When you have an online business, an upsell technique can be a powerful tool that can drive more revenues in a single sale. This is a process where you convince your buyers to upgrade their products or buy something more expensive to make the transaction more profitable.
When used as a tactic, upselling may seem pushy in a personal context, but when you take things online, many entrepreneurs have found out that there is a more subtle way to upsell. One thing that e-commerce sites are doing to understand their customers’ purchasing behaviors better is to dive deep into data analytics. This is why they can do an upsell that’s very effective.
The technique can be compared to cross-selling. This is when the customer is already in the frame of mind to buy your products and services, and not attempting to learn what an upsell is will mean that you will have wasted time and opportunity.
Here are some examples of how brands upsell.
Extra Ingredients
There are online platforms where you can order food like sandwiches. In most cases, many customers may not have thought about add-ons and extra ingredients. However, when you’re dining in a restaurant, you probably might add a few additional items upon ordering. Some extras may include a few more mozzarellas or tomato sauce, with extra smoothies to go with them. A chocolate or vanilla smoothie that goes with your Angus burger is definitely worth the splurge for an afternoon of fun, and before you know it, you may have chosen some extra dips and have ordered a few more items that you didn’t know you had wanted them.
Expansion of Product Offering
Some shaving brands are expanding their offerings in the right way. This means that they draw new users to their latest products by having them signed up for mystery boxes. With many people wanting to do their grooming inside the comforts of their own home instead of going to a barbershop, this has been an effective strategy.
Newer customers who are looking for barber services may prefer buying just the extra blade. However, some of these companies cleverly put the most expensive items first. Then they go next with the lower-priced ones that have more attractive options down the line.
Upselling with names can also be tricky, but they can help you become more successful if you know how to navigate them. If you’re in the grooming business, you may want to introduce the high-end razors with names like “The Executive” and the budget options with “Humble Twin” that may sound ordinary to the users. Sometimes, little tweaks with the names and UI designs may induce clients to prefer the pricier options regardless of what they need for the moment.
Discount Offers
Another effective strategy that you can use in upselling is to offer a discount on minimum orders. This is very effective in apps and websites where the customers can get free shipping and delivery if they reach a minimum threshold. This is a win-win situation because when the clients get more products, the company receives more revenues.
Some shops and brands are pretty good at doing this. For instance, some shops that sell cologne and perfumes offer their customers 15% discounts when they spend $80 or more. If clients are so close to these amounts when they initially shop, they are more likely to get extra items just to hit the minimum.
Many entrepreneurs may think that the discount that they have given may negate the benefits. However, this tactic’s primary goal is to encourage as many customers as possible to take advantage of the offers, which will increase the company’s overall sales afterwards.
Excellent Impression is a Must
Companies that sell flowers often want to ensure that they leave an excellent first impression on their visitors to encourage buying. They also know that customers tend to buy roses and hyacinths more often than not, and they want the packaging and the product to be as beautiful and fresh as possible. Since the flowers people give can reflect their characters, flower shops know that their customers are more willing to spend more.
Using this information, flower shops are actively upselling their customers. You can learn more about upselling when you click here. They give their customers three or more bouquet sizes that they can choose from and select the second-lowest priced bouquet to display in an automated fashion to increase the chances of getting more sales.
Another approach is to configure the system to display the cheapest option so that many might opt to get the second-highest rather than the cheapest option.
With either approach, customers are not likely to downgrade before they check-out their cart and add some complementary products that can go along with the flower bouquets. Some complementary products that can make the gift extra special include stuffed toys, balloons, greeting cards, and chocolates.
Customized Design
With an ever-increasing affluent market, many car buyers are going to car brands where they are allowed to customize the vehicle’s interiors before purchasing. This is especially evident for brands like Tesla, where customers can do the configurations themselves before buying. Car buyers can also choose to upgrade and include autopilot features or premium wheels at an additional fee.
Travel Pages that Upsell
If you’re in a travel and tours niche, what you can do is to try and upsell your product pages. For instance, you can provide your clients with other options like room carry-ons or give them more flexibility when you’re selling suitcases by pointing them to bags with expandable features as they might find these more convenient when traveling to a new place.
Using this tactic to pique your customers’ interest will help your customers realise the benefits they can get from a more expensive and larger case. Furthermore, a side-by-side comparison can help your customers make quicker decisions. You can also provide your customers with options to customize their bags for a small fee, which they usually accept without any second thought.