Upselling and cross selling is widely popular in every industry whether its offline or online sales via ECommerce stores. Applying cross selling or upselling in offline stores with the help of salesmen is effective and easy when it comes to online push as per the study and available digital data. Let’s try to understand the general brief on both terms and try to follow the key differences of above mentioned terms cross selling and upselling (source from wikipedia)
Upselling – Upselling is a sales technique where a seller invites the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons to generate more revenue.
Cross selling – Cross-selling is an art of selling additional products/services to the existing customer at the time of buying. Cross-selling is used to gain additional revenue by suggesting products related/variable to the purchased product.
How to execute both models on online stores
Now for online stores we do not have any human interaction at the point of sales. Advantage at the offline sales is the human presence, salesmen can easily judge the needs of customers while making communication, asking questions and understanding customer psychographics. An effective pitch can be made for upselling, cross-selling or downselling as required based on buyer behaviour.
But the above said strategy may not be exactly applicable for an online store. There are different predictions made by different advertising agencies. Few experts indicate that applying cross selling and upselling to new customers may not be fruitful. Besides that will lead to user dropout, expect states that during new customer acquisition its better to project offers and discounts instead looking for revenue. Upselling and cross-selling may be a great route to expand your business revenue by exploring more on existing customers.
Examples of upselling and cross-selling on Ecom Store
- Cross selling – User is about to make a purchase Hybrid sports bike. Before proceeding to the final checkout page, the website is trying to suggest related products that are commonly used with bikes. Such practises are called cross selling.
- Upselling – User is about to purchase a cosmetic item. Before proceeding to the final checkout page, the website is trying to suggest different variants. Such practises are called Upselling.
Different techniques used for upselling and cross-selling on Ecom Store
- A higher, better model of the product or service
- Same product with value-add features that raises the perceived value of the offering
- Bundling products quite often used along with a discount to increase the perceived value of the offering
- Recommended items
- Side-by-side comparisons
Conclusion And Takeaways
Product and services may vary industry to industry, plan your strategies as per your business and customer needs. Try running AB testing for pre and post sales users and come to the conclusion which works best in terms of your customers. Fix the best suitable module and plan media to support greater sales.
