Upselling refers to measures that are intended to convince users to buy a higher quality and therefore often more expensive product.
For comparison purposes, the currently viewed product and/or the product in the shopping cart is used. The aim of upselling is accordingly an increase in turnover.
There are a number of ways to achieve this, including:
1. Recommendations
Product recommendations: Upselling is often supported by recommendations. A product recommendation shows similar products on the product detail pages. This could include e.g. products of the same product category, same brand, products with a higher price than the product currently viewed.
2. Product comparison tables
In a chart, other similar products are displayed which contain additional product features and/or services and are therefore of higher quality. Due to the tabular display, the user can see the advantages of buying the more expensive product at first glance.
3. Display of the next best variant
In the immediate vicinity of the Call to Action, the user is offered a version that contains the next better service for him. For example, a mobile phone with a surcharge of X Euro would allow the user to enjoy the model with the better storage capacity. On the other hand, when booking a paid seat with an airline, for example, it is a pop up that says “pay X euros more and enjoy extra legroom”.
and much more.
Upselling actions should be checked by means of an A/B test before they are used in the shop. After all, it is possible that the user may be distracted from his actual buying intention, so that in the end he does not buy at all. This is especially important when communicating product features or included services, as here the user often receives information that was previously unknown to him and makes him uncertain in his decision.
Upselling is not to be confused with cross selling, where an attempt is made to sell additional products.