Order Bump

An order bump is a small, optional offer shown at the point of checkout -- typically a single checkbox that adds a complementary, low-cost item to the cart with one click. Because it appears when the buyer has already decided to purchase, it adds revenue without introducing a new decision flow. For a DTC operator the appeal is that it lifts average order value at the moment of highest intent, with almost no added friction.

The order bump differs from a post-purchase upsell and from a classic cross-sell. A post-purchase upsell appears after the order is placed, on the confirmation step; a cross-sell can surface anywhere in the journey. The order bump lives inside the checkout itself, before the order completes, which is why its accept rate is measured against conversion rate on the same checkout the brand is already optimizing.

For affiliate-driven retailers, the order bump raises a commission question: is the added bump revenue part of the commissionable order value? If a partner sent the buyer and the buyer then adds a bump at checkout, operators must decide whether that incremental revenue earns the partner credit, often handled through a cross-sell commission rule. Defining this up front avoids disputes when partners see total order value rise.

Operators tune order bumps by relevance and price: the bump should complement the main item and stay low enough that accepting is easy. Multi-brand retailers track bump attach rates per checkout and feed the resulting order value into the same attribution used across ecommerce affiliate marketing, so the channel impact on AOV is measured rather than assumed.