Shopify upsell simulator
By the Discount Prime team. Last reviewed November 7, 2026.
Pick one of Discount Prime's Upsell templates, enter the product in the cart and the upgrade you would offer, and choose an incentive. The simulator applies the app's checkout rules to the swapped line and shows what the shopper pays, the label at checkout and how much gross profit each accepted swap adds.
- Upgrade costs the shopper
- $164.00
- Upgrade savings
- $55.00
- Extra revenue
- +$15.00
- Extra gross profit
- +$7.00
+$15.00 per swapped unit
$55.00 on each of 1
| Measure | Before | After swap |
|---|---|---|
| Customer pays | $149.00 | $164.00 |
| Product cost | $55.00 | $63.00 |
| Gross profit | $94.00 | $101.00 |
Cart after the swap
- Flagship headphones1 x $219.00Upgrade savings ($55)$164.00-$55.00
Each accepted swap on this cart adds $7.00 of gross profit. A shopper who would have bought the upgrade at full price anyway now pays $55.00 less, so watch full-price sales of the upgrade.
The simulator assumes the shopper accepted the swap. The incentive applies only to lines the Upsell widget swapped, never to the upgrade bought directly.
One upgrade, four incentives
A shopper has the $149.00 mid-range headphones in the cart, and the widget offers the $219.00 flagship headphones. Assumed unit costs are $55.00 and $63.00. Here is what each incentive does to one accepted swap:
| Incentive | Shopper pays | Upgrade savings | Gross profit vs keeping the original |
|---|---|---|---|
| No incentive | $219.00 | $0.00 | +$62.00 |
| 10% off upgrade | $197.10 | $21.90 | +$40.10 |
| $30 off upgrade | $189.00 | $30.00 | +$32.00 |
| Cap the difference at $15 | $164.00 | $55.00 | +$7.00 |
No incentive keeps the full gap, but the shopper has to accept paying $70.00 more. Capping the difference at $15 turns it into an easy yes and still adds $7.00 per swap, because the upgrade costs only $8.00 more to make. The catch is the shopper who would have bought the flagship at full price anyway: through the swap they now pay $55.00 less. Run the numbers above with your own prices and costs before you choose.
How Discount Prime prices an upgrade
- The incentive covers swapped units only
- The Upsell widget tags the upgraded line with the number of units the shopper swapped. Raising the quantity later adds units at the full upgrade price, and buying the upgrade directly never gets the incentive.
- Four incentives
- No incentive (the default), a percentage off the upgrade, a fixed amount off each upgraded unit (never more than its price), or Cap the difference: the upgrade's price minus the trigger's regular price minus your cap.
- Cap the difference follows live prices
- The shopper pays at most your cap above the trigger's regular price, recorded at the swap. If the upgrade's price rises, the incentive rises with it, so the cost per upgrade moves while the shopper's price does not.
- Best deal wins or Stack
- With Best deal wins, a per-item quantity discount on the same line competes with the incentive and the larger one applies to the swapped units. With Stack, the incentive is worked out on the price after that discount and added to it.
- Upgrades must cost more
- An upgrade priced at or below the trigger is a downsell. The app flags it and will not save the campaign until it is fixed.
- One label at checkout
- The swapped line shows Upgrade savings with the amount, for example Upgrade savings ($55). Stacked lines show the quantity discount and the upgrade saving side by side.
What the simulator leaves out
- Which upgrade the widget offers. Manual picks, pools and Smart ladders choose it; here you enter the product it would offer.
- How many shoppers accept the swap. The result is per accepted swap, so multiply by your own take rate.
- Bundles, cross-sells and free gifts on the same line. A line that already got one of those gets no upgrade saving.
- Other discounts on the product in the cart. The optional quantity discount applies to the upgrade only, so the original cart is priced at its regular price.
- Customer eligibility, discount codes, shipping and currency conversion. Enter every amount in one currency.
An estimate for planning. Test a campaign in your store before you launch it.
Build the same upgrade in Discount Prime
Every scenario above is a template in the app. Choose the trigger products, the upgrade and the incentive, and the Upsell widget shows a swap card in the cart or a banner on the product page. One tap replaces a unit of the trigger with the upgrade, and an undo toast reverses it. Upsell is on the Prime plan and above.
Questions merchants ask
Does an upsell incentive make the upgrade cheaper for everyone?
No. In Discount Prime the incentive applies only to units the Upsell widget swapped in the cart. A shopper who adds the upgrade directly, or raises its quantity after the swap, pays the full price for those units.
What does Cap the difference mean?
The shopper pays at most a set amount more than the regular price of the product they had in the cart. With a $149 product, a $219 upgrade and a $15 cap, the incentive is $219 minus $149 minus $15, which is $55, so the swapped upgrade costs $164.
Should an upgrade offer have an incentive at all?
Often not. When the upgrade already earns more gross profit at full price, No incentive keeps all of it, which is why it is the app's default. Add an incentive when the price gap itself stops shoppers, and check the cost against shoppers who would have paid full price.
What happens with a quantity discount on the same product?
With Best deal wins, the larger of the two applies to the swapped units, and the quantity discount stays on any other units. With Stack, the incentive is worked out on the price after the quantity discount and both apply.
Which plan includes Upsell?
Upsell is on the Prime plan ($49.90 a month) and above. Smart ladders, where a rule engine picks the upgrade, needs Ultimate.
Related guides
- Product upgrade upsells: cap the price difference
- Case study: capping the difference on a flagship upgrade
- Case study: a premium product swap
- Discount profit calculator: margin and break-even for one offer
Discount Prime is our app. The rules come from its checkout discount code and test suite.