Post-purchase upsells on Shopify: why to start there before the cart
Where should you add upsells first on a Shopify store? After checkout. A post-purchase upsell appears once the customer has paid, so it can’t distract them from buying, and saying yes takes one click. Start there, and add upsells to the cart only once your checkout converts well.
That’s the order we followed for a DTC brand we worked with. After checkout, we offered buyers another unit of its best seller, in any colour, at 30% off. 35% of customers took it. Over our time working together, we took the brand from five figures to six figures in revenue.
What is a post-purchase upsell?
It’s an offer that shows on the order confirmation page, straight after the customer pays. Because the payment and shipping details are already in, accepting it takes a single click. There’s no card number or address to type again.
On Shopify, you add one with an app. For this brand we used Sweet Upsell, which shows the offer after payment and adds it to the same order.
Why start with post-purchase upsells instead of the cart?
Because it’s the lowest-risk place to sell more. Most stores add upsells to the cart first, and that’s often where they cost the most.
The cart is where sales are won or lost
When your conversion rate is still low, the path from add to cart to purchase needs to be as clean as possible. Every extra offer, pop-up or decision in that stretch is another chance for a shopper to hesitate and leave. Get that path converting well first.
After payment, the sale is already safe
A post-purchase offer shows up once the money is in. If the customer says no, you’ve lost nothing. If they say yes, the order just got bigger.
Buyers are in a buying mood
The moment after someone buys is when they’re most open to buying again. They’ve just decided they trust you. If you’re not making an offer then, you’re leaving money on the table.
Every sale on that page is extra
Without an upsell, the order confirmation page usually has nothing on it. So any purchase made there is one you wouldn’t have had otherwise. That’s why any take-up is a win, though we aim for at least 10%.
Where the upsell shows | Risk to the original sale | What the customer does to accept |
|---|---|---|
In the cart, before checkout | Can distract or add doubt before they pay | Adds it, then carries on to checkout |
After payment (post-purchase) | None, the order is already paid | One click |
What should you offer after purchase?
In most cases, more of the product they just bought, at a better price. The customer has already chosen it, so the offer asks for no new decision about something unfamiliar.
For this brand, the post-purchase offer was simple: add another one, in whatever colour you like, for 30% off. Letting buyers pick the colour mattered because many were likely buying a second one for their own household or as a gift for friends or family, and someone else might want a different colour. 35% of customers accepted. The offer also came with a countdown timer. Once it ran out, the offer never showed again, even if the customer went back to their order page. The offer also came with a countdown timer. Once it ran out, the offer never showed again, even if the customer went back to their order page.
The maths works because you’ve already paid to win the customer, and shipping a second unit to the same address costs less than shipping a separate order. We break that down in our post on why the same product at a better price is the best upsell.
How do you set up a post-purchase upsell on Shopify?
Install a post-purchase upsell app. Pick one that shows the offer after payment and adds it to the same order with one click. We used Sweet Upsell for this brand.
Choose the offer. Start with your best seller, or the product the customer just bought, at a lower price for one more unit.
Set a discount you can afford. Work it out from your product cost, the extra shipping cost and what you already spent to win the customer.
Add a time limit. A countdown gives buyers a reason to decide now. When it ends, hide the offer for good.
Let buyers choose their option. If the product comes in colours or sizes, let them pick, so the offer suits gifts and other people in the household as well as repeat use.
Track the take-up rate. Aim for at least 10% of customers accepting, then test one change at a time: the discount, the wording or the product offered.
When should you add upsells to the cart?
Only once the path from add to cart to purchase converts well. For this brand, we kept the cart clean while we fixed the product page, homepage and cart. Once the funnel was converting well, we started testing other cross-sells and upsells, one at a time, so we could see which helped and which got in the way.
We also fed what we learned into email, and the other way round. Whatever customers took as upsells and cross-sells on the site, whether on the product page, in the cart or after checkout, shaped the cross-sell emails for each product. What sold well by email shaped the offers on the site. Across all of it, roughly one in five orders included an upsell or cross-sell.
Frequently asked questions
What is a one-click upsell?
A one-click upsell is an offer the customer can accept without entering their payment or shipping details again. On Shopify, it usually appears straight after payment, and the extra item is added to the order they just placed.
Do post-purchase upsells hurt your conversion rate?
No. The offer only appears after the customer has paid, so it can’t stop the original sale from happening.
What’s a good post-purchase upsell take-up rate?
It depends on the product, the offer and the discount, but we aim for at least 10%. For the brand we worked with, 35% of customers accepted an offer of another unit in any colour at 30% off.
Should I add upsells to the cart or after checkout first?
After checkout. Keep the cart and checkout as clean as you can until they convert well, then test cart upsells one at a time.
What’s the best product to offer in a post-purchase upsell?
Usually the product the customer just bought, at a better price for another unit. Closely related products can work too, once you know what your buyers tend to purchase together.
See the full project
The post-purchase upsell was one part of a wider project for this brand, alongside Meta ads, product page changes and Klaviyo email flows. You can read how it all came together in the full case study.
Not offering anything after checkout yet? Get in touch with One World Ideas and we’ll help you set up your first post-purchase offer.