Are you missing out on extra sales in your WooCommerce store?
You’re not alone. A study by HubSpot states that cross-selling can boost revenue by up to 30% by increasing the average order value.
But many store owners don’t use this simple strategy. Why? Because they don’t know how to set it up effectively.
This guide will show you how to set up and customize cross-selling in WooCommerce beyond the default options.
By leveraging smart product recommendations, you can increase your sales and raise your order value without much extra effort.
Table of Contents
Cross-selling in WooCommerce recommends related products to customers during their shopping experience to encourage additional purchases.
The idea is to make the shopping experience more convenient by showing related products, which can lead to more purchases.
It means it can be beneficial to:
For example, if a customer buys a cup of coffee, you could suggest related items like a pack of premium coffee beans, a fancy coffee mug, or a box of cookies.
These are products that go perfectly with their coffee and might make their experience even better.
By cross-selling in WooCommerce, store owners can encourage customers to add more items to their cart, boosting their total order value.
This method helps both the customer by offering useful suggestions and the store by increasing revenue.
Now you know the basics of cross-selling and how it performs on a WooCommerce store. But simultaneously, you may be thinking about Upsell and whether there are any differences between them.
For a general understanding, up-selling and cross-selling are two common strategies online stores use to boost sales. While they might seem similar, there are key differences between the two.
Let’s figure out.
| Aspects | Upsell | Cross-sell |
| What is it | Offering a more expensive version of the same product. | Suggesting related or complementary products. |
| Goal | Increase the value of a single purchase by suggesting a premium version | Encourage customers to add more related items to their cart. |
| Example | Suggesting a higher-end laptop model when someone buys a basic one. | Offering a mouse or keyboard when someone buys a laptop. |
| When to Use | When a customer is close to deciding on a product. | When a customer has made a purchase decision and is adding items to their cart. |
| Customer Focus | Getting the customer to upgrade their purchase. | Getting the customer to buy additional items. |
To sum up:
Upselling is about encouraging the customer to spend more on a higher-value version of what they’re already interested in. For example, if someone is looking at a cup of coffee, you could suggest upgrading to a larger size or a premium coffee blend.
Conversely, cross-selling is about suggesting products that complement the customer's purchase. For instance, if the customer buys a cup of coffee, you might offer them a snack or a coffee stirrer as a complementary item.
Before we share the reasons, let’s see what the study says about cross-selling.
According to Hubspot, 1,400 salespeople across North America, Europe, and Asia reported that cross-selling accounts for 21% of their company revenues.
The number is notable in terms of growth and revenue. This is just a reason. But is there anything else to add?
Let’s check how more reasons to implement a cross-selling strategy:
Cross-selling helps you get customers to buy more. When a customer adds related items to their cart, the total value of their order goes up.
For example, if someone buys coffee, they can add a pack of premium coffee beans. This small suggestion can increase their spending. This way, you can boost your store's AOV.
Offering items that complement their buying makes the shopping experience more convenient. It saves them time and makes their purchase feel more complete.
For example, customers looking for coffee may appreciate being offered a coffee mug or stirrers they hadn’t thought of.
Customers who feel they’re getting helpful suggestions are more likely to return. Offering related products that make sense shows you're thinking about their needs, not just making a sale.
For example, if someone buys a pair of running shoes, suggesting running socks can make them feel like you understand their interests.
Cross-selling exposes customers to products they might not see on their own. Customers focused on one product, like a coffee maker, might not notice related items like a coffee grinder or a milk frother in your store if not for cross-selling.
Cross-selling is a great strategy to bring attention to those products and give them a chance to sell.
When customers are shown products they like, or that complement their purchase, they’re more likely to complete the checkout.
For example, if a shopper buys a laptop, offering them a laptop sleeve or a charger at checkout makes it easier for them to add these items right then and there. It also encourages them to buy more before they leave the site.
Cross-selling not only helps you earn more per customer, but it also makes their shopping experience smoother and more satisfying.
We know that cross-selling is when you suggest products that complement a customer's purchase.
Unlike related items from the same category or tag, cross-sells encourage additional purchases from different categories.
By default, cross-selling products appear on the cart page, while related items are shown on the product page based on shared categories or attributes.
Now, let’s see the default cross-selling process of WooCommerce:
First, you must navigate to your target product to add cross-selling products by default in WooCommerce.
Choose a product to add to your cross-selling offer.
Step 1: Choose a product
In our case, we’re selecting the “iPhone 15 Pro Max”.
After entering the product customization page, head to the linked product section.
Step 2: Add cross-sells
Now, you’ll see two options: upsells and cross-sells.
In the cross-sells section, you can add products in two ways: manually or automatically.
If you manually input the product name, it will appear on the list. Just click on it to add it as a cross-selling product.
On the other hand, if you want the system to choose a cross-selling product for you, you can click “Choose Products for Me " and then hit the update button.
Step 3: Preview on the WooCommerce product page
After adding the cross-selling products to your WooCommerce store, it looks like on the WooCommerce product page.
Step 4: Preview on the WooCommerce cart page
And what cross-selling looks like on the WooCommerce cart page.
So, this is the default cross-selling process of WooCommerce. As you can see, the overall layout and design are not too good and furnished.
Therefore, you need a much better option to modify the layout and provide a better experience to your customers.
The next section will show seven ways to implement the cross-selling strategy on your WooCommerce store.
It’s time to show how the cross-selling process. To do so, we’ll be using FunnelKit Funnel Builder.
Why FunnelKit Funnel Builder?
FunnelKit Funnel Builder is a powerful tool for WooCommerce that simplifies cross-selling. It integrates seamlessly with your store to create effective sales funnels, boosting sales and average order value.
FunnelKit helps you grow your store with minimal effort and maximum impact.
Before creating cross-sells in WooCommerce, install and activate FunnelKit Funnel Builder (Free and Pro) on your WordPress site.
Cross-selling is a great way to boost sales by recommending complementary products to customers.
To set it up in WooCommerce, install and activate the FunnelKit Cart plugin.
It lets you add cross-sell offers directly on the cart page and even skip the cart page to send customers straight to checkout with personalized product recommendations.
After you install the plugin, you need to navigate to the FunnelKit > Cart.
Here, you can see the cart interface. Also, it’s disabled. Ask to enable it
Enable the cart and move to the upsell under the side menu. Here, you can choose the display pattern and product recommendation type.
Search for the product you want to cross-sell, such as “iPhone 15 Pro Max.”
Click "View Products" on the product page to access the cross-sell settings. Under the product details, you’ll find the cross-sell option where you can add complementary products.
Add the recommended products to the main item as cross-selling products and hit the “Add” button.
Here are they. The products are added as cross-selling items.
So, when a user adds “iPhone 15 Pro Max” to the cart, the FunnelKit Cart shows the cross-sells inside the shopping cart.
📝 Note: FunnelKit Cart also offers milestone-based rewards, allowing you to incentivize customers with discounts or special offers once they reach certain spending thresholds, further boosting cross-sell opportunities.
Order bumps appear on the checkout page, making it easy for customers to add related products with a single click.
Using order bumps for cross-selling helps:
📝 Note: To implement cross-sells on a checkout page with FunnelKit, you need to create a store checkout page.
Once done, click the “Add New Order Bump” button.
Next, provide the name of the order bump.
Choose the template to display the order bump on your checkout page.
Next, search for the products here to add them as cross-selling items. Then, hit the “Add” button.
To customize an order bump in WooCommerce:
You can check out the guide here for a detailed idea: creating an order bump in WooCommerce.
Next, add a rule to show the order bump on the checkout page.
Here, the order bump will appear depending on the rules you set. We have selected the cart items, exact matches, quantity one, and the product name. Hit save when you’re done.
You can also add more products if you want.
It’s time to check if the order bump is working properly.
Add “iPhone 15 pro-Max” to the cart, and the recommended products appear on the checkout page as cross-sells.
This is how you can showcase cross-selling products on the checkout page using the FunnelKit order bump feature.
We’re assuming that you have already created a store checkout. After creating an order bump, you can create a one-click upsell as a part of the cross-selling offer.
Now, let’s see how to implement a cross-sell popup one-click upsell offer in your WooCommerce store.
The upsell section is on the store checkout page. To access it, click on the “Add Offer” button.
Choose a template to showcase the upsell offer.
Preview the design and then import the template.
Provide the name of the upsell offer.
Now, click the “Add Product” button to add a product to the upsell offer.
Search for the product and add it. And then click on the “Add” button.
Following the same process, add another upsell offer.
Click on the first upsell and navigate to the product tab.
Here, you can configure some settings. You can set conditions depending on the upsell rules. If anyone accepts the upsell offer, you can redirect your users to the 2nd upsell or downsell offer.
Or if anyone rejects the upsell, you can redirect your users to the thank you page.
Here is the preview of the first upsell offer.
On acceptance, the 2nd upsell offer appears.
Here is the preview of the thank page after adding the upsell offer.
This is how you can set cross-selling strategies in your WooCommerce store using FunnelKit Funnel Builder's one-click upsell feature.
Now it’s time to show the process of showcasing cross-selling on a thank you or order confirmation page.
Invespcro states that cross-selling accounts for up to 35% of Amazon's revenue. Meanwhile, SUMO reports that upselling boosts revenue by an average of 10-30%.
Implementing a cross-selling strategy could generate more revenues and better outcomes.
Let’s now see how to do it. Click on the thank you page.
Now, click on the “Edit Elementor Template” button.
Here, you will land on the editing panel of the thank you page.
After customizing the thank you page, including the cross-sells, this is how it will look like.
However, you can try different scenarios on your thank you page to make it more appealing and elegant.
Here is a complete guide on customizing and editing a thank you page. You can check and follow the step-by-step guide from the guide here.
Remember, a thank you page is unlike other landing pages on your website. It presents an opportunity to convert your customers into paying customers.
Cross-selling doesn’t have to stop when customers leave your site. With automated workflows, you can continue engaging customers via email and suggesting related products to boost your sales.
For example, after a customer purchases an iPhone, you can send a follow-up email recommending chargers or cases they might need. This keeps your store top-of-mind and encourages repeat sales.
To create WooCommerce cross-sell in automated emails, you must install and activate FunnelKit Automations.
It’s a powerful tool that streamlines your WooCommerce store’s marketing. It lets you create automated workflows to engage customers, send personalized emails, and trigger actions based on their behavior.
Automating WooCommerce cross-sells with FunnelKit Automations is simple and effective. You can automatically suggest related products after purchase, like offering phone cases or chargers after buying an iPhone. This boosts sales and improves the shopping experience.
Additionally, FunnelKit Automations provides other valuable features such as:
Let’s get started:
First, you need to create an automation. To do so, navigate to the FunnelKit Automations > Automations and click the “Create Automation” button.
Next, you must choose a recipe to run the automation. In this case, we’re using Scratch.
After choosing, provide the name for it.
Next, you need to create an event. Click on it and choose the “order created” trigger under the WooCommerce section. Then hit “done.”
Next, check these options as they are. Just in the order contain section, choose specific products.
Suppose we send an email with a cross-selling offer. For that, we selected the “iPhone 15 Pro Max”.
So whenever the users purchase the iPhone 15 Pro Max, they will get the email, but not for all products they purchase. Hit save when you’re done.
Next, create an event. Click on the plus icon and then action.
Select “Send Email” under the messaging section. And then hit done.
Next, you need to configure the email settings. For example, provide a subject line and preview text.
Also, using the merge tag {{..}} icon, you can directly trigger your preferred thing on the email.
Suppose you want to trigger the contact email. To do so, click the merge tag icon and find the available tags here.
Simply copy the code and paste it to the preferred place.
Once you’re done with the configuration, it’s time to customize the email template.
For instance, you need to use the visual builder of FunnelKit Automations. Click on the “Edit” button.
Under the eCommerce section, choose the “Cross-sells Products” template.
Preview the template and import it.
Now step-by-step, customize the template according to your brand’s needs.
Customize the logo
Click on the logo and upload a logo of your company or brand.
After uploading the logo, you can customize the logo settings on the left side of the screen.
You can adjust the position, set auto width, alt-tags, etc.
Customize the heading
The current heading may not be suitable for your brand. We’re changing it. Click on it and remove it.
Then, add a text widget by dragging left to right side.
Write your text here or any tagline that you want to use. Then, adjust the settings on the left side.
Customize the image
We're removing the current image since we’re crafting the cross-selling email for the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Upload your product’s image and adjust its settings from the left side.
Customize the email body
In the same way, add another text widget and your email content.
Customize the product widget
Then, add the product widget to show cross-sell products.
On the left side, choose the specific product and other items. Then, add the products individually.
Customize the button
Next, customize the button and its text.
Save it on both windows once you’re done with the settings and customization.
Before running the campaign, be sure to activate the automation.
So, users will receive this cross-selling email whenever they add the “iPhone 15 Pro Max” to their cart.
These are the top 5 use cases for setting WooCommerce cross-sell for your store using FunnelKit Funnel Builder and FunnelKit Automations.
Using cross-sell strategies effectively can help increase your sales and improve customer satisfaction.
According to the study, 72% of salespeople saw their revenue grow because of upselling and cross-selling.
For instance, you must follow some tips to make your cross-selling strategy successful and growing. Plus, it can refine your post-customer nurturing process to build a suitable bond with your customers.
Here are five tips to consider when applying cross-selling in your store:
Always suggest products that make sense together. Don’t offer random items.
For example, if a customer buys an iPhone 15 Pro Max, suggest items like a glass protector, Airbuds, Charger, or a phone case.
These items complement the iPhone and make sense to the customer.
The best time to offer cross-sell suggestions is when customers add items to their cart or at checkout. You don’t want to overwhelm them too early in the shopping process.
If someone buys a pair of shoes, suggest socks or shoe polish when they’re about to check out.
Tailor the cross-sell recommendations based on the customer’s shopping history or preferences.
For example, if someone often buys workout gear, suggest a water bottle or gym bag when they buy a yoga mat. Personalized recommendations feel more thoughtful and are more likely to lead to sales.
Here, you can see ways to compile their products into three categories and suggest how the bundle product should look. It’s a perfect example of cross-selling.
Keep your cross-sell suggestions simple and not too many. Bombarding customers with too many options can be overwhelming.
Focus on two or three items that naturally fit their purchase. Too many options can lead to decision fatigue and cart abandonment.
To make the cross-sell offer even more attractive, offer a discount or bundle. For example, if a customer buys a cup of coffee, offer them a discount on a bag of coffee beans.
Look at the cross-selling technique of Adidas. They kept two sections, “Complete the Look” and in this section, they kept “You May Also Like.” How cool is that?
And yes, a good deal can motivate customers to add the item to their cart immediately.
You can implement these cross-selling tips in your store and include them in your marketing strategy.
Incorporating cross-selling into your store is a powerful way to increase your average order value (AOV).
When done well, it boosts revenue and enhances the customer experience by offering products they truly want.
The default cart page cross-sell isn't enough.
Tools like FunnelKit Cart, FunnelKit Funnel Builder, and FunnelKit Automations can enhance your cross-selling efforts and simplify automating and optimizing your sales strategy.
If implemented perfectly, cross-selling becomes a game-changer for your business.
Unlock your store's capacity and boost sales today with FunnelKit Funnel Builder!
