Upselling and cross-selling are tactics that businesses have been able to implement in order to increase sales. By incentivizing customers to spend more than they may have intended to spend, the retailer achieves an increase in sale value. Here’s what you need to know about cross-selling and upselling at Christmas.
Cross-selling vs Upselling
Upselling is when a customer intended to buy one item, but you managed to sell them three items. You can achieve this by pointing out that it’s a good idea to have spares. Or selling them a more expensive item by highlighting certain, superior features about the more expensive item. When it comes to artisan goods, both of these upselling methods work exceptionally well.
Contrarily, Cross-selling is when someone comes to buy an item, and you sell them a related item that will be useful. For instance, when customers visit your store (or online store) to buy wine, you can upsell wine accessories like openers, stoppers, pourers, sleeves or gift bags. These cross-selling techniques are prevalent during Christmas time as the “perfect gift pack.”
So upselling is using marketing techniques to increase transaction value on a single type of product. Cross-selling, however, increases the sale value by introducing a complementary product.
Beyond French fries…
When most people think about their experience of upselling, they recall that line: “Do you want fries with that?” although, as we’ve seen, that’s actually “cross-selling” rather than “upselling”.
But what lies beyond the fries? What other ways are there to be genuinely helpful to customers while driving sale values? And what do audiences really feel about the whole thing anyway?
67% of shoppers confirmed that they had taken advantage of an add-on item offered to them at the till. So it’s an activity where you can be pretty confident that it would work. And with added traffic over Christmas, now could be the ideal time to give it a try. Here are some ways of using an upselling or cross-selling deal.
7 Methods For Cross-selling & Upselling at Christmas
Many different approaches to cross-selling and upselling can be applied via different channels and at different stages of the customer journey. Some of the most popular are:
Cross-selling complementary goods
Complementary goods (or add-on items) are linked products that you can encourage customers to add to their basket. Do this either with a discount or simply by reminding customers about them through POS.
73% of people we surveyed are happy to be reminded of companion products (such as a fertilizer for their plant).
56% of shoppers are put off when the upselling/cross-selling process slows down the transaction.
One of Troly’s key features for small businesses is the full-featured POS system. Not only will you be able to Record your sales wherever you are and access a complete customer history but the system allows you to process sales using any payment method and Send receipts via email and text messages.
It is one of our core features, that has proven to help wineries, breweries, speciality growers and other artisan businesses to significantly boost their sales and increase their efficiency. Have a look at all our features and try Troly’s free 30-day trial, where you will have access to all these features, and experience first-hand how we can help your business.
Add-ons at the till
That’s where they offer you an additional product at the point of purchase – like that 200g chocolate bar at the petrol station. Sometimes a minimum spend is required to qualify for a reduced price on the add-on item, but not necessarily. This method is particularly useful for stocking filler items at Christmas time. For example, if you’re buying a nice book as a Christmas gift and the store is offering a Where’s Wally book for $1 when you spend $10, that can make a nice present for a younger relative.
Basket spends
An example of a basket spend deal might be “Get a free bottle of body lotion when you spend $30 on other bath essentials.” This is a discount based on total sale value, like some add-on items, except here, it’s the add-on item that’s the hero rather than the afterthought.
55% of shoppers are put off when the add-on item is higher in value than the original purchase.
Bundle deals
A good example of a bundle deal is a starter kit – everything you need to get started. Additionally, it is cheaper than purchasing the items individually. Typically, a bundle might include a hero item plus accessories; maybe a carry case, a cleaning kit, a gift bag or whatever similar products are appropriate.
Bulk buy
A tested Christmas upselling technique, offering bulk savings, can be used in a number of ways, like buy one get one free or (buy one get one half price) deals. For food & drink items, Christmas shoppers might welcome the opportunity to save on larger quantities.
Automated product recommendations
Online sellers have the luxury of using algorithms that look at what a customer has added to their basket and recommending multiple deals or complementary goods before they check out. It doesn’t end with just Christmas upselling at the checkout, either. As you gather information over the lifetime of a customer’s relationship with your brand, you can tailor emails to put a targeted sales message in front of specific audience segments.
Services as add-ons
Express dispatch or next day delivery can be a good way to increase the value of a transaction – especially if you can generate margin from these services. You can use gift wrapping as an extra revenue stream at Christmas, but retailers might consider a complimentary service. 46% of shoppers felt that a free wrapping service would make them more likely to purchase from a retailer.
For the original article, visit Solopress blog.
