By 2040, consumers will complete about 95% of all purchases online. More than half of all Shopify merchants have repeat customers, too. Shopify Plus merchants experience 126% year-over-year growth as well. Learning how to upsell on Shopify Plus can set your eCommerce business up for success. Without a strategy in place, however, you’ll miss out on opportunities. Here are a few ways you can boost your average order value (AOV) this year. With these tips, you can boost your conversion rate and ROI. Get ready to grow.
Segment and Personalize
Over 80% of consumers say treating them like a person, rather than like a number, can win their business. Meanwhile, 74% get annoyed when web content fails to align with their interests. Learning how to personalize the user’s shopping experience can help you upsell. In fact, 90% of marketers report a measurable lift in business results due to personalization. Personalization could lift sales by 10% or more, too. Meanwhile, 80% of consumers are more likely to make purchases when brands personalize. About $87.5 billion in sales is influenced by personalized offers that resulted in consumers making purchases they initially didn’t intend to. In order to personalize the buyer’s online experience, you need to fully understand your customers.
Define who your customers are based on demographics and psychographics, such as:
- Location
- Age
- Gender
- Salary
- Education
- Language
- Career
- Buying behaviors
- Interests
- Hobbies
- Pain points
Analyze their purchase history, too. Then, segment your shoppers into distinct buyer personas. Creating buyer personas will help you gain control over which consumers receive which offers, promotions, and messages. For example, your already high-frequency shoppers will benefit more from a loyalty program. Low-frequency shoppers, on the other hand, will benefit more from cross-selling. Start creating personalized buying experiences with each buyer persona in mind. Appealing to their needs, interests, and behaviors will help you achieve a higher sales volume.
Create Order Minimums
If you want to upsell and improve your average order value, think about ways you can improve the customer’s shopping experience. For example, you can offer free shipping. You can boost your AOV by offering free shipping if the consumer meets an order minimum. Then, you can encourage them to spend more before they can benefit from the offer. Shopify Plus makes it easy for stores to set up shipping rates, too. You can learn more about adding free shipping rates here.
Determine a threshold by starting with the most common order values. For example, perhaps the majority of your orders reach $35. Set your free shipping minimum at $50 to upsell. Consider setting your minimum threshold at about 30% higher than your AOV. Aim to make free shipping feel attainable to as many shoppers as possible. Then, you can start reaching a higher sales volume. If you set the threshold too high, consumers might get frustrated. Instead of adding more to their carts, they could abandon their carts instead. Consumers might also abandon their carts if extra costs (tax, shipping, fees, etc.) discourage them from checking out.
You can also consider offering a discount for orders over a certain threshold. For example, you can offer a $10 discount code if the shopper’s cart reaches over $50. You can promote this offer through a promotion bar on your website. Otherwise, you can use in-cart messaging to encourage shoppers to add more to their carts.
Offer Support
Remember, improving the customer experience on your Shopify Plus website can help encourage sales. Otherwise, consumers will abandon their carts feeling frustrated. Improve the customer experience by offering around-the-clock support. For example, you can add a live chat function to your store. Live support will ensure consumers can find answers to their questions easily. You can increase the potential for a sale while minimizing the risk of abandoned carts.
Some customers need answers before they feel comfortable shopping. Offering easy access to those answers can turn browsers into shoppers. Otherwise, try adding more social proof to your website to boost brand trust. For example, you can feature product reviews and testimonials on your site. On-the-fence shoppers will see that other buyers love and trust your brand. They might feel more inclined to give your brand a try themselves.
Start Bundling
You can also upsell to reach a higher sales volume by creating bundles. Make sure each bundle costs less than if the consumer purchased the items individually.
Creating bundles will increase the perceived value for the purchase.
Try offering bundles that look like all-in-one solutions. For example, a beauty company might bundle products based on skin concerns. They can create a bundle featuring dry skin products or acne treatments.
Instead of only selling one product, you can start upselling to improve your AOV. Meanwhile, consumers will see everything they need on a single page. You can improve their online experience to boost sales.
Try empowering customers to create their own bundles by offering “add-on” products to their order, too.
If you want to create bundles for your Shopify Plus store, try using one of the bundling apps that are available, but those won’t always do the trick. We also build a lot of custom bundling systems, questionnaires, and quizzes.
Here are a few examples:
And there are plenty more where that came from…
Boost BOGO Deals
Buy one, get one deals aren’t exclusive to brick-and-mortar retail stores. You can also offer BOGO deals on your Shopify Plus store to boost your AOV.
Add a banner to the top of your website. Use contrasting colors between the font, text, and site background to draw the eye. BOGO announcements can help you incentivize shoppers to add more to their carts. Consider adding exit-intent pop-ups to your site, too. You can lure buyers with your BOGO offer to improve your conversion rates. Play around with the wording as well. For example, try, “buy two to get a free gift” to increase your AOV in big ways.
Make sure to promote your next deal outside of your website. Use social media marketing or pay-per-click ads to boost awareness. Then, draw more people to your Shopify store to generate a higher sales volume.
Promote a Loyalty Program
Show your existing customers how much you appreciate them! Encourage consumers to come back for more by creating a loyalty program. A loyalty program will boost your customer retention rate. You can forge long-lasting relationships with customers to increase your customer lifetime value. Loyal customers are easier to upsell on your Shopify Plus, too.
A loyal customer is worth 10 single-purchase customers. In fact, loyal customers are often your best advocates. They can help you expand your reach through word-of-mouth marketing. Their referrals can help you generate more leads and sales as time goes on. Even 2% more customer retention can reduce your advertising expenses by 10%, too.
Make sure your loyalty program considers the shopper’s unique preferences. For example, you can offer cash back incentives based on a points model. Once the customer reaches 500 points, offer a $5 coupon off their next purchase. Your average order value will continue to increase as consumers continue shopping.
Once you develop your customer loyalty program, keep consumers aware of the program to draw them back to your store. For example, you can send an automated email warning consumers their points are about to expire. The fear of missing out might encourage them to make a quick purchase.
Use email marketing to remain top of mind with your shoppers, too. Use personalization to ensure they see how many points they have with each email. Realizing they’re close to a coupon code might encourage them to shop.
Don’t forget to encourage customers to spread the word about your business. For example, you can give them a coupon for every 10 friends they refer to your brand.
Upsell and Cross-Sell
Nudge customers to add more to their carts by suggesting they buy complementary or upgraded products.
When using this strategy, make sure not to upsell too much. Instead, think of each customer as a friend. Make suggestions the same way a friend would during a shopping spree. Make sure every upselling opportunity seems helpful and genuine. Remember to personalize, too! Choose hand-picked products that suit the buyer’s current needs.
Try using low-value upselling to increase the likelihood the customer will make a purchase. If they only have $20 of products in their cart, they won’t purchase a $50 product. Instead, consider their price range. Try testing your upselling strategy with post-purchase upsells, too. Use previous buying data to determine which products your customers usually buy together. You should definitely consider creating a bundle for those projects.
Here are a few examples of sites we’ve put together with huge upsell opportunities, whether it’s when you add to the cart, or directly on the product pages:
Offer Discounts Post Purchase
You can also increase profit margins by offering a discount after the consumer has already completed a purchase. For example, you can offer a 15% off coupon code for their next purchase. Make sure to add an expiration date to the offer.
These offers can encourage consumers to come back to shop again. You can influence buying behaviors to improve your AOV.
Profitable Purchases: Discover How to Upsell on Shopify Plus Today
Don’t miss the chance to help your Shopify Plus business grow. Instead, use these tips to upsell this year. As your average order value improves, you can boost your revenue and profit margins. Scale your business with these effective tips and catapult your sales figures.
As usual, if you need help with your own Shopify Plus store, we’re happy to help.
Get in touch with our team—we’d love to hear about your project.
