Ecommerce Encyclopedia

‟Ecommerce is a powerful means to connect the unconnected to global trade” - Arancha Gonzalez

What is upselling and why it is important?

Upselling is a business strategy which focuses on maximizing revenue by persuading customers to make purchase of a more expensive version of a product and/or service with more features and benefits compared to its primary version. This technique is often combined with cross-selling by many businesses in order to leverage the advantages of both.

THE IMPORTANCE OF UPSELLING

Sales techniques in general, despite the popular belief of the negative effects they might have on customers, if being applied right, could bring about a happy shopping experience, thus creating a strong connection between businesses and their customers. In fact, upselling creates a ‘win-win’ situation by providing customers with premium upgrades and/or add-ons, which is believed to deliver more value to them, then increasing profit.

Upselling with larger quantities could increase the average order value

Upselling is more useful when being used with repeat customers than new customers. To put it simply, it is deemed to be easier and cost less for you to make a sale to a repeat customer who already had experience with your business in the past. The chances of a seller to persuade a customer to make a purchase again is 60-70%, while it is only 5-20% for a visitor. 

Additionally, upselling is one of the most effective business strategies that could be used in order to turn buyers into repeat customers and keep them coming back to your store, thus increasing Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Higher CLV means higher revenue for your business. 

Do keep in mind that customers only come back because they want more. Therefore, upselling is a special technique as it brings value to customers and makes them want to come back for more. Thanks to its simplicity and benefits, customers, once being satisfied with your products and/or services, will return in the future if they need more of what you can provide.