Unlocking revenue with zero POS work: How Otter’s upsell groups help enterprise brands grow basket size fast

For successful national and global restaurant brands, increasing revenue isn’t just about bringing in new customers – it’s also about getting more value from each order. That’s why average order value (AOV) is such a critical metric. Among all the levers brands can pull to increase AOV, upsells are one of the most effective and underutilized.

Adding a side, dessert, or drink at the right point in the ordering journey can immediately boost check size by $5–$10 without requiring additional customer acquisition spend. Every major food delivery platform—from Uber Eats to DoorDash to Grubhub—supports this with built-in modifier functionality.

The power of seamless upsells

For instance, a customer ordering a coffee might see a prompt to add a muffin, croissant, or yogurt parfait before checkout. These upsells feel natural to the customer and significantly boost margins.

To power these upsells, brands typically rely on introducing bundles or different menu items at the end of the modification flow. For example, bagels and pastries can be shown after the guest completes their coffee modifier selection.

This strategy works — if brands can implement it effectively. But therein lies the challenge.

Why POS systems make upsells challenging for enterprise brands

For many multi-unit restaurant chains, especially those with centralized POS systems and complex org structures, introducing a simple upsell isn’t simple at all.

Enterprise brands often rely on a tightly controlled POS database that powers menus across hundreds or thousands of locations. Adding new modifier groups, or even editing existing ones, requires alignment across IT, operations, finance, and marketing. In some cases, rigid POS architecture makes even small changes difficult or risky.

The result? Brands skip upsells entirely, or only update them quarterly, if that. That’s lost revenue every single day.

Example: In brands like Starbucks or Biggby Coffee, prompting guests with a warm pastry after selecting a latte could easily double the value of the transaction. But today, implementing that would require cross-functional coordination, weeks of testing, and careful POS management.

The same friction exists at QSR chains, where adding high-margin items like fries, drinks, or limited-time offers (LTOs) often involves backend POS work that can delay launches or stall them entirely.

Introducing Otter’s Upsell Groups

To address this friction, we developed Upsell Groups. They are a smarter, faster way to drive upsell revenue without touching your POS.

Learn all about it in the Help Center.

What are Upsell Groups?
Otter’s Upsell Groups allow brands to treat any POS item as a modifier—creating intuitive, high-converting upsell paths—without editing the core POS database. Built into the Otter Menus app, the feature lets teams add, test, and deploy upsells across locations in minutes.

How it works:

• No change to your master POS database
• No extra coordination across departments
• No delays

Just create a group, assign the upsell items, and publish across your delivery platforms or in-store kiosk menus.

With Otter’s middleware, Enterprise brands can:

• Launch upsell campaigns in days, not weeks
• Boost AOV without adding operational load
• Rapidly test, iterate, and optimize upsell performance
• Maintain centralized control with zero downstream chaos

And this isn’t some pricey add-on. It’s available to all Otter Middleware customers for free.

Real-world success: A global restaurant chain’s $1.5M AOV uplift

One global quick-service restaurant brand recently launched a campaign using Upsell Groups across more than 100 locations. Without any changes to their POS or manual intervention from various teams, 

The result?

• $1.2M in additional kiosk sales
• $346K in incremental delivery sales

in just one year.

The deployment surfaced popular upsell items, like sides and desserts, immediately after guests selected their main item, and the performance was tracked and optimized in real time via Otter’s Analytics tools.

Why Otter is the best partner for enterprise brands

At Otter, our product philosophy is simple: build solutions that drive revenue, not overhead. We know enterprise teams are stretched thin, and innovation can’t afford to wait on week-long development cycles or cross-department sign-offs.

That’s why Upsell Groups, and the broader Otter platform, are designed to reduce operational friction and give brands the flexibility to move fast. Whether it’s recapturing lost revenue with Revenue Recapture, ensuring uptime with Always On, or driving campaign performance with Otter Marketing, we’re focused on delivering results at scale.

What sets us apart are:

• Unparalleled reliability 
• Products that are designed in close partnership with leading restaurant brands
• Industry-leading support teams dedicated to your success

Want to see how Otter’s Upsell Groups can drive sales without additional work for your brand? Request a personalized demo today.