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Use upsell funnels to sell more on your ecommerce store

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Bold Editors

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We see upselling at brick and mortar stores every day.

Customers can be enticed to add products to their purchase by a salesperson, the tempting goodies at the checkout counter, or even the cashier offering them additional items to complement their purchase.

But as an ecommerce merchant, you need to find digital ways to persuade customers to buy more. That's where upsell funnels come in.

This game-changing new feature is part of our Bold Upsell app. It offers customers a series of upsells during the most crucial part of your sales funnel, ultimately helping you sell more and make more cash.

Check it out!

How upsell funnels can optimize your ecommerce store

By offering shoppers multiple upsells, you help them find everything they need and increase your average order value (AOV).

But it does more than that. It’s a great way to let people know about new products you've just added to your store, or push slower moving products.

Upsell funnels: how they work

Using conditional logic, you can create multiple offers that Upsell will show your customers when they add something to their cart.

Screenshot of Bold Upsell

When a customer accepts an offer, you can set up consecutive offers that they can add to their cart until they click "decline." When they decline an offer, the upsell window will show them one last offer before closing.

To use upsell funnels on your Shopify store, start by installing Bold Upsell. It only takes a few minutes to install, and comes with a free trial: There’s no reason not to try it out!

Once you have the app installed, activate upsell funnels with these instructions.

Next, decide what type of upsell you’d like to create. You can add a funnel to any kind of upsell! Here are some examples.

Cross-sell offers

When you hear "upsell", what probably comes to mind first is technically a cross-sell. They’re products that are complementary to the item a customer is purchasing — the classic, "Would you like fries with that" tactic.

With upsell funnels, your customers' cross-sell experience would look something like this:

  • A customer adds a sweatshirt to their cart
  • This triggers a cross-sell offer of a perfectly matched pair of sweatpants or socks to go with it.
  • If they sweatpants, it triggers another offer: a choice of t-shirt or beanie.
  • If they decline, it gives them one last chance at a deal by presenting them with a matching baseball cap.

See how this can help you up average order value — and show customers products they didn't even know they wanted?

“True upsell” offers

A “true upsell” is when you offer shoppers an upgraded version of the item they've just selected. It’s a great way to improve your customer's purchase with a better product, as well as make you more money.

With upsell funnels, a "true upsell" would be the first offer displayed to your customer. For example, if they add a laptop to their cart, it could trigger an offer for the same laptop but with a bigger screen. If they accept the bigger laptop, it will replace the laptop they initially selected, and then offer them a set of cross-sell items to choose from — like a mouse pad and laptop case.

  • If you already have Upsell, read about how to get true upsells up and running here!

An example of how Upsell funnels work, starting with a "true upsell."

Plan your upsell strategy

If you run an ecommerce store, having an upsell strategy can help maximize every conversion, especially during the Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend and the holiday season.

A combination of upsells, cross-sells, and funnels, all with strategic triggers (like certain products or cart values) and offering times (product page or cart page) will effectively grow order sizes and help shoppers make the most of their purchase.

Some apps allow for one-click upsells after checkout. That means customers can instantly add an offer to their purchase AFTER they check out. These offers usually convert very highly because customers don't have to enter their payment information again. If you have Bold Checkout on BigCommerce, you can activate this functionality easily!

If your store already boasts big sales, just think of the profit potential if you add upsell funnels.

Make sure you give customers more options — and yourself more sales — by using upsell funnels on your store today! 

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Bold Editors

Copywriter

We are a dynamic team of B2B writers and champions of global ecommerce brands.

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