What Is a Downsell & How to Set Up One in WooCommerce to Recover Sales

A downsell is a lower-priced offer you make after a customer declines a more expensive one.

You already know the move from the coffee shop counter.

You order a coffee, the cashier offers a $5 cake, and you pass. Then comes the follow-up: how about a $1.75 cookie instead?

The price is too small to argue with, so you take it.

Without the downsell, the shop earns the price of a coffee. With it, the shop earns $1.75 more on the same visit.

Scale that across thousands of orders and you are looking at a serious pile of found money.

Your checkout has the same moment.

The majority of post-purchase upsells get declined, and most WooCommerce stores end the conversation right there, leaving that revenue on the table.

In this guide, we will cover what a downsell is, how it differs from upsells, cross-sells, and order bumps, the five places the offer can fire, and seven patterns that work.

Then we will build a one-click downsell funnel in WooCommerce step by step, with no code required.

What Is a Downsell and How Does It Work?

Strip the coffee shop story down and a downsell is a three-part sequence.

A customer declines a higher-priced offer.

You respond with a more affordable alternative that answers the reason they said no.

The customer either takes the smaller offer or walks, and either way the sale stayed alive one beat longer than it would have by default.

The trick with downselling is that the first “no” does most of the work for you.

Robert Cialdini calls it the door-in-the-face technique in his book Influence: when people refuse a large request and are immediately offered a smaller one, the smaller ask feels like a concession, and they agree to it far more often than if it had come first.

That is the cookie at the counter, and it is exactly what plays out on a downsell page. The customer already said no to the big offer. Sitting next to it, the small offer looks reasonable.

Downsell vs Upsell vs Cross-Sell vs Order Bump

These four techniques get used interchangeably, and they should not be. Each one fires at a different moment and does a different job.

Upsells and downsells are sequential, with the follow-up only existing because something got declined.

Cross-sells and order bumps run independently at any point in the journey.

A complete WooCommerce funnel usually stacks all four: an order bump at checkout, an upsell after payment, and a downsell waiting behind the decline button.

For the first half of that sequence, see our guide to post-purchase upsells in WooCommerce.

Downsell vs Downgrade: What Is the Difference?

A downsell is seller-initiated. You choose to present a cheaper alternative to save a sale.

A downgrade is customer-initiated. An existing customer moves themselves to a lower plan or smaller subscription, which in subscription businesses is usually a churn warning.

In short, downselling wins revenue you were about to lose. A downgrade shrinks revenue you already had.

5 Types of Downsell Offers (and When Each One Fires)

Downselling is not one tactic. The offer can fire at five different points in the customer journey, and the timing is what makes each one work.

1. Post-purchase one-click downsell

This is the classic downsell funnel. The customer completes checkout, sees an upsell, and declines it. The second offer appears next.

Because payment details are already stored from checkout, accepting takes a single click and zero re-typed card numbers.

That absence of friction is the whole advantage. FunnelKit Funnel Builder runs this type through a conditional offer path, which is exactly the setup we will build below.

2. Cart and pre-purchase downsell

The customer adds an expensive product to the cart and stalls before checkout.

Surfacing a cheaper alternative on the cart or product page, such as last year’s model or a smaller size, gives them a way to complete a purchase instead of leaving over price.

3. Exit-intent offer

A popup triggers when a shopper moves to leave with items still in the cart.

Baymard’s research found 48% of shoppers who abandon do so because extra costs pushed the total too high. A lower-priced alternative at the exit speaks directly to that objection.

4. Email recovery offer

When a shopper leaves entirely, the downsell moves to their inbox.

A recovery email sent 24 to 48 hours later can present a smaller alternative instead of just re-showing the product they walked away from.

FunnelKit Automations runs these sequences, from the abandoned cart trigger through the follow-up offer.

5. Subscription save offer

When a subscriber heads for the cancel button, you offer a pause, a smaller plan, or a longer billing interval at a lower monthly rate.

This save offer protects recurring revenue that would otherwise churn to zero.

A subscriptions plugin like Sublium makes pauses and plan switches easy enough that the offer is real rather than theoretical.

If you are choosing where to start, start post-purchase. It reaches customers at their most committed moment, needs no extra traffic, and converts on one click.

How to Set Up a Downsell in WooCommerce Without Code

To set up a post-purchase downsell in WooCommerce without writing any code, we will use FunnelKit Funnel Builder.

It builds the full sequence in one place: an optimized checkout, a one-click upsell, and a conditional follow-up offer that appears only when the customer declines.

FunnelKit offers a free version that includes funnel and checkout templates.

The Pro plan starts at $99.50/year and adds one-click upsells and downsells with dynamic offer paths and per-offer analytics.

Here we will build a hair care funnel: a serum as the main offer, a complete hair care kit as the upsell, and a hair growth supplement as the fallback for anyone who declines the kit.

Follow the steps below to add a downsell offer to your WooCommerce funnel:

Step 1: Create a sales funnel from a prebuilt template

After installing and activating the plugin, go to FunnelKit ⇒ Funnels from your WordPress dashboard and click 'Create New Funnel'.

Now, choose Sales Funnel, pick your page builder (Elementor, Divi, Gutenberg, and the other major builders are supported), then preview a template and import it.

After that, choose whether you want a single-page checkout or a multi-page checkout. We are going with the simple single-page layout.  

To import the template you choose, click on 'Import This Funnel', then provide a name and click on Add.

Now your sales funnel with 3 steps - checkout, upsell, and thank you should be imported. 

Step 2: Add the main offer to checkout 

To customize the checkout page and add the main offer, click on the “Checkout” step.

On the Design tab, you can customize the design of the checkout page template.

For more details, check our blog “How to Customize WooCommerce Checkout Page”.

To add the main offer, move to the Products tab and click on the “Add Product” button.

Then, search and select the product you want to offer as a main offer from the dropdown. Finally, click on 'Add' to add the product to the checkout. 

This means that whenever someone enters this sales funnel, the product will be automatically added to your order at checkout. 

You can offer a discount on the product if you want. After adding the discount, click on “Save Changes” to update.

You can even offer an order bump on the checkout page to increase the average order value.

Step 3: Add the upsell offer 

In this step, we will add the upsell offer that returns to the funnel page and click the 'Offer' that was imported when you imported the prebuilt template.

Now you can customize the upsell template with your chosen page builder.

To add the upsell offer, move to the Products tab.

For that, click on "Add Product", search and add the product and finally click on "Add" to add the product.

You can offer a discount on the upsell offer.

You can also check the settings to skip offering this product if the product exists in the parent order or the buyer has already purchased it.

For the full playbook on this first offer, see our guide to one-click upsells.

Step 4: Add the downsell offer and write the page

It’s time to present the downsell offer. With FunnelKit Funnel Builder, we will create another upsell offer and ensure it is presented as a downsell when users reject the initial order.

To do that, return to the sales funnel page and click on the 'Add Offer' option

Now you need to choose an upsell template. Here, again, we are going with the Livewire template.

Now to import, click on "Import This Template", provide a name, and click on "Add" to add the downsell offer.

Now click on the Offer you just created.

Now you can customize the template. After that move to the Products tab to add the downsell offer. For that, click on “Add Product,” search add the product, and click on Add. 

Keep the page to one product, one price, and one clear accept button, with a single line of social proof if you have one.

Price the offer well below the declined upsell so accepting feels like an easy yes rather than a second pitch.

Then, turn on the toggle button on the left to enable this down-sell offer. Again, set the product selection settings for a better shopping experience.

Finally, click ‘Save’ to apply all your changes.

Learn about offering product recommendations inside the side cart here.

Step 5: Set the dynamic offer path

Now, you need to set the dynamic offer path so the downsell offer you created is offered to users when they reject the first upsell offer.

For that, go to the first Offer again. Now you will find new settings options under Dynamic Offer Path.

Under the “Dynamic Offer Path” option, check “On acceptance, redirect buyers to” and choose the Thank you page option. This means if the user accepts the upsell offer, they will be redirected to the thank you page and not to the downsell page. 

Again, check the “On rejection, redirect buyers to” option and choose the downsell offer you created. Checking this option means when users reject the upsell offer, they will be shown the downsell offer. 

To update the settings, click on Save. 

To test, go to a product page, add the item to your cart, proceed to checkout, and place a test order.

Once users check out, they will be shown the upsell, as shown in the preview below. 

Decline the upsell and confirm the supplement offer appears, then accept it and check that the product lands on the order at the thank you page.

Test on desktop and mobile both, and make sure the accept button sits above the fold on a phone screen.

That is the whole downsell funnel: checkout, upsell, conditional fallback, thank you page. From here it runs on every order without you touching it.

7 Downselling Examples That Work

Here are down selling examples across business types, so you can borrow the pattern that fits your store.

1. The counter offer (in-person retail)

A cafe customer declines a $5 cake and accepts a $1.75 cookie.

Hotels run the same play at the front desk. When a guest passes on the suite, the agent offers a well-appointed standard room instead of losing the booking.

2. Payment Plans

A shopper declines a $297 course as a one-time payment, then accepts the same course at four monthly payments.

Nothing about the product changes, only the size of the commitment, which is why payment plans produce lifts like the 27% figure we cited above.

3. The starter tier (SaaS and software)

A user rejects the Pro plan because the price or feature load feels heavy.

The fallback is a Starter plan with core features only.

The customer enters your ecosystem now and upgrades once the value is obvious.

4. The lite version (eCommerce)

A customer declines a $79 skincare bundle. The smaller offer is the hero serum alone for $29.

You keep the category the customer already wanted and shrink the ask.

5. The trial or sample

A shopper declines a $39 per month supplement subscription.

The downsell is a one-time $10 sample pack with no recurring commitment.

If the product delivers, the subscription sale follows on its own.

6. The value bundle (digital products)

A customer declines a $149 course.

The recovery offer is a $19 quick-start bundle: the first module, a checklist, and a template.

Digital assets cost nothing extra to deliver, so perceived value can run far ahead of price.

7. The scope-down (services)

A client declines a full agency retainer.

You counter with a fixed-price audit or a short starter engagement.

The client gets a low-risk taste of the work, and the bigger deal stays alive.

A Real Downsell in Action (With the Numbers)

Let’s look at a real example of a WooCommerce downsell. 

The Webinar Lady uses the downsell strategy in its sales process to pitch its online courses.

After you check out and make the payment, they present you with a one-click upsell.

• The main product: A course that teaches how to create your webinar deck ($47)
  
• One-Click upsell: A course that teaches how to get more traffic and increase webinar signups ($295)

Take a look at the one-click upsell offer page:

Upon rejecting this offer, there’s the downsell, which is the same offer but on a payment plan of $79 for five months.

Take a look at this downsell example:

This is indeed a pretty amazing example of a downsell offer.

The objection they recognized here was: “It's too expensive” and “I just bought something and therefore, can't spend the money again”.

In the next section, you’ll see some impressive downselling ideas to implement in your WooCommerce store.

How to Measure Downsell Performance

Four numbers tell you whether the offer earns its place in the funnel:

• Acceptance rate. The share of customers who see the offer and take it. As a rule of thumb, we treat anything above 10% as healthy. If an offer sits under 5% for a few weeks, change the product or the price rather than waiting for it to improve.
• Revenue per downsell view. Total recovered revenue divided by the number of times the page was shown, which gives you a per-visitor dollar value to compare across offers.
• AOV with and without the offer. Compare average order value before and after adding it. This is the cleanest read on whether downselling is lifting the store.
• Refund rate on the offer. If it refunds more often than your main products, the page is overselling, and the deal needs rework.

Here's the formula for sizing the opportunity before you build anything:

Monthly orders × upsell decline rate × downsell acceptance rate × offer price

For a store doing 1,000 orders a month, with 60% of upsells declined, a 15% acceptance rate, and a $39 offer: 1,000 × 0.60 × 0.15 × $39 = $3,510 a month, from a step that takes an afternoon to build and doesn’t touch acquisition spend.

Inside FunnelKit, the Analytics tab reports views, conversions, conversion rate, and revenue for each upsell and downsell offer, so each offer’s contribution is visible without exporting anything.

On the same page, if you scroll down, you'll find data for each upsell and downsell offer, including views, conversions, conversion rate, and revenue.

Here, you can see that our upsell offer is named 'Offer', and the downsell is "Hair Supplement".

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About WooCommerce Downsell

How can I set up conditional upsells and downsells based on the product purchased?

To set up conditional upsells and downsells based on the product purchased in a sales funnel, you simply need to define the main product for which you want to offer additional deals.

When the customer purchases that product, you can trigger an upsell offer. If the customer declines the upsell, a downsell offer can then be presented. This allows you to tailor your offers based on the product the customer has already shown interest in.

How can I enable upsells and downsells for specific payment methods?

In FunnelKit, you can easily offer upsells and downsells for all payment methods. However, you need to enable them first.

To do this, go to FunnelKit ⇒ Settings, and under the One Click Upsells tab, select all the payment gateways for which you want to offer upsells and downsells.

Don't forget to save.

Now, anyone who checks out with any of the enabled payment methods will be offered an upsell, and they can accept the upsell or downsell using the same payment method.

What are some downselling mistakes that can kill conversions?

1. Discounting the exact same product: Dropping the declined offer’s price on the spot teaches customers to reject the first offer every time, and it punishes the buyers who paid full price. Offer a different product or a genuinely reduced version instead.

2. Stacking too many offers: Upsell, downsell, another upsell, another downsell. That is not a funnel; it is an obstacle course. We recommend one upsell and one downsell per checkout, then moving further offers to email.

3. Offering something irrelevant: A customer who bought yoga gear should see a smaller yoga offer, not a kitchen gadget. It breaks the thread of purchase intent, and the customer checks out mentally.

4. Hiding the decline option: Tiny, buried, or guilt-worded decline links convert a few extra sales today and cost trust permanently. A confident offer page makes saying no easy.

5. Never checking the numbers: An offer quietly converting at 2% for months is a wasted funnel step. Review its performance regularly, which brings us to the metrics worth tracking.

Will a downsell annoy my customers?

Not when it is a single, relevant offer presented respectfully after a decline.

Annoyance comes from stacking offers or hiding the decline link.

One upsell and one downsell is the comfortable ceiling for most stores.

Can I offer the same product as a downsell but cheaper?

Be careful here. If you just slash the price of the exact same item immediately, you devalue your product and annoy customers who might have bought it at full price.

Instead, remove bonuses or offer a "lite" version to justify the lower price.

Does downselling work for digital products?

Yes, and digital products are the ideal case. With no shipping or inventory cost, even a $9 ebook or mini-course is nearly pure profit, and lite versions are easy to carve out of existing content.

Can I set up a downsell with custom code instead of a plugin?

Technically yes, using WooCommerce hooks and a payment gateway that supports saved payment tokens.

You would be hand-building conditional redirects and one-click charging around live payments, though, and a funnel plugin is faster and far less risky where stored card details are involved.

Should you A/B test downsell offers?

Yes. The same product at two price points, or two different products in that slot, can produce very different acceptance rates.

Test one variable at a time and give each variant enough orders to mean something before you decide.

Is downsell one word or two?

Downsell is one word. You will also see the hyphenated form down-sell, and the technique itself is called downselling or down selling.

All of them mean the same thing: a cheaper alternative offered after a customer declines a pricier one.

What does downsell mean in finance?

In SaaS and subscription finance, the term refers to recurring revenue lost when existing customers reduce seats, usage, or plan tier without canceling outright.

It appears alongside churn in net revenue retention reporting, a different usage from the sales technique in this guide.

Start Recovering Lost Sales With a Downsell

A downsell does not need to be clever. It needs to be ready the moment a customer says no, priced like an easy yes, and relevant to what they already bought.

Set up one funnel with a single upsell and a single fallback offer, watch the acceptance rate for a month, then tune from there.

The lift on any single order is small, and it compounds because it applies to every order you were already getting.

FunnelKit Funnel Builder handles the conditional path, the one-click acceptance, and the per-offer numbers in one setup, so the build takes an afternoon rather than a sprint.

You'll be amazed by the impact of implementing this marketing strategy within your WooCommerce store, as it will surely boost your sales.

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