It’s difficult enough to increase conversions and find customers who are interested in your products. Once you can accomplish that though, what’s next? So you have a healthy customer base and are looking to increase your average order value. If your goal is to maximize revenue and you’re looking at how you can influence your existing customers to reach that goal, there are quite a few ways to do that. Upselling is a very familiar practice that involves stacking relevant upgrades or additions onto a product, increasing the amount your customers spend. Think about a time when you’ve felt inspired to switch to the premium version of an online service without advertisements, or been encouraged to add a maintenance plan or extended warranty to your new electronic device or extra toppings on your pizza. This is what upselling looks like and can be a legitimate and effective sales strategy when used properly. Cross selling is a little different but follows the same principle. It involves encouraging customers to add separate items that might complement what they’re already about to buy, just like when you are asked to turn your burger into a meal by adding a drink and some fries. Both strategies can be highly effective and transform your sales revenue if you do it right, let’s discuss the benefits of using these strategies and some ways that you can use each technique to increase eCommerce sales and optimize your website, which is one of the best ways to improve the customer experience.
The Benefits
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Increase Revenue
The most obvious benefits of adopting these strategies is that it will ultimately result in higher average order value and that means more revenue. However, providing a satisfying experience and making sure that your customers get everything they need will also result in lifetime customers that will continue to come back again and again.
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Improve Customer Experience
As stated before, upselling and cross selling techniques can help customers to locate products they may have already been looking for to supplement their purchase, so these strategies make the shopping experience easier and faster. A better customer experience is always a good thing for your business. If you're looking for more ways to improve the customer experience, Virid can help with that.
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Visibility
Even if customers don’t end up choosing the upgraded product or the add -ons, these strategies can provide visibility for your products so customers know that they have options and are aware of everything that you offer. For brick and mortar stores, this involves placing items in the customer’s line of sight, while online shoppers might see a list of suggested products on their checkout screen, encouraging your customer to learn more about your products and how they could benefit them in the future.
When to Use Upselling
If you have a brick and mortar store, it can be helpful to strategically place premium items next to basic items to increase visibility and give customers the option to upgrade right away. Upselling works better for higher ticket items like electronics, where there are clear benefits to different models. Upselling can be less challenging than cross selling, as customers can usually see the benefits of the upgrade without much encouragement. A good time to use upselling tactics is in email marketing related to past purchases to offer the advantages of an upgrade to a product they already own.
When to Use Cross Selling
You’ve probably seen a “customers also bought” or “frequently bought together” section on a product page if you’ve ever shopped online. Cross selling can be extremely effective for consumable add-ons, like replacement filters for a water filtration system or batteries for an electronic device. This is your chance to anticipate your customer’s needs and provide them the opportunity to find everything they need in one place. You can use email marketing for this as well by sending targeted follow-up emails with product suggestions that might complement their previous purchase.
Best Practices
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Personalization
It’s important to understand your audience before you try to use these strategies. Get to know them and their needs before and after their purchase to stay relevant and maintain a growing relationship with them so they continue to come back. Product recommendations should be personalized and relevant. You can automate this with artificial intelligence to provide the best recommendations that accurately predict what your customers want.
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Add Value
If you’re planning to use upselling or cross selling, it can be even more effective if you offer exclusive discounts on bundles that combine multiple products for a special price. This gives customers even more reason to purchase add-ons through you rather than after the fact with a competitor. It’s important to focus on not just the price, though. You should highlight the advantages of adding on or upgrading as well as that should be the primary motivation for taking action.
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Testing
The best way to measure whether your strategies are effective is to conduct testing after the fact and make adjustments accordingly. Call to actions can be tricky to design and it is impossible to truly know what your customers will engage with, that’s why it’s so important to constantly monitor and evolve your strategy to create one that really works.
There are so many things that motivate your customer to shop with you rather than a competitor, using these techniques to boost order value and provide more for your customers gives them another reason to choose you. If you’re looking for ways to strategize to boost conversions and increase average order value for your eCommerce site, your eCommerce platform could be holding you back. If you’re ready to realize your website’s true potential, schedule a consultation with Virid today. Our eCommerce platform, marketAgiliy 7.0 is your all-in-one solution.
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