The infamous upsell: Some people cringe at the idea, bringing up images of used car salesmen, while others relish in its glory to reel in additional cash through their eCommerce sites.
If you run an eCommerce, take a look at your Shopping Cart and Checkout areas to see what your customers view right before they whip out their credit card and spend money on your site. Are there opportunities for them to purchase additional items? Do you at least try to ask people to share their purchases on social media sites? How about offering free shipping if they spend over a certain amount of money?
The cool thing about upselling on an eCommerce website is that you don’t have to be pushy, contrary to an in-person sales pitch. If your site has a minimalist design you can always coax people into purchasing more items from your store with simple modules below or to the side of the hopping Cart. And if you push your upsells properly, the products are common-sense purchases for people who are already looking for something similar.
Telling you about how important upselling is on your eCommerce isn’t going to convince you, so let’s take a look at some high-profile brands who offer at least one form of upselling during the Shopping Cart or Checkout process.
See if you can incorporate these ideas into your own eCommerce sites and potentially make a little extra cash with every individual customer that passes through your site.
Pop Chart Lab sells prints, posters, stationery and other items to decorate your home or office. The company is quite popular because it offers hip, quirky designs for people interested in something you might not be able to find at a regular print store.
When you choose a print in their eCommerce shop, it always prompts you to upgrade. For example, I grabbed a poster and placed it in the Shopping Cart only to find that I can purchase the print by itself, include a frame or even get some hanging rails.
If you have a product that allows you to customize or upgrade the product to make it look nicer, try upselling these services and products right before the customer pays.
UPPERCASE is a magazine and book publisher that shares creative ideas for people interested in artsy stuff. One thing I noticed during the checkout was the ability to share that you recently subscribed or bought a book through social media networks.
This is certainly a form of upselling, especially if you are looking to gain traction on a particular network or if you don’t have additional products to sell. These buttons get the word out about your product and they prompt people to share their valuable social media space with a company like yours.
Longboard Living sells longboards and longboarding gear. The company does a nice job of displaying Related Products right below the current product you are thinking of buying. The thing I liked most about this was that they include social sharing buttons and they don’t just throw any products in this area. If only one product relates, then only one product shows up.
Fifty Three works sells stylish and functional pencil stylus devices that work with apps like Paper. They include an upsell during the checkout process, except they changed the wording to read “Add Extras.” I like this because it prompts people to think about what additional products they need to go along with their current purchase. The company also has the pictures and descriptions right there for you to read.
Skinny Ties sells, well, skinny ties. They have a few upsells along the checkout process, but the most unique aspect comes up when they ask encourage you to buy over $50 worth of items. Why? Because you get free shipping. They even throw in a bonus tie bar if you buy more than $100 worth.
Reebok needs no explanation, but they include related products below the current product you plan on buying. The difference from other eCommerce sites? Reebok chose to use the words “Others Also Bought.” This creates a logical thought in the user’s mind that if others bought these items, then maybe they should too. This works particularly well for people new to an activity, like running.
Spyder sells designer outerwear, and their Related Products area has some gems in it. Not only do you get some high-quality photos to see what the products look like, but the company includes the different color options to push those who might not find the default color appealing.
Who says you can only upsell during the checkout phase? Etsy does a wonderful job of using its purchase receipts to upsell on other products. When you receive the receipt email you get information on your purchase, how much it costed and where it is shipping to. If you scroll down on the email you find More Items that you might be interested in purchasing.
This works particularly well because they show items that come from the Etsy Store you previously looked at. This is target marketing at its best.
No eCommerce site upsell list is complete without the mother of them all. Amazon hits customers with so many upsells it makes your head spin. On the product pages they show you what items you have recently looked at, sponsored items, products other customers bought and more.
They don’t stop there. You can find upsells during every step of the checkout phase, and of course, the email receipt throws in a few jabs for your dollars as well. It certainly doesn’t hurt that they include ratings under each product to guide your purchases.
That’s it for some of the top brands that upsell nicely during their Checkout processes. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions about how to integrate these upsell features in your own eCommerce site, and explain any other techniques you have used to sell more products online.
Feature image curtsey of Elena Lazutina
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