How to Upsell & Cross Sell in eCommerce

Upselling is a sales technique that encourages new customers to initial purchase an upgraded or additional product from the one they originally intended. Cross selling is similar, but it involves recommending products that are complementary. These techniques can be used in eCommerce optimization by adding links and buttons on conversion pages and checkout page.

If you want to boost your store’s revenue, learning how to achieve both goals is critical. This guide will teach you all you need to know about how to upsell and cross sell products or cross sell items.

What is Upselling in eCommerce?

Upselling is a sales technique that encourages customers to purchase an upgraded or additional product from the one they originally intended.

There are many ways upsells can be implemented in eCommerce, such as:

• Placing more expensive products near cheaper ones on your store’s website.
• Giving discounts for bulk purchases.
• Showing how much money people could save by upgrading their average order value.

Why Use Upselling?

The goal of any business owner should be increasing revenue and making a profit. When you use this tactic, it’ll often lead to increased orders because people know they’re getting better value for what they buy. It also means you have another sale at the same time! This “double whammy” effect makes upselling particularly effective.

What is Cross-Selling in eCommerce?

Cross selling is similar to upselling, but it involves recommending products that are complementary. It typically works best in direct-to-consumer (DTC) online shopping.

It’s a tried-and-true method of offering a complementary product when a prospect shows interest in something similar. An example of upselling and cross selling can be found in everyday supermarkets.

For example, if you pass by an aisle selling potato chips, you may also see salsa nearby. This is the supermarket’s way of urging you to spend more money at their store.

How Does Cross-Selling Work?

Some companies try to cross-sell strategies by adding links on the website’s homepage or by displaying them in product lists and categories. The problem with this approach is people can decide against buying anything at all if they don’t find what they’re looking for right away.

A more successful technique could be linking related items within existing customer reviews so shoppers can see how other customers use their purchases together. A good eCommerce store will make sure these recommendations are easy to find and understand so every visitor gets something out of it.

Best Upsell and Cross-Sell eCommerce Practices

Now that you know what these techniques are and why they’re important, here are some effective ways to increase your revenue:

Narrow a Visitor’s Choices When Upselling:

When upselling, you should try to narrow the customer experience options before they buy. For example, if someone is considering buying a shirt for $30, offer them an option of a different shirt in that size or color at $50.

Don’t Undermine Your Brand:

Upsells and cross-sells can make existing customers feel like they’re being pestered by brands with too many choices. It’s important not to undermine your brand by making it seem greedy. This will only lead to low conversion rates.

Instead, focus on offering more value than what people initially wanted so they get something out of their purchase without feeling pressured into getting something else.

Offer Bundles to Avoid Confusing Your Audience:

If you’re selling different, related or complementary products online, it’s a good idea to bundle them together. This will make ordering easier for customers because they’ll know what they’re getting and the price upfront.

For example, if someone wants a pair of hiking boots but doesn’t have their eye on anything else yet, offer pre-selected bundles with these items in one package. It can be more convenient than browsing through your full store and figuring out how much each individual piece costs separately.

Offer Promotions When Upselling:

Upsells are most effective when there is some sort of promotion involved. This could include both discounts or other incentives like free shipping or gift wrapping services that come along with an upgrade purchase.

Use Price Anchoring:

Price anchoring is a technique that helps the customer journey feel like they’re getting more than what they paid for. It’s also an effective way to show them how much money they could save by upgrading their order.

This will make it easier for you to upsell or cross-sell without coming across as too pushy.

Try Embedding Social Proof:

Social proof can affect customers’ decisions about whether or not to buy something, so if you want higher conversion rates try using this tactic in your online store.

For example, displaying reviews from happy past customers on your product pages and having photos of satisfied shoppers next to checkout lines can help build trust with consumers and encourage conversions.

Try Cross-Selling Even After Purchases:

upselling and cross selling can be an effective way to increase revenue without being too pushy. After a customer makes a purchase, try sending them email offers for related products or send them push notifications on their mobile device when new items they like are available in the store.

Sometimes the upsell or cross-sell is best achieved when you focus on the implications of social timing.

Offer Cross-Selling Deals:

If your company has multiple locations with different inventory, offer special deals if someone buys from more than one location at once (eg., buy two and get 15% off). This will encourage loyalty by giving customers something back for shopping across all of your stores instead of just one.

Be Helpful and Offer Value:

You can offer upsells and cross-sells to customers in a helpful, non-pushy way. For example, if someone is looking for a certain type of shirt you might recommend matching pants or shoes that are also available on the site.

Don’t Overdo It:

While upselling can be a great strategy to make more money for your online store, it’s important not to overdo it. This will only lead customers to see you as pushy and they may end up feeling resentful or angry.

Besides, if you’re employing a successful marketing strategy, your website visitors will convert on their own.

Need Help With SEO?

Hiring an SEO agency to implement these sales strategies can help you focus more on running your business. We’re that SEO company. At SEO.co, we specialize in delivering remarkable digital marketing solutions for eCommerce stores.

To learn more about how we can help, contact us today to speak to a member of our SEO team.

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Timothy Carter

Chief Revenue Officer at SEO Company

Industry veteran Timothy Carter is SEO.co’s Chief Revenue Officer. Tim leads all revenue for the company and oversees all customer-facing teams for SEO (search engine optimization) - including sales, marketing & customer success. He has spent more than 20 years in the world of SEO & Digital Marketing leading, building and scaling sales operations, helping companies increase revenue efficiency and drive growth from websites and sales teams. When he's not working, Tim enjoys playing a few rounds of disc golf, running, and spending time with his wife and family on the beach...preferably in Hawaii.

Over the years he's written for publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, Marketing Land, Search Engine Journal, ReadWrite and other highly respected online publications. Connect with Tim on Linkedin & Twitter.

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