Cross selling a product or service is a marketing technique designed to trigger an impulse purchase at the checkout. As with a bricks and mortar store, the purpose of the cross sell is to increase the visitor spend without distracting them from the process of purchasing. Given the cross sell is somewhat of a “quick no thought purchase” it is a good idea to select products priced less than the average purchase item, that don’t require selecting options or require a detailed explanation of their qualities. Some experts recommend the cross sell product be no more than 20 – 35% of the main purchase price.
An example of a cross sell can be seen in the below scenario:
Jane has found a new top she wants to buy and has selected checkout. She is ready to complete the order and then when she reaches the checkout she is presented with some accessories that will compliment the top. They are not too expensive, free to ship and the colour matches. Jane selects “add”. In this case, the accessories worked well as they they had a complimentary relationship to what she was purchasing, only slightly increased the total purchase price, didn’t require selecting a colour or size, and didn’t increase the shipping cost. Therefore the purchase feels somewhat risk free and only adds value to the customer experience.
When done in this way, there is a timely opportunity to offer a customer a product that would be of interested to them that and ultimately increase your sales.
Remember, cross selling is not the same as a related product which can be used for increasing sales before they arrive at the checkout. We will discuss related products in the next ecommerce blog post.
