Upselling is one of the most important things an eCommerce store can do. Whether it’s presenting customers with a more expensive or “upgraded” alternative of the item they’re looking at, or simply showing them more options before they purchase, it’s a great way to increase revenue. But many small eCommerce businesses don’t do it, either because they feel upselling is too aggressive, or they’re not sure how to go about it.
However, as we’ve said in a previous blog, no apparel eCommerce webstore should ever miss an opportunity to upsell. You don’t let customers walk out the door of your brick and mortar retail store with a pair of pants without first making sure they’ve seen your other styles of pants and complementary shirts. So why should your online store be any different?
There are various approaches and things to consider when trying to upsell on your eCommerce platform. Here are our tips for upselling.
Choose which products to promote and upsell wisely
First of all, featuring just any product probably won’t work in driving more sales. Think carefully about how the product you’re choosing will appeal to your customer—you want to make their lives easier by showing them something that’s likely to meet their needs and appeal to their interests. Choose items that either sell well, are reviewed well (on review pages, your own product pages, or social media), or are most relevant to the product you’re selling.
For example, if your brand sells lingerie, you’ll want to show a customer who’s viewing one pair of underwear other pairs that are more high-end or in different styles that cost more. You’ll also want to present items that pair well with that underwear, that ideally are at a higher price point. Savage x Fenty does this well with a section on their product page titled “Xtra items you may like,” which includes a number of higher priced, complementary bras the customer is likely to be interested in.
Categorize your inventory to find upselling opportunities
In order to do the above, it’s a good idea to go through your inventory and categorize all of your products in a spreadsheet by type, price, and whether they’re priced at a “regular” or higher, “luxury” level. You will then be able to see your upselling opportunities by looking at which “luxury” products could be promoted alongside “regular” products. Start with your best-selling, most popular (or positively reviewed) products, if you have a lot of merchandise, and go from there.
Promote recommended accessories or pairings on product pages
Once you’ve identified which items work well together for upselling opportunities, you can add them to individual product pages. Add these higher priced items at the bottom of the page under a headline such as “You might like” (as Reformation does), “Similar items” (as Asos suggests) or “Customers also bought” (as Levi’s does).
You should also include other items in your modelled product photos to show styling options, and call these out in product description copy. Another tactic is to include a section lower down the product page that offers these other products, under a headline like “Buy the look” (as Asos does) or “Model is also wearing” (as Everlane does), or even something as simple as “Check these out too” (as Dollskill does).
Group complementary products on your homepage
Don’t limit these complementary product pairings to specific product pages. You’ve gone to the effort to find what works best together and presented these options to your customers as they click through and consider individual items. Make it easier for them (and for you) by featuring a selection of items that work well together on your homepage.
This could be in the form of seasonal or timely promotions or campaigns that feature the items together in one photo, or that group different product photos together to create a look or style. Anthropologie pairs a number of “casual” items together on their homepage under the headline “Take it easy,” for shoppers who may have gone to the website with one of these items in mind (like relaxed-fit pants), but who are then inspired to explore other similar-style products like loose-fitting dresses or camisoles.
Personalize your recommendations to your customer
One surefire way to create a powerful shopping experience is to personalize the content you’re showing your customers. Nosto reports that 66% of consumers will not purchase from a brand whose content is not tailored to their interests. By segmenting your audience and targeting your different groups of shoppers with content that matches what they’re looking for, you’re in a much better position to increase your conversion rates.
Pay attention to where your customers are coming to you from and use this information to offer them products that they’re likely to be interested in. For example, if a customer clicks on an ad you’ve placed in a marketing email or on social media that’s showcasing your winter line, take them to a page with these or similar products. They’ll be more likely to purchase if you show them what they’re interested in straight away. Don’t make them search for it!
Install pop-ups in cart and on checkout page
Take advantage of upselling opportunities at every step of the sales process, right up until the purchase is finalized. You can display product upgrades and complementary items in the cart and on the checkout page, before your customer completes their purchase.
Adding a deal here can provide a good incentive, such as providing a threshold to get free shipping (with a customized tagline like “add $x to get free shipping,” or more generic messaging that doesn’t need to be calculated for each customer, like “free shipping on orders over $x”). Bundle deals on more basic apparel items like T-shirts (for example “buy two get one free”) can also be great upselling opportunities.
Present these items in your follow-up marketing emails
Whether the customer completed the purchase or abandoned their cart, send them follow-up emails that once again present the upsell options you provided earlier. If it’s an order confirmation email, this could mean a simple thumbnail or two with a photo and link to the item along with a tagline such as “keep shopping,” “need something extra?” or “get it on your next order!” This will keep your offer in your customer’s mind, and give them an easy way to revisit it.
As you can see, there are multiple ways to upsell on your fashion or apparel eCommerce website. The most important thing is to implement a strategy and follow through with it, otherwise you risk missing out on a lot of extra revenue. We’d be happy to help you devise and execute an upselling strategy that suits your business. Get in touch with our team today.
