Are You Leaving Money On The Table With Your Upsells?
by: Karen Scharf, Small Business Marketing
ShareYou might be surprised to learn the results of a recent split test I designed to analyze a client’s upsell capabilities. I know I was!
I’ve always lectured my clients on the importance of upselling, and, as a marketing student, I was indoctrinated with the common practice of gradually working new customers up the price ladder. Obviously then, it’s normal procedure that the price of upsells be only slightly higher than the original item being purchased.
So, when I originally designed my client’s upsell page, we offered the “next best” items. The page performed OK, and results were the run-of-the-mill, industry standard.
But, after discussing a few ideas to increase this client’s revenues, I decided to try a little experiment. I A/B/C tested the upsell page, using the original page as my control. The design for Page B included several items: the item on the original page, three higher priced items, and, at the bottom of the list was a one-time-offer Bonanza Box of all four items offered at a discount. Page C included the exact items on Page B, except the Bonanza Box was at the top of the list. So the layouts looked something like this:
At first I was nervous. I thought we might insult his customers, or turn them off by appearing too pushy. But, I was amazed to discover that offering the highest priced item at the top of the page actually increased revenue by over 29%.
Don’t be afraid to offer a bundle or a premium product as your upsell. There’s an excellent chance that you’ll increase your revenues, too! But, of course, be sure you test, test and test some more to guarantee the best results from your target market.
Time to implement: Anytime you split test entire pages, you should expect quite a project. First, you must design the concept, then create the separate pages, add product options to your shopping cart, upload everything into your testing software – you’re looking at a full day’s work to get everything perfect. But, for a 29% increase in revenue, I’ll bet it’s worth it.
December 12th, 2009 at 8:29 am
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