Upselling and cross-selling have become the most proven strategies for Shopify merchants.
Both these marketing strategies have proven to boost revenue. But before seeing the strategies, let’s know what the difference is between upselling and cross-selling.
What is Upselling?
Upselling is a sales strategy of encouraging a customer to buy an upgraded version of the product in the cart that they wish to buy.
For example, if a customer is about to buy a smartphone with 32GB of storage space, then you can suggest they get one with 64GB or 128GB.
What is Cross-selling?
Cross-selling is suggesting related or complementary products that the customers are buying.
For example, when a customer purchases a smartphone then suggesting headsets is cross-selling.
Both upselling and cross-selling increase average order value (AOV). To implement both these strategies, you need to follow some important tips.
Know Your Audience
The very first step before applying any strategy is to target the audience for whom you are going to serve your offers.
Here, you also need to understand your targeted audience and do a detailed analysis of their various points at every stage of the buyer journey.
Your audience may also consist of existing customers whose data will already be within your database.
After analyzing data, you can easily target what products you are going to upsell and cross-sell.
Build Customer Journeys
Develop customer journeys to measure how they will use your product and how it will be beneficial for them.
When your customers start preferring your store and ordering products, the chances of referring others also increase.
Give them a great customer journey from discovering your store to post-purchase and loyalty programs.
Make sure to add upselling and cross-selling offers that don’t distract. With Shopify upselling apps like iCart, you can easily add upselling and cross-selling items to your cart.
Recommended Items
Recommended items are a great way to increase sales in your store.
Most big Shopify stores use this strategy. Let’s take Amazon as a simple example. They make use of recommended items on most of the product pages.
They have applied this strategy in all categories. These include clothing, beauty products, books, footwear, and more.
Also, instead of using the ‘frequently bought together’ tag, you can make use of the ‘customer also viewed’ tag, as seen in the above example of Amazon.
You can apply this strategy to your Shopify store so that customers can get the best shopping experience.
Product Bundling
Offering many items in a bundle is a great way to cross-sell. Because it makes it more attractive for customers, as the bundle price is lower than buying the products individually.
Providing product bundle deals can boost your average order value (AOV). For example, if a customer comes to purchase a shirt, then you can show them the product bundle, which will contain trousers and socks.
Test various product bundles that work well together. You can conduct A/B tests and check which product bundles give the best conversion rate for your store.
To do this, you can do it manually you can take the help of Shopify apps like iCart. This app will allow you to easily add product bundles to your store.
Offer Discounts
Offering discounts is another effective strategy to get more sales. Showing discounts is a great way to attract customers to your store.
By seeing the discounts, even if the customer has no intention to buy, they will have a look at the product that you have offered a discount on.
So the chance of buying is more instead of just browsing your products and leaving.
Build Trust in Your Customers
To make customers buy your upsells, cross-sells, bundles, and recommended products, the most important thing to do is to create trust in them.
They should feel that your offers and products are relevant. To build trust, you can show previous customer reviews and testimonials.
Also instead of using the ‘frequently bought together’ tag you can make use of the customer who viewed this item also viewed’ tag as seen in the above example of Amazon. By applying this strategy the chance of positive decision-making in customers also increases.
By applying this strategy, the chance of positive decision-making in customers increases.
Implement Both Upselling and Cross-selling to Boost Sales
By integrating both upselling and cross-selling strategies into your sales approach, you can significantly increase your revenue and improve CX.
Upselling encourages customers to purchase a higher-value item, while cross-selling introduces them to complementary products.
These tactics not only boost your AOV but also help build stronger relationships with customers by offering them products that meet their needs and preferences.
When done correctly, upselling and cross-selling can lead to more satisfied customers, higher sales, and long-term business growth.
Upselling and Cross-selling FAQs
1. What are upselling and cross-selling?
Upselling encourages customers to purchase an upgraded version of a product they’re already considering. Cross-selling involves suggesting complementary or related products that go with the customer’s purchase.
2. How to upsell and cross-sell?
To upsell, highlight higher-tier product options on the product page or during checkout, emphasizing additional features. For cross-selling, recommend related products or complementary items, either on the product page, cart page, or thank you page.
3. How to improve cross-sell and upsell conversions in your Shopify store?
Personalizing recommendations based on customer behavior. Limiting choices to avoid overwhelming customers. Creating urgency with time-sensitive offers.
4. What is the best upsell app for Shopify?
The best app depends on your specific needs. Apps like iCart and SellMore are great for pre-purchase and post-purchase upsells, respectively.
5. How to add upsell products on Shopify?
The best way to add upsell products on Shopify is to install an upsell app like iCart or SellMore.
About the author
Sajini Annie John
Meet Sajini, a seasoned technical content writer with a passion for e-commerce and expertise in Shopify. She is committed to helping online businesses to thrive through the power of well-crafted content.