Upselling Techniques: Strategies Proven to Help Make Sales

Ayesha Ejaz
Ayesha Ejaz

Last updated on

January 2, 2025

One of the most powerful tactics for maximizing revenue while adding more value to customers comes in the form of upselling.

This means getting them to buy a more expensive model of the item or purchase additional products to go with the main item they want.

If used accurately, upselling techniques can dramatically improve the bottom line in many markets — from retail to hospitality, e-commerce to call centers.

Research studies have shown that upselling and cross-selling averages 10 - 30 percent of a company’s revenue, depending on the industry.

Marketing Metrics also notes that the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60–70%, compared with only 5–20% for new prospects.

Therefore, learning the upselling game is as essential as knowing every trick for maximizing your sales potential.

The Importance of Upselling

Upselling is finding products and services that genuinely meet customers' capabilities and improve the customer experience. 

Upselling isn’t a pushy sales tactic; if done right, it will satisfy and retain customers. 

The AOV (average order values) and customer loyalty improvers that an upselling technique drives make it beneficial for businesses that implement them well. 

Here’s why upselling matters: 

  • Increased Average Transaction Value: Encouraging customers to add extra items or upgrade their purchase will result in a bigger transaction size for the same number of customers, resulting in more revenue with no additional customer acquisition cost. 
  • Improved Customer Retention: Offering good recommendations dictates that you know your customers' wants and needs, thus building trust and further establishing relationships over the long term. 
  • Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: This higher satisfaction is offered when focused on customer needs. 

Upgrades and additional products give customers something to feel good about their purchase, as they now see the value. For instance, Apple is excellent for upselling products through retail techniques by selling a device like AirPods or an extended warranty with an iPhone purchase.

Examples of Upselling

Retail

  • Apple: Customers who buy an iPhone often get suggestions from Apple to purchase AirPods, an Apple Watch, or more iCloud storage. These complementary products dramatically increase the total purchase value of the iPhone experience. For example, when Apple launched the iPhone 12, it also released MagSafe accessories, such as cases and wireless chargers, so users would sell more through product bundles. 
  • Best Buy: Laptops and TVs are electronics for which Best Buy often upsells protection plans, commonly known as extended warranties. These services are usually prompted at the checkout for customers to add, providing them with a warm fuzzy feeling and helping with the purchase.

Hospitality

  • Marriott International: When guests check into the Marriott, the company's mobile app offers room upgrades such as rooms with suites, higher floors, or better views. During the online booking phase or check-in, these options are displayed to customers to encourage a traveler to make a rash decision. Meanwhile, Marriott claims that upselling the ability to upgrade these rooms yields higher customer satisfaction and higher revenues per night. 
  • Hilton Hotels: Hilton sends pre-arrival emails to give guests upgrades, such as a better view, and additional services, such as a romantic dinner or a spa experience. 

Bars and Restaurants

  • Starbucks: Starbucks is another of its most common upselling strategies. It suggests customers size up their order (from Tall to Grande to Venti) or add flavor shots to their coffee. In addition, Starbucks encourages people to purchase bakery items for their Starbucks orders by prompting them with prompts on the mobile app or in-store signage. 
  • The Cheesecake Factory: At The Cheesecake Factory, they train servers to upsell signature cocktails and premium entrees and to offer one of their famous desserts like the original cheesecake. For instance, a study on restaurant behavior found if you just asked, “Would you like an appetizer or dessert added to your bill?” the average check size was 15-20% larger.

E-commerce

  • Amazon: One great upselling technique many e-commerce merchants like Amazon use is the ‘Frequently Bought Together’ section. When ordering from Amazon, related items are automatically suggested when a customer is looking at a product (e.g., with a DSLR camera, Amazon would suggest camera lenses). This cross-sell approach nudges users to buy the bundles and increases overall cart value. 
  • Nike: Nike upsells by selling premium versions of products. For example, if one chooses an essential running shoe, Nike would show more expensive versions with a specialty edition design for better cushioning. 

Automotive

  • Tesla: When you buy a Tesla, you can activate a feature like an autopilot, have a more extended battery range, or get a luxury interior upgrade. Even after that, Tesla offers software-based post-purchase updates that include unlocking more acceleration capabilities so that customers can purchase using the Tesla app after they own the car. 
  • Car Dealerships: Upselling has its natural place in the auto dealership, and it typically happens when salespeople push an extended warranty, service package, or some other option like leather seats, a top-of-the-line audio system, or more advanced safety features. These extras are wildly profitable, and you can bet that dealerships know it and add them as upcharges in negotiations.

Technology (SaaS)

  • Spotify: One of Spotify’s upsell strategies is freeing users to upgrade to Spotify Premium. They highlight the benefits of ad-free listening, offline playlists, and unlimited skips. In addition, during special promotions, Spotify might offer Premium on the condition that users get free access to Hulu or a discount to a family plan, for example, to encourage users to upgrade. 
  • Dropbox: For instance, Dropbox offers to upsell to users on free plans who can purchase a plan for more storage and features like Smart Sync and more extended file history. How they will benefit from additional features: the users of these tools sell them to try them by sending emails and in-app notifications to the free tier users.

Travel

  • Airlines (Delta, Emirates): Airlines often use upselling by offering economy passengers upgrades to premium economy, business class, or first class during the booking process or at check-in. For example, Delta frequently sends notifications to travelers offering discounted upgrades to Comfort+ or First Class, even after the initial booking. On the other hand, Emirates highlights its premium services, such as onboard lounges and lie-flat seats, encouraging travelers to choose a more luxurious flying experience.
  • Car Rental Agencies (Hertz, Enterprise): Car rental companies like Hertz and Enterprise upsell by offering upgrades to luxury cars, SUVs, or premium sedans when customers initially book a compact or economy car. They also upsell additional insurance, GPS devices, or child car seats to improve the rental experience.

7 Awesome Upsell and Cross-selling Examples | Wonderment

8 Upselling Techniques to Adopt Right Away

Upselling is an art that requires a deep understanding of your customer’s needs and how to present additional options that provide real value. 

Implementing these eight techniques can increase revenue and enhance the overall customer experience, building long-term relationships in the process.

Pitch a Relevant Upsell

The number one upsell rule is the offer has to be pertinent to the customer’s original purchase. Upsells of no relevance will frustrate the customer or not even convert the customer. 

Consider the customer’s first purchase as the basis, and the upsell needs to add something.

 

Example: If your customer buys a laptop, an upsell for a laptop bag or upgraded software will be a natural and helpful way to sell. Toast POS says such context-relevant upsells increase wine sales by up to 15%, proving that suggesting relevant wine pairings is one way to enhance wine sales.

Be Consistent with Value

Price is a factor, but selling long lets you present increased value. Upselling must be for the customers’ sake—we must convince them that buying the upsell gives them something better than a more costly product. Upgrades, extended warranties, and premium service services — the value proposition needs to be very clear and compelling. 

Example: Offering an extended warranty when a customer buys a high-end electronic device provides value by offering peace of mind. Not only is the customer paying more for the product, but they’re also paying for long-term protection. According to a New York Times study, urging value over price can increase upsell conversion rates by as much as 30%.

Help, Don’t Sell

Upselling should be perceived as a logical, anything else end of excellent customer service, not a forceful peddling function. Consider the upsell from your customer’s point of view, showing how you are assisting them by making the best possible choice considering their needs and preferences. 

Example: Customer service agents can provide thoughtful upsell suggestions that suit the customer’s past purchase behavior. For instance, a customer who uses data on their plan and consistently exceeds it can upsell an updated plan. It’s a solution to their problem. This method can build trust around your brand and, in the long run, encourage some of your customers and build loyalty.

Offer a Discount

Offers can be a fantastic motivator for customers to accept an upsell. Although the goal of upselling is to raise revenue, the customer feels like he’s getting more value for less money by receiving a small discount on an upgrade or bundle. 

It’s beneficial in sectors where prices are susceptible. 

Example: When positioned as a limited-time offer, if you offer a premium drink for a slightly lower than usual price, you can drive more sales in a bar setting. This strategy can also be applied to online retailers; Shopify’s report said that the upsell discounts can raise conversion rates by 10-30%. 

Create FOMO

When scarcity and urgency are present, customers are more than willing to act urgently. This creates FOMO (by making people more likely to take an upsell opportunity to avoid missing the deal later). 

Example: Servers can upsell limited-time or seasonal items in a restaurant by exploiting the chance the item won’t be available when the customer comes back. FOMO selling actually really does work and is proven to increase sales.

Review Feedback

Customer feedback is one of your best weapons for refining your upsell strategy. After your initial purchase, analyzing product reviews and surveys can help you determine what customers appreciate or what they believe they need. You can now use these insights to personalise your upsells. 

Example: Real time customer feedback is important in call centers as it helps in the guidance of upsell offers. Agents can use this information to upsell premium plans or other services should customers frequently ask for increased data or faster internet.

Provide Examples

It goes without saying that real-life examples or testimonials work really well for customers in helping them visualize the benefit of an upsell. Either by comparing products or pointing out happy customer stories demonstrating the role of the upsell, the decision will be easier for hesitant buyers. 

Example: Retailers often show side-by-side product comparisons that highlight the benefits of the new and improved version. Social proof can also come in the form of testimonials from satisfied customers who made the same decision and hopefully inspired others to make the same decision.

Follow Up

Sometimes, customers will need time to upsell. That doesn't mean the opportunity is gone if they pass on the offer at the initial purchase. However, you can follow up after the fact with personalized messages or emails that will rekindle their interest. It works incredibly well where purchase activity is substantial.

Example: Hotels can also use email marketing platforms to follow up with guests, using email to personalize the upgrade to their booking, such as spa treatments or room upgrades. In e-commerce, follow-up emails can tell customers something left in the cart or suggest other such goods in line with a customer's purchase history.

Bonus Upselling Techniques: Online Businesses

For e-commerce and other online businesses, leveraging technology and automation can make upselling even more effective. Consider these additional strategies:

Offer Customization

Allow customers to customize their purchases with add-ons or upgrades. A Forbes report found that personalization in e-commerce can increase sales by 10-15%.

Show Additional Features on Upsells

Highlight the benefits of premium features to convince customers that the upsell is worth the investment. Give the customers an idea of what they are missing out on, and what they can receive if they upgrade.

Show Bigger Discounts on Upsells

Customers are more likely to purchase if they perceive they are getting a great deal on an upgrade or bundle. Studies have shown that the bigger the discount the more the customers are drawn to the products.

Make Upgrades Easier

Make it easier for customers to upgrade their current products or Services. Make things accessible and ensure that upgrades can be done in a few clicks.

Tools to Enhance Your Upselling Techniques

We have looked at a few upselling techniques to help enhance sales, now let’s peak at a few tools that can help aide in the process. Here are a few of them.

1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

To derive an understanding of exactly what your customers are doing, where they are purchasing, and what they like to buy, you need CRM software. This helps businesses to store detailed customer profiles that can evolve into upsell suggestions. 

Sales departments can use CRM data to personalize upselling, for a better probability of success. 

Features like customer segmentation, logging communication history, and running refined automated follow-ups introduce a more targeted and more time-efficient approach. 

Salesforce or HubSpot can be tools that businesses use to manage customer relationships and leverage customer data in securing upselling opportunities. 

Benefits

  • Upsell recommendations customized to a user. 
  • Better retention and satisfaction of customers. 
  • Simple follow-up process after purchase to add to the shopping cart.

2. Sales Enablement Tools

Sales enablement tools aid sales departments in achieving more sales effectiveness with tips on upselling from a company's resources, data, and insights. 

They serve to bring both marketing and sales teams into sync by making content like product information and training materials readily available, which can be used to create compelling upsell offers. 

With platforms like Seismic or Showpad, salespeople can access this customer data in real time and suggest complementary or upgraded products because that’s what customers may need next. 

Benefits

  • Better upselling product knowledge. 
  • Access to customer data and sales content in real-time. 
  • Enhanced marketing and sales team alignment.

3. AI-Powered Recommendation Engines

Real-time product suggestions are delivered through AI-powered recommendation engines which look at customer data, purchase behavior, and browsing patterns. 

One of the main applications of this technology is upselling in e-commerce, for example, Amazon excels at upselling the customers "Customers who bought this also bought …". With machine learning algorithms. 

These engines increase the chance for upsells by continuously creating relevant and timely offers so that you are never wasting money on irrelevant upsell offers. 

Benefits

  • What are real-time, personalized product recommendations? 
  • Provide relevant suggestions and thus have a better customer experience. 
  • It also increased AOV and revenue.

4. E-commerce Platforms with Upselling Features

Businesses, on the other hand, will often have upselling features built into their modern e-commerce platform, which automatically displays related or higher-tier products at the customer journey points. 

There are apps and plugins on Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce that simplify upselling by showing relevant product upgrades to the user on product pages, during checkout, or in post-purchase emails. 

They allow us to set up cross-sell and upsell opportunities without requiring much manual input and step inside the customer's shoe box in ways that weren't possible before. 

Benefits: 

  • Upsell and cross-sell suggestions. 
  • Integration with the customer’s shopping experience. 
  • Minimal manual effort, increased conversion rates.

5. Email Marketing Automation

Email marketing automation lets businesses send follow-up emails to customers after they make a purchase and provides them with upsell options. 

If a customer has made a past purchase, Mailmunch, Brevo, or a bunch of other platforms can send personal emails encouraging them to upgrade or buy complementary items. 

Data analytics and customer segmentation help automate email sequences as they can drive repeat purchases by offering time-sensitive discounts, product recommendations, and exclusive deals

It works very well for upselling costly products or subscription-based services. 

Benefits

  • Automated targeted upsell offers. 
  • Personalized emails that increase customer engagement. 
  • Post-purchase follow-up campaigns help achieve better retention.

Key Takeaways

To get the most out of your revenue potential, your business needs to master upselling techniques. 

Whether you are in retail, hospitality, or e-commerce, knowing how to provide value, listen to customer needs, and using the right tools can greatly impact your sales strategy. 

With proper upselling tools, businesses can increase the amount of revenue coming in and improve customer satisfaction considerably. 

You can build a more personalized and profitable customer journey if you continuously test your strategies, use customer feedback, and offer relevant upgrades.

Author Bio

Ayesha Ejaz

Ayesha Ejaz is a passionate writer who loves diving into research to explore new topics and broaden her knowledge. With a keen interest in learning through writing, Ayesha crafts informative and engaging content across various subjects. You'll find her unwinding with music or challenging herself with word search puzzles when she's not writing.

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