Upselling means encouraging customers to buy a higher-end or upgraded product, which raises average order value. Existing customers are reported to spend 31% more than new ones, so upselling to them makes sense. The article reviews 10 Shopify apps; trial two or three and measure which your customers respond to.
Installing a plug-in primarily for upselling is one such function and, if used correctly, can increase your average order value (AOV), strengthen your customer relationships, and reduce marketing spend. What are you waiting for?
Upselling, in its simplest form, is the method of selling more to customers who are already in the process of purchasing. In this case, ‘more’ can mean a higher-end product, one that has additional features or perhaps a new season version. Ultimately, the goal is to increase the AOV and, therefore, profitability. For example, if a customer is looking at buying a waffle maker, you may suggest to them a more premium brand, or an upgraded version that has a separate panini maker included. In either case, this upsell will be more expensive (around 25% is usually the norm), so your customer is gently encouraged to spend more.
Upselling can be confused with cross-selling. Cross-selling is selling related items so, in the case of the waffle maker, you might suggest a cleaning product or kitchen utensils. Upselling can also happen after a sale, via email marketing or thank-you pages, but we’ll get to that later.
It’s reported that existing customers are likely to spend 31% more than new customers. Factor in that lead generation can be more costly than customer retention and it just makes business sense to upsell to the customers you have. What’s more, upselling can actually increase customer Lifetime Value (LTV). This is how much someone spends with you over the course of being your customer. If, when you upsell, you make relevant and valuable suggestions, your customers learn to trust you, which can inspire repeat custom and word-of-mouth marketing. Again, this technique is cost saving as you are selling to converted users rather than paying to attract cold leads.
That’s why you should consider integrating upsell apps to your Shopify store in order to truly get the most out of your upselling opportunities.
Upselling can take many forms, from pop-up boxes to ‘you might also like’ banners. It may depend on the industry you are in which techniques work best for your eCommerce store, but here we breakdown some of the best upselling apps and how you can apply them to your Shopify store:
Frequently Bought Together - This powerful app has a free version available but accessing all of its features is low cost and definitely worth it. It displays recommended products to customers and provides them with bundles so they can easily add all products to their cart in one go. Its algorithm also analyses previous purchases to make sure any recommendations are tailored to user behaviour rather than picked at random. You can then evaluate your upselling results to see what's working and what isn’t and make any adjustments.
Bold Upsell - Simple and straightforward in its approach, Bold Upsell recommends higher grade products in the same category to customers with purchase intent. It can also display the same products but in colour or size variants, which works especially well for fashion retailers. Bold Upsell also has cross-selling capabilities for those add-on sales.
Smart Search & Instant Search - As well as making intelligent suggestions, smart search can auto filter or redirect shoppers to the most relevant items. It can also sweep blogs, guides, and other pages for results. Optimising your Shopify search function means you target customers who are proactively scouring your shop by showing several smart and relevant recommendations, not just the most basic results.
Upsell Pop Up - Upselling can also mean encouraging customers to take the final steps to conversion through real-time offers and limited discounts. Upsell Pop Up does this by displaying pop-up messages to your users. This could be a free delivery offer, a reduced price for a short amount of time, or a welcome discount for new sign-ups. The pop-ups are fully customisable and, therefore, can work for any sector, service, or product.
Reconvert - This 5-star rated app targets users immediately after making a purchase by showing them streamlined suggestions based on what they’ve bought and their browsing data. You can choose to include upsell suggestions during the checkout process, or on the ‘thank you’ page when intent is high. There are additional features such as pop-ups or one-click ordering options, making this a very powerful app for increased AOVs.
Ultimate Special Offers - Ideal for websites in competitive verticals, this integration lets you create up to 9 different special offers, including bundles, free shipping and BOGOF. You can set up banners or badges and have special offers automatically applied at the checkout. Offering reductions and incentives encourages shoppers to head to the checkout and you can even customise which customers are shown what so you’re giving the targeted value that brings buyers back.
In Cart Upsell - Easy to set up and with great mobile capabilities, the idea of In Cart Upsell is that all related and relevant products or offers are shown during the checkout stage where users are ready to convert. There is no pop-up to interrupt their user experience and no discount codes to copy and paste. You can track conversions and show or hide upsells according to user tags and types, as well as target based on location or the quantity already in the cart.
Picky Story - Built to specifically leverage bundling opportunities, Picky Story lets you create customisable bundle deals and manage your inventory. The app has loads of great features, combining several upselling options in one app, such as in-cart upsells, pop-ups, one-click orders and volume discounts. It works with all Shopify themes and has a simple drag and drop builder making it easy to set up your Shopify upsells.
Lime Spot - Popular with Shopify users who want to deliver truly personalised experiences, Lime Spot lets you create AI-driven upsell campaigns. Real-time audience segmentation means you can make relevant recommendations to customers at the exact time they are browsing your eCommerce store for user-first upselling.
Bold Discounts - As you might expect, this integration pushes conversions by optimising available discounts or incentivising customers on the edge of making a purchase. Sales icons and countdown timers create a sense of urgency or enable you to launch flash sales and drive revenue. You can run an unlimited number of promotions and easily edit your Shopify discounts and offers on the move with the mobile friendly integration.
As with all things eCommerce, upselling alone won’t boost sales. The same can be said of only using one type of eCommerce integration. You may need to trial two or three and then analyse any metrics to see which types your customers most respond to. Luxury retail sites, for example, may not do well with pop-ups, while high-volume fashion stores could really leverage discount banners.
To really optimise your upselling efforts, combine your apps with tried and tested conversion methods like ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ options or a fast and accurate fulfilment service. The great thing about Shopify is how many apps there are available and how you can combine any number of them to maximise sales. Once you’ve mastered the basics, upselling integrations should definitely be on your Shopify radar and can really increase your AOVs when used effectively.
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