(Ce billet est disponible en anglais seulement). Acquiring customers is on the most difficult things for any business. It’s a long and costly process to get the attention of digital consumers, engage them with content, and encourage them to transact. In some cases, the per-unit transaction price may be quite small, as well. As a result, upselling and cross-selling have become important tools in digital ecommerce.
Upselling is the tactic of showing the customer a higher-end version of their current order, as an additional or a replacement option. For example, a young mother working on a photobook could be shown different paper-type upgrade options or and additional photo enhancement services. The same can apply to prosumer doing a 12-by-12 canvas; he or she can be presented with the same product on a larger size or on a better material. This is a simple process that can be shown tastefully during the creation process, without disrupting the workflow. It can be easily done directly in the shopping cart as well.
Cross-selling opportunities happen during and after the project creation process. For example, if a customer has completed a “year in review” photo book, the time is perfect to suggest making a photo calendar or journal, with key photos from the same project. Or if someone has chosen to make a photo canvas of a prized image, perhaps that same image would look good on notecards or stationary? The key to cross-selling is to provide relevant visual thumbnail images of the suggested products to the customer. They don’t have to do any of the creation – it’s done for them – so they just have to choose “yes” or “no” or “how many.” Discounts can even be applied to make the offer more attractive.
With the photo merchandising business, there a many ways to up- and cross-sell. In many cases, it’s makes for an even better finished product, which makes for happier customers. And, keeping customers happy and purchasing is more cost-effective than finding new ones all the time!
