The main objective of any business is to make money, the more it makes the more successful it is and that is where up-selling and cross-selling comes in. The idea is to make your customers spend more money on your website by convincing him that these suggestions are actually better for him while it may sound unethical or spammy, it actually isn’t if you’re adding value to the customer’s life which is the whole point. 

So what is Up-selling and Cross-selling? 

Up-selling: Is encouraging your customers to buy something on top of their primary product that would complement it, for example, upgrading to a larger soda at a fast food restaurant or combining your camera purchase with extra batteries. 

Cross-selling: Is suggesting something similar to the nature of the primary product, while it may not be a necessity, your customer might be interested in it non the less. For example, if a customer buys t-shirt from your website it might be a good idea to suggest a pair of jeans as well. 

But as a business you have to understand that there’s a thin line between helping your customers and bombarding them with offers. Also know that your customers have already made a purchase so it’s important not to over sell it. Studies show that up-selling works 20x better than cross-selling since customers don’t want to be distracted after making up their mind but up-selling makes their first choice even better which is something most customers would get on board with. 

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4 Upselling and Cross-selling Tips and Tricks 

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1-Make It Relevant 

The product you’re trying to push the customer to buy must make sense to him, it has to be relevant. If someone buys books from your online store, don’t cross-sell them with kitchen ware. 

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2- Help your customer out 

If a customer buys a coffee table from your online store, it helps them out if they can get table cloth with it. It’s not only relevant, it’s helpful. 

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3- Make Limited time discounts 

One of the most effective ways in upselling is to display limited time offers relevant to the primary product. For example a travel agency might offer a Cairo-Beirut trip as its primary itinerary but offer a 50% discount on a ski trip as an add on. This way they guarantee the selling of both services faster than they would have originally. 

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4- Make It Desirable 

Neil Patel recommends a three-fold approach to upselling and cross-selling: Your upsells should be your most reviewed, most relevant, or best-selling products and services. 

● Your most reviewed products, because reviews go along way in convincing others in making a purchase 

● Your most sold products because it’s where you make the most of your money besides it’s likely to have more reviews as well 

● Your most relevant product to the primary one. This step takes a lot of testing to reach the best formula and it’s ever changing since what worked once doesn’t mean it’ll work all the time