Upselling is one of the most effective and easiest ways to increase your venue's average order value — without increasing foot traffic or changing your menu. By simply prompting guests to add a drink, dessert, or snack at just the right moment, you can turn a single order into a complete experience — and drive higher sales.
This article will show you what upsells are, how to create effective upsell groups, and how to link them to your menu for maximum impact.
- What is an upsell
- Why use upsell
- Examples of effective upsell
- Creating an upsell group
- Adding items to an upsell group
- Linking an upsell group
What is an Upsell?
Upsells prompt guests to add more menu items to their order — unlike modifiers, which adjust the existing item (e.g., add/remove toppings). A classic example is the "Thirsty? 🥂" upsell group, which appears when someone orders food and suggests a drink to accompany the meal.
For instance:
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A guest orders a fries -> they're prompted with "Thirsty?" and can add a wine.
- A guest orders a cocktail → they're offered “Peckish?" and can add Turkish bread.
- A guest orders a latte -> they're shown "Something sweet?" and can add almond croissant.
Why Use Upsells?
Upsells are proven to:
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Increase your average sale per guest
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Enhance the guest experience by offering thoughtful pairings
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Encourage discovery of items guests might not have considered
💡 If you're short on time, you can also use the Smart Suggestions feature to automatically recommend upsells based on your menu.
Examples of Effective Upsell Groups
| Upsell Group Name | Where to Use It |
|---|---|
| Grab a Drink? | All food items – offer a drink option |
| Thirsty? | All food items – reinforce drink pairing |
| Something on the side? | Mains – offer logical side dish pairings |
| Still Hungry? | Mains – suggest extra dishes to complete the meal |
| Something else? | Mains – catch-all for additional upsells that enhance the meal |
| Peckish? | Drink items – offer snacks that don’t need cutlery |
| Feel like snacking? | Drink items – pair finger food or light snacks |
| There's always room for dessert | Mains – suggest sweet options post-meal |
| Something sweet | Savoury meals in cafes – promote cakes, pastries, or other desserts |
Creating an Upsell Group
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Go to Your Menu > Upsells.
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Click on the Add Upsell Group button.
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Type in the name of the Upsell Group. For example, "Grab a Drink 🍹".
Here are some upsell group naming inspirations for you:-
Pairing menu items with drinks upsells - “Grab a Drink? 🥤” or “Thirsty?”
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Pairing menu items with sides or snacks upsells - “Grab a side?” or “Still Hungry?”
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Pairing drink items with snacks or sides - “Peckish?”
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Pairing main menu items with dessert - “There's always room for dessert! 🍧”
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Leave all the default settings as per below
- Select Type: If set to Single, guests can only choose one upsell. If set to Multi, they can choose multiple upsells. We recommend leaving this on Multi.
- Select Requirement: If set to Optional, the guest does not have to buy an upsell. If set to Required, they will need to choose an upsell to proceed. In general, this should be set to optional.
- Display Options: If set to Expanded, the guest will see all upsells without needing to do anything. If set to Collapsed, the guest will need to click on the header to expand the upsell group to see the upsells. If set to Hidden, the guest will not see the upsell group. We recommend setting this to Expanded For a group to be hidden, upsell must be required and have a single selection.
- Minimum & Maximum Quantity allow you to set the min and max amount of upsells a guest can select.
- If you toggle Has preselected option, you can preselect an upsell that the guest will need to unselect if they don't want to purchase.
- If you toggle Respect cart quantity (if upsells are modifiers), when a guest adds an upsell that is a modifier, it will add the same amount of upsells as the item they purchased. e.g. if the customer bought 3 burgers and selected a bacon modifier as an upsell, it will add 3 serves of bacon. This function is primarily used for combo deals where you want the quantity of both items within the deal to respect the cart quantity.
Adding items to upsell groups
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After you have set up an upsell group, select the first icon in the Actions column.
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Select Add upsell item
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Search for the item and the select it.
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Toggle on Show Full Price - this makes sure that the price is shown on the upsell list
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Repeat steps 2-4 until you have added all the required upsell items to the upsell group.
Linking upsell groups to menu items
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Select Add menu items
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Search and tick all menu items that you wish the upsell group to appear on
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The only menu items that will be shown here are the items that aren't already linked to that upsell group.
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- You can change the position by clicking the edit button (2nd icon under the actions column) and changing the number.
With a little bit of upfront effort, upsells can dramatically boost your bottom line while improving the customer journey. Whether it's offering a cold drink with a burger or a cheeky dessert after a main, timely upsell prompts help guests make satisfying choices — and help your venue increase revenue.
Want to get started? Head to your menu and try adding an upsell group today. 🍔 + 🍟 + 🥤 = 💰