Chandler Olson
June 14, 2023
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Looking for an easy way to drive sales and revenue across your eCommerce business? We can help. (Hint: it’s as easy as downloading two apps.)
Keep reading to learn more about what upselling, cross-selling, and product customization are, why you should be doing all three on your Shopify store, and how to quickly implement these tactics using just two easy-to-use apps.
Upselling is when you sell an upgraded version of an existing product to a customer. For example, it’s like suggesting a customer upgrade to a computer with more storage for a higher price, or suggesting they add insurance to their existing purchase. (Or in more everyday terms, it’s like adding extra avocado to your lunchtime sandwich order.)
Cross-selling, on the other hand, is when you suggest a complementary product to a customer. It’s like adding a case to a laptop or suggesting that a customer also buy a mouse. (Or in more everyday terms, like adding a soda to go with your lunchtime sandwich order.)
Upselling and cross-selling are super common sales tactics, and they’re surefire ways to increase customer satisfaction, average order value (AOV), overall sales, and revenue.
Product customization is when customers can customize certain products according to their unique liking. For example, it’s like offering different colors of a computer (gray, gold, rose gold) at the most basic level, or like offering custom engraving on jewelry at a more customized level. (Or in more everyday terms, it’s like choosing the build-your-own sandwich at lunchtime.) Product customization is a great way to elevate a customer’s shopping experience, increase satisfaction, increase AOV, and drive customer loyalty.
Implementing all of these strategies together on your Shopify store is a winning strategy for your eCommerce business —and super easy to do using the InCart Upsell App in tandem with the Product Customizer App. Why? Because you’re amplifying the benefits of both, with tons of subsequent upsides for your business.
Upselling and cross-selling, in general, enhance a customer’s shopping experience by suggesting intuitive upgrades or complementary products that will enhance their purchase. Product customization, too, enhances a customer’s shopping experience by making it feel extremely personalized. Now these two together? The customer is happier with their customized purchase, and they’re also happier with their enhanced purchase. Customer satisfaction is thus amplified, leaving you with one extremely elevated shopping experience—and one extremely content customer.
One of the main benefits of upselling and cross-selling is increased AOV. Why? When you upsell something, the customer is literally adding more to their cart. The monetary value of their order, thus, increases. And one of the main benefits of product customization? Also increased AOV. Why? Because customers are willing to spend more on their personalized, customized piece. Thus, you’re able to essentially add two more “items” to a customer’s cart (the upsell or cross-sold item + the customization), drastically increasing their total purchase and in turn, AOV.
Since these customers are doubly satisfied with both their “upgraded,” enhanced products (upsells & cross-sells) and their customized purchases, they’re more likely to come back to shop again. And again. Anddd again. In business terms, this means customer loyalty and customer retention increases, which also means increased LTV and recurring revenue over time.
Enhanced customer experience plus increased AOV plus increased retention all together add up to increased sales and revenue for your Shopify store. Just to prove it, let’s break this all down with a real-life example.
Let’s look at Link Before You Sink, an eCommerce retailer selling jewelry. Link Before You Sink uses the InCart Upsell & Cross Sell app to create upsell and cross-sell experiences on their Shopify store. They also have the Product Options & Customizer Shopify app installed, which allows them to sell more expensive, customized, engraved versions of their jewelry.
Let’s say you’re a customer looking for a necklace to gift your mom. You come across a Dainty Bar Necklace—simple and classic for just $44. However, as you continue browsing, you come across a customized version of the same Dainty Bar Necklace. Curious, you click through to the PDP and discover you’re able to add a custom engraving! This custom version is $58—$14 more than the unengraved version—but well worth it to add a heartfelt message to your mom. Excited, you add it to your cart.
Upon adding it, you’re prompted with a suggestion (cross-sell) directly in your cart: Add a Double-Link Necklace, perfect for layering chains. You think about how beautiful this necklace could look both layered with your mother’s engraved necklace and also on its own. So, you gladly add it to your cart for an additional $44. That additional item added to your purchase was a no-brainer.
In the end, you’re much happier with your purchase. Initially, you intended to buy a simple necklace for your mom. However, you were able to add a customized message—something your mom can wear daily and keep close to her heart, literally. You were also able to gift her not just one, but two necklaces for added versatility and style. In the end, your intended gift was elevated from simply “nice” to extremely sentimental and cry-worthy.
AOV increased in the end, too. What was initially just a $44 purchase increased to $100 in total, or $56 more. And this was just with one customer and one order—think about all the returning loyalists and other subsequent customers who will continue to spend more than they intended, all from simple upsells, cross-sells, and custom engravings.
Link Before You Sink is left with happier customers who spend more—and who are so happy with their enhanced, personalized shopping experiences, they’re likely to return time and time again.
Convinced that you should add both upselling and product customization capabilities to your site? Lucky for you, adding both is easy with the InCart Upsell and Product Customizer Apps.
The InCart Upsell & Cross Sell app, which uses AI to recommend products that your customers are most likely to buy, makes upselling and cross-selling on product pages during checkout easy.
The Product Options & Customizer app, on the other hand, gives your customers the power to easily customize products on your Shopify store.
Try them both out for free today and start seeing improvements to your AOV tomorrow. (Well maybe not literally tomorrow, but you get the point.).
