At Smart Marketer Live, and most marketing events, a lot of the conversations sound the same at first: how to get more content out, how to drive more traffic, how to bring more shoppers into the store.
But there’s a quieter (and usually more profitable) question sitting underneath all of that: what happens after they get there?
Because for most ecommerce brands, the hardest part isn’t getting someone to click. It’s making sure that click turns into a bigger cart, a better first purchase, and a higher chance they come back. And that’s exactly where upsells, bundles, and smart product offers become the difference between “we had a solid weekend” and “we actually grew the business.”
In a VIP Day conversation at Smart Marketer Live, Brittany Casella from Zipify broke down how the highest-performing brands think about post-click revenue, where upsells fit into the customer journey, and the most common mistake she sees when stores try to implement upsells on their own.
The Real Opportunity Most Brands Miss After The Click
When brands talk about performance, they usually start and end with traffic. Better ads. Better CPMs. Better CTR. Better landing pages.
All of that matters… but there’s a point where the next lever isn’t more traffic. It’s getting customers to buy more of what they already showed you they want.
That’s the big unlock behind upsells done the right way: you’re not trying to convince a cold audience. You’re simply helping a buyer build a better cart.
The brands winning with upsells aren’t throwing random add-ons in front of people. They’re making sure the customer sees the right complementary products, the obvious bundle, or the bestseller that naturally fits with what they already intended to purchase. It’s less about being pushy and more about being helpful at exactly the right moment.
Why “Post-Purchase” Is Only One Piece Of The Upsell Puzzle
A lot of stores hear upsells and immediately think “post-purchase offer.” And yes, post-purchase upsells are powerful because they capture momentum when someone is already in buying mode.
But the bigger opportunity is treating upsells as a journey, not a single step.
The strongest programs build offers across multiple touchpoints, from product pages all the way through the thank-you page, with the goal of increasing average order value without adding friction to checkout. When it’s working, it feels natural to the buyer, because the offers are aligned with what they just purchased (or were already considering).
The outcome isn’t just a little extra revenue. It’s a better shopping experience that makes people feel like they found everything they needed in one place.
A Real-World Pattern: Why Optimization Beats “Good Enough”
One thing that came through clearly in this conversation is that upsells don’t need to be complicated, but they do need attention.
A common scenario Brittany sees is a brand installs an upsell tool, sets up a few funnels, sees a conversion rate that looks fine, and moves on. The upsells are technically working, so they get left alone for months at a time.
The problem is that “working” isn’t the same as “optimized.”
Even small improvements in offer structure, product pairing, timing, and messaging can create major lifts in revenue, especially because upsells compound. If your store gets 1,000 orders a month, a small AOV lift isn’t small anymore.
And if you’re running tests, you need to actually finish them. One of the funniest (and most painful) realities is how many stores have split tests running forever with no winner chosen, no changes made, and no learning captured. That’s not a tool problem. That’s an operating system problem.
The Hidden Advantage Of Starting In Support
Another thread that’s worth calling out, especially for anyone building a career in ecommerce or marketing: Brittany’s path started in customer support, and it shaped everything that came after.
Support forces you to learn the product deeply, see what customers struggle with in real life, and develop the instincts that make your future strategy stronger. It also teaches you how the team works together when things are moving fast and priorities change every day.
If you’ve ever wondered why so many great operators started in support, this is why: you can’t fake customer empathy when you’ve spent years solving customer problems.
The Smart Marketer Side Quest: Dog Rescue And Building A Real Team
This interview took a turn in the best way, because Zipify and Smart Marketer aren’t just connected through business. They’re connected through people.
Brittany is a co-founder of Fields of Freedom Dog Rescue alongside Molly, helping move dogs from Kentucky to New York where they have a better chance at safety, care, and adoption. It’s a reminder that the best communities don’t just share tactics, they show up for each other in real life.
And if you’ve followed Molly for any amount of time, you already know: dogs are basically part of the brand at this point.
The Takeaway: Don’t Let Your Store Leave Money On The Table
You can have great traffic and still feel like your numbers don’t match your effort. In a lot of cases, that gap is sitting right inside the store.
If you’re serious about scaling, upsells aren’t an “extra.” They’re part of the revenue system. The brands that win don’t just drive clicks. They make the most of every buyer who shows up.
And the simplest place to start is making sure customers see the right products together, at the right moment, with a clear reason to add one more thing.
Want More Like This?
If you want more conversations like this from Smart Marketer Live (plus behind-the-scenes interviews with the people building the tools and strategies ecommerce brands use every day), subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss the next drop, and get this full conversation when it drops later this week.
