What is cross-selling in eCommerce

What is cross-selling in eCommerce

You may not be familiar with the concepts of cross-selling and upselling Or you might confuse them, but I want to share something with you: they'll help you sell more. These strategies are almost always present whenever you buy online.
If you shop online, you've surely witnessed various cross-selling and upselling strategies: you may have recognized some of them, but many are so subtle that, When you finish the purchase process, you wonder how you spent so much. That's why it's important that you apply them to your eCommerce NOW.
Un example A clear example of these sales techniques is when you go to buy a plane ticket: before you hit the golden "Complete Order" button, they offer you to change your seat, add luggage, add priority boarding (upselling)... and on many occasions they offer you parking at the airport, and even a place to stay for your destination (cross-selling).
Both upselling and cross-selling They are usually related to each other, And sometimes it's hard to tell them apart… but they're essential in both online and offline environments. Although seasoned salespeople handle them perfectly, these techniques can't always be applied, but It's important that you discover it for yourself and see its effect.In this article you will discover the definition of cross-selling and upselling in ecommerce and how to use it for your online strategy.

What is cross-selling? 

Cross-selling, or cross-selling, consists of offering the customer or potential customer a product that complements their main purchase intention, whether they have completed their purchase or not.

Examples of Cross-selling

  • An e-commerce site for coffee machines: your main purchase intention is a capsule coffee machine, a natural cross-selling option is to offer a package of capsules as complementary product to your main purchase intention.
  • You go to a fashion e-commerce site and your main purchase intention is a flamingo swimsuit: an ideal (complementary) cross-selling option is to offer a pair of flip-flops. that match these products.
  • You want to buy an internet domain to launch your e-commerce site. You decide to select a domain provider, and this provider also offers to be your hosting provider. This is cross-selling (complementary sale).

Best practices for cross-selling in your eCommerce

  1. The products offered dthey must be complementary to the main purchase intention.  In other words, if you're going to buy a laptop, I offer you a case, a backpack, a mouse, or external speakers… Don't forget to create bundles of specific products that match the main purchase intention, as we saw in the case of jeans.
  2. Cross-selling offers They must represent a significantly lower cost than the main product that the customer is going to buy. Following the previous example, if you are going to buy a computer, I don't offer you an iPad, even though it can be considered a complementary product.

    What is upselling?

Upselling, or additional sales in Spanish, consists of offering a customer or potential customer an additional product that is optimal or better than their main purchase intention..

Before we continue, one thing needs to be made clear: Upselling consists of the strategy of add an optimal additional product to the main purchase intention. This means that you are constantly looking for the customer satisfaction with a better product for their purchase intention.

Example of upselling or additional sales:

          You go to your ice cream shop for ice cream. Your first instinct is to order a three-scoop ice cream, but the lady tells you, "I'll add chocolate and gummy bears" for a little extra. If you accept her offer, you've fallen for a classic upsell.

How to upsell or make additional sales in my eCommerce?

Upselling or additional sales can be done in different ways in your ecommerce.

PRODUCT CONFIGURATION

In many e-commerce sites, you'll find that the price is determined by the product's features, which you can configure in the product settings. You can configure product variations and then develop an upselling strategy.

Upselling has more specific characteristics than cross-selling:

  • It's a product with better features than the initial purchase intention; keep that in mind to take advantage of every ideal moment. customer journey.
  • An impulse product, which the customer doesn't have to think twice about buying or not.
  • It doesn't have to be a product directly related to what the customer is buying. Nor should it be in a completely different category: I can offer a USB drive to a customer who buys me a laptop, but not a tent.

Up-selling It has to happen quickly, Therefore, the products should not have complex features that require many explanations.

Advantages of implementing upselling and cross-selling strategies for your ecommerce business

  • Increase your sales: It's clear that if you develop strategies like these—cross-selling by selling complementary products or upselling by selling more expensive products—you'll increase your sales. Don't be afraid to be aggressive in your cross-selling and upselling strategies.
  • It fosters a close relationship: If you send your customers an email every time their pant size arrives in your catalog, they'll surely appreciate it, and this is thanks to your cross-selling strategy.
  • Increase the conversion rateIt may seem illogical that offering complementary or better products will get you to buy more, but remember that you will always feel more comfortable where you feel known.
  • You will get to know your audience and niches: Every time a customer makes a repeat purchase, you gain more information than you realize, from the days they typically buy to the types of products they're consuming. Leverage all this customer knowledge to offer complementary or additional services or products to complement their previous purchases.

There are multiple ways to increase sales in your e-commerce or physical store. Therefore, before implementing a full upselling and cross-selling strategy, it is necessary to Take time to think about what type of cross-selling and upselling is best suited for your products or services. Don't be afraid to be aggressive in your cross-selling and upselling strategy. And always remember this: If you experiment, measure your results.

This article was originally published in marketing4ecommerce.mx You can read the original article here.