Email strategy teardown: BedInABox
The Art of the Email Cross-sell and Upsell
Cross-Sell and Upsell Strategy
Would you like fries with that? Would you like to supersize it? Cross-selling and upselling show up in lots of everyday touch-points, including email marketing strategies. If executed successfully, they can increase your average order value (AOV) and generate awareness about other products you sell. Long-term, they’re a great strategy to increase customer lifetime value (CLV) and reduce churn. That’s a lot of money being made and saved, and Klaviyo makes it easy to do with our built-in flows.
Our Subject: BedInABox
We wanted to see if a pioneering online mattress brand had a cross-sell and upsell strategy to match their reputation for product quality, so we took a close look at the email strategy of BedInABox. I signed up for emails with BedInABox, took a few actions, and then watched to see how the experience unfolded.
The backstory of BedInABox
Based in Johnson City, Tennessee, this family-run company started selling mattresses online in 2006, well before many competitors in the space. They also sell a vast portfolio of sleep essentials like pillows, sheets, and bed frames.
Here's what happened with BedInABox
We signed up for their email newsletter and received a subscription confirmation email
We abandoned a cart and received two abandoned cart emails
We purchased after the abandoned cart and received order confirmation and shipping emails
We received a couple of product emails
Email deep dive
Let’s look at their one week email strategy.
1. Sign up for their welcome series emails
2. Abandon a cart and see if there’s an abandoned cart email
3. Make a purchase and see if there are post-purchase emails
BedInABox
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The good, the bad, the ugly: BedInABox
Abandon Cart Email
BedInABox sent us two messages, which is great. Ecommerce marketers should have two to three messages in a series as a general best practice for optimal performance. However, I received both messages on the same day, which is too closely spaced. We recommend waiting a little longer before following up, to avoid overwhelming your customer and driving them away.
Welcome Series Email
They didn’t send me a welcome series email, which is a missed opportunity. In terms of profitability, welcome series messages are second only to abandoned cart messages. According to our data, welcome series emails receive 63% higher open rates, 86% higher click-through rates, and 83% higher revenue per recipient (RPR) than your average email campaign.
Product Email Cadence
There’s a huge opportunity to connect sooner with your customer after they place an order. I didn’t receive a product email until 15 days after my purchase. According to our data, post-purchase emails see a 90% higher revenue per recipient than your average email campaign. Check out our earlier post for 5 ways to use post-purchase messages to get your customers to buy again.
Product Email Content
What else do you sell? I received an email about sheets and then received the same exact email about sheets the following day. The sheets were a good offer, but suggesting pillowcases would have been better, and offering them twice in a row was just a mistake. Cross-sell your most relevant products so your customers will be happier and more likely to buy again.
Post-Purchase Shipping & Confirmation Emails
These were OK, but they felt robotic and lacked branding. An injection of color and imagery would improve brand recognition and help keep BedInABox top-of-mind the next time I need bedding.
In Conclusion…
BedInABox is a pioneer in the online mattress industry. They had the vision to help create this market space, one that’s now about a $1.7+ billion dollar industry with many players. To keep up with new competitors, they should improve how they are perceived at all email touch-points. Adding a welcome series email, enhancing branding in their post-purchase emails, and making a more thoughtful choice of cross-sell and upsell offers would go a long way toward building long-term customer relationships and revenue.
