The art of selling more or more expensive products is not limited to “customers who bought this also bought …”. What Amazon’s algorithms suggest here are sometimes helpful, sometimes bizarre, but always based on quantitative analysis, and not on quality of content. Media houses and publishers on the other hand, can use their data to shape the future and make intelligent cross- and upselling offers. 

Cross- and upselling, in simple terms, are about selling the customer more or something higher priced. If cross-selling tends to sell products that might also fit or extend the purpose of the product, up-selling usually promotes a higher-quality, more expensive or better equipped item or service. 

What at first sounds like an aggressive used car salesman, can – if used sensibly – become a real added value for all parties involved; namely, when you make the customer a good offer at the right time. This not only generates sales, but also grants the customer the responsibility of subject matter expert. 

Who needs what? 

Users of integrated publishing software products know who bought what and when.  They also know what was NOT bought, and what other products would perfectly augment the value of the content. Naturally, platforms like Amazon can’t offer this content-related competence of title selection, because they only numerically evaluate what was bought together. 

The marketing module of knkPublishing, on the other hand, allows the evaluation of all information contained in the system. The system naturally knows who bought what and when. When was the last order? How much revenue did the customer generate in which period? Which topics were of interest? And also additional information such as who is a bookseller, who is a corporate customer, and how big is the company? 

A user can access all available information and filter out which products are best suited for which customers. All of this, of course, always in compliance with GDPR regulations, (the EU regulations on data privacy which are likely to be adopted in one form or another across the globe) because the approvals for the various communication channels can also be managed in the marketing module. 

Appealing products for cross-selling 

However, publishers can go one step further and compile appropriate content in a targeted manner in order to react quickly to market needs. 

With the flexible content management in knkPublishing, existing content can be quickly compiled and repurposed into a new product. 

In addition, bundles of existing products at lower prices provide a tremendous opportunity for cross-selling – especially if it is very easy to display them in the publishing software. It is often sufficient to create a bill of materials in the system that contains the bundled items . This makes it easy to present attractive offers, present them together in a focused format, and highlight the savings compared to buying them individually or which special services can be consumed. 

Cross- and upselling makes a direct contribution to increased sales revenues, and equally important, increases visibility and brand image in your customers’ eyes. 

(Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash)