Boost Upsell App:
Turning Every Click Into A Checkout Win
Company
OCG
Industry
E-commerce
Customer
Merchant, Buyer
Type
Redesign
(Introduction)
Quick overview
Our goal was to increase AOV by making upsells effortless to set up, contextually relevant for buyers, and impactful across every stage of the shopping journey.
(01 - Background)
It all started with a sigh…
At the checkout counter, a cashier says: ‘Buy one more and get 30% off.’ You hesitate, then agree — that’s upsell, the subtle art of raising the bill without friction.
But online, upsell remained out of reach for many sellers: traffic was there, yet carts stayed empty. Even with Boost Upsell available, merchants struggled or gave up midway. The problem wasn’t luck — it was logic. That’s where our journey began: redesigning Boost Upsell.
(02 - Key insights)
The pain points from all side
To truly understand why Boost Upsell was underperforming, we went beyond the interface. We listened to those who used it every day, those who built and supported it, and those who actually experienced it while shopping. From this, three perspectives emerged:
From Sellers: the merchants struggling with setup and personalization.
From the Company: the internal team battling low conversions and mounting support tickets.
Key findings from
Our Discovery Phase
1.
Time-consuming setup process
Sellers had to manually create each upsell offer for individual products, leading to repetitive and inefficient workflows.
2.
Confusing terminology and unclear settings
Many merchants struggled to understand technical terms and options (e.g., bundle, accessories, cross-sell…), resulting in incorrect or suboptimal configurations.
3.
Lack of funnel-wide upsell capability
Sellers wanted to design a continuous upsell experience throughout the entire shopping journey — from product view, to add-to-cart, to checkout —
but the existing app only supported isolated upsell points.
4.
High operational support cost
The Customer Support team handled an average of 30–40 tickets per day related to Boost Upsell, mostly about setup issues, unclear features, or customization requests.
(scroll down for more details)
From Sellers
During Boost Upsell’s development, we directly interviewed sellers using ShopBase/PrintBase/PlusBase (Mr. M, Mr. L, teams U, BX, SP…) and analyzed over 10,000 upsell campaigns on the system. The findings revealed repeated problems.
01
Sellers understood upsell’s value — but setup was too complex
Team BX and Mr. M said they preferred post-purchase upsells because of their clear effectiveness, but the current Boost App only supports one offer, with no way to create multi-step funnels or downsells after rejection.
For pre-purchase bundles, sellers who sell personalized products (e.g., name gifts) had to create hundreds of separate target products, each with its own bundle, which took an enormous amount of time.
02
Inconsistent offer management
Upsell settings were scattered across multiple menus, making it difficult for sellers to manage or review existing offers.
There was no single overview to track which upsells were active or where they appeared in the store.
Sellers often lost track of their campaigns and ended up creating duplicate or conflicting offers.
03
Unclear and unfriendly UX
Too many “professional” terms and nested menus made navigation confusing, especially for first-time users.
The app’s structure didn’t follow the buyer journey, making it hard for sellers to understand where each upsell would appear.
No live preview, forcing sellers to test by placing real orders.
Boost Upsell wasn’t only tiring sellers; it also strained the ShopBase team.
01
Low impact of post-purchase upsells
Most campaigns failed because the app only allowed a single offer — no funnel, no downsell, no second chance. This limited structure prevented sellers from capturing the “golden moment” after purchase, when buyers are most likely to say yes.
02
Inconsistent offer management
A large share of support requests came from Boost, particularly during peak shopping seasons. The majority were repetitive issues — sellers not seeing popups, being unable to preview offers, or wondering why bundles didn’t display. This indicated that unclear UX, not technical bugs, was the main cause.
03
Unclear and unfriendly UX
Because of these repetitive tickets, the customer support team spent hundreds of hours handling the same questions. Instead of scaling growth, resources were drained by preventable UX misunderstandings, directly increasing company overhead.
04
High churn among POD sellers
POD merchants, who often manage hundreds of SKUs, faced an unscalable burden. Each upsell had to be set up manually, one by one. This led to frustration, wasted time, and ultimately higher uninstall rates compared to other seller groups.
(03 - Design Challenges)
The tough questions behind
How can we build an upsell app that is both powerful and easy to set up?
The challenge was to balance flexibility with simplicity — offering rich customization options while keeping the setup process clear, fast, and frustration-free.
How to recommend the right product, right time, right customer — without being pushy?
To truly impact conversion, each upsell offer had to appear at the most relevant touchpoint — product view, add-to-cart, or post-checkout.
The challenge was to map these touch points across the funnel, define their triggers.
(04 - Solutions)
Designing along the buyer journey
Instead of treating upsell as a single popup, we rebuilt Boost Upsell to align with the natural flow of the buyer journey. Each stage presents unique opportunities — and pain points we set out to solve.
Store visit: Capturing curiosity
Product detail: Influence decisions at the right moment
Cart & checkout: Maximize the last chance
Post-purchase: Unlock the golden moment
Store visit: Capturing curiosity
Sellers can place upsell widgets anywhere (home, blog, collections) and track how they perform.
Key features:
Customizable widget placement across pages.
Recommendations by tags, collections, or campaigns.
CTR and click-to-view analytics built in.
Upsell widget - Before & After
Setup Upsell widget in Boost Upsell App
Upsell widget in Website Builder
Setup Upsell widget in Boost Upsell App
Product detail: Influence decisions at the right moment
Product pages are where buyers compare and decide. Bundles, accessories, and quantity discounts work best here.
Key features:
Add multiple products in one bundle.
Dynamic rules (same collection, same campaign, auto-fill by tag).
All offers unified into one Offers Center.
Buyers can select variants in Quantity Discount blocks.
Offer list - Before & After
Setup Upsell widget in Boost Upsell App
Quantity discount, Bundle and Accessories in Website Builder
How buyer see these offers on store front
Cart & checkout: Maximize the last chance
The cart is the final step before checkout — and the last opportunity to increase order value. In-cart upsells let sellers place tailored suggestions directly where buyers are making their purchase decisions.
Key features:
In-cart upsell that surface relevant add-ons without disrupting checkout flow.
Ability to configure upsells to show products from the same collection.
Once configured, upsell blocks will automatically display on the storefront without extra setup.
Setup In-cart offer - Before & After
Setup Upsell widget in Boost Upsell App
In-cart offer in Website Builder
How buyer see In-cart offer on store front
Post-purchase: Unlock the golden moment
Right after payment, buyers are most receptive. Post-purchase upsells can significantly lift AOV.
Key features: Multi-step funnels (Accept → Next, Reject → Downsell)
A post-purchase funnel is a sequence of upsell or cross-sell offers that appear right after a buyer completes a purchase— before they reach the final Thank You page.
Instead of ending the shopping journey at checkout, this funnel gives sellers a few extra chances to increase order value:
Step 1: Buyer completes payment.
Step 2: See an upsell offer (e.g., “Add a matching item for 20% off”).
Step 3:
If accepted → add the product directly to the same order.
If rejected → show a softer downsell offer.
Step 4: End at the customized Thank You page (with coupon or next-order incentive).
Post-purchase offer - Before & After
Setup Post-purchase funnel in Boost Upsell App
Post-purchase funnel
How post-purchase funnel works
* Analytics & Performance
A redesigned dashboard closes the loop by showing revenue, conversion, and AOV from upsells.
Key features: Include data points that help sellers understand how their upsell campaigns are performing
Revenue from Upsell: The total revenue generated from upsell or cross-sell offers.
Total Orders with Upsell: The number of orders that included at least one accepted upsell offer.
AOV (Average Order Value) Increase: The percentage growth in average order value compared to orders without upsells.
Conversion Rate : The ratio of buyers who accepted an upsell offer out of all who viewed it.
These metrics give sellers a clear picture of how upsells contribute to their store performance — helping them measure, optimize, and grow revenue effectively.
(05 - Reflection)
What I’ve learned
Design must be modular, flexible — but never overwhelming
Not every seller needs the same funnel. Some want one quick offer, others want a full sequence. Design must adapt to both.
Preview isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s the foundation of trust
Letting sellers see exactly what buyers see cut support tickets and doubled confidence.
Retention starts with quick wins
Onboarding isn’t just about guiding users through setup — it’s about delivering their first success moment fast.
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