Upselling techniques to increase conversion and customer loyalty

Start selling*

Businesses often present customers with upsell and cross-sell recommendations throughout the shopping journey to improve the buying experience and maximize revenue. These sales strategies draw on a deep understanding of customer needs and product features, and can be a win-win for both the customer and the business.

In this post, we’ll walk you through the difference between upselling and cross-selling. We’ll also cover best practices and tools you can use to make relevant and effective product suggestions in the Amazon store. Let’s dive in:

• What are upselling and cross-selling?
• What are upselling techniques?
• What are the benefits of upselling?
• What are best practices for upselling?
• 7 ways to upsell in the Amazon store and beyond

What are upselling and cross-selling?

Both upselling and cross-selling are sales strategies to increase revenue and average order value (AOV) by recommending relevant products to customers based on the products they’re interested in. Upselling encourages a customer to consider a more expensive or premium version of a product, whereas cross-selling recommends separate products in addition to the original product.

What are examples of upselling vs. cross-selling?

Here are a few examples of upselling compared to cross-selling:

The distinction is that upselling suggests an improvement to the core product, whereas cross-selling suggests extra products.

What’s the difference between upselling and cross-selling?

While similar, upselling and cross-selling are fundamentally different sales strategies. Where upselling increases the value of an order for a single item, cross-selling increases the number of items sold.

There can be some overlap between upselling and cross-selling, especially depending on factors like timing, customer intent, and how the sale is framed. What begins as a cross-sell could end as an upsell, and vice versa.

For example, a customer might begin by selecting a $50 household appliance, then realize they also need to buy a compatible pack of batteries for $5. At checkout, they might also select an extended warranty for $25, resulting in a total purchase of $80. This illustrates a case where the sale began as a cross-sell, then concluded with an upsell.

What are upselling techniques?

There are many different ways to upsell. Common strategies include offering a more advanced product, better product features, or add-ons to support or complete a purchase. A seller might also offer volume discounts on larger purchases or bulk sales. For example, a customer could have the option to buy two for 15% off, or three for 30% off.

A common structure is “the rule of three,” where the seller offers a set of options that can range from “good, better, and best,” with the best option being the most expensive. For example, a seller could offer a standard TV for $200, a larger model with higher resolution for $250, and a top-tier version with the largest dimensions and the highest resolution for $300. Each customer can make their decision based on what features are most important to them, balanced by the differences in price. The seller can also experiment with options and prices to determine which combinations generate the most sales.

Upselling and cross-selling can occur at any point in the sales journey. A customer browsing online might encounter upsell and cross-sell recommendations anywhere from a website homepage or product pages to the shopping cart, checkout page, and post-purchase emails or notifications. Along the way, they might also encounter ads for premium versions of products (upselling), or ads for different products related to the one they’re looking at (cross-selling).

What are the benefits of upselling?

In addition to the potential for increased sales and profit margins, benefits of upselling can include:

• Higher customer satisfaction: When the upsell supports the customer experience and offers a premium option at a reduced price, buyers can feel more confident in their choices and happier with their purchases.
• Better visibility for products: Relevant suggestions can increase exposure for products and brands alike, helping customers explore options they weren’t otherwise aware of.
• Improved customer loyalty: Upselling can increase customer lifetime value. Happy customers might browse longer and buy more often, contributing to repeat business.

Another reason to consider upselling is that it can lower your customer acquisition costs because attracting new customers can cost more than introducing current customers to premium offerings. This can translate to more sales for less effort. For example, if your total costs are $500 per sale on average, and each customer spends an average of $550, then your profit margin is $50. By comparison, if you can upsell so that customers spend an average of $650, then your profit margin triples to $150.

What are best practices for upselling?

Follow these tips to help ensure your upselling efforts are effective:

• Do customer research: Learn as much as you can about customers and their search intent based on the products they’re considering. This could include using data analytics to study customer behavior and purchasing patterns.
• Do product research: Educate yourself about products and features so you can make relevant suggestions. Product research (like analyzing similar products and customer reviews) can help you make informed associations and spot opportunities to provide better support to customers.
• Make relevant recommendations: Avoid making suggestions that seem irrelevant, random, or disconnected from the customer experience. The right recommendations should feel logical, resulting in minimal hesitation from customers.
• Consider the timing: Present upsell options at natural points in the buying process. Even the best recommendations can fall flat if the timing is off.
• Communicate the value: Emphasize the added benefits so the higher price makes sense.
• Build trust and confidence: Connect customers with products that genuinely fit their needs and solve problems.

In line with these best practices, be sure to keep your focus on the customer—not the price. The sales amount should be secondary to making sure that customers are getting the best options based on their goals and preferences. With this approach, higher sales should be a byproduct of looking after the customer’s best interests.

7 ways to upsell in the Amazon store and beyond

1. Optimize product listings
2. Build a brand
3. Make a storefront
4. Run digital ads
5. Incentivize with customer savings
6. Provide options for personalization
7. Bundle products together

1. Optimize listings

One effective way to upsell in the Amazon store is by offering variations on your product detail pages. This allows the customer to see available versions of a product at a glance. For example, you might sell a cabinet with four drawers for $45 or eight drawers for $75. When the customer views a variation, the list price updates to reflect any change.

Beyond creating variations, you can also optimize product listings by:

• Using a variety of high-quality photos
• Drafting marketing copy that focuses on product upgrades and benefits
• Adding customer-facing and backend keywords for search engine optimization (SEO)

Professional sellers who sell generic products or have a brand enrolled in Brand Registry can craft A+ Content to enhance product listings and highlight upsells. For example, you can illustrate a product’s advanced features with captivating images or use comparison charts to showcase side-by-side options for upgrades.

2. Build a brand

A powerful way to raise the value of products in the eyes of customers is to develop your own brand. Customers are often willing to pay more for a product when it’s presented with expert packaging, a clear brand name or logo, and other key elements of professional branding. These signals can also help set products apart from the competition and showcase what makes your business unique.

As customers grow to recognize and trust your business, you can also benefit from increased brand loyalty. To nurture awareness, consider enrolling your brand in Amazon Brand Registry—a free program to help you build and protect your brand.

Learn more about Brand Registry

3. Make a storefront

Professional sellers with a brand enrolled in Brand Registry can create a Brand Store to establish a dedicated space for their business and products within the Amazon store.

Build out your storefront and channel customers’ attention by highlighting new releases, creating themed collections, and more. For example, you can feature a bestselling product or new product launch with creative combinations of imagery, slogans, and other persuasive elements.

Learn more about building a Brand Store

4. Run digital ads

Cost-per-click (CPC) ads can be a flexible and cost-effective way to highlight advanced features and guide customers to premium versions of products. For example, sellers can reach relevant audiences across Amazon and beyond by using Display ads. These CPC ads appear within the Amazon store and on many other sites.

Consider running Display ads to meet customers where they shop. Optimize your ads with keywords, monitor engagement, and watch sales grow.

5. Incentivize with customer savings

A well-structured incentive can convince customers to buy more than they otherwise might. Here are a few strategies you can use to upsell by offering customer savings in the Amazon store:

• Drive sales with a coupon, deal, or price discount. You can structure a special offer so the more customers buy, the bigger the savings.
• Reach business customers and increase your business-to-business (B2B) sales with bulk discounts through our Amazon Business program.
• Give customers the ability to subscribe for regular deliveries of their favorite products through our Subscribe & Save program.
• Brand Representatives and Resellers with authorization can use Brand Tailored Promotions for eligible products to offer discounts to select audience groups like recent customers and cart abandoners. Eligible customers can see these promotions in search results, on product detail pages, and across other locations.
• Provide fast, free shipping through Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). FBA is a program that lets you outsource order fulfillment for eligible products and offer customers free, two-day shipping through Prime. It can also help you save time and scale more effectively.

All of these methods can help secure recurring revenue for your business.

6. Provide options for personalization

Letting customers put their own personal touch on a product can be an excellent way to boost your margins. If you sell customizable products, you can register for our Amazon Custom program to cater to customers who want to personalize, configure, or assemble products to match their unique vision. For example, customers can add their initials to a backpack, customize a coffee cup with an image or catchphrase, or engrave a piece of jewelry.

7. Bundle products together

Bundling is where you group multiple products to help customers explore your offerings and purchase more items. It can potentially reduce your operating costs by streamlining areas like inventory management and fulfillment. For example, you might save time and money if you don’t have to package and ship multiple products separately.

Professional sellers in the Amazon store who have an assigned Brand Representative role can create virtual bundles for eligible products that are enrolled in FBA.

Learn more about virtual bundles

Start upselling today

It can feel like magic when a delighted customer connects with the perfect product to meet their goals and budget. Genuinely helping a customer is priceless, and the extra sales revenue can be an added bonus.

For maximum results, treat upselling as an exercise in getting to know the hearts and minds of customers. With a clear understanding of trends and purchasing patterns, you can seamlessly weave upsell and cross-sell opportunities into your business model.

*A Professional selling account is $39.99/month + selling fees. Learn more