14+ Powerful Examples of Upselling that Really Works

In today's competitive market, businesses are always looking for ways to increase their sales and improve customer satisfaction. One great way to do this is upselling, where consumers are encouraged to buy a higher-end product or add extra services. According to McKinsey, upselling can increase revenue by up to 30%, proving how important it is for business success.

In this blog, we'll share 14 powerful examples of upselling that really work. From big tech companies to small local shops, these examples show how effective upselling can boost sales and make customers happy and loyal.

What Is Upselling?

Upselling is a way for sellers to convince consumers to buy a more expensive product or add-on. It's all about suggesting upgrades or extra features that make the purchase more valuable. The main aim is to increase how much money the customer spends, which boosts the business's overall sales.

This technique is effective because it not only gets customers to spend more right away but also improves how much they spend over time. 

For example, imagine you're at a movie theater and you order a medium popcorn. The cashier might ask if you want to upgrade to a larger one for just a little extra money. It's a simple way to get customers to spend a bit more and feel like they're getting a better deal.

Overall, upselling helps businesses make more money by offering customers better options that meet their needs and make them happier with their purchase.

Upselling VS Cross-Selling

Upselling and cross-selling are both ways to boost sales, but they work differently. Upselling means convincing a client to buy a more expensive version of what they're interested in. For example, if someone wants a mid-priced laptop, upselling would suggest a top-of-the-line model with better features.

Cross-selling is on the other hand suggesting related products to go with the main item. For instance, if someone is buying a mobile phone, cross-selling might include offering a memory card, a phone case, or a protection plan.

The main difference is in their focus: upselling increases the sale amount by pushing for a pricier option of the same product, while cross-selling enhances the shopping experience by suggesting additional items that complement the main purchase.

Both strategies aim to increase how much customers spend, either by upgrading their initial choice or by adding useful extras to their shopping cart.

14+ Proven Upselling Examples to Try

There are many ways to encourage consumers to buy more from you, but not all strategies work the same. Here are top 14 most effective upselling methods. We've picked these examples because they work well and are straightforward to start using.

Let's dive into them and discover which upselling techniques you can start using in your store right away.

1. Upselling at Checkout

The first example of upselling comes from a tennis brand. They automatically include  extra shipping methods for $4.99 and offer a warranty for $9.99 at checkout.

Although this may seem like a small upsell, it can significantly boost profitability. Consider this: if you process 10,000 orders per month, this upsell could bring in nearly $50,000 to $100,000 in pure profit.

Even if 70% of customers decline the offer and the cost of replacing insured shipments is $400, you could still see an extra $14,600 in profit each month.

A key point is that expedited shipping is pre-selected to increase the chances of customers accepting the offer. As Richard H. Thaler explains in his book "Nudge," people are more likely to stick with default options, making them powerful influencers

You can try to encourage your consumers to add a little extra for shipping insurance at checkout, then watch your profits grow.

2. One-Click Upgrade

The next type of upselling is called one-click offers. It means showing more things you can buy right after you've decided to buy something, but before you finish paying.

For example, imagine you're buying shoes online. As you're about to pay, the website suggests upgrading to a better shoe version, it can be better quality or a more stylish design that matches your outfit. You can add these extras with just one click, without having to go through the payment process again.

This kind of upselling is very effective because:

• People are most likely to buy more right after they've decided to make a purchase.
• You don’t have to type in your payment info again.

Using different upselling tools, you can also customize these one-click offers based on what you've already put in your cart or bought before.

This is a big deal because the more your offers match what customers are already interested in (like things in their cart or past buys), the more likely they are to buy more stuff.

So with one-click offers, you can offer products that can fit what customers want, with less hassle, and turn some of them into repeat buyers right away.

3. Upselling on the Thank You Page

Your thank you page is a perfect spot to upsell and increase order value. Most online stores just use it as a simple placeholder.

Ignoring the potential of the thank you page is a mistake. It's like a landing page that highly interested shoppers view an average of 2.2 times per order.

The best part of thank you page upselling is that you can use customer data from their recent orders to make personalized offers.

For example, after a customer buys a basic subscription to a software service, the thank you page can offer them an upgrade to a premium subscription with more features and priority support.

Since they have just made a purchase with a basic plan, there might be an obstacle preventing them from upgrading previously. Including a discount could encourage them in this situation. The thank you page can highlight benefits like faster response times, more storage, and exclusive new features.

Even Amazon, the largest eCommerce company in the world, uses upselling thank you page recommendations effectively. So, it's definitely a strategy worth trying on your store.

4. Upselling on the Product Page

The next example of upselling comes from Dollar Shave Club, a brand that sells razor blades. In this example, customers are offered two upgrade options: a better design and higher quality blades for $6, or the best razor for $9. Dollar Shave Club also offers other upgrades, such as four refill cartridges per month and advanced features

This type of upselling is effective because it’s not pushy. It simply gives shoppers various options, allowing them to choose the perfect razor that fits their needs and budget.

Another example is from a SaaS (Software as a Service) with its one-time service fee Slingshot product (not a recurring subscription fee), which has a core annual cost of $750. However, it offers an upsell option which allows customers to have a chance to upgrade with an additional $5,000 per month for Bryan Harris's consulting services to help launch their product.

Offering upgrade options on your product pages, like Dollar Shave Club and Slingshot do, is a great way to help customers find the best product for their needs. It also helps your business generate more revenue.

5. Personalized Upsell Offers

Let's look at another way to encourage customers to spend more, like a pizza place does. They let you create your own pizza with different flavors, styles, and toppings for an extra $1 to $3.

This means customers can choose your favorite toppings or try new ones. They get to pick exactly what they want on their pizza.

While not every business can do this, offering customization can make customers happier and bring in more money for your store. It's a way to give people exactly what they like and boost how much they spend at the same time.

Color swatches are popular for product variants because customers want to see how the product will look in the color they prefer and determine if you have the specific color they want to purchase.

6. Upselling with Subscriptions

Upselling customers into a subscription is a smart way to make more money, even though the first sale might bring in less cash upfront.

Take Conversion Rate Academy, for example. They offer a big 50% discount and a $187 bonus case study on their higher-tier plans. Even with these discounts, they have other products and services priced normally that customers might buy later. Plus, they have a subscription plan where customers pay regularly, ensuring a steady flow of income over time.

Subscription aside, one of the key lessons from CRA’s upsell funnel is that they present 2 options but add one more price anchoring pain of up to $9,700 for those who do not join their academy. This cost is something customers need to be aware of, as choosing not to purchase could mean losing a lot of money, time, and not achieving the desired results.

This straightforwardly touches the customer pain points that encourage them to choose paying the more affordable price when buying the CRA package.

So, when designing your upsell offers, keep your customers satisfied by presenting around 1-3 options at a time, and include one price anchoring pain point if possible.

7. Pop-Up Offer Upselling

Pop-ups are a great way to upsell customers. For example, HP Softwares uses pop-ups that appear when customers click ‘add-to-cart’ to offer product insurance.

Imagine customers buying an expensive piece of software. Offering them a 40% discount on extended coverage makes sense to many shoppers. It gives them peace of mind, knowing their purchase is protected.

The key is to trigger the pop-up when a customer clicks ‘add-to-cart’. Data shows that pop-ups triggered by customer actions work better than those triggered by time. When customers click, it shows they are interested, and they are more likely to accept your upsell offer. This is why upsells at checkout and after purchase are so effective.

Apart from upselling pop-ups, you can also combine them with recent sales notification pop-ups from previous customers who have successfully made purchases. This combination increases urgency and enhances store trustworthiness.

We believe that adding an image to this pop-up could improve conversion rates. Including a visual might grab attention and make the offer more appealing, encouraging more customers to take the upsell.

8. Upselling on the Cart Page

Another example of upselling comes from a clothing brand. They use a subtle upsell on their cart page, offering customers 15% off their entire order if they add another item to their cart.

This type of ‘buy one, get x% off a second’ deal is very effective at increasing the average order value (AOV). Discounts of 15-30% work best for these offers. This discount range is ideal because it encourages many customers to take the deal while still allowing the business to keep most of its revenue. 

Not only on cart pages, but you can also utilize the announcement bar for various purposes such as promotions, alerting about new stock, or highlighting specific products on sale. When set to stick at the top of your pages, it greatly helps attract customers.

Another checkout upselling example is from a skincare brand. They use a subscription upsell on their cart page, similar to what we discussed earlier.

This strategy works well because customers instantly see the subscription discount added to their cart. Besides saving money, subscribers can also get free shipping and returns, which is an appealing benefit that encourages customers to choose the recurring payment plan.

9. Upselling in the cart drawer

If you’re using a cart drawer, it’s a great spot to upsell customers to a higher purchase total.

For instance, a food ingredient brand uses their cart drawer to remind shoppers they have saved on shipping and if they buy more cartons, they can win even more valuable prizes. This type of product bundling is a simple but effective way to encourage some customers to spend more.

We love how it’s not intrusive, unlike pop-ups that can be annoying. The cart drawer is much less distracting.

The brand also uses a prize progress bar to visually motivate customers to spend more to unlock prizes. This simple upsell combination of discounted product bundling with a free shipping threshold can easily turn a $20 order into a $40 order with little effort.

10. Upselling by Product Page Bundling

Product bundling is a smart sales strategy used by retailers to increase sales, improve customer satisfaction, and manage their inventory more efficiently.

Take a pillow brand as an example, it shows bundles of products on their website. These bundles are created to encourage customers to buy complete sets of bed items. Normally, you just need to offer a discount of 10-15% compared to buying each item separately, it will motivate customers to spend more while feeling they’re getting a good deal.

This tactic works really well when the products go together naturally for a reason. It makes shopping easier for customers because they can get everything they need in one purchase without searching for each item individually. This convenience often persuades customers to buy.

Product bundling isn’t only about pairing items that go well together. For example, a perfume brand lets customers pick any 3 items they like and get a special discount on the bundle. 

This kind of flexibility encourages customers to create their own sets and save money, which can increase how much they spend.

Using product bundles can also help stores manage inventory better. By combining slower-selling items with popular ones, retailers can reduce leftover stock and sell more overall.

Click here to quickly integrate the Frequently Bought Together without handling code.

11. Upselling through post-purchase emails

We've covered on-site upselling examples so far. However, you can also upsell customers through email marketing, as shown by Harry Shave in the example above.

The idea behind sending post-purchase upsell emails is similar to placing offers on your thank you page. Since you already know what the customer purchased, you can use segmentation to send them highly relevant offers.

In Harry Shave's email, they suggest related products that complement the customer's initial purchase. This is technically a form of cross-selling, but for this discussion, it's a great example of how to boost sales from your Shopify store with minimal effort.

12. Upselling with a free shipping threshold

We've already mentioned the prize progress bar earlier, but it can also be used for a free shipping bar, which is why we think it deserves its own spot among upselling examples because of its effectiveness.

Most customers really dislike paying for shipping. When they're close to reaching the free shipping threshold, many will add more items to their cart to qualify for it.

In the example above, you can see a brand using this strategy on their cart page. They show customers how much more they need to spend to qualify for free shipping.

Now, you might wonder, "How do I decide on my free shipping threshold to boost profits?" Well, every store is different, considering factors like shipping costs and profit margins.

A good starting point is to take your median order value (the middle value when all orders are sorted from lowest to highest). Then, add 15-30% to this amount. This adjusted figure should encourage a significant number of customers to spend a bit more to qualify for free shipping. Of course, it's crucial to analyze your numbers carefully to ensure the free shipping threshold makes financial sense for your business.

13. Upselling through product comparisons

Amazon is famous for its upselling tactics. In fact, Amazon states that cross-selling and upselling contribute up to 35% of their total profits.

It's no wonder they have some impressive examples to study. One standout is their AI-driven product comparison tool.

For instance, when searching for a coffee maker, Amazon recommends three other machines, each priced $20 to $70 higher than the one initially viewed.

This straightforward comparison table helps shoppers compare product, specifications, reviews, and choose the best thing that fits their needs and budget.

14. Upselling through free-trial

Spotify uses a smart upselling tactic with its free trial. Free users can skip six songs per hour, but if they try to skip another song, they see a message. 

It's clear but not pushy. Spotify isn't saying straightforward, “Pay us now if you want this feature,” but it's clear that's the goal. By keeping premium features behind a paywall, Spotify makes it easy for users to upgrade on the spot. 

This approach makes users curious about what they’re missing and encourages them to try the paid version without feeling pressured. It’s a simple way to get more people to sign up for Spotify Premium.

To sum up, these 14+ upselling tips can help boost sales and increase customers satisfaction. Try them out to see what works best for your business, and keep improving to maximize your success.

Best Practices to Win Upselling

When upselling is done well, it not only increases a customer's value to your company but also enhances their overall experience by offering more benefits.

Here are effective strategies to maximize this value:

1. Understand Customer Needs and Recommend Valuable Upsells

Knowing your customers' needs is crucial, especially in upselling. Once you understand their challenges, you can explain why a premium option is the best fit.

Focus on how your solution will simplify their lives or work.

You can also use social media, email lists, or customer service to connect with customers. When they call with questions about specific products or services, it's a chance to listen carefully to their needs.

Make use of the data you already have, especially if you use a CRM. This data shows what products each customer buys and when. With this knowledge, sales teams can suggest other products that fit their needs.

Understanding what your customers really want not only helps you sell more effectively but also builds trust. It's a win-win for you and your customers.

2. Avoid abusing upselling

Avoid overdoing it with upselling. It's about building trust with your customers, not being pushy. Salespeople are sometimes seen as too aggressive, and you want to avoid that perception by focusing on delivering real value.

When upselling, always base your suggestions on what the customer actually needs. This approach ensures you stay on track and maintain their interest. For instance, if a customer only needs basic web hosting for a small business, pitching them an expensive enterprise plan isn't helpful.

A good rule of thumb is not to increase the purchase price by more than 25% unless you're sure it benefits the customer. This way, you respect their budget and needs while still offering relevant upgrades.

3. Establishing trust and forming connections

Upselling isn't just about pushing sales. Many people see it negatively because they think it's too pushy or aggressive. It shouldn't be.

The goal of upselling is to build a relationship with your customers by knowing their needs and helping them find the right solutions. This shows your customers that you understand them and want what's best for them.

But how do you do this online? It's different from face-to-face or phone conversations. How do you build trust and connection on a website?

Live chat has become a popular choice. It lets customers know you're available to answer questions, offer product advice, and address any concerns after they make a purchase.

4. Focus on benefits, not just features

In sales, it's about understanding human emotions and selling the promise of improvement. People purchase products they believe will enhance their lives in some way.

As a salesperson, remember that customers aren't buying because your product is fast, reliable, or stylish. They buy because of the benefits it brings—like saving time, saving money, or boosting their confidence.

Every purchase decision stems from a desire for change. When you upsell products that genuinely improve your customers' lives, they're more inclined to buy.

5. Adapt your upselling strategies quickly

Upselling boosts revenue by increasing how much customers spend per order. But pressuring customers into unnecessary purchases isn't wise. Upselling isn't a shortcut—remember the previous points.

If a specific upsell isn't working or customers aren't interested, don't stick to it. Change your approach, offer different options, and do it promptly.

Sometimes, customers don't realize what they need until you introduce a new product. If they buy something, and you have a better option to complement it, explain why buying both is beneficial.

Educating customers about your products not only helps upsell but also builds trust in your expertise. Being adaptable in your offers appeals to more customers and boosts revenue.

You see, to increase the chances of customers buying more products or services from your brand, it will require quite a lot of effort and strategies. So, in order to streamline your process of building a high-converting Shopify store, EComposer might be your best choice.

Others also read

How To Upsell: 10 Upselling Techniques For Double Your Revenue

Double Revenue With Shopify One Click Upsell

From Cart to Cash: 9+ Best Shopify Upsell Apps to Sell Smarter

Conclusion

Upselling is a great chance for business owners and salespeople to strengthen relationships with customers and exceed their expectations. By understanding what customers need and addressing their concerns, you can increase your value effortlessly.

Using customer data helps you figure out what customers want, making it easier to offer them the right upsell.

Close can help by organizing customer data. This way, you can see exactly what they're buying and plan upsell strategies that match their interests.

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