Cross-sell / Up-sell
Every Software Publisher has similar goals: convert browsers to buyers, maximize revenue, and engender customer loyalty. Cross-sell / Up-sell is critical for Share of wallet with first-time buyers and repeat customers. MPower finds that cross-selling and up-selling can be one of the most effective routes to increase a customer’s purchase order. However, if implemented incorrectly you will confuse your users and have them abandon their orders completely.
Contact MPower now to help you to develop successful cross-selling / up-selling relationships.
Here are some helpful Cross-sell / Up-sell terms:
Competing Products
These are products which the user could purchase instead of the current product. For example, a user might come to purchase an antivirus product and there might be a list of products above this which offers the user a full security suite (including antivirus, anti-spyware, etc.).
Complementary Products
These products are intended to be sold with the current product and can be used together. In this case, they don’t compete with each other but can be used in tandem to solve a problem or make the product more robust. For example, you might consider offering an iPod video conversion tool with an iPod audio conversion tool.
Family Products
The products are from the same manufacturer and part of the same line as the current product. For example, you might consider selling an iPod video conversion tool with an iPhone conversion tool.
Accessory Products
These products can’t really be used on their own to any great extent. For example, you might consider selling virtual gifts with your IM / Video chat application.
So you’re probably thinking is it worth doing all these distinctions? The short answer is Yes.
Contact MPower now to help you set up your:
- competing product up-selling
- complementary product cross-selling
- family product cross-selling
- accessory product cross-selling
How can you most effectively make use of each type of product relationship and where can you use it?
Home Page
A customized home page is a great place to present products to the user. The catch is that the page must be aware of what the user has already bought, and the product recommendations shouldn’t present competing items. Instead, the page should focus on family and complementary items. It should also present accessories to items that have already been bought.
Product Detail Page
The main goal of a product detail page is to convince the customer that he really wants the current product. The secondary goal should be to inform the user of other products he could buy instead, in case the current product doesn’t cover all their needs. There needs to be a balance between these two goals. For instance, giving too much screen space to cross-sells diminishes the current product because if the user is always tempted to click on other products then they’ll never buy anything. On the other hand, if the current product doesn’t meet their requirements, we do want the user to know the other products we offer versus abandoning his search.
A good product page should also present the products that will assist in increasing the user’s share of wallet in the case that the user purchases the product. This is done through products that are in the same family, are accessories to the product, or are complementary. The key is to present all these different types of products in a clear manner which helps the end user make choices.
Shopping Cart Page
This is one of the most common areas to see cross-sells. The main purpose of the shopping cart page is to get the user to check out and to try to increase order size by showing accessories, family products, and complementary products. This page should include items that can be easily added to the cart, as they’re more or less impulse items. This infers that accessories are more important than complimentary products because accessories are part of the same purchase decision. They’re linked to the product the user is already considering purchasing. Complimentary products, however, require the user to make a new purchase decision. This could potentially reduce the conversion on the original purchase.
Hopefully this information helped with understanding different types of product groupings and where best to use them. As you can see each software company’s situation is different, so feel free to contact us to help you understand what are the best options for you and your team.
