Avinash Kaushik - world leader in web business optimisation
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Product promotions - cross selling in online merchandising
A useful short checklist of cross-selling techniques for online stores
Tags (view related articles):
Merchandising,
Web Design
A useful article on online retail merchandising / cross-selling techniques from Coremetrics. Download their whitepaper for more info.
They also make the point that you need to be careful to upsell otherwise average order value or conversion rates may suffer. They say: "Ii>it makes sense to offer items priced lower than the one the customer is currently viewing. Thus when presenting “similar product” offers for, for example, electronic products, you should recommend higher priced models instead of more basic models."
The main cross-selling merchandising techniques recommended are:
- Same product, with promotion. This offer type works best when used in re-marketing to individuals who abandoned your web site. Try using it in emails you send to product abandoners.
- Similar product. This offer type works best in email re-marketing efforts, and on product detail pages. For example, if someone views a v-neck red wool sweater, try offering them a turtleneck red wool sweater.
- Competing product. This offer type works best on product detail pages. For example, if someone views a brand name product, try offering them the same product in a different brand.
- Complementary item. This offer type works best in the shopping cart and order status pages, and in the call center. For example, if someone views a High Definition TV, try offering them a DVD player with 1080 up-conversion.
- Accessory item. Like complementary items, accessories work best in the shopping cart and order status pages, and in the call center. For example, if someone views an inflatable raft, try offering them an air pump.
- Discovery product. Discovery products work best on product detail pages. Discovery items are non-intuitive, data-driven offers. For example, visitors viewing the latest, trendiest items might also purchase other trendy products, even if they are unrelated to the other trendy item.
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