How to Upsell and Cross Sell With WhatsApp Marketing

Learn how to use eCommerce WhatsApp marketing for upselling and cross-selling. ‍

Everyone is making use of WhatsApp to run promotional campaigns or broadcast campaigns that promote their ongoing as well as upcoming deals, discounts and offers. But what about the one eCommerce marketing tactic that has proven to convert much higher than one-off promotional campaigns?

Yes, we’re talking about upsell and cross-sell.

A study published by Marketing Metric reports that the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%; compared to the mere 10% of selling to a new customer.

So while we do suggest running WhatsApp broadcast campaigns to promote your deals, we also suggest using the messaging app to upsell and cross-sell to your existing customers.

Here’s how.

Using eCommerce WhatsApp Marketing For Upsell And Cross-sell

There are a number of ways to use WhatsApp marketing for upselling and cross-selling. Let’s take a look at some of them here:

1. Leverage Post-Purchase Communication To Cross-sell

If you are sending out order alerts to your customers, make sure you also use the opportunity to recommend other products to them. The idea is to use what they have already purchased as an indicator of what else they might be interested in buying or are likely to consider buying from you.

For example, let’s say a customer has bought a pair of hiking boots from your store. When you send out an order status notification to alert them of its shipping, you can send the following message to open a cross-sell opportunity.

Hey Irman,

The hiking boots you ordered from us are shipped and on their way. We will update you with a tracking URL in the next 24 hours.

We were wondering if you’d like to also take a look at our collection of hiking bags. They are sure to make your hike experience really comfortable and come with storage that’s easy to manage too! 😎

CTA >> Explore our collection

2. Send Out A Lookbook On WhatsApp

When a consumer makes a purchase from your store, you typically use emails to send product recommendations in the newsletters. You can follow a similar logic to upsell and cross-sell using WhatsApp marketing.

Let’s explain this with a WhatsApp marketing message example:

Hey Shubha,

You recently bought a black dress from our store. Great choice! 😍

But what’s a black dress if the look isn’t complete with accessories and the perfect pair of heels? Check out our Lookbook to complete your #ootd and get ready to slay the weekend with express delivery on your order. 😘

CTA >> See Lookbook

3. Offer Shopping Assistance And Upsell/ Cross-sell  

A lot of online shoppers visit a store with broad requirements, which means they are open to exploring different products and collections if you can engage them in a timely manner.

With WhatsApp chatbots, you can initiate the conversation much like an in-store salesperson who walks up to you to ask if you need any assistance in shopping.

Reach out to your customers, asking what they’re looking for or if they need any help knowing more about the product they are checking out.

Here’s an example of such a message that is focused on cross-selling:  

Hey Neelam,

We see you checking out the ABC bag. Would you like to know more about it or explore more from the range?

We have some amazing recommendations in store for you! 😊

Send YES if you’d like me to link you to them.

And here’s an example of a message that is focused on upselling:

Hey Zain,

We see you checking our collection of ZEEX headphones. Good choice! 😎

But we have something better in store for you, at the same cost. Would you like me to link you to those headphones?

Type YES if you’d like to check them out.

4. Use Cart Recovery Follow-ups To Upsell/ Cross-sell  

You already know all about using WhatsApp marketing for abandoned cart recovery. If you don’t, read this article.

But what if we said, you could actually use the follow-up reminders on abandoned carts to upsell and cross-sell to this high purchase intent buyer?

Here’s an example of such a WhatsApp marketing message to up-sell and offer something better, to recover the lost sale:  

Hey Jane,

We see you haven’t bought the XYZ hiking boots yet. 👞

We also have a range of hiking boots from other adventure and fitness brands in our store. There’s an exclusive celebrity-endorsed collection available too that might just become your #adventureootd.

Would you like to take a look at that collection? 😎

Type YES and I’ll send over a link!

5. Use Your Customer Feedback Message To Upsell/ Cross-sell

The good thing about WhatsApp marketing is that it enables a two-way conversation. Then why restrict your customer feedback request campaigns to simply seek out product reviews and ratings?

Planned strategically, these messages can also be used to get customer feedback.

Here’s an example of such a WhatsApp marketing message that can be used to upsell or cross-sell and get the buyer to buy more from you:

Hey Linda,

You recently bought the black dress from our celebrity collection. Great choice!

We’d love to get your feedback on the shopping experience and the fitting of the black dress.

Reply with a red heart to tell us you loved the dress! ❤️

Now, let’s say Linda does reply with a red heart. Now you know that she’s happy with the purchase she just made.

So what do you do next? Here’s what we’d recommend:

We’re so happy that you loved the black dress. It’s one of our favourite pieces too!

I was wondering if you’d like to complete your #ootd with our collection of accessories to go with your black dress?

CTA >> Check out a LBB Lookbook.

But now let’s also assume that Linda did not like the black dress. So here’s what you can do instead of triggering only the option to return/ refund the product:

Hey Linda,

So sorry that you did not like the black dress. Thank you so much for the feedback; we’re going to look into making it better. 🥺

But we don’t want you to change the look you were going for!

There are some 5-star rated black dresses similar to your available on our store. Would you like to check them out as we process the return/ refund of this dress? 😊

Type YES and I will send you a link to the other black dresses available in our store.

Should You Upsell And Cross-sell Using WhatsApp Marketing?

Well, if you ask us, WhatsApp is opening new opportunities for businesses to not just market better, but also engage their customers in a more intuitive way.

While we’re still exploring the various use cases of WhatsApp, we think there’s no harm in also using it for upselling and cross-selling, as the two hold a lot of importance in eCommerce marketing.

To upsell and cross-sell using WhatsApp marketing, you will need to equip yourself with WhatsApp chatbots for eCommerce Store.

That’s where the QuickReply.ai WhatsApp marketing app comes in.

It comes with 40+ eCommerce chatbots and workflows that you can customize and tailor to upsell and cross-sell to your customers throughout their journey with your brand.

In fact, we’ll help you set up powerful eCommerce upselling and cross-selling campaigns too!

Install the WhatsApp marketing app on your Shopify store today.

Or reach out to us for a personalized demo.