Upselling is the art of encouraging your customer to purchase an additional or more expensive item. It is a great technique to master as it can easily increase your average order value (AOV) without you having to do any extra marketing. Indeed, as you have already done all the hard work in attracting your customer to your site, all you need to do to upsell is to place the products that you would like to upsell to your customer, in the right place, at the right time. However, it is really important that you do this in the right way, as you don’t want to put your customer off by being too obvious or pushy, for the true art of upselling is subtle, not salesy.
So, just how do you effectively upsell to your customers? Read on to learn how to dramatically increase your average order value and leave your customer wanting more.
How effective is upselling?
Did you know that the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60%-70% while the probability of selling to a new customer is only 5%-20%? This means that existing customers are nearly four times more likely to purchase something than new customers. 65% is a huge difference in probability, and one that you as a business-owner, need to be capitalizing on to increase your AOV and overall revenue.
One of the best ways to do this is by persuading each new and returning customer to upgrade their product or buy a more expensive version of it, you are effectively upselling, and you will be glad to hear upselling gets easier over time. Indeed, once you have established trust with your first-time buyer, they are 27% more likely to return, but after their second or third purchase, this increases by a further 27% to 54%.
This a huge opportunity to upsell and through placing products that you would like to upsell to your customer at strategic points in their shopping and checkout experiences, you can persuade them to spend more on the best products for them and simultaneously increase both their satisfaction and your conversion rate, customer retention rate, AOV and overall revenue. Indeed, effective upselling leaves your customer wanting more and your business thriving.
But before we learn the best practices for upselling, it is a good idea to understand the difference between upselling and cross-selling, as both are brilliant tools to use to boost revenue but can become easily confused.
What is the difference between upselling and cross-selling?
The differentiation between upselling and cross-selling is in their names. Indeed, upselling is typically when you encourage your customer to trade up to a more expensive or premium version of what they are intending to purchase. For example, this could be encouraging them to upgrade to first-class from business class or buy the large option instead of a small. Meanwhile, cross-selling is when you encourage your customer to buy a related product or service, such as a packet of batteries for their portable radio or a games console for their tv.
Both are very effective ways to increase your AOV and revenue. Indeed, upselling doesn’t just increase your AOV, but also increases your customer lifetime value (CLV). This means that upselling encourages your customer to remain your customer for longer and therefore, spend more. And is another reason why mastering the art of the upsell is so important for your business.
How to up-sell to your customers
So, just how do you effectively upsell to your customers? Indeed, there are a myriad of ways you can upsell to your customers both before and after a sale. An upsell that occurs before your customer makes a purchase is called a pre-purchase upsell while an upsell that happens after they have already purchased the product is called a post-purchase upsell.
A pre-purchase upsells typically occurs when your customer sees product upgrades on the product page or during the check-out process and is encouraged to choose a more premium product at a slighter higher cost than the initial product they were considering buying. Pre-purchase upsells work brilliantly when the risk is low, and the customer does not need too much information about a product to understand the benefits on the upsell.
Meanwhile, a post-purchase up-sell occurs after your customer has already completed the purchase. Post-purchase up-sells are an effective way to up-sell as they do not risk the initial sale. Indeed, post-purchase up-sells typically occur after the checkout, on either the thank-you or order confirmation pages and are a great way of showing your customer how they can increase the longevity and usability of their purchase. They are also great for more expensive products and up-sells, as your customer has already invested in the initial product, so is much more likely to want to purchase extras that will enhance their overall product experience.
Post-purchase upsells have a number of advantages to pre-purchase upsells, including the fact that they do not risk the initial sale, they increase your conversion rate, especially if you allow the customer to save their account details the first time round and they don’t have to go through the effort of inputting them again to purchase the up-sell, and they also increase your AOV as your customer is already invested in your product and business and more likely to be easily convinced to purchase from you again.
So, just how do you encourage your customer to purchase a post-purchase up-sell in a convincing way?
What is the best practice for post-purchase upselling?
Learning the art of the post-purchase upsell is one of the best things you can do to improve your business and customer satisfaction rate. But just how exactly do you upsell to your customer in a convincing and helpful way?
One of the best ways to successfully complete a post-purchase upsell is to make sure that the product you are trying to upsell is actually relevant to the product your customer has just purchased. One of the best ways to ensure that the product is relevant is to choose to recommend a complimentary product to the one that your customer has already purchased. For example, if your customer has purchased a television, a complimentary upsell would be a games console or a HDMI cable. Choosing a complimentary product will increase the chances your customer will say yes and that your AOV will increase.
Another great way to successfully complete a post-purchase upsell is to offer a discount. Most customers love a discount, particularly if it allows them to buy a complimentary product to their initial purchase and enhance both their overall product and shopping experience. Upsell to your customer by offering them a discount voucher that they can redeem on their next purchase while simultaneously suggesting complimentary products to them, and you will have successfully completed your first post-purchase upsell.
Another brilliant post-purchase upsell strategy is to incentivise your customer with a free gift or product sample. For example, offer a post-purchase upsell that gives your customer a free gift once they purchase it or offer them a free sample with every upsell purchase to increase the chances that they will return once more to your shop to purchase the full-sized product.
To ensure a successful post-purchase upsell, it is also vital to make sure that you have not already attempted too many pre-purchases upsells which will only make the customer suspicious of you and distrust your business’ intentions. Indeed, that is not all. Read on for more top post-purchase upselling tips.
Top post-purchase upselling tips
Make it personal
Nowadays, with the abundance of algorithms, the customer expects you to know what they like, and most customers will trust personalised recommendations. Indeed, in a recent survey, 86% of consumers said personalisation impacts on what they purchase, and 56% said personalisation has a noticeable influence on what they purchase. Now, this is brilliant news for you and your business, as simply by adding a personalised customer shopping experience to your business, you can greatly increase your conversion rate and overall revenue.
Analyse the data
There is no point guessing what complimentary products to recommend during a post-purchase up-sell when you have existing data that records trends of product pairings. So, dig into your historical sales and analyse your customer purchases to choose complimentary and personalised products to entice your customer to purchase the up-sell.
Don’t get greedy
Do not choose products to up-sell to your customer at post-purchase that cost more than 25% of the initial sale, as it will feel disingenuous to your customer and make them lose their trust in you.
Use Plak theme upsell feature
After some analysis, we find out that the best place to include the upsell feature is in the cart page or when the customer click Add to Cart
Beyond the other great features to increase the Conversion Rate and Average Order Value, such as Dynamic Freeshipping Banner and the Cross-Sell, the upsell feature in Plak theme is one of the best tricks to increase your Average Order Value.
There are many fantastic ways to upsell complimentary and personalized products to your customer-sand boost your sales today. Just remember to always take your customer into consideration and put their needs first.
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