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Key concepts & Glossary

Overview

This article defines the core concepts and terms used throughout GemUpsells. Understanding how a funnel is structured, and how touchpoints, widgets, and discounts relate to one another, makes it easier to follow the rest of the Help Center.

Key concept

A store can have multiple funnels, but only one funnel can be active on the storefront at a time. Each funnel is structured as follows:

  • Funnel
    • Funnel Discount — free shipping, free gift, or order discount. Applies to the entire cart or order.
    • Touchpoint
      • Popup on ATC
      • Cart Drawer
      • Checkout
      • Post-purchase
      • Thank You
        • Upsell Group
          • Display condition
          • Widget
            • Design preset
            • Optional widget-level discount

Glossary

Term Definition
Funnel A merchant-configured upsell journey that connects buyer touchpoints on the live storefront, from the Popup on ATC to the Thank You page.
Funnel Template A pre-built funnel designed around a merchant's business goals, with widgets assigned to relevant touchpoints.
Funnel Editor The workspace where merchants build and configure their upsell journey by adding touchpoints, configuring display conditions, and adding widgets.
Touchpoint A specific location or stage in the buyer journey where upsell offers can appear.
Entry Point The starting point of a funnel that determines which buyers enter the funnel and become eligible to see its upsell offers.
Upsell Group A group of widgets within a touchpoint that share the same display condition.
Widget An upsell component displayed to buyers on the storefront, such as a free shipping bar, complementary product recommendation, or subscription offer.
Preset A pre-designed layout and visual style for a widget type.
Widget Editor The workspace where merchants configure a widget's content, design, products, and offers, with a live preview of their changes.
Display Condition A rule that determines whether an upsell group is displayed to a buyer.
Global Styles Shared brand styling settings, including colors, typography, spacing, and corner radii. These settings apply across widgets except those on Checkout, Post-purchase, and Thank You.

The five touchpoints

Touchpoint Where and when it appears Notes
Popup on ATC A popup that appears when a buyer clicks Add to Cart on a product page. Built and managed by GemUpsells rather than the theme's native popup.
Cart Drawer A sliding cart panel that appears when a buyer opens the cart. Replaces the theme's default cart drawer while GemUpsells is active.
Checkout Shopify's checkout page. Shopify restricts the available functionality and layouts, so checkout widgets have more limited customization options. Checkout upsells require Shopify Plus.
Post-purchase An offer page displayed immediately after payment and before the Thank You page. Buyers can accept an offer to add a product to their existing order without re-entering payment details.
Thank You The order confirmation page displayed after checkout. Purchase CTAs open a new checkout for a subsequent purchase.

Widget types

Widget Purpose Available touchpoints
Complementary Products Recommend related products that buyers can add to their cart directly from the widget. Popup on ATC, Cart Drawer, Checkout, Thank You
Free Shipping Bar Show how much more a buyer needs to spend to unlock free shipping. Popup on ATC, Cart Drawer
Tiered Rewards Bar Display progress toward multiple spending-based rewards, such as free shipping, free gifts, and discounts. Popup on ATC, Cart Drawer
Subscription Encourage buyers to switch from a one-time purchase to a recurring subscription. Cart Drawer, Checkout
Add-ons Offer additional products or services, such as shipping protection or priority handling. Cart Drawer, Checkout
Payment Guarantee Reassure buyers about payment security and display payment provider logos. Cart Drawer
Social Proof Display customer reviews and testimonials to build purchase confidence. Checkout
Trust Badges Display trust indicators related to returns, security, authenticity, and other assurances. Checkout
Product Offer Present a one-click product offer immediately after checkout. Post-purchase
Social Commerce Display social content or product reviews with a shopping CTA. Thank You

Discounts: two separate systems

GemUpsells supports two discount systems: Funnel Discounts and Widget Discounts.

Attribute Funnel Discount Widget Discount
Scope Applies to the entire cart or order. Applies to products associated with the widget.
Trigger Activated when the cart value or item quantity reaches a specified threshold. Applied when the buyer adds the relevant product through the widget.
Supported types Free shipping, free gifts, and order discounts (percentage or fixed amount). Single-product offers, including percentage or fixed-amount discounts.
Configuration Can be configured to apply automatically or through a discount code. Configure the discount amount or percentage for the offered product.
Example Spend $10 to unlock free shipping, spend $50 to receive a free gift, and spend $100 to unlock a 50% order discount. Get 15% off a recommended serum.

Key distinction: Funnel Discounts incentivize buyers based on their overall cart or order, while Widget Discounts provide incentives tied to specific products offered through a widget.

Publish funnel and funnel status

Term Definition
Publish Deploy the funnel to the live storefront. GemUpsells automatically validates the funnel before publishing. Any touchpoints that are not fully configured must be resolved before the funnel can be published.
Unpublish Remove the funnel from the live storefront. Its upsell widgets will no longer be displayed.
Draft A funnel that has never been published.
Published The funnel is live, and its published configuration matches the version currently running on the storefront.
Need republishing The funnel has unpublished changes. Buyers continue to see the previous published version until the merchant publishes the changes.

Business and analytics terminology

Term Definition
Upsell An offer that encourages buyers to purchase additional products or upgrade to a higher-value option. In GemUpsells, the term broadly covers different types of additional-purchase offers.
Downsell A lower-priced or lower-commitment offer presented when a buyer declines an initial offer.
ATC Add to Cart — the action of adding a product to the shopping cart.
DTC Direct-to-Consumer — a business model in which a brand sells directly to end consumers, typically through its own online store.
AOV Average Order Value — the average value of an order over a given period.
LTV Lifetime Value — the total value a customer generates over the course of their relationship with a business.
Upsells Revenue Total revenue attributed to products purchased through GemUpsells offers, after deducting GemUpsells product discounts but before deducting taxes, shipping fees, refunds, and other adjustments.
AOV Lift The difference between the AOV of orders with upsells and the baseline AOV. It indicates how much higher the average order value is for orders with upsells.
Upsells CR Upsell Conversion Rate — the number of funnel sessions that result in an upsell purchase divided by the total number of sessions entering the funnel.
Upsells Orders The number of orders containing at least one product attributed to a GemUpsells offer.
Sessions The number of sessions entering the funnel, counted from the point at which a buyer enters the funnel. In the MVP, the funnel targets all visitors, so funnel sessions equal total store sessions.