Think beyond just selling your main product.
What if a tiny addition could massively boost your profit?
The answer is right at your checkout.
McDonald’s famously asks, “Would you like fries with that?”
For good reason: their profit margin on fries is a staggering 75-90%, far outstripping the 55% on a double cheeseburger.
They sell over 9 million pounds of fries daily globally due to this simple add-on.
This “fries with that?” strategy is highly transferrable to most all business models to increase the dollar amount of each transaction.
This principle applies across diverse businesses I’ve worked with:
- A training and education business increased transaction amounts by offering additional, high-margin upsells during live event registration checkout flows.
- An estate planning attorney transformed a “once and done” service by adding an annual continuity program as an upsell at the initial transaction, increasing both transaction amount and frequency.
- Offering incentives like free shipping above a certain order amount encourages buyers to add more, increasing transaction amount by up to 30% and reducing cart abandonment by 20-30%!
- For services with high demand, an expedite fee allows clients to “skip to the front of the line,” capturing additional revenue from those willing to pay a premium.
- Installation or setup fees for products (like computer hardware or appliances) can boost the initial amount and help close more sales by simplifying the process for the customer.
🧠 The key takeaway is that these are optional fees that increase the perceived value for a segment of your customers while directly increasing the average transaction amount.
Are you leaving money on the table at your checkout? Share what upsells or add-ons you could implement right now!