Before payment. After payment. Even if they abandon. The interface and the automations that make a customer spend more and finish the purchase instead of starting it.
Watch the total update as the bump toggles on. This is a designed diagram of a real checkout interface. Example order. Not our pricing.
Each one is a different psychological step. Missing any one costs you money. Mixing them up costs more.
One extra thing, identical checkout, shown just before they pay. The customer has already decided to buy, so a bump does not introduce new friction. It adds to the order they want.
A separate offer that opens the moment they finish paying. They just took out their card and approved a charge. The thought running is "I just spent money, what else is there" rather than "should I spend at all". One click to accept.
If they skip the upsell, offer something smaller before they leave the funnel. A lighter version of the same thing, at a fraction of what they just turned down. One option, not a menu, and a clear way forward either way.
When someone starts checkout but leaves, or their card declines. An automated email sequence that reminds, clarifies and offers one small reason to come back. A coupon, an assurance, or a question: "What stopped you."
Most bumps fail because they violate one of these.
Related, but not the same thing. If they bought a course, the bump is a workbook or a template. Not another course. Not shipping. Something that makes the main thing work.
Roughly a tenth of what they are already paying. Small enough that saying yes takes no thought, and the buyer never has to reopen the decision they just made. A bump is a nudge, not a second purchase.
"10 high-converting email templates, written for you, one-click install." Not five bullets. Not a sub-page. The customer should know in one read if they want it.
One bump. Not three options. Not "select quantity." Checkbox yes/no. Accept or decline. The more choices you show, the more people say no to all of them.
What happens from the moment the order lands until the customer is inside the product.
Use the processor. Don't use your processor's processor. If you use Stripe, use Stripe. If you use PayPal, use PayPal. The more middlemen, the more failures and the slower the handoff to your automations.
Bumps are one-time. Plans are recurring. If you want recurring revenue, you need a plan. If you want to add to the order before they finalize, use a bump. Don't mix them in the same decision.
For one-time purchases, the customer gets an email receipt from Stripe with what they bought. For subscriptions, Stripe sends an invoice every billing cycle. Make sure your processor's email settings are ON so customers receive them.
For digital products, tax depends on where your customer lives and where your business is. For physical products, add shipping at checkout. Both should be calculated before the total, not after they see the price.
Stripe retries failed subscriptions automatically (usually three times). For one-time purchases, the customer gets a notification. Your automations should follow up within one hour (email + SMS if you have their number) and ask if they want to try a different card or if there's a problem with the address.
This is the single most important step. The moment the charge succeeds, Stripe fires a webhook to your system. That webhook tags the contact, starts an automation, provisions a CRM login and kicks off a welcome sequence. Without this, you have to manually find every paid customer and enroll them.
The layout, copy, field labels and button text that tell a customer exactly what they're buying and for how much, before they enter a card.
The exact words that make a customer want to add the bump, the price point, and where it sits in the order summary so it's seen but not distracting.
A one-click offer that fires immediately after payment lands. Positioned as a "bonus" or "while you're here" moment, not a second sale.
Triggered emails and SMS that fire when a cart is abandoned or a card fails. Reminders, assurance, a small coupon or a real question: what went wrong.
Connecting Stripe or your chosen processor, testing with real and test cards, setting up email receipts, and wiring webhooks so paid customers auto-enroll.
The immediate-fire welcome email that lands in their inbox within seconds of payment, telling them what happens next and where to find their order.
You pick Stripe or your existing processor. We connect it, test a real payment with a real card (then refund it), and confirm receipts email correctly.
You tell us what the product is, what price, and what the bump is. We write the copy, design the layout, and make it clear and persuasive in under 100 words total.
We code the one-click upsell offer (fires post-payment), the downsell (if they skip), and the recovery sequence (abandoned carts + failed cards). All wired to your CRM.
We run test orders, confirm automations fire correctly, verify customer emails arrive, and give you a checklist before you go live to real traffic.
Not if the bump belongs there. Positioned right, it reads as a bonus or an upgrade rather than a trick. Someone who has already chosen your main program and is then shown a small companion to it feels looked after, not squeezed. What makes a bump feel cheap is placing it after the buyer thinks the purchase is finished, or offering something unrelated to what they came for.
Use a one-click upsell after payment instead. The psychology is identical but the timing is different. They finish the first purchase, and you immediately ask if they want to add another. This works especially well if your upsell is consumable (credits, templates, months of service) rather than another full course.
No. If anything, they lower refund rates because the customer is more invested. They bought what they wanted plus something extra, which reinforces the buying decision. The refund rate on an upsell item is higher than on the main product, but the profit from the extra sales outweighs the losses.
Yes. Shopify, WooCommerce, and most e-commerce platforms support bumps and upsells. The names change (Shopify calls them "post-purchase apps"), but the mechanics are identical. We work with your existing setup or help you migrate if you need full control and better automation options.
Bumps before, upsells after, recovery when they leave. The interface and the automations that turn checkout from a necessary step into a selling machine.
Let's build the checkout that keeps customers moving and spending.