for upselling and cross-selling.
Mass Product Relater
Mass Product Relater is Magneto’s introduced plugin for upselling. This tool helps you to display products related to one another. As a result, you increase the chance of buying higher-priced and bigger orders.
Upsell Order Bump Offer
Upsell Order Bump Offer is WPSwings introduced plugin for upselling. This tool helps you to display products related to one another. As a result, you increase the chance of buying higher-priced and bigger orders.
Upselling Live Examples
We are towards the end of this informative article. But how can we leave without talking about some live upselling examples?
Amazon’s “Frequently Bought Together” Recommendations
This is that one upselling example we have all seen and also been induced to use. Sometimes, users get pushed towards this strategy and end up giving and making the purchase.
Spotify’s “Ad-free Music” Technique
As discussed above, Spotify is pretty aggressive with its upselling technique. This is something that many customers are tired of, and they end up buying the premium version to escape all the advertisements.
Conclusion
Now that you know all about upselling and different tricks and strategies to ace this selling technique. Just remember to practice this selling technique by being clever and cautious. You don’t want to seem too pushy, but at the same time, you can not be too laid back as well. The seller has to find a balance between them both!
NYouare is all set to take your company to the next level!
Happy Upselling!
Author Bio
Himanshu Rauthan is an entrepreneur, Co-Founder at WP Swings, MakeWebBetter, BotMyWork, and the Director of CEDCOSS Technologies. He has worn many hats in his career – programmer, researcher, writer, and strategist. As a result, he has a unique ability to manage multi-disciplinary projects and navigate complex challenges.
He is passionate about building and scaling eCommerce development.
