How to upsell in Shopify? 3 simple steps

Upselling in Shopify is a popular tactic for increasing the average order value in the e-commerce field. Implementing upselling means getting your customers to spend more than their initial plans during the sale process. When running a Shopify store, upselling will help you maximize profitability from existing customers while improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

So, how do you leverage this strategy to grow your store? How to effectively upsell in Shopify? How can you make it your competitive advantage among Shopify merchants? Let’s discover it in our content below!

1. What is Upselling in Shopify?

Upselling in Shopify is a sales tactic where Shopify merchants incentivize customers to buy a more expensive product rather than the one they originally considered. That product will likely provide more features or be larger than the original.

The upselling strategy involves leveraging existing customers to increase revenue. According to research related to the probability of selling to an existing customer, the percentage found out is 60%–70%. This is higher than the 5%–20% probability of selling to a new customer. Effective upselling helps merchants raise the average order value and customer lifetime value, leading to an ultimate revenue increase.

2. Why is Upselling Important on Shopify?

Upselling is necessary for any Shopify merchants during their operation as it drives many benefits. Let’s see one by one below!

Increase revenue

The most important advantage of upselling is the potential of increasing revenue. You can boost your average order value by suggesting higher-value products to customers. When a customer intends to purchase, offering an upgraded product can help you drive a substantial difference in your sales figures. This helps maximize the value of each customer visit to your store.

Increase conversion rates

When you research your customer journey well, you will know the right point to put your sell offers. At that point, you can easily turn them into purchasers as their buying intention is already high. This is how your store’s conversion rates increase with an upselling strategy.

In addition, personalized product recommendations based on customers’ previous purchasing behavior make customers feel more convinced. This can reduce hesitation and lead to more completed sales. 

Enhance customer experience

A well-executed upselling tactic can enhance the overall shopping experience for customers. When recommending suitable products for customers, you are showing that you understand their preferences. Such value-added recommendations also make customers perceive your store as attentive and helpful.

Competitive advantage

When you implement effective upselling techniques, your Shopify store will have a competitive edge. Incorporating smart upsell offers helps you differentiate your store from competitors who only focus on the initial sale. Customers who feel they are getting better value from your Shopify store due to your personalized suggestions are more likely to choose yours over other stores. That also sets you apart in the market. Such a competitive advantage can attract more customers and increase your market share.

Improve inventory management

Upselling can also help you manage inventory better. By strategically recommending products that you need to move quickly, you can reduce excess stock and free up valuable storage space. Efficient inventory management through upselling leads to a more streamlined operation and reduced holding costs.

Cost efficiency

Upselling is a cost-efficient tactic for Shopify merchants. Usually, acquiring new customers is expensive due to marketing and advertising costs. Meanwhile, upselling to existing customers is far more cost-effective because you are leveraging an already engaged audience. When implementing upselling, you are working with your existing customers who have got used to your brand and products. Maximizing the value of each customer transaction can achieve higher profitability without the acquisition costs associated with new customers.

Long-term customer relationships

Upselling in Shopify not only helps you make profits, it also helps you build long-term customer relationships. When you consistently provide valuable and relevant products, you can foster trust and loyalty. Customers who feel that your store genuinely cares about their needs are more likely to return for future purchases and introduce your store to others. These loyal customers can become brand advocates, driving sustained growth for your Shopify store. In other words, upselling helps you foster long-term relationships that are crucial for your store’s sustained success.

3. 3 Steps to Add Upsell in Shopify

3.1 Choosing the Right Upsell Products

Identifying Complementary Products

To implement the upselling strategy successfully in Shopify, you will need to recommend products that complement the ones your customers originally intended to buy. So, the first step is identifying such complementary products. These products must add value to or improve the functionality of the main product a customer is buying. That means they naturally extend the buying journey. For example, if a customer purchases a mobile phone, complementary products can be similar products with enhanced features.

To identify these products, consider the primary product’s use case and what additional items would enhance the customer’s experience. This involves understanding the typical customer journey. Bundling complementary products is another effective strategy. You can create packages that include the main product and related items at a slightly discounted price compared to purchasing them separately. This will help provide value to customers and increase the perceived value of the purchase.

A suggestion for you to well-identify complementary products is using AI-powered apps like Boost AI Search & Filter to build upsell recommendations based on what your customers search. They will help you understand the intent and context of your customers’ search queries. Then, you can show products similar to what they have been looking at, improving product discoverability and raising your conversion rates.

Analyzing Customer Data

Analyzing customer data is another crucial part of choosing the right upsell products in Shopify. The process will help you understand buying patterns, preferences, and behaviors, leading to informed decisions about which products to recommend.

Understanding your customers is the base for offering upsells that add value. Helpful upsell offers will help you maximize each customer visiting your Shopify store. Thanks to detailed analytics, you can also decide the timing and the price point to make your offers most persuasive. Moreover, when you deeply understand the factors influencing your customers, you can personalize your upsell recommendations. This will help enhance conversion rates and boost sales effectively.

You can start by checking historical sales data using the Shopify Analytics tool. Check which products are usually bought together, contributing to the suitable identification of complementary products. You can also track customer browsing behavior to know which products they view before purchasing. This behavior data will help you make great upsell product recommendations that are relevant and likely to convert. Tools like Google Analytics or Crazy Egg can help you with this work.

Furthermore, you can segment your current customers into different groups depending on demographics, purchase history, and preferences and tailor your upsell offers to each group. With this strategy, your upselling targeting will be correct, improving its effectiveness. You can also leverage customer feedback for data analysis. Paying attention to reviews and customer service interactions helps you understand what customers value and what they might need in addition to their main purchase. Consider their opinions when building upsell offers.

3.2 Decide Your Upsell Strategies

To have a successful upselling campaign, you will need to decide where to place your upsell offers. Let’s explore the strategic locations to show your upsell products in Shopify, ensuring that the integration aligns with various Shopify themes to enhance the visual appeal and user experience.

Product Page Upsell in Shopify

Product page upsells in Shopify are among the most popular strategies for implementing upselling. In this approach, you will display relevant products directly on the product page your customer is viewing. You can see the image as an example, where the brand provides similar items on a women’s jacket page.

Relevance is the key to remember when putting upsells on product pages in Shopify. The recommended products should complement the main product and enhance its functionality or value. Utilizing customer reviews and ratings on these upsell products can also build trust and encourage purchases.

Product add-on

You can show extra items that enhance the primary product, which is called product add-on upselling. They can be optional upgrades or complementary items that improve the customer’s overall experience. For instance, the London Dungeon, a scary museum in London showcasing terrifying moments from its history, offers face masks as an add-on to their tickets. 

The add-ons can be shown on the product page or during the checkout process as long as you ensure that customers are aware of these options. Making customers aware of the benefits of each add-on can also help persuade them to include it in their purchases.

Cart Upsells 

Implementing in-cart upsells means you display the products to customers when they are reviewing their shopping cart before proceeding to checkout. This is a great time to recommend related or complementary products, as customers are already in the buying mindset. Below is an example from ProFlowers, where they offer extra items after the customer adds the chosen product into the cart.

Cart upsells can raise the likelihood of customers adding these items before completing their purchase. Thus, it helps increase the average deal size and sales volume naturally.

Checkout Upsells

Checkout upsells are the strategies of presenting products to customers during the checkout process. It usually occurs just before customers finalize their purchase. This is also a prime time to suggest items that complement the products in their cart. You can also offer expedited shipping, gift wrapping services, or loyalty program enrollment at this step. You can see the case of Quip, an oral health brand – it suggests adding a refresher bag when the customer intends to check out with a new toothbrush.

As customers are already committed to making a purchase, presenting them with additional options that enhance their order can lead to higher sales. Ensuring these upsell offers are seamlessly integrated into the checkout process is essential to avoid any disruptions or confusion.

Post-Purchase Upsells

Post-purchase upsells are upsell offers provided after the initial transaction is complete. Usually, they are displayed via confirmation emails or thank-you pages. Unlike Shopify’s pre-purchase upsell method, this type of upsell utilizes the customer’s recent buying decision, raising the chances of extra sales. The products offered should be relevant and provide added value to the customer, encouraging them to make another purchase without feeling overwhelmed. Here’s an example of post-purchase upsells:

Read more: Shopify Thank You Page Upsell: The Ultimate Guide to Boost Revenue.

Upsell popup

Upsell popups appear at strategic moments during the shopping experience. They are great for grabbing customers’ attention. You can trigger popups based on specific actions like adding an item to the cart or spending a certain amount of time on a product page.

To be successful with upsell popups, you need to pay attention to timing and relevance. They should improve the customer’s shopping experience rather than interrupt it. Also, remember to keep the popup design simple with a clear message to enhance conversion rates. You can refer to the popup below from Duradry. The brand hits customers with an upsell popup encouraging them to “upgrade to a bundle and save” when they add an item to their shopping cart.

Upsell funnel

A Shopify upsell funnel is a series of strategically placed upsell offers that guide customers through additional purchases. It involves building a sequence of upsell offers instead of one piece. These offers will be displayed to customers at different stages of their shopping journey.

For instance, in ProFlowers’s example, when customers are on the product page, they will see three options for upselling products (product page upsells). Then, after they choose “add to cart,” the cart upsell offers will appear with some extra items.

An upsell funnel can maximize the chances of upselling by gradually introducing additional products. You should carefully plan the sequence and ensure the relevance of each offer to create a smooth and persuasive funnel that boosts sales without overwhelming the customer.

Product Bundle

Offering product bundles in Shopify or frequently bought-together bundles is an effective upsell strategy that combines multiple related products into a single, attractive package. This approach helps increase the perceived value and encourages customers to purchase more goods at once. Bundles simplify the shopping experience, provide added convenience, and can significantly boost your average order value.

Here’s an example of recommending a bundle from Vanity Planet:

Volume Discount

Combining upselling with volume discounts on Shopify is another compelling strategy. You reduce the price per unit when customers buy more items to incentivize them to purchase more. It helps you increase your overall sales and boost customer satisfaction by providing better value.

The example below is from Tote Bag Factory, a well-known wholesale supplier of various types of bags. It combines the quantity discount with a product page upsell, so its customers can enjoy better prices when they buy more units of the bag.

3.3 How to add upsell products in Shopify using Shopify apps

Top recommended Shopify apps for adding upsell products

Shopify upselling apps are powerful tools that assist you in enhancing your upselling efforts. Here are some of the top recommended apps for you to build and implement your offers effectively.

Selleasy

Selleasy is a great Shopify app helping merchants boost sales through upselling and cross-selling. It offers various features, including pre-purchase and post-purchase upsell offers, frequently bought together bundles, and product add-ons. The app supports many languages and currencies, making it versatile for a global audience. 

It is highly appreciated for its ease of use, customization options, and the seamless integration with Shopify stores. Selleasy also provides exceptional customer support, including free setup assistance via Zoom, chat, or email. The app has a free plan available and affordable pricing tiers. Discounted upsell Shopify apps like Selleasy is a nice option for you when considering upselling apps on Shopify.

BOGOS Free Gift

The next app we want to recommend is BOGOS. BOGOS is a fantastic app for Shopify that makes it easy to boost your sales with bundle upsells and tiered pricing. It helps you increase your average order value right away by allowing you to set up automatic gift additions and tiered pricing structures. You can offer personalized promotions with customizable gift options and advanced targeting features. The app also supports time-sensitive offers to encourage quick purchases, provides detailed analytics to help you understand your promotions’ performance, integrates seamlessly with Shopify, and offers customizable display options to ensure your promotions stand out.

BOGOS is praised for its intuitive setup and the significant boost in sales it brings. It also provides detailed analytics for merchants to follow and adjust their strategies for maximizing performance. It has a free trial to try and test the features. Also, the premium packages are very affordable.

BOLD Upsell

BOLD Upsell is another choice when you want to add upsell products on Shopify. The app enables merchants to display targeted offers at various stages of the customer journey, including product pages, cart, checkout, and post-purchase. The app’s AI-powered Smart Offers automatically present the highest converting offers, while manual options provide flexibility for customized promotions. 

BOLD Upsell is easy to use and integrates seamlessly with other tools. It also delivers detailed analytics that helps merchants optimize upselling strategies. The app is a comprehensive solution with features like one-click add-ons, product recommendations, and the ability to combine with Bold Subscriptions. It offers a free plan and tiered pricing based on order volume, making it accessible for stores of all sizes.

A step-by-step guide to adding upsell products with the Selleasy app

4. Effective Upselling Strategies

Creating Compelling Offers

Compelling offers make a significant contribution to a successful upselling strategy. The goal here is to display additional products in a way that is both attractive and beneficial to the customer. As discussed, you can start by identifying products that complement the customer’s original purchase. It’s necessary to highlight the benefits of these additional products, explaining how they enhance the primary purchase. 

In addition, using discounted upsell Shopify strategies can also contribute to compelling offers. That means you provide discounts or bundles to make your upsell offers more appealing. You can consider some bundling techniques like “buy more save more bundles”, “quantity discount bundles”, or “frequently bought together bundles”. Adding them as limited-time offers can enhance attractiveness, incentivizing customers’ purchasing actions. Of course, don’t forget to provide clear value, making it difficult for customers to resist.

When making offers, visual appeal plays a significant role. High-quality images and a concise, persuasive copy will help you boost the conversion rates for upsell products. It would be best if you also emphasized any unique benefits that make the product a valuable addition. In some cases, you may even attach customer reviews or testimonials to motivate the purchase further.

Personalization 

Personalization makes your upselling offers become more powerful. When you tailor offers based on customers’ individual preferences and purchase history, they are more likely to respond positively to them. You should utilize customer data to analyze past behaviors and preferences, then make relevant upsell suggestions. 

You can implement personalized recommendations via many methods. Email marketing is a typical way to send personalized upsell offers based on previous purchases. You can also display popups or notifications that highlight relevant products to capture your customers’ attention and increase the likelihood of an upsell. Showcasing similar products on product pages, displaying product recommendations on the cart page, or recommending products with special deals on the thank you page are also implemented based on personalized data to drive an ultimate great result.

Another approach is segmenting your customer base and creating specific upsell strategies for different segments. For instance, you build introductory offers for new customers while making exclusive offers with discounted prices for loyal customers. Leveraging personalization will help improve the effectiveness of upselling and enhance customer satisfaction by providing a more tailored shopping experience.

Optimal Timing and Placement

Timing and placement are important when building your upselling strategy. Presenting upsell offers at the right moment will affect the customer’s decision-making process. Some best moments to show an upsell is when the customer adds an item to their shopping cart, when they are in the checkout process, and after they have completed a purchase.

At the stage of adding a product to the shopping cart, customers are usually considering a purchase. So, they are more receptive to additional offers. If you choose the time of checkout, you can suggest products that complement the items in the customer’s cart or offer upgrades and add-ons. Yet, remember that the upsell offers do not disrupt the checkout flow. Post-purchase upselling involves displaying offers on the thank you page or in a follow-up email. As the customer has already bought an item, they will be easily open to adding related items to their order.

Besides, you need to pay attention to placement. Upsell offers should be outstanding in order to catch the attention of customers. They shouldn’t be irritating things affecting the shopping experience. You can leverage strategic locations like product pages, the shopping cart, and checkout pages to present your offers. Besides, using popups and banners at suitable moments can also help. Testing different placements and timings will help you decide the most effective ones for your audience.

5. Monitoring and Optimizing Upsell Performance

Tracking Upsell Success

To ensure your upselling campaigns are working well, you will need to monitor and track their performance. The introduced Shopify apps will help you gather data on key metrics such as the number of upsell offers presented and accepted and the revenue generated from these offers. Data on average order value, conversion rates, and customer engagement with upsell offers will also help you determine the effectiveness of the offer. You should regularly review them to identify which upsell strategies need improvement.

Adjusting Strategies

When you analyze your campaigns’ performance data and find some strategies that are not working well, continuously refine them. You can try the underperforming offers with different products, placements, or timings. A/B testing can help you in this case.

Besides, you can gather customer feedback to understand their preferences and pain points better. Optimizing your strategies based on real-time data and feedback ensures that your upsell offers remain relevant and appealing. This ultimately enhances customer satisfaction and increases revenue.

6. Conclusion

Upselling is an important tactic that helps you improve your Shopify store’s performance. It drives various benefits and ultimately brings your business closer to success. Now, you know how to add upsell products in Shopify, together with essential aspects when implementing upselling. Let’s try it to see your store’s development!

7. FAQ