Your final goal shouldn’t only be to get new buyers. Instead, you should also take care of your current customers at the same pace. This will feed your business, so it can keep making money.

This is where the term – email upsell strategies come into play.

Let’s take a look at the study before we talk about this modern-day marketing technique.

Businesses can potentially achieve as much as 20 – 30% sales growth through effective email upselling techniques

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For a business, sometimes it costs more to attract people than to keep them. But if you use some helpful upselling methods, you can easily reach this number. Yes, in this blog, we will help you by giving you some email upsell tactics, benefits, and common examples to inspire you.

So, you can match your current plan with ours and come up with a good way to turn email receipts into email upsells.

Let’s begin!

What is upselling in email marketing?

Upselling means offering more expensive or extra services to customers who have already purchased something. Rather than “selling” in the traditional style. Imagine it as helping people get the extra value they might not know about.

In the context of email marketing, if you’ve purchased something online, you may have received transactional emails from the seller. Besides, you’ll get other product recommendations that you might be interested in purchasing. It’s also known as an upselling.

For instance, imagine you’ve purchased a basic laptop from an electronics store. Soon after, you receive a follow-up email from the store suggesting a laptop with greater memory capacity, or potentially offering a bundle that combines your chosen laptop with a mouse and keyboard. The idea is that, for a little more investment, you gain more value or convenience.

What are the benefits of upselling?

Upselling is a sales technique that involves inspiring a customer to purchase more products or services than they really intended to buy. It’s a common practice in many industries, including retail, hospitality, and telecommunications.

The probability of upselling to an existing customer is 60-70%, while the probability of upselling to a new customer is 5-20%

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This marketing technique can be a very useful way to increase revenue and improve customer satisfaction. Once it’s done correctly, it can show customers that you are committed to giving them the best possible experience.

Apart from that, there are some other benefits to implementing upselling strategies.

Let’s now check them out below:

Boosts revenue and growth

Upselling is a proven way to boost your sales. By encouraging customers to purchase a more expensive product or service, you can boost your average order value (AOV) and improve your bottom line.

Gradually improves customer satisfaction

When done correctly, upselling can actually improve customer satisfaction. You can show that you’re committed by providing them with the best possible experience. This way, customers will get a better product or service that meets their needs.

Increases customer loyalty

Customers who are upsold are more likely to become repeat customers. This is because they feel that they are getting a good deal. And you are thinking about them to provide the best service depending on their needs and requirements.

Reduces overall marketing costs

It’s more expensive to acquire new customers than it is to keep existing ones. By upselling, you can increase the lifetime value of your customers and reduce your marketing costs.

Improves brand reputation

When you upsell customers in a helpful and informative way, you can enhance your brand’s reputation. Plus, this can lead to increased customer trust and loyalty.

Improves sales team performance 

Upselling can help sales teams improve their performance. By training them on how to upsell effectively, you can help them close more deals and increase their commissions.

Boosts profit margins

The bottom-line benefit of upselling is increased profits. By selling more products and services to each customer, you can ultimately boost your profits and grow your business.

Improves customer lifetime value or CLV

The customer lifetime value (CLV) is the total amount of money a customer spends with your business over their lifetime. Upselling can help increase CLV by encouraging customers to purchase more products and services from you.

8 email upsell strategies to nurture your email receipts

Upselling is a sales technique where a seller encourages a customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale. Email upselling is a digital extension of this practice, and it can be particularly effective when applied to email receipts.

Email receipts are often overlooked as a marketing opportunity. However, they are a touchpoint that customers expect and are open to, making them an excellent channel for upselling.

👉Don’t overlook these top 7 email marketing mistakes

Here are eight strategies to nurture your email receipts and turn them into upselling opportunities.

01. Analyze your customer’s needs and recommend other products

Personalization is the key to effective upselling. It can be a highly effective upsell strategy due to its customer-centric approach. Through an in-depth analysis of your customer’s preferences, pain points, and purchasing behavior, you can create a personalized shopping experience. It will not only meet their existing needs but also anticipate their future requirements.

What’s more?

1. Enhances customer engagement
2. Provides cross-selling opportunities
3. Reduces decision-making situations
4. Increases brand reputation

So use the data you have on the customer’s previous purchases to recommend related or complementary products.

Here’s how you can use this strategy for upselling:

Suppose a customer just bought a pair of running shoes from your online store. The email receipt might have a section that includes “Complete Your Running Gear!”. And then add recommendations for running socks, a hydration belt, or a fitness tracker.

02. Provide bundle offers to increase “Order Value”

Offering bundles is a great way to increase the average order value. It helps increase the average order value of customers by offering related products or services as a package. You can include a special bundle offer that relates to the product they’ve just purchased in the email receipt.

As a result, there are some benefits that you’ll get:

1. Customer happiness will increase
2. Saves time and effort while purchasing other products
3. Attracts new customers
4. Increases revenue

Here’s how you can apply the bundle product selling technique:

Suppose a customer buys a smartphone from your online electronics store. The email receipt could include an offer for a “Smartphone Essentials Bundle,” which includes a phone case, screen protector, and wireless charger at a 20% discount when purchased together. This is how you can offer the bundle product as a whole to enhance customer engagement.

03. Create FOMO and urgency in sales

Creating a sense of urgency can encourage customers to make an additional purchase. It is one of the powerful email upsell strategies that encourages customers to take immediate action, resulting in increased conversions and higher order values.

Here’s how you can effectively use FOMO and urgency to boost your upselling efforts:

1. Create scarcity of losing the discount
2. Create a flash sale or limited-time sale campaign to surprise customers and trigger them to make a purchase
3. Give beta or exclusive access to your premium product
4. Offer bundles or tiered discounts

Let’s take an example of how you can implement his strategy:

After purchasing a set of kitchen knives, the email receipt could include a limited-time offer for a knife sharpener at a 15% discount, valid only for the next 48 hours. The urgency can prompt the customer to act quickly.

Here’s an example from Kinsta Academy. They’re shutting down the academy website. For that, they’re asking their users to complete courses, watch videos, and download certificates before it goes down. This is how you can create urgency in email for upselling.

04. Show loyalty and offer what you can provide

Use the email receipt as an opportunity to introduce your loyalty program. It’s also one of the modern email upsell strategies to encourage customers to upgrade or purchase additional products or services.

This not only encourages repeat business but also adds value to the current transaction. This means you’re:

1. Building trust
2. Understanding your customer’s needs
3. Valuing their pain points
4. And giving them top priority

Therefore, offer discounts or reward points for the purchase they’ve just made. And explain how accumulating more points could lead to rewards or discounts on future purchases.

Utilize these tips to write a discount offer that converts

Or here’s an example of how you can effectively show loyalty to your customers:

You can do that by saying, “Earn 50 Reading Points for this purchase. Accumulate 500 points to get a $10 voucher for your next buy!“. This will increase impressions and provide value to your premium users.

Also, you can get help from the below example by CodeCademy. As we all know, the courses they offer are all premium. So considering this fact, they offered their course at 50% off. Therefore, it’s a perfect example of an upsell strategy.

05. Use user testimonials or social proof to attract users

Including reviews or testimonials for the upsell products can help build trust and encourage further purchases. Plus, social proof can be particularly effective for customers who are unfamiliar with the additional products you are suggesting.

Along with this, it leverages the influence of others’ experiences, which builds trust and credibility. Hence, it makes potential customers more inclined to make a purchase.

Anything else that you can get if you practice using testimonials or social proof?

1. Removes confusions
2. Creates reliabilities
3. Boosts user engagements
4. And improves brand voices

Let’s take an example:

If a customer has bought a skincare product, include a testimonial or before-and-after photos for a related upsell product like a moisturizer or serum. That would definitely create an interest for your existing email recipient to check the product’s details.

Let’s have a look at the email from Team Dokan. They included the user testimonial section right after the CTA button. This way, they’re triggering users to check the testimonials to inspire them.

06. Implement the free shipping threshold for selected users

If your online store has a free shipping threshold, use the email receipt to inform the customer how much more they need to spend to qualify for free shipping. This can be an awesome incentive for them to make an additional purchase immediately.

This approach boosts the psychology of avoiding shipping costs while also increasing the average order value.

You can learn how to set a psychological pricing strategy to boost sales and growth

This way, you can get several benefits. Such as:

1. Attracts new attention
2. Encourages new transactions
3. Maintain clear communication
4. Increase interest for more purchases

Here’s a real-life example of an upsell email strategy:

Your email receipt could include a note like, “You’re only $15 away from qualifying for free shipping!” This encourages the customer to think about what other small items they might need.

07. Give exclusive or beta access to your target users

Another strategic way to drive upsells and increase customer engagement is to provide exclusive or beta access to your products. Plus, it makes them feel valued and increases the likelihood of them taking you up on your upsell offer. So offer customers who make a purchase exclusive access to certain products or services.

Now you may be asking, How can I implement this strategy?

1. Make your product/service exclusive
2. Represent value
3. Invite your premium users to use your product/service
4. Reward your loyal users

Here’s an example that you can implement for your product:

After a customer purchases a concert ticket, the email receipt could offer them exclusive access to pre-sale tickets for another event featuring a similar artist or genre. This makes the customer feel special and increases the chance of another purchase.

Let’s take a look at the example from weDocs. They’re soon releasing their premium plugin. But before that, they’re releasing the beta access to the users. Also, they’re giving a flat 60% off for using this tool.

08. Lastly, monitor, retarget, and send follow-up Emails

Last but not least, Try to monitor, retarget, and send follow-up emails when required. After you implement the upsell emails, don’t underestimate the power of follow-up emails. You may already have segmented your email recipients.

Depending on the email list segmentation, try reaching out to them smartly. Plus, track their activities and how they acted on your website or your preferred landing pages.

You can send a series of emails that offer additional value, such as how-to guides related to the product they’ve purchased, which can also include further upsell opportunities.

Let’s take a look at how you can do this:

A week after a customer has purchased a coffee maker, send a follow-up email with a how-to guide on making the perfect cup of coffee. Include an upsell for premium coffee beans or reusable filters at the end of the guide.

This one is special. Just look at the pitch of the email. They’re giving a simple follow-up email after one month of using the All-in-One SEO tool. Also, they’re gently reminding you about the 50% discount that you’ll get after upgrading to the premium package.

What are some of the email upsell examples?

Many companies believe that email upsell strategies are helping them to get their desired result. Why not actually? The companies who applied email upsell techniques, got an average open rate of 21%. This means they got higher than the average open rate for marketing emails, which is 17.75%. It’s really big!

Email upselling can increase average order value by 30%

Design Modo

Here are some of the popular examples of email upselling:

1. Amazon:
   • Strategy: Product recommendations based on purchase/browsing history
   • What they implement: After a user purchases an item, Amazon sends emails recommending other products that people often buy together with the item they purchased.
2. Adobe:
   • Strategy: Premium version or upgrade
   • What they implement: Adobe frequently emails users of their free or basic services about upgrading to their premium versions, highlighting the benefits of the upgraded service, including additional features and storage.
3. Zara:
   • Strategy: Limited-time offer
   • What they implement: Zara sends out limited-time flash sale emails with items that complement previous purchases. For example, if you’ve bought a dress, you might get an email about a flash sale on shoes or accessories.
4. Spotify:
   • Strategy: Exclusive membership or subscription upsell
   • What they implement: Spotify emails users of their Free tier offering a free trial period for Spotify Premium, with features like offline listening and no ads.
5. Apple:
   • Strategy: Bundling
   • What they implement: After the purchase of a MacBook or iPhone, Apple often sends emails suggesting accessories like AirPods, Apple Pencil, or cases that you can bundle with your original purchase.
6. Dollar Shave Club:
   • Strategy: Replenishment email
   • What they implement: Before your monthly subscription box ships, Dollar Shave Club will email you to ask if you’d like to add any additional products to this month’s box.
7. Netflix:
   • Strategy: Personalized recommendations
   • What they implement: Netflix sends emails based on your viewing history, recommending new shows or movies that are similar to what you’ve already watched.
8. Nike:
   • Strategy: Exclusive access or pre-orders
   • What they implement: Nike sends emails offering loyal customers exclusive access to pre-order new releases before the general public can buy them.
9. Udemy:
   • Strategy: Educational upsell
   • What they implement: If you’ve purchased a beginner’s course, Udemy will often email you about advanced courses in the same category at a discounted rate.
10. Airbnb:
    • Strategy: Feedback request with upsell
    • What they implement: After your stay, Airbnb sends an email asking for feedback and often provides a discount code for your next booking as a thank-you for completing the survey.

Final words on applying the right email upsell strategies

Well, now you know how effective and important email upsell is. Email upselling is a great way to increase your sales and revenue. By sending targeted emails to your customers, you can encourage them to buy more than they originally intended.

In fact, email upsell campaigns have an average open rate of 21% and a click-through rate of 4.2%. This means that you have a good chance of reaching your customers with your upsell emails and getting them to click through to your offer.

So how can you create effective email upsell campaigns? Here are a few tips:

1. Personalize your emails
2. Segment your email list
3. Offer relevant products or services
4. Use a professional email template
5. Lastly, keep your email copy to the point and easy for your customers to buy

Now craft your ideas, buckle up with your strategy, and implement them right away.

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