Order bumps at checkout: what to offer, how to test it and how not to annoy

An order bump is an extra offer that appears inside the checkout process and that the customer adds with a checkbox or a button, without leaving the checkout. It is not a recommendation on the product page or a “you may also like” in the cart: it is a single, specific proposal, at the moment the customer has already decided to buy.

It works because the effort is minimal: there is no need to search, choose a size or go back. And it fails when it becomes an obstacle between the customer and the pay button.

Order bump, upsell and cross-selling are not the same

• Cross-selling: suggesting related products on the product page or in the cart. The customer browses and chooses.
• Upsell: proposing a higher version of the same product.
• Order bump: a specific offer, with its price, added to the order at checkout with one click.
• Post-purchase offer: a proposal after paying. It only makes sense if the payment gateway allows it to be added without asking for payment details again; otherwise, it is a second order and a second shipment.

What to offer: the three rules

1. It complements, it does not replace. A phone case, the replacement filter, the extended warranty, batteries for the toy. The customer should understand in a second why you are offering it.
2. Cheap relative to the order. An offer that doubles the cart value forces the customer to think it over, and thinking at checkout is the opposite of what you want.
3. No extra decisions. Better a product without sizes or colours. If it has to be personalised, it should be possible to do so later.

Examples that usually work: consumables for the main product, accessories for immediate use, gift wrapping, an extended warranty, a sample from another line at a token price.

Where to place it

• In the cart: visible, but the customer may still be comparing.
• At the shipping step: a good moment for whatever helps reach free shipping.
• At the payment step: the classic one. The customer has already decided; one more click costs them nothing.

One offer per step. If there are several candidates, choose by rules (the highest priority, the one that brings in most revenue, the one that converts best); do not pile them up.

Whom to show it to

An offer that is good for one cart is irrelevant for another. Segment at least by:

• Products or categories in the cart.
• Cart value (minimum and maximum).
• Number of items.
• Customer group, if you sell to both professionals and private customers.

And do not offer what is already in the cart.

How to know whether it works: A/B testing

An offer being accepted does not mean it is good for you. What you need to measure:

• Acceptance rate: how many of those who see it add it.
• Extra revenue generated by the offer.
• Checkout completion rate with and without the offer. If the offer raises the order value but lowers conversion, you may be losing money.

An A/B test compares two variants (two products, two prices, two texts) by showing them to parts of the traffic. Let it run with enough orders before deciding: with only a few dozen orders, the difference is usually noise.

Without annoying: the limit

If you show social proof (“18% of customers add this”), it must come from your store's real data. If you show a deadline, it must be real.

Common mistakes

1. Offering a product that has nothing to do with the cart.
2. An offer discount that leaks onto other products in the order.
3. Accepting the offer reloads the page and the customer loses the step they were on.
4. Not being able to remove the offer as easily as it was added.
5. Not measuring checkout conversion, only acceptance.

Frequently asked questions

How many offers should I have? Few and well chosen. Start with one or two for your best-selling products, measure for a few weeks and add others once you know what works. A catalogue of twenty offers without data is harder to maintain than to make profitable.

Should it carry a discount? Not always. A very timely complement (batteries for the toy) is accepted at the normal price; a less obvious product needs an offer price for the customer to consider it. An A/B test is the way to find out in your store.

What if the offer product is personalised? Better to avoid it at checkout, or reserve it and leave the personalisation for later. Asking someone to choose a text or a size just before paying breaks the rhythm of the purchase.

Does it affect free shipping? Yes, and it can work in your favour: if the customer is close to the free shipping threshold, an offer that takes them over it is easily accepted. Check that the shipping cost you give away is still covered by the offer's margin.

How to handle it in PrestaShop

RKR Buy More Pro places a featured offer in the cart, the shipping step or the payment step (whichever you choose), which the customer adds with one click and removes with another without leaving the checkout. The card shows the image, the normal price struck through, the offer price and the saving, and optionally a countdown, the remaining stock and an acceptance percentage calculated from your store's data. The price can be the normal one, a fixed one, a percentage or free, with an exclusive discount valid only for that product in that cart. It is segmented by cart value, number of items, products, categories, manufacturers or suppliers; if there are several offers, you choose which comes first, and the A/B test with a winner and the statistics tell you what each one brings in.