A Guide to Upselling For Tourism Businesses
Mastering the art of upselling is a matter of offering something of true value to a customer already making a purchase. For tour operators and activity businesses, this poses a unique opportunity since in tourism, the product is the experience. The best opportunity to upsell is by offering an item – a branded glass, photo package or experiential add-on – that elevates the experience. Done right, you have the potential to both increase customer satisfaction and raise your bottom line. It’s really the gift that keeps on giving.
Stay Within The Check-out Flow
On average, eCommerce conversion rates in the travel industry hover between 2% – 4%. When you have a customer sitting in your check-out flow and committed to making a purchase, it’s essential that you make good use of their time. They have the credit card out, their mind is set. This is your best opportunity to enhance their purchase with an additional sale.
If you have merchandise you prefer to sell in-store, don’t neglect the online check-out. Offering guests a bundle package or discount on later purchases, much like Yazoo Brewing does with their $17 for $25 “Yazoo Swag Voucher,” is a great way to secure a future purchase. Strike while the iron’s hot, and seal in purchases on one single screen.
Keep It Relevant
The check-out flow should feel cohesive. Always align the product or add-on you’re looking to upsell to the customer’s initial purchase. If you’re selling multiple activities, offer a product that’s most relevant to the activity the customer is booking. Think critically about what would enhance their experience. While a photo package works great for a zipline course, it’s an unlikely option for someone going on a brewery tour.
Choose wisely. Remember that while the item needs to be relevant and exciting to the customer, it also needs to be cost effective for you as the business owner. Opt for popular items that are simple to distribute.
Limit Options
As the notorious jam study taught us, choice is fun, but it’s not lucrative. The study was simple. Psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper took jam samples to a local grocery store, setting up one table with 24 samples of jam, and the other with a limited selection of 6. While more people stopped to taste jam at the table with a larger selection, fewer people made a purchase. In the end, the limited selection drew in more paying customers.
Why? Because having to decide between 24 flavors is far more challenging than choosing between 6. This concept is alive and well when it comes to your online check-out. Minimize the friction of making a purchase by offering only one or two extras. The goal is to make sure the upsell is as simple as a single click.
Items without color, size or price variations make excellent add-ons. For example, if you’re running a distillery tour, forgo offering t-shirts and instead offer a one-click product like a branded glass.
Bonus: FareHarbor clients enjoy an added bonus when it comes to upselling. If the customer booked their experience online or was booked manually through the backend, their payment information is safely and securely encrypted in the PCI compliant cloud. At any time during the tour or activity, you’re able to accept payment for upgrades or extras by simply pulling up the customer’s information and adding the charge to their stored payment information. Accessible from any device, you can sell add-ons from anywhere with just a few simple clicks.
