How to Create Shopify Cross Sell Offers (Real examples + Best practices)

Most Shopify merchants don’t cross sell products the right way.

They either show irrelevant products or cross sell products too much. 

If you’re making the same mistake, this blog can help you. 

We reviewed 50+ Shopify stores to look at their cross selling technique, from Kylie Cosmetics to MrBeast.store. We have picked the best Shopify cross selling strategies. It’s all here for you. 

In this blog post, you will learn how to create Shopify cross sell offers effectively using a cross sell app, with real store examples and best practices.

How to add Shopify cross sell offers?

Since Shopify doesn't have an inbuilt feature to cross sell products, you can use a Shopify app to get it done. 

To create effective shopify upsell or cross sell offers on your store, you need to install a Shopify cross sell app to get it done. 

Before choosing a Shopify app to cross sell products, consider these points:

• Flexible to set up on multiple pages
• Good app reviews and ratings
• Affordable pricing options
• 24/7 customer support
• User-friendly interface

Here’s a suggestion: try Upsell & Cross sell - Selleasy. 

Install the Selleasy app

From the Shopify app store, install the Selleasy app

How to create cross sell offers?

Product recommendations are a great way to display offers and we have seen almost every store doing it. 

Let’s start off by creating a cross sell offer on the product page. 

1. After installing the app, click on ‘Add offer’ from the Dashboard.

2. Now choose ‘Product add-ons’

3. Select a main product for which you wish to show a ‘cross sell’ offer. Then, select an offer product to be shown as cross selled products.

4. You can also select multiple products based on variants. For example, for a T-shirt the variants can be Small, Medium, and Large 

5. Enable the ‘Discount’ (optional) to offer cross sell discounts to your customers. 

6. Give an ‘Offer name’ (mandatory field) which is for your internal reference. You can also customize the widget title here.

Here’s how the cross sell offer looks in your store.

You can do more customizations to your cross sell offers in the settings.

Shopify cross sell offers on different pages

Why stick to one when you can cross-sell on multiple pages?

You can cross sell your products on 4 different pages of your Shopify store, to increase the average cart value. 

• Product page
• Cart page
• Post-purchase page
• Thank you page

Let’s look at it one by one. 

1. Cross-selling on Product page

When customers view your product, you have a golden opportunity to cross sell products. 

Your customers are now close to buying the product. Here, you can show some classic cross-sell offers. 

You’ve seen it right? Offers that tell ‘frequently bought together’, ‘you may also like’ or ‘people also bought’. 

Yes, these are all cross-selling techniques on the product page to increase your sales. 

Product add-ons / recommendations

This is a classic way of recommending products where customers can add products to the cart. 

While displaying products can be great, addable features can make it effective. 

Like this one on Kylie Cosmetics.

And there’s more we found on the page.

One more cross selling example from Bee Inspired, that looks smooth on their product page 

Frequently bought together

Bundle offers like frequently bought together are a great way to sell multiple products in the single order. 

You will know more about it in the best practices section. 

Here’s how LocalWe is doing it. 

And here’s something different - Manscaped cross-selling through product suggestions plus a bundle offer that has multiple products. 

2. Cross-selling on cart page

While customers are on the product page, they are still making decisions to buy. 

But on the cart page, products are almost ready for purchase. 

Customers are much closer to buying here than the product page. Now this is a perfect page for more product-specific cross selling.

You can add cross-sell offers here like cart page add-ons and cross-sell funnels.

The ones like complete the look, frequently bought together and people also bought.

Cross-selling techniques are similar on product page and cart page except how specific you set-up the offers.  

Cart page pop-ups

The good side of cart page pop-ups: you don’t disturb the customers during the purchase until they click checkout. 

Here’s Vanpackers showing multiple product recommendations as a pop-up.

While Acumen Collection focussed on just one product recommendation.

Cart drawer product recommendation

Cart drawers have been the new trend across Shopify stores for a while. About 85% of the stores we studied used cart drawers instead of a separate cart page. 

Colour pop does a smooth cross selling on their cart drawer

And one from Haven Shop

In-cart cross selling

Right after customers have added products to the cart, you can embed cross-sells offers on the page. 

This strategy works only for Shopify stores that have a cart page and not cart drawers. Good for the stores which have both. 

Here’s an in-cart cross-selling by Outdoor voices

And we found something interesting on Livestock. When on cart, they display personalized reminders of the products viewed in the same session. 

Here’s one from Haven Shop

3. Cross-selling on post purchase page

Customers have now paid for the product and what next? You can still cross-sell products for the same order! 

Post purchase page cross-selling isn't new to us. 

Remember the time when mobile phone stores asked you to buy accessories for a discount right before you pay?

Yeah, it’s the same technique that you can follow right after customers pay for a product. 

And the best part, customers need not re-enter payment details to pay for the products you cross-sell. 

Here’s an example of post purchase cross-sell offer.

4. Cross-selling on Thank you page

When on the thank you page, your customers are now loyal customers. They have trusted you in buying your products.

Just when they’ve finished a purchase, you can use this opportunity to cross sell an offer product.

While many stores make customers subscribe to newsletters or offer coupon codes, this is still a real estate for cross selling. 

For example, when a customer buys a coffee maker, you can recommend coffee beans or mugs. 

One school of thought suggests that thank you page cross-selling is effective since you don’t distract customers during their purchase. 

Here’s an example of cross-selling on Thank you page

6 Shopify cross-sell best practices to increase sales

Cross-selling can increase your sales by 30% and profitability by 20%. 

No doubt Shopify cross selling works. Here are 6 ways you can do cross-selling, the right way.

1. Cross-sell low priced products

If you recommend products that have a higher price than the main product (one they are buying), customers tend to ignore it.

Pitching a higher priced product repels your customers to competitors.

And don’t show low priced products as well. 

So here’s the key: recommend products that have a price 10-15% of the main product.

2. Give a good reason to buy

Tell customers why they should buy the products you cross-sell along with the main product. 

Use phrases that create a fear of missing out (FOMO) like these:

• Customer who bought this item also bought

• Frequently bought together

• People also bought it / People also viewed

Or give them a valuable reason like these:

• Complete the look / shop the look

• You might also like

• Pairs well with

• Check out similar styles

3. Show good product visuals

We talked about phrases that make customers take action. You can also do this - ‘show don’t tell ’.

Look at this survey data: 85% of shoppers rely on product info and pics to choose a brand.

Add product photos that have models wearing the main product with other complementary ones. 

For example, when a customer views a white shirt, have an image of the model wearing it with jeans and a cap, which are products you cross sell. 

See how Fashion Nova is doing more than just showing the products.

To make the offer sound better, use phrases like ‘complete the look or style it with’. Like this one. 

4. Cross sell using bundles

Customers love it when they buy good deals for a lesser price. And bundles are a great way to cross sell products and make customers buy more.

To spice it up, add discounts to let customers save cost on the bundle and your average cart value increases. 

A classic example of bundles are ‘frequently bought together’ which is widely used in Amazon and Shopify stores. 

5. Don’t undermine main product

A big mistake that many Shopify merchants do: recommending products that distract the customers.

Say a customer is viewing a crop top, and you cross sell a party wear product that is more pricier.

It distracts and confuses customers' buying decisions. To solve this problem, cross sell products that only complement the main product.

Don’t make it look like a battle between your own products.

6. Offer product discounts

Discounts are evergreen techniques that induce customers' to buy products.

For every product your cross sell, add discounts that make customers happy.

Just look at this data from a survey by RetailMeNot: One third of customers buy a discounted product even though it wasn’t what they came for. 

You can also add discounts for bundle offers like frequently bought together.

Common mistakes while creating Shopify cross sell offers

• Recommending wrong products

When you cross-sell an offer, make it relevant. For a shirt, you can recommend jeans and not umbrellas. 

• Being too pushy

Don’t look desperate to make sales by pop-ups every here and there. Make the offers seem subtle and catchy. 

• Losing value when offering discount

Don’t try to offer discounts on every product. Make sure to focus on the value of the add-on product and not just the price. 

• Cross-selling one product for all

Don't add the same cross-sell offer across your store. Customize the cross-sell setup for specific products or categories.

You can do this by using a cross-selling app like Selleasy quite easily.

• Focusing too much on novelty

Don't get carried away by recommending new arrivals or trendy items. Sometimes this might not actually go well with the main product. Highlight based on functionality and value.

• Not telling why

When you cross-sell a product, tell them why it’s a good add-on. Explain the value and worthiness of buying the product.

Get started with cross selling now! 

So, are you ready to increase your sales through cross sell offers on your Shopify store?

We hope this blog inspired you and offered step-by-step strategies and best practices from real store examples to create converting cross sells on your store.

Here are the key points for you to quickly set up cross sell offers on your store:

• Cross sell all on pages in you store - Product page, Cart page, Post-purchase page and Thank you page

• Don’t be pushy with your product recommendations. Be subtle, smooth and recommend only complementary and related products.

• Install a cross-selling app like Selleasy app. Apart from the user-friendly setup, intuitive user interface and multi-page offers, the app is affordable than any other cross-selling or upselling app available on the app store.
  
  And it allows you to set up cross-sell and upsell on all the 4 pages in your Shopify store.

Give it a try and start cross-selling.

Happy cross selling!

Frequently Asked Questions on Shopify cross-selling

1. What is a good example of cross-selling in Shopify?

We found a good example of cross-selling on the Kylie Cosmetics store. Look how the cross-selled product has subtle phrases like product tip. They suggest buying this product with the main product to have better results.

2. Pre-sale or post-sale cross-sell: Which is better for your store?

Both pre-sale and post-sale cross-selling have their own benefits. Here’s how:

• Pre-sale cross-selling is great for capturing customer’s excitement and promoting bundled solutions.

• Post-sale cross-selling targets committed customers and allows personalization.

The best approach is to use both to target customers at different stages in their buying journey to increase sales.

3. How cross-selling can increase your Shopify store sales?

Yes, if done right, cross-selling can increase your sales up to 30%. 

When you cross-sell, you increase the cart value, customer satisfaction and inventory turnover thereby increasing sales. 

3. How can cross-selling reduce your cart abandonment rate?

Shopify cross-sell offers can remind customers of products they might forget. These offers can prompt leaving customers to complete their purchase. 

When customers add products to the cart, add value to the purchase by showing offers and discounts.

Try the Selleasy app to cross-sell on the cart page 

4. What is the difference between Shopify cross sell and upsell?

Cross-selling is when you recommend different products that complement the main product and add value to the customers. Eg: A jean or belt as an add-on for a shirt. 

Whereas, upselling is when recommending an upgraded version with additional features which is an alternative to the main product. Eg: A denim shirt as an alternative to a plain shirt. 

You can use an app like Selleasy to offer both upsell and cross sell products in your store.

5. Are there any Shopify apps to cross-sell across multiple pages on my store?

Yes, Selleasy app helps to you set up cross-sell on different pages on your store such as 

• Product page
• Cart page
• Post-purchase page
• Thank you page

6. Can I upsell and cross-sell together on my Shopify store?

Of course, you can do a mix of both on your Shopify store. This strategy works well but be cautious of overdoing it and display both offers on the same page. Choose specific pages for both. 

You can use an app like Selleasy to offer both upsell and cross sell products in your store.