Are You Using Upselling Techniques on Your eCommerce Store?

In retail, upselling is the key to growing the top-tier of your customer base. Whether your store is physical or digital makes no difference; eCommerce is commerce. The question is how will customers know you have a better option without an upgrade prompt? They won’t. But we’re here to help.

Is Upselling Spammy?

In one word, no. Upselling is not spammy. Upselling is not slimy. Upselling is normal. You can buy a generic notebook at the grocery store, but what does that say about you? Nah, you’re going to buy a moleskin for $17 more than the grocery store one. (Well, I did anyway. Hey, it’s pretty.) See? People like options to upgrade their lives. The luxe life is legit.

“The key to upselling is that you offer products that add value and improve your customer’s life.”

Niel Patel

It’s not always fluff, though. It may be, especially if you’re offering a digital download with EDD, that your core product is free and there are add-ons or extensions to enhance those options. Now we’re talkin’! You’re not really upselling, you’re offering an upgraded experience, a way to streamline their workflow, and/or save time. See? We told you it wasn’t spammy. You’re offering value for value.

What Should I Upsell?

The most loved products that have the highest volume of sales should be your featured upsell. Why? Because the market has spoken. This is what people want. It’s what helps them. It’s what gives them customer delight at the end of the day. 

With our Upgrade Encouragement add-on, you can suggest to your customers, with a popup if you like, that other users also purchased product Y with product X. It will only be $5 dollars more! Wow. What a savings. Of course, I want the upgrade, your customer thinks. Boom, you just made another $5. What did it cost your store? Nil. Nothing. Nada.  

“You should look at your platform’s metrics and sales numbers to see which products are worth upselling. You could upsell products that have had consistently high sales or products that are trending.”

core dna

What About Upselling in Email?

Upselling while the customer is checking out can disrupt the sales process and cause them to bounce. Ouch! We don’t want that. But you just know, deep down in your gut, that once your customer experiences your product, they will want to upgrade. Awesome! Send them an email later. This gives your company additional touch points with that customer. That’s a win-win in any eCommerce playbook.

“Pairing your in-product upgrade prompts with an enticing engagement email is a great way to reach users when they’re outside your product. Use your newsletter to give users the chance to window-shop features without flooding their inbox with an extra email send.”

Katryna Balboni

Your Community and eCommerce

Your digital products bring people to your site and the community keeps them there. With our Upgrade Encouragement Plugin you’ll have a whole set of tools to keep top-of-mind and upsell at the right time, every time.

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Brought to you by Bridget Willard

Marketing Consultant & Strategic Partner. Keynote Speaker. Author. CEO. I’d love to train your team how to effectively use social media.