WooCommerce related products are product suggestions, either automated or manual.
These appear alongside or beneath the main item on the product pages and cart page.
But here’s the problem: most stores treat this feature as an afterthought. A generic “you may also like” carousel with no strategy behind it.
When related products are set up with the intention: purchase behavior, product categories, or smart rules, then they act as silent salespeople.
This guide breaks down five conversion-focused ways to set up related products in WooCommerce so that you can create an intelligent shopping flow.
Table of Contents
WooCommerce offers three built-in ways to recommend additional products, each designed to appear at a specific stage in the shopping journey and support the customer’s next decision.
Understanding how and where these related products are triggered can help you use them more intentionally. This will increase conversions and average order value (AOV).
Here's a breakdown of the three types, when they're shown, and how they work:
1. Cross-Sells
2. Upsells
3. Auto-Generated Related Products
WooCommerce gives you a basic framework to suggest related products, but it stops short of what modern stores need to truly grow.
It’s limited to static product associations, offers no real behavioral targeting, and leaves gaps at the most critical conversion points: cart, checkout, and post-purchase.
That’s exactly where FunnelKit comes in and why it’s the trusted marketing automation toolkit for WordPress-powered stores serious about sales.
With FunnelKit, you can replace rigid logic with real-time intelligence, behavior-based offers, and a seamless shopping experience from start to finish.
1. Slide-In Cart With Live Product Recommendations
As soon as someone adds an item to cart, FunnelKit’s smart cart drawer kicks in, showing real-time product suggestions based on what they’re buying.
👉 This is your first chance to increase AOV without pushing users away from the product page.
2. In-Checkout Order Bumps That Convert Instantly
FunnelKit lets you add one-click order bumps right on the checkout page, where buying intent is at its peak.
👉 This is the most underused high-converting spot, and FunnelKit makes it effortless to tap into it.
3. Post-Purchase One-Click Upsells (No Friction)
After payment, most stores stop selling. FunnelKit doesn’t.
With one-click post-purchase upsells, you can:
👉 This is the final chance to maximize order value, without losing trust or momentum.
Both upsells and cross-sells in WooCommerce are configured using the Linked Products tab inside each product’s settings.
The difference lies in where they appear and how they’re used:
WooCommerce doesn’t offer separate sections or methods for these. Both are added through the same interface.
Go to Products ⇒ All Products in your WordPress dashboard. Hover over the product you want to edit and click Edit.
Scroll down to the Product Data section. Click the Linked Products tab. In the Upsells field, select higher-end or premium alternatives.
In the Cross-sells field, select complementary products for the cart page.
Click Update
✅ Smart Strategy Tips:
Once you’ve configured upsells and cross-sells manually, WooCommerce takes care of one more recommendation type for you: Related Products.
These suggestions appear below the product description on the product page and while you can’t directly select which items appear here, you can guide what shows up.
How It Works:
WooCommerce uses shared categories and tags to determine which products are related. If two items share the same taxonomy, WooCommerce may display them as related products.
Example:
If Product A and Product B both have the tag “organic cotton,” WooCommerce might show B on A’s product page as a related item.
How to Influence What Shows Up:
While WooCommerce gives you a solid starting point for showing related products, it’s limited by static logic, no behavior-based targeting, no testing, and no post-purchase personalization.
That’s where FunnelKit steps in.
Built specifically for WooCommerce, FunnelKit helps you go beyond the basics by adding intelligent sales-boosting elements throughout your customer journey, including:
These aren’t just features but conversion multipliers. And they’re designed to work seamlessly with your existing store, even if you’re not a techie or marketer.
Let’s see how.
Why it matters: Installing the plugin is your first step to unlocking a complete conversion optimization toolkit, built specifically for WooCommerce.
The FunnelKit slide-in cart replaces the default WooCommerce cart page with a smarter, faster experience, and it also gives you space to show contextual product nudges.
To set it up:
First, go to FunnelKit ⇒ Cart and hit the “Enable Cart” toggle button to turn on the FunnelKit Cart.
Go to the Upsells tab and select the “Enable Cart Upsells” option.
Use Default Upsells in FunnelKit Cart to show fallback product recommendations when no upsells are set for cart items. You can add multiple products, limit how many display, and choose to always show them.
For per-product upsells and cross-sells, click View All Products, choose your item, and add related products; no need to edit each WooCommerce product manually.
Now, when people add any item to their cart, a slide-in cart will show up with in-cart product recommendations.
Order bumps appear on the checkout page as one-click add-ons, perfect for quick wins.
Now, it’s time to configure the order bump offer. To do that, click “Add Order Bump,” provide a title, and click " Add.”
After that, choose an order for bump skin.
Now, search for the product and click 'Add'.
This will add an order bump step to your store checkout funnel.
Next, set the call-to-action text and description that will show up on the checkout page.
Move to the Style tab. Here, you can choose the position where the order bump will appear on the checkout page.
Make sure to click on Save to update the changes.
Next, move to the products tab to set the quantity and discount.
You can set different conditions using the Rules Engine to make the related product offer more relevant.
For example, trigger order bumps for customers who purchase from a specific category or have previously purchased a particular item.
To do so, move to the Rules tab and click “Add Rules.” Next, select the parameter, condition, and value. Add multiple rules based on your strategy.
Make sure to click on Save.
To offer a one-click upsell, hit the Offer step.
On the design tab, you can customize the content and look of the upsell template.
Now, move to the Products tab. Click on "Add Product," search for the product, and select it from the dropdown. After that, click the "Add" button to add the product as an upsell offer.
Add a discount if you want. We recommend checking the option “Skip this offer if the product(s) exist in the parent order.” You can also allow users to choose the quantity.
🔔 Note: You can set flat shipping also if needed.
Make sure to click on Save to update.
To make the offer more effective, you can apply rules similar to those used with the order bump. To do so, click on the Upsell step.
Next, navigate to the Rules tab and click Add Rules. Then, set the conditions. To make the offer more relevant, you can add a condition such as a customer having previously purchased from the same category. Additionally, you can only offer to your VIP customers or customers who have items worth over $100, as they are more likely to accept a high-value offer after completing their purchase.
Make sure to click on the 'Save' button when done
Lastly, enable the “Enable Store Checkout” option.
Still wondering if it's worth the effort to set up related product offers in WooCommerce?
Here’s what industry leaders and research say about the impact of intelligent recommendations and AOV-boosting tactics like upsells and cross-sells:
“Personalized product recommendations can increase conversion rates by up to 70%.”
- Accenture, Personalization Pulse Check Report
“Upselling and cross-selling account for up to 35% of Amazon’s revenue.”
- McKinsey & Company
“Visitors who clicked on product recommendations converted at a rate 5.5x higher than those who didn’t.”
- Barilliance, eCommerce Personalization Benchmark Report
“The best product pages reduce cognitive load by guiding customers to what they’ll likely want next.”
- Talia Wolf, Founder of GetUplift
“The cart is your most underutilized sales channel. If it’s not pitching something, it’s wasting real estate.”
- Peep Laja, Conversion Expert & Founder of Wynter
We can have another section about best practices: mobile optimization, A/b testing discounts or products, performance tracking, use built-in templates or layouts, etc…
Setting up related products in WooCommerce isn’t just a checkbox task. It’s a strategic opportunity to guide buying behavior, reduce friction, and increase your average order value without needing more traffic.
Start with the native options use upsells and cross-sells to suggest smarter choices and helpful add-ons. But when you’re ready to go further, tools like FunnelKit let you create intelligent, high-converting flows with:
In today’s ecommerce landscape, stores that recommend smarter win bigger.
So whether you’re just getting started or optimizing an existing funnel, remember: It’s not just about what you sell but when, where, and how you present it.
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