How to End Upsell Cynicism By clearly defining value and prizing loyalty, retailers have a renewed opportunity to earn extra revenue and gain lifetime customers. i 34 BY CASEY KLEINMAN because supposedly they’re relevant to the purchase I just made, and – so the theory goes – I’m already in a spending mood. Yet I rarely take the bait, and I know I’m not alone. There are a lot of consumers out there like me. We don’t like the idea of the impulse purchase because the value isn’t relevant. (Worse still, is our suspicion that whoever takes our money doesn’t really care if it is relevant or not.) I’m not exactly a big fan of the “impulse upsell” – not as a consumer, anyway. Extended warranties, rust protection for vehicles, even chewing gum at the grocery store checkout line: These are all products designed to rope me in The typical Facebook user has 130 friends and the average Twitter user has 120 followers; both networks are full of people publicly thanking companies that do well by them. ©www.istockphoto.com/Henrik Jonsson electronicRETAILER | October 2011