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Many people nowadays have the same misconception that traditional, physical stores are very different from the modern, up-and-coming, eCommerce ones. In addition, too many entrepreneurs also think that strategies created for offline selling simply do not work online.
But the reality is proving them wrong, as the strategies that brought numerous customers to brick-and-mortar stores can do wonders for eCommerce businesses. Two good examples of this include upselling and cross-selling methods.
Let’s take a look at some proven cross-selling and upselling strategies that can help you boost your Neto eCommerce business’s revenue.
Types of upsells and cross-sells
A lot of merchants believe that they are doing upselling while they are actually implementing cross-sells. Both methods are used to increase the monetization per customer, but technically they differ from one another. You can find out more about the differences between them on our blog.
But now, let’s take a look at various kinds of upsells and cross-sells for your Neto store.
Soft
Soft upselling and cross-selling is a gentle way of implementing them. Soft means that a business is offering an upsell or a cross-sell on the product page, cart page, or during the checkout. For instance, Amazon’s FBG is a soft approach since it does not add an additional step to the conversion funnel.
This type does not distract the customer and it does not harm the overall conversion. However, its success rate is rather low.
Pop-up
Pop-ups are often seen as an aggressive method, but they are also one of the most effective methods out there.
Pop-ups could be either shown as a passive offer (i.e. customer doesn’t need to click to close it and continue) or an active offer that requires a customer to accept or reject it in order to continue.
One-click
The term one-click upsell or cross-sell means that customers can complete the purchase with a single click using the stored payment information. The vast majority use this method on the order confirmation page once a customer has already filled in all details (including credit card info).
Post-purchase
Post-purchase upselling has become very popular in recent months. In this case, the upsell offer is shown on the order confirmation page (post-purchase page) when the customer has already completed the original transaction.
Chat
This method refers to the situations when customers receive an offer (upsell/cross-sell) through an agent or a bot on the online chat or phone. This is becoming a very effective method, but its use is not very broad, as not every store has live chat functionality.
How to approach upselling and cross-selling for success?
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As a Neto eCommerce store owner considering upsell and cross sell strategies, you should ask yourself the following questions:
- What should you do to make the most use of upselling and cross-selling?
- How should you approach it and where to implement it?
- Is there a proven formula for success?
Let’s take a look.
Bundling
A good way to cross-sell products on your Neto store is to offer several items together in a bundle. Customers almost always find it attractive when the bundle price is lower than the sum when the products are bought individually.
A lot of websites do this as a way to simply and effectively group complementary items together. Bundling can increase average sale totals, but it can also help save a business and its customers’ money if you charge a flat-rate for shipping.
Recommended items
This is similar to a bundle and a good tool for sales figures improvement. For instance, a marketplace such as Amazon makes great use of recommended items on almost every page, showing a customer other related products that they might find interesting. This is one of the very effective Neto eCommerce cross-sell best practices that could work for your business too.
Comparisons (side by side)
This upsell marketing strategy sells through side-by-side comparisons of the different types of product your business offers. This practice is very popular among electronics stores where a single item might have more than one model with different characteristics.
Putting your more expensive, more sophisticated products side by side with your baseline models showcases their advanced features and lets consumers know exactly where they are compromising. When a shopper isn’t looking to compromise, your business earns a higher sale.
Premium add-ons and offers
Larger store chains earn huge profits by selling extended protection plans on everything they sell every year. This kind of add-on is seen at the checkout screen in most cases. How about an in-home installation, for instance?
Surely, this is an incentive that adds value to customers and it can help your business improve its cross-selling numbers.
On top of that, add-ons are very good for upselling. For instance, beauty stores can offer free test samples of higher-end products to entice customers and introduce them to a luxury they didn’t know they needed before.
Cross sell best practices
Let’s go through some of the proven practices that have worked for many entrepreneurs when it comes to cross selling strategies for Neto.
Wondering how to cross sell effectively? Take a look.
Related items
Recommending related items on your Neto website should make a positive impact on your revenue figures. This is a proven method that works great for many businesses.
You need to display related items on your website once a customer lands on a product page when browsing. This is a basic strategy, but it is effective, especially if a business sells a range of complementary products.
This strategy works in two ways:
- It helps customers find more products to add to their cart.
- It helps browsers find a better fit (product).
Recently viewed items
This method works in the same manner as the previous one. However, in this case, the recommended items are the ones the visitor has recently viewed (not just any related item).
This strategy is particularly effective if a store tends to get a high percentage of returning visitors. So, if there is a decent number of returning visitors on your Neto eCommerce store, then a recently viewed cross sell strategy could be very useful.
Shop the look
Shop the look is the method that involves presenting customers with a high-quality photo of a stylish model or environment with the aim to sell extra products. For instance, if a visitor is looking for a pair of pants, a website might show them a photo of a model wearing them.
But in addition, the model also wears a matching top, shoes, and some accessories. Consequently, a visitor might like the entire look so much that they decide to add the whole set to the cart.
Many furniture stores make use of this method as well. When a person visits a website to buy a couch or an armchair, they might get a photo where these furniture items are arranged alongside other pieces that look great when combined.
When you present the prospect with an inspirational image, you make it easier for them to make a purchasing decision.
Discounts on product bundles
Combine specific products into a bundle and offer a discount when all of the products are bought together. For instance, a customer wishes to buy a PlayStation gaming console and a retailer would then show that customer a few games or additional controllers below the actual console.
These serve as the bundle fragments. Of course, every customer will like that because they plan to buy games in the future anyway and they will need a few controllers if they want to play them with friends.
However, you should be careful with this strategy and maintain correct inventory levels when bundling products together.
Add complementary services
This Neto cross-selling strategy can work in a wide variety of cases. For instance, an online merchant selling various furniture pieces could also offer an assembly service at a fair price.
A customer will see this as a chance to save some time and reduce the risk of frustration if they fail to assemble the pieces.
IKEA offers this service too and many people choose to pay for the service simply because it’s convenient. On top of that, elderly or immobile customers simply can’t assemble furniture on their own.
Upsell best practices
Now that we have covered cross-selling practices, let’s take a look at some proven ways to successfully upgrade a customer’s product or to even convince them to buy a more expensive version of it by implementing an upsell strategy.
Version upgrade
When you use this method, you’re practically asking a customer to get a different version of a product that is offered. This product can be a stronger one, a bigger one, or a faster one.
For instance, if a customer wants to buy a PS4, the store could offer a PS4 PRO below.
So, make this clear to your customers and your store will sell more expensive product versions easily. However, it needs to be obvious that the improved version is a better choice.
Product protection
This upsell works well both online and offline. The protect your product upsell involves offering a customer a warranty extension so that they can have their product protected against something that could potentially go wrong. For instance, if a customer buys a phone, they can often get a screen replacement warranty.
Customization
Offering a customize product option on your Neto store’s website is considered an upsell. To be precise, that is a series of upsells, since every customization increases the original price. For instance, if a shopper wants to buy a phone, offering a case or a custom skin can be seen as upselling.
Bundle
Bundling has been mentioned before and many believe that it is actually a grey area, since it can be seen as both cross-selling and upselling.
If you package related items together and show that it is a better value, that can certainly increase your sales of all the items in the bundle.
Finally, just remember to be careful when it comes to inventory levels. Do not get lost with bundling to avoid making a promise you can’t fulfil.
Things to keep in mind when upselling
Upselling may not seem as straightforward as cross-selling to some. To make it more convenient for you, keep some things in mind:
- Select the right upsell (one or more of the mentioned types).
- Always offer the upsell.
- Do not be too pushy if a customer is not interested.
- Make the upsell relevant.
- Personalize the recommendations according to the products that were viewed before.
- Use urgency to increase the value of the upsell.
Before you start cross-selling and upselling…
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Missing out on opportunities to cross-sell or upsell your current customers translates to lost revenue. These methods will help you keep that revenue, as they are among the easiest ways to increase sales and thus grow your company.
However, keep in mind that there are no universal cross selling and upselling strategies that get the desired results in every situation. It would be best to combine these methods into your strategy that is executed according to your business’s specific preferences.
Use this guide as help that makes you think and figure out how you can start creating your own cross-selling and upselling strategies for the customers you currently have. And if you want help from professionals, consider our Neto upsell add-on.