Up-selling, a foolproof technique for boosting your turnover
How can you boost your sales performance, in the field or online? Up-selling is a sales technique for increasing the average basket of your buyers.
What does it mean? What's the difference between top-up selling andupselling? How do you put cross-selling into practice?
All the answers to these questions in this article.
What is up-selling?
Up-selling: definition
The technique of up-selling, also known as cross-selling, involves offering your buyer an additional product to complement the one they have already chosen.
Used in marketing and web marketing, it is based on an opportunity effect: if the buyer is going to initiate a purchase procedure, they might as well add an item to their basket.
For online purchases, it's a way for them to recoup the cost of transport and time spent on an e-commerce site, but it's also true in-store! It's a good time of year for retailers across all channels: it's an opportunity to generate additional sales based on a windfall effect.
The different types of additional sales
There are three main types of additional sales:
- Complementary sales : as the name suggests, this involves offering customers a product that complements the one they wish to purchase.
🎯 Example: the pods that go with the coffee machine, or an extended warranty following the purchase of an electronic appliance. - Opportunity sale : the item suggested has a less obvious connection with the one the buyer is initially interested in, but acquiring it enables them to take advantage of a "good deal".
🎯 Example: products on sale in your shop or on your e-commerce site. - Targeted profile selling: more the preserve of online sales, this method involves highlighting other items enjoyed by profiles similar to that of the buyer.
🎯 Example: the famous "Our customers also liked" selection of items.
Up-selling and cross-selling: what are the differences?
Up-selling and cross-selling are often confused. However, the two techniques are different:
- Cross-selling is one or more proposals that complement the initial purchase and consists of highlighting one or more products in addition to the first.
🎯 Example of cross-selling in ready-to-wear: you are a fitting room attendant and offer advice, in particular by suggesting that customers add a belt to their outfit.
🎯 Example of up-selling in catering: "With this foie gras, this wine is essential to bring out all its flavours" It's hard to say no! - This time, up-selling is a proposal to replace the initial purchase, with the promotion of a product similar to the first, but of higher quality... and therefore more expensive.
🎯 A n example of upselling in the automotive industry: a move upmarket with a better ABS system for the same model, or simply the colour of the paintwork, metallic grey, more expensive but so chic!
The advantage of upselling is that it increases the average basket, whereas the aim of replacement sales is to improve margins.
The challenges and objectives of up-selling
Up-selling is a highly effective technique, because you take advantage of the fact that the buyer has already been won over by at least one of your products. As a result, you can boost your company's turnover, while saving the costs and effort involved in prospecting and acquiring a new customer.
At the same time, upselling also has advantages for your customers. Not only do they benefit from potential bargains, but they also feel valued, because they are better supported and advised in their expectations.
And the disadvantages of cross-selling?
There are no particular disadvantages to cross-selling. But you do need to proceed with caution. If you're too insistent and unsubtle, you run the risk of scuppering the initial sale!
Questions to ask yourself before offering an add-on sale
What products should you offer as additional sales?
Do you want to apply a cross-selling strategy in e-commerce or physical sales?
Now you need to work out how you're going to put it across. The classic example is the shoe-shine box sold with a pair of shoes, or the tie and shirt pack offered with a suit.
These are products, but the same reasoning can be applied to services: faster delivery at extra cost, or an extended warranty, for example.
At what point in the purchasing process should you offer an additional sale?
In online sales, there are three areas that are ideal for cross-selling:
- the product sheet
- the shopping basket layer or the interstitial page between the shopping basket,
- the order check-out.
In-store, additional selling can take place just as the customer is about to purchase the main product, when they are already well into the act of buying.
How do you make additional sales? 3 foolproof techniques
1/ Base it on the product
Through your selection of associated products, you become a force to be reckoned with. So you need to be right on target, offering something that makes sense.
When questions of compatibility arise, the buyer will happily defer to your expert recommendation. Make sure that for a given printer, for example, the ink cartridges you suggest are compatible.
2/ Base your recommendation on the customer's search history
In e-commerce, you can also base your recommendation on more personalised criteria, derived from the customer's browsing history.
Knowing that the buyer has previously lingered over a particular product sheet is a clear indication of their interest in it. Suggesting it to them when they place their order is an excellent idea.
3/ Use other customers' purchases as a guide
The third way of proceeding is to observe the buying behaviour of other consumers.
This is a method that Fnac has been using for a long time, and it works wonders with the typical add-on sales phrase: "customers who bought this item also bought...".
This is an excellent way of refining your targeting based on meaningful behavioural analysis.
Specialist tools for your additional sales
🛠️ Online sales
E-commerce platforms offer functionalities tailored to both cross-selling and upselling to boost your online sales!
🛠️ Physical sales
One of the best ways of generating additional sales is to offer additional, high value-added services, such as additional warranties or maintenance, following the purchase of an appliance. And preferably in the form of a subscription to benefit from recurring income.
To do this, it's best to equip yourself with a solution for managing subscriptions and recurring payments. Neovente, for example, has been specially developed to address the challenges faced by physical stores: the software is easy to learn and use, and includes all the essential functions (online publishing of contracts, direct debit, management of unpaid bills, etc.).).
🛠️ For both
The use of CRM software, linked to marketing automation tools among others, has become essential, particularly for targeting and segmentation, but also for sending personalised email campaigns to encourage new purchases.
You now have all the keys you need to master the art of upselling. Now it's up to you!
Article translated from French