Upselling and Cross-selling on Your E-commerce Site

New customers are great but…what about maximizing revenue from existing sources?

Here's the scenario:

Jill goes to www.americanstationery.com to buy some personalized stationery for herself. After she's entered her purchasing information, she reaches the check-out page. Here, American Stationery offers her a second box of stationery at a discounted price. Jill thinks momentarily about it. Since she's already buying the stationery, she knows it's something she wants. It is a good offer, so she decides to add the second box of stationery.

Upselling is the process of offering enhancements to products or adding to a service you already supply.

Upselling doesn't share the same perils as cold selling. When you are upselling to a customer, you are simply making an offer that enhances their current purchase. You are giving them incentive to purchase more, whether this incentive is a discount on a larger volume or special pricing for a longer commitment to a subscription.

Cross-selling is the process of offering a related product. Let's say instead of a second box of stationery, American Stationery offers Jill a box of matching pens at a discounted price. This is cross-selling.

A couple points to remember when Upselling and Cross-selling:

1.Relevance - always make sure your Upsells or Cross-sells are related to the current purchase. This will increase the chances that the customer will actually purchase the item.

2.Offerings - don't offer more than two or three related items. Your customers want customized recommendations.

3.Incentives - do offer your customers special deals or limited-time promotions during check-out.

4.Position - do your best to position relevant upsells and cross-sells on every page.

5.Recommendations - direct your customer to related links "Customers who bought this also bought…"

6.Capture Impulse Buys - offer inexpensive cross-sells at checkout. By this time, your customer has already decided to buy…why not offer them a last-minute deal?

Upselling and Cross-selling are vital components in the art of knowing your existing customer's needs and wants. If you can personalize your offerings to your client, you will be better able to serve their interests. Upselling and cross-selling effectively means knowing what your customers want, and subsequently furnishing the most appropriate services or products.