1 Simple (But Profitable) Split Test You Need To Be Running On Your Upsell Funnels
by Ezra Firestone
Hey! Ezra here, and check out what I brought with me: the OCU Million Dollar Merchant Belt!
This belt means I've made $1 million in upsell revenue with Zipify OneClickUpsell, my upsell and cross-sell app for Shopify.
(Actually my store has made $4.8 million, but we don't have a belt for that yet!)
How have I been able to generate so much upsell revenue? One of the reasons is because I'm always running split tests on my pre-purchase and post-purchase upsell funnels.
In November 2020, the new-and-improved OCU Native launched in the Shopify App Store, and in just one month it made my store over $365,000 in extra revenue.
Here's a screenshot from the backend of the legacy OCU app (no longer available), where you can see that my store made almost $4.8 million in upsells:
Hey! Ezra here, and check out what I brought with me: the OCU Million Dollar Merchant Belt!
This belt means I've made $1 million in upsell revenue with Zipify OneClickUpsell, my upsell and cross-sell app for Shopify.
(Actually my store has made $4.8 million, but we don't have a belt for that yet!)
How have I been able to generate so much upsell revenue? One of the reasons is because I'm always running split tests on my pre-purchase and post-purchase upsell funnels.
In November 2020, the new-and-improved OCU Native launched in the Shopify App Store, and in just one month it made my store over $365,000 in extra revenue.
Here's a screenshot from the backend of the legacy OCU app (no longer available), where you can see that my store made almost $4.8 million in upsells:
Results From The Last Few Years Of Using OneClickUpsell
I'm actually running an exciting split test right now on my Shopify upsell funnels, and I think everyone should see this because it's absolutely crushing. Check it out...
Split-Test Strategy We Used
The strategy was pretty simple.
We always offer a discount on our upsells. It's one of the best ways to get upsells and cross-sells to work. However, we wanted to do something a little different.
Let's not increase the discount amount, let's just test the format of the discount.
In this series of tests we wanted to see if offering a discount in a specific dollar amount ($) might outperform a discount in a percentage off (%).
We were kind of surprised at the results...and just how profitable they were.
Before We Get To The Split Test...
My top-performing upsell funnel is for my #1 product, Boomstick Trio.
But before getting into this split test, I want to show you a pre-purchase upsell we're running for this product directly on the cart page.
We're simply saying, "Hey would you like to add an additional item to your order?"
We're not running a split test on this offer right now, but we do know that when you offer an upsell on your most popular product, it's always a good strategy to offer your second most popular product.
And this pre-purchase upsell is performing really well.
Ok so let's get to the split tests.
We're simply saying, "Hey would you like to add an additional item to your order?"
We're not running a split test on this offer right now, but we do know that when you offer an upsell on your most popular product, it's always a good strategy to offer your second most popular product.
And this pre-purchase upsell is performing really well.
Ok so let's get to the split tests.
Upsell Split Test #1
Okay, now here's the split test I'm talking about that is just destroying:
This is a post-purchase upsell, and instead of offering customers a different product like in the upsell above, I'm simply offering one more of what they just bought but at a discount.
In one variation of my upsell offer page I'm saying, "Hey, would you like to get one more of the product you just bought at a 21% savings?" (Left)
Then in another variation I'm saying, "Hey, would you like to get one more at
$16.50 off?" (Below)
Okay, now here's the split test I'm talking about that is just destroying:
This is a post-purchase upsell, and instead of offering customers a different product like in the upsell above, I'm simply offering one more of what they just bought but at a discount.
In one variation of my upsell offer page I'm saying, "Hey, would you like to get one more of the product you just bought at a 21% savings?" (Above)
Then in another variation I'm saying, "Hey, would you like to get one more at
$16.50 off?" (Below)
So this split test is comparing a dollar amount discount vs. a percentage discount, and it's pretty much the same value. (You actually save a little more with 21% off.)
Besides the discount, the content on these upsell offer pages is identical: I have long-form left-right content, a call-to-action button, and then a second buy box with a timer.
So which offer did better?
So this split test is comparing a dollar amount discount vs. a percentage discount, and it's pretty much the same value. (You actually save a little more with 21% off.)
Besides the discount, the content on these upsell offer pages is identical: I have long-form left-right content, a call-to-action button, and then a second buy box with a timer.
So which offer did better?
Split Test #1 Results
The dollar amount offer is making me 20¢ more per person for everyone who visits this post-purchase upsell offer page.
So even though the discount is basically the same, the dollar amount discount is perceived at a higher value — pretty interesting!
But was it a fluke? I did another split test to see if the results would be the same.
Upsell Split Test #2
Another quick aside before I jump into this next split test: I want to show you a pre-purchase upsell strategy I'm using right now.
Another quick aside before I jump into this next split test: I want to show you a pre-purchase upsell strategy I'm using right now.
When someone buys my second most popular product (Boomstick Color), I offer them to upgrade to a bundle.
Unlike the last upsell that added another product to their order, this upsell actually replaces the product they have in their cart with a new item with a higher price point.
They get a small discount and in return I get a much higher order value. This pre-purchase upsell strategy is working really well.
Okay, now onto the second split test.
The second test is also for Boomstick Color, but this time it's a post-purchase upsell.
When someone buys my second most popular product (Boomstick Color), I offer them to upgrade to a bundle.
Unlike the last upsell that added another product to their order, this upsell actually replaces the product they have in their cart with a new item with a higher price point.
They get a small discount and in return I get a much higher order value. This pre-purchase upsell strategy is working really well.
Okay, now onto the second split test.
The second test is also for Boomstick Color, but this time it's a post-purchase upsell.
I'm saying, "Hey, add another Boomstick Color to your order and get 15% off." So they would pay $23.80 instead of $28.
On the other page in the test, I'm making essentially the same offer but saying, "...and get $6 off."
So the price difference is a little more in this test — $22 for the dollar amount vs. 23.80 for the percentage amount).
But again, everything else on the page besides the discount is exactly the same.
I'm saying, "Hey, add another Boomstick Color to your order and get 15% off." So they would pay $23.80 instead of $28.
On the other page in the test, I'm making essentially the same offer but saying, "...and get $6 off."
So the price difference is a little more in this test — $22 for the dollar amount vs. 23.80 for the percentage amount).
But again, everything else on the page besides the discount is exactly the same.
Split Test #2 Results
Here are the results from the split test on my post-purchase upsell of Boomstick Color.
Even though I made slightly less from each person who accepted the dollar amount compared to those who accept the percentage off, the test shows that the dollar amount offer generated 60¢ more per person who visited the offer page — a 13.59% conversion rate on the dollar amount vs. 10.3% on the percentage offer.
Upsell Split Test #3
Upsell Split Test #3
Here's another quick example of this strategy from one of my other products:
I have a similar test running where I'm doing 20% off vs. $9 off, which is about the same amount in savings. (On the 20% off page I'm selling it for $35.20 and on the $9 off offer page I'm selling for $35, a different of 20¢.)
And in the test, I got 73¢ per visitor on the dollar amount page vs. 51¢ on the percentage page.
Another winning outcome for the dollar amount variant!
Here's another quick example of this strategy from one of my other products:
I have a similar test running where I'm doing 20% off vs. $9 off, which is about the same amount in savings. (On the 20% off page I'm selling it for $35.20 and on the $9 off offer page I'm selling for $35, a different of 20¢.)
And in the test, I got 73¢ per visitor on the dollar amount page vs. 51¢ on the percentage page.
Another winning outcome for the dollar amount variant!
Start Testing Today
In just about every case, the dollar amount is crushing the percentage off. For some reason it's perceived as a better deal.
But don't take my word for it — see for yourself.
Run this test on your own store: just set up some pre-purchase and post-purchase upsell funnels and split test a dollar amount discount vs. a percentage amount.
If you don't have the ability to split test upsells on your store, start a free 30-day trial to OneClickUpsell (my Shopify upsell app) to implement all the strategies I showed in this post, plus a lot more.
With OCU's built-in split testing functionality, it's easier than ever to become a true data-driven marketer.
Based on this review, OCU seems to be working really well for this Shopify store:
In just about every case, the dollar amount is crushing the percentage off. For some reason it's perceived as a better deal.
But don't take my word for it — see for yourself.
Run this test on your own store: just set up some pre-purchase and post-purchase upsell funnels and split test a dollar amount discount vs. a percentage amount.
If you don't have the ability to split test upsells on your store, start a free 30-day trial to OneClickUpsell (my Shopify upsell app) to implement all the strategies I showed in this post, plus a lot more.
With OCU's built-in split testing functionality, it's easier than ever to become a true data-driven marketer.
Based on this review, OCU seems to be working really well for this Shopify store:
And at Zipify, we don't just help you implement upsells and cross-sells — we're always offering trainings on different topics to help you grow your brand.
I hope you give our apps a try. This has been Ezra Firestone.
Thanks for hanging out!
