Traffic is guaranteed on eBay. But converting viewers into customers and increasing order value will always be a challenge. For your business to grow, you should be cross selling on eBay.
When done right, cross selling can help customers, shorten the purchase journey, and increase revenue.
What is cross selling and why do you need it on eBay?
It’s easy to confuse cross-selling with up-selling. However, they are separate techniques. Up-selling typically involves trading up to a better version of what’s being purchased. Cross selling is selling an additional product to a customer to increase the value of the sale. A perfect example of this would be to think of the phone case or the insurance that they always try to sell you whenever you buy an electronic device.
But cross selling is not just about offering everything you can think of. Relevance to the customer is paramount.
To be successful with cross selling you must add value for your customer by showing them that you truly know what they need. As with any other marketing action, behind cross-selling there must be both planning and a strategy.
1. Offer complimentary items
One of the simplest and most effective ways to cross-sell is by offering additional products to compliment a purchase. For example, offering a wallet to match the bag the customer is looking at.
The relevance of items being cross promoted will determine the success of your cross promotion.
Dynamic cross selling allows you to choose relevant items to be cross promoted in each listing. You can select items to be cross sold by category or even sub category. As promoted items are sold or prices change they are replaced automatically. So there’s no need to update listings.
2. Educate Customers
Some customers may not understand the value of additional products. Perhaps they are buying a sleeping bag and don’t know why they would also need a sleeping bag liner. By including a line at the end of your sleeping bag product description explaining how a sleeping bag liner will help them to stay warmer and make laundry easier, you encourage customers to consider purchasing the liner in addition to the sleeping bag.
3. Create Bundles
Bundling complimentary items together makes it easy for customers to get everything they need. For example, if you sell face cleanser, bundling that product with a face cloth and cream can make shopping quicker and easier for customers. It also encourages customers who only intended to buy one item to increase their basket value. Additionally, bundles can create convenient options for customers shopping for gifts.
Bundling products can allow you to offer a discounted price to encourage immediate purchase with a temporary price savings. Alternatively, you may offer free postage after a minimum spend and the bundle may make the customer eligible for this saving.
4. Use social proof
Amazon is a great example of an e-commerce business that uses cross selling well. They attribute up to 35% of their sales to cross selling. Part of why their “frequently bought together” and “customers who bought this item also bought” options work so well is that they suggest something about other customers behaviour to the buyer. It is human nature to be interested in and follow others behaviour, so using social proof to power cross selling in this way is incredibly effective.
You can use customer reviews as social proof to encourage cross selling on eBay. Reviews can be placed in description body text, or made into a custom graphic as part of a custom eBay listing design.
The goal of cross selling on eBay is to make more money while giving the customer a great shopping experience. This means identifying related products and creating appropriate offers. Using your knowledge of your customer and your product range, product pairing and bundle creation should be simple. After this, the Frooition cross selling tool for eBay will keep your promotions live and updated.
