4 easy upsells you can set up with Bold Product Options

Upselling is one of the oldest sales tricks in the commerce handbook. What’s an upsell? Let’s look at an example.

You're at the coffee shop ordering your usual medium Frappe Latte when the barista says, "we're having a special today, you can upgrade your medium to a large for just ten cents more." You know you don't need all that extra sugar and caffeine, but ten cents... "sure," you say, "why not!" 

You had no intention of buying an large coffee when you walked into the shop, but there you are, increasing the cost of your purchase because of great value. 

In ecommerce, upsells are often used to add bigger or complementary items to your order. It’s like when you’re ordering pizza and a pop-up asks you if you’d like to “Add extra cheese for $1.00” or “Add a 2L of Coke to your order for $1.99.” 

We even have an app called Bold Upsell that does just that, but that’s not what we’re talking about today. We want to show you how you can set up some simple upsells using your Bold Product Options app. 

Let’s look at four types of upsell offers you can add to your Shopify store with Product Options: 

1. Cross selling

Cross selling is a popular upsell strategy that involves getting the customer to add an additional item to their order. It works best if it’s a complementary item, or something you are sure your target customer would be interested in. 

Buying an electric guitar? Add a pack of guitar strings.

A bag of coffee beans? Add a mug or pack of coffee filters.

A pair of leather shoes? Add a container of shoe polish.

It can be anything, the strategy is all in picking the right complementary item and setting the price point so the customer is happy to accept. 

State & Liberty uses Product Options to add two upsells to this shirt order. The first one is a monogram for $5 (more on that later). The second, to add an extra pair of collar stays ($10 retail) for $5, is a classic cross-sell. 

Collar stays are a great add-on to a dress shirt, because we know the customer wants to look sharp if they are already spending $90 US on a collared shirt. This offer also makes the customer feel like they are getting a deal, because it reminds them the item would cost twice as much at a store.

Let’s look at another example:

Victory Store sells signs, banners, and yard decorations great for celebrations and important announcements. Here’s an interesting approach to cross selling with Bold Product Options: 

The large lawn letters are perfect for surprising someone on their birthday or congratulating a family member on a big promotion or personal accomplishment. The standard set starts at $79.95, but if the customers wants to add any extra letters, numbers, or symbols, they can do so for $8.95 each.

This is a nice cross-sell because customers will appreciate the freedom to build the custom message they want, while the merchant gets to enjoy an increased order value. 

Let’s now look at another type of upselling that really shines during holiday seasons.

2. Upselling gift wrapping

Ecommerce makes it convenient to give people presents who live abroad. With the click of a button, you can send a gift to someone on the other side of the world! 

However, customers often want the ability to add gift wrapping, a card, or other types of personalization they would normally put on a present, especially if it’s for a birthday, graduation, or holiday.

Today, many stores like Amazon offer the ability to add gift wrapping or a personalized message for free. However, your Shopify store is not on the same scale as Amazon. For you, gift wrapping and personalization are still premium options, and it’s ok to charge for them.

If you want to offer free gift wrapping with a minimum spend threshold, or for customers in a certain region, go ahead. This is a great way to use gift wrapping as a promotion. 

However, another great approach is to offer gift wrapping for a fee as a subtle upsell. 

Sip Whiskey uses Bold Product options to add the option of either a personalized message, gift wrapping, or both. 

If someone is spending a hundred dollars or more on a nice bottle of whiskey, chances are they won’t mind spending a little more to add these personalization features. It makes it that much more special for whoever is receiving the gift! 

This is a great upsell option for any giftable product, and can also be used to give the option of gift wrapping throughout the holiday season.

For a quick tutorial on how to add this type of upsell using the Bold Product Options app, check out how to add a gift wrap option to your Shopify store in 3 easy steps. 

On to the next upsell!

3. Upselling add-ons

This is a little bit different than cross-selling. 

Where cross-selling tends to give the option to add a second (or third!) compleimentary item — something that truly compliments the initial item — add-ons can be just about anything the customer tags onto their purchase. 

Canadian flower delivery service, Callia, does a nice job of including some potential add-ons with their beautiful bouquets. 

Customers can increase the size of their order by anywhere from $9 – $53 dollars with these simple, sentimental add-on items:

It also gives the buyer the opportunity to make their gift extra special.

Let’s look at one more good example. 

Here for you offers compassion packages for life’s toughest moments. Customers who want to send a little box of comfort to someone who has lost a loved one, or is dealing with a difficult diagnosis or injury, can choose from curated boxes or customize their own with add-ons.

Customers can also pick a curated box and add additional items. The charge for each add-on is listed below the product image. 

Now that we’ve explored the add-on feature, let’s look at one more type of upsell that can be added to your store with Bold Product Options.

4. Personalization and monogramming upsell 

Adding personalization is one area where Bold Product Options really shines. 

Giving customers the ability to pay a little extra for product customization personalization, or adding a monogram — their name or initials etched in a product — is a great way to explode your average order value. 

Monogramming works great for jewelry, clothing, accessories, or gifts. Customers enjoy being able to add a personal stamp on either their own purchase or a gift for someone special. 

In the State & Liberty example above, we looked at how they used Product Options to offer monogramming on their shirts for a $10 charge. Let’s look at another example:

Kiel James Patrick sells clothing, jewelry, and accessories with the ability to monogram many of their products. They even have an entire page dedicated to a Monogram Shop. 

Personalize a gift for a friend, or get matching sweaters for the whole family with everyone’s initials. 

Monogramming is one of the many kinds of personalization that you can offer with Bold Product Options. 

Let’s look at a couple different examples of product customization. 

LA-based jewelry maker Storms gives people the option to create necklaces and other types of jewelry with their own name or custom message.

The customer can choose the type of metal they would like, the length of the chain and their name, or whatever nickname they would like their custom jewelry piece to say.

Cool! 

Here’s another example that uses customization options to personalize a niche purchase. 

Proline Tailgating offers sports fans the ability to customize their own custom cornhole game sets. 

For those of you who don’t know, cornhole is a popular tailgating game where you throw bean bags through holes in a board. Super fun in the backyard or outside of the ballpark! 

This is a great example of a merchant using Bold Product Options to upsell custom features. 

When the customer selects a custom option, it displays the price that this will add to the total. They can pick and choose from options like adding Bluetooth speakers or getting the bags in solid colors, while seeing how much it is going to increase their cost. 

These sort of custom add-ons have the ability to make your average order value soar! So what are you waiting for? 

Become a Product Options pro 

There are endless ways to use Bold Product Options to treat your customers to the perfect shopping experience. 

If you’re looking to really become a master, check out our free guidebook: 21 Creative Ways to Make the Most Out of Product Options. By the time you’re done reading this ebook, you’ll feel like you’re truly getting the most out of your Product Options app. 

Thanks for reading! Have a question or comment about how to customize your Shopify store? Leave a comment below and we’ll be happy to get a conversation going.