What is cross-selling and how to use it on your Shopify store

Last Updated on January 4, 2023 by Dan S
Originally Published October 2, 2022.

This guide will demonstrate why cross-selling is important for your store. We’ll discuss how you can use it in your business to drive more sales, which in turn leads to better customer lifetime value.

What is cross-selling?

Cross-selling is a technique that is used to get your customers to purchase more from your store. It normally means the customer will purchase a complementary or related product to the initial one they were going to buy. It’s an easy way to increase your average order value.

Let’s take this example of cross-selling. A customer purchases a phone case for their phone from your online store. Cross-selling in this scenario would be offering the customer a screen protector for the same phone model. The screen protector is an additional product to be purchased alongside the phone case. It adds value to the customer’s order whilst increasing your revenue.

Cross-selling is super effective when the complimentary or relevant product is lower in cost than the main product. Another example where this scenario works would be when a customer purchases a new laptop and the seller offers an extended warranty. The customer is more likely to purchase the warranty, as it’s much lower in cost compared the laptop. The customer also receives value from purchasing both items together.

Let’s take a look at some examples of cross-selling.

Cross-selling examples

Other methods of cross-selling include getting customers to buy from “Frequently bought together” or “Customers who bought this item also bought” sections on your product pages.

Examples include:

• Ordering a takeaway online and getting asked if you want to add an extra side dish
• Showing a customer shopping on your retail store an item of clothing and then displaying a whole outfit to encourage them to buy all the pieces instead of just one
• A customer purchases a phone case and you display the matching AirPods case
• If you’re buying a new car and the dealer encourages you to add an upgraded sound system
• An online golf store shows you a golf club and also displays golf balls as an add-on

Not only can you display complimentary and relevant items on a product page, you can also use pop-ups to encourage customers to buy more.

When a customer adds a product to their cart, a pop-up can display, showing the customer a relevant product to compliment the one in their cart. Create a sense of urgency by displaying a discount too to urge the customer to add the item to their cart also.

To get started with cross-selling, SellUp is a Shopify app that offers easy implementation on your store. You can set up cross-sells in minutes and start generating extra revenue.

Just ensure you don’t go overboard. Sometimes customers can be put off by too many offers and pop-ups.

The best ways to use cross-selling

Always ensure that cross-selling techniques on your store improve your customers’ satisfaction, not hinder it. Some of the best ways to use cross-selling are:

• Bundle related products together so that customers don’t have to spend time searching on your store
• If using bundles, offer discounts to encourage customers to purchase quicker
• Recommend a relevant and complimentary product to the main item they customer is purchasing

When offering product add-ons to your customers, you need to work out which products complement each other. The goal of cross-selling is to increase your average order value whilst creating customer satisfaction.

How to maximize cross-selling

When a merchant incorporates cross-selling into their marketing strategy, they can increase their revenue. It’s a simple way to grow your revenue without spending money on marketing. The examples above are a great starting point to implement cross-selling on your online store.