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- 🥗 Art of the Upsell
🥗 Art of the Upsell
Hey there,
Welcome back for another bite to chew on.
Today, we’re going to give you all a real behind-the-scenes look at how we tackled one of our biggest hurdles yet.
We’re going to break things down to focus on:
The problem we were facing
What challenge that represented
And the solution that changed everything.
Here’s how we dialed in specific offers and found the right partnerships to increase our AOV that just wouldn’t budge.
Short on time?
Click here to find out who we partnered with 👀
Now, on to the full story.
The Problem: Hitting the Wall
Have you ever felt like you were doing everything right but still not seeing the results?
That was us.
Yes, we experienced great success growing Obvi from 0 to $40M in 40 months.
We sold our collagen products to hundreds of thousands of people.
Sounds great, right?
But here's the catch:
Our Average Order Value (AOV) was stuck between $60-65
No matter what we tried.
The Challenge: Wasted Effort Everywhere
We did not know how to functionally get our AOV up.
We needed a 5-7% lift to feed back to CPA.
We started trying to tackle this problem like every entrepreneurial business does.
By figuring it out ourselves.
We brought in web developers to custom-build our post-purchase flows.
Testing different ads, landing pages, and buy boxes, aiming to push that AOV even slightly higher.
We quickly realized that we couldn’t push past this threshold without other metrics breaking.
Then, we tried tools like Monster Cart, One Click Upsell and a few others.
Tools that were made to give you visibility to A/B test and actually understand the data.
The result?
While they did work and provide a lot of information, we didn’t really have a direction on where to go with it all.
The design aspects were super limited.
We could set up an upsell, but there was no real way to improve CVR other than the offer itself.
We saw maybe 2% more, essentially $0.80-$1 MAX which equated to a 1% take rate.
There was so much time wasted from our team, the developer, even the design team to try and bring a solution to the table,
A painstaking, time-consuming cycle of ideate → implement → fail → repeat.
It was trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces.
The Solution: Finding AfterSell
Nothing was allowing us to spend more on a per CPA basis.
We were capped because we didn’t want to lose profitability per order.
We started seeing brands we looked up to like True Classic Tees, Feastables, etc. working with a tool called AfterSell.
So, we took the leap.
We’ve never seen an immediate lift like it from a product.
AfterSell’s design functionality was WAY better than what we previously tried.
They’re able to test new ways to increase your AOV, revenue per order, and even profit per transaction through their tools and tech.
Immediate Impact
Within just two weeks of partnering with AfterSell, we saw a tangible lift:
$4.80 revenue per transaction added to our AOV, marking an 11% lift.
This equated to nearly 6 figures in incremental revenue over the window we were testing them with.
This wasn't just about the numbers.
Because we use cost caps, just from AOV increasing,
We were able to bid slightly higher, allowing us to unlock the next level of spend.
Sustained Success
And we’re sure you’ve used tools with some initial results,
But what about sustaining these results over time?
Over the following months, we’ve seen an increase of $7-$8 in revenue per transaction.
A 17-18% lift in AOV.
And with their recent partnership with Rokt, now they’re powering third party offers.
For example, we’ve been testing their new advertising tool for a few weeks now,
And right out of the gate, we’ve added an extra $.45 of profit per transaction without doing anything.
We’ve looked at the equivalent on a 50% contribution margin, and it’s around $3 in revenue per transaction.
This alone covers shipping and fulfillment costs for us.
Eventually, this will result in close to $10,000 in revenue towards contribution margin.
The fact that we’re making a 17% higher AOV through one of their tools,
And we’re getting an advertising tool bringing in a 5 figure impact towards our contribution margin.
Equates to a tool we’ve yet to see that can work on both sides of the business.
Standing Apart from the Rest
When we moved to AfterSell, we were able to start testing post purchase flows they knew had a higher probability of working right out of the gate.
Everything was extremely easy to set up.
We could see what was working on their dashboard at exact increments.
It was their personal approach and true partnership that set AfterSell apart.
They didn't just hand us a tool and wish us luck.
They dove in, becoming an integral part of our team.
With just a 30-minute onboarding call and a couple of hours setting up, AfterSell took the lead, delivering results with minimal input from our side.
But it was more than just the ease and the outcomes.
It was the sense of having a true partner. A true service.
We jumped into a Slack channel right after onboarding, where the team kept us in the loop on data and results, making us feel supported and in control, without the usual stress and guesswork.
This level of engagement and the seamless integration of their service into our Shopify ecosystem transformed our upsell strategy.
It turned a source of constant frustration into one of our most significant assets.
Why This Matters
When you look at things from a time perspective,
We were able to see results in increasing our AOV and incremental revenue generation in less than two weeks.
An 11% increase in AOV and 6-figures of incremental revenue in probably around 2 hours of time invested in our end.
The approach of set it and forget didn’t work for us.
AfterSell taking the reigns and continuously testing new offers not only worked,
But it also freed so much time for us to work on all the aspects of Obvi that needed our attention.
This is something you can’t put a price tag on — time.
Because of the way that AfterSell works, they’re able to see and predict what’s going to work quickly.
If it doesn’t, the next test is set up and running right away.
So ultimately, time to results isn’t even a factor.
They’ll work tirelessly to make sure they find a winning test.
If you’re a DTC business that’s scaling right now, and you’re not using an upsell product,
You’re already losing.
But more importantly, if you’re not using AfterSell,
You’re leaving money on the table on both sides of the business.
Hungry for More?
As we navigate the challenges and victories in our businesses, let's take the conversation from the digital to the dinner table.
Join us for an unforgettable evening our the Unofficial Shoptalk Founders Dinner in Las Vegas on March 19th at Fontainebleau.
No pitches, just insights, good food, and great company.
Let's toast to the future of e-commerce together.
The Latest Soundbite
And while we're on the topic of innovative strategies and pushing through challenges, let's not stop here.
Tune into our latest podcast episode where Noah Tucker, CEO of Social Snowball, takes us through his own journey of navigating the tricky waters of affiliate marketing.
It's a masterclass in perseverance and creativity in business growth. Don't miss it!
Thanks for Reading Along
Sharing this isn’t about patting ourselves on the back.
It’s about showing you that sometimes, the right partnership can be the difference between stagnation and breakthrough growth.
AfterSell didn’t just help us increase our AOV.
They revolutionized how we approached upselling and cross-selling.
For anyone out there feeling stuck, know this:
The solution might be just around the corner.
For us, it was AfterSell.
Don’t be too proud to look outside of yourself and business for help.
You could be letting results, success, and time, the currency you can never earn more of, slip right on by.
To more growth, better strategies, and finding the pieces to complete your puzzle,
All the best,
Ron & Ash