What is upsell, and how can you use it with a customer to increase your sales?

By Axelle Drack

Published: June 28, 2025

Upselling is a sales strategy often considered by entrepreneurs and companies seeking to increase their sales.

Sometimes confused with cross sell or down sell, this additional sales technique has its own characteristics and mechanisms.

Before discovering how to upsell the right way, we'd like to take a look at its definition and why you should use it. We'll also present a few examples that we hope will give you the inspiration you need to implement your own upsell strategy.

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What is upsell?

Definition

Upselling consists in offering a customer a service or product superior to the one initially chosen. This commercial offer increases the average shopping basket, thanks to the sale of products that enable the company to generate higher margins.

Added value can take the form of :

greater comfort,
better quality,
faster results,
greater safety or protection.

The French translation of upsell is vente incitative or montée en gamme.

Why upsell?

Upselling is an effective way of increasing sales faster and more easily than if you had to convince new people to become customers. Even if only a small percentage of your customers accept your proposals, multiplied by the number of orders, this can represent a significant increase.

What's more, upselling gives you a competitive edge, as the extra margin can enable you to invest a little more than your competitors in customer acquisition.

7 examples of upselling

Upselling is a sales technique as old as commerce itself, but as effective as ever in increasing the average user's shopping basket. Here are 7 concrete examples to illustrate this sales strategy and show you how to propose a superior offer at the right time, with real added value.

Catering: offer a premium menu including drinks and dessert for a few extra euros. The price rises slightly, but the customer perceives much greater value.
High-tech: suggest a product in the same range, but with more features. For example, a smartphone with more memory or better photo quality.
Automotive: push for additional options, such as heated seats, metallic paint or an enhanced audio system. A move upmarket at a higher price, but often presented as an incentive.
Online training: instead of a pack of videos, the vendor offers personalized guidance or individual coaching. Same product, but more comprehensive service.
Extended warranty: at the payment stage, offer additional insurance or dedicated customer service. Purchase becomes more reassuring and sales climb.
B2B SaaS: offer a superior subscription including exclusive tools or advanced access. The business customer gains in efficiency, and you gain in sales.
Cosmetics: on a product page, offer a travel size or a complete set with a discount. The customer goes from a simple purchase to an enriched basket.

Upsell, cross-sell, downsell: what's the difference?

Cross-selling is the practice of selling one or more products that complement the main product. This additional sale increases the average basket by making the customer spend more than he or she had planned.

Down-selling, as opposed to upselling, consists in offering a less expensive alternative to the product initially desired. It can be used to trigger a purchase if the salesperson perceives hesitation, which is likely to lead to abandonment of the product.

You can use these three complementary techniques to increase your company's sales.

This example illustrates the difference between the three concepts:

How to upsell? Our 6 top tips

Tip 1: Provide real added value

Your customers won't be fooled by window-dressing or a nicely marketed offer whose sole purpose is to serve your interests.

If your upsell offer doesn't add real value for your customers, they'll realize it. Don't risk breaking their trust in you, or you'll lose them forever.

If you do everything you can to satisfy them, they'll naturally be willing to spend more. It's a win-win strategy!

Tip 2: Respond to your customers' needs

To make smart upsell offers, keep your customers' needs in mind and respond to them. The additional value you offer must be able to solve their problems, or help them achieve their goals.

The choice of the product you offer must respect a few criteria:

have the same or a very similar function;
be personalized according to profile (gender, age, passions, purchase history, etc.);
be adapted to the customer's stage in the sales cycle.

To better understand your customers' needs, don't hesitate to practice active listening!

Tip no. 3: find the right moment

When to offer an upsell? We've identified 5 ideal moments to propose upselling to your customers. This list is by no means exhaustive.

You can make an upsell offer :

on the product page, to give customers the opportunity to select the most advanced versions ;
before closing a sale, in the shopping cart or on the payment page, to push the upsell offer with the sales pitch;
just after the sale, to offer upgrades in the purchase confirmation email;
before the end of a free trial, to convince customers to upgrade to a paid version with more features;
at the launch of a new product, which is more advanced and can compensate for some of the initial product's minor shortcomings.

Tip 4: offer a reasonable and advantageous price differential

The price difference between the two products must not be too great to be accepted. Don't necessarily offer the top-of-the-range product, but the one just above it, at no more than 10-20% of the initially accepted price.

In addition to a reasonable difference, the ideal is for the new price-quality ratio to be more advantageous to trigger a purchase. For example

a 500g packet of pasta costs €2.5,
a 1 kg pack of pasta costs €3.25.

Tip no. 5: emphasize the arguments

More than just better value for money, you also need to highlight the added value of buying this product.

Give your customers at least one good reason to spend more:

find the right arguments ;
list the benefits ;
and add a few customer testimonials for social proof, which plays an important role in a customer's buying process.

Don't hesitate to anticipate your customers' objections to strengthen your sales pitch!

Tip no. 6: Use tools

To gather information on your prospects and customers, analyze it and then submit your offers to them, it's essential to be well-equipped.

Here are the most useful types of software:

CRM software,
marketing automation software
an emailing solution,

💡 Tip: if you want to offer personalized upsell offers easily on your website, some platforms like Shopify are full of add-ons specialized in upsell, to easily create your offers.

Integrating upselling into the customer journey: the funnel approach

Upselling isn't about forcing sales. It's a strategic approach, well placed, at the right time. And that's precisely why the sales funnel approach is essential. Each stage of the customer journey represents a sales opportunity, provided you know how to propose an additional operation that is relevant and adapted to the real need.

Discovery phase: there's no need to roll out a premium offer on the first visit to the website. Prospects arrive with an intention, not immediately with their bank card. Here, we establish a relationship of trust, identify the type of product or service that appeals to them, and guide them along the way without overwhelming them.
Consideration phase: the potential customer begins to compare the different ranges, assess the value of the offer, measure price and quality. This is where you can offer a superior version, an improved solution or a complementary product. Everything must breathe added value. This phase is an excellent time to make a proposal with "benefits" before placing an order.
Purchase decision phase: it's now or never. A well-placed argument, an additional package, an upgrade... In short, a nudge that transforms a simple purchase into an enriched experience. To propose an upsell here is to close the additional sale and generate a "but of course, it's obvious!"

A well-integrated upsell is the art of selling a product or service in an enticing way, without seeming to do so. And when it's seamless? You increase your sales without ever compromising customer satisfaction!

How do you apply upselling to e-commerce?

In e-commerce, upselling is a formidable sales strategy for increasing sales without chasing after new customers. With a platform like Shopify, businesses can set up their entire conversion tunnel to optimize sales, right from the checkout page.

💡 The idea? Don't push an expensive product at all costs, but steer the buyer towards a new product or service that's more relevant than the basic product, a more upscale model for example. This is where the commercial objective comes into play: good, well-placed content, with a justified and visible price difference, can tip an average basket... towards a game-changing one.

In practice:

Add an extra, useful or clever item,
Focus on a version dedicated to a specific need,
Include an insert with a reduced price for a grouped-order sale,
Play on social proof, social networks or existing customer experience.

Shopify lets you do all this without coding. We use customer data, adapt according to sector, time spent on the website and expected ROI. And you monitor KPIs to make ongoing adjustments. The result? Constant improvement, controlled development and a method for increasing the value of every commercial activity.