Did you know that cross-selling can boost sales by up to 30% when done right? According to McKinsey, cross-selling strategies can increase sales and profits by 20% and 30%, respectively. For Shopify merchants, cross-selling isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a powerful tool to increase average order value (AOV), improve customer lifetime value (CLV), and even reduce cart abandonment rates by offering buyers exactly what they didn’t know they needed.
Whether you’re just starting your Shopify store or looking to optimize your product pages and checkout flows, mastering the art of cross-selling can lead to both a better customer experience and higher revenue.
This artical will walk you through 11+ real-world cross-selling examples from successful Shopify stores. You’ll discover how top brands use product bundles, complementary offers, smart app integrations, … to drive more sales. You will also learn how you can apply these proven tactics to your store.
The Power of Cross-Selling
What is Cross-Selling for Shopify Stores?
What is Cross-Selling for Shopify Stores?
Cross-selling in the Shopify context refers to the strategic practice of recommending complementary or related products to customers during their shopping journey. This can happen at various touchpoints: from product pages and cart screens to checkout processes and post-purchase follow-ups. Unlike upselling (which focuses on more expensive versions of the same product), cross-selling encourages customers to add different but related items that enhance their original purchase.
Key benefits of Cross-selling:
- Increase Average Order Value (AOV)
Cross-selling directly impacts your bottom line by encouraging customers to add complementary products to their carts during the same shopping session. When a customer purchases a smartphone and also adds a phone case, screen protector, and wireless charger, their single transaction value can increase by 50-100% or more. This strategy maximizes revenue from each customer interaction without the additional costs associated with acquiring new customers. AOV increases through cross-selling because it compounds over time, creating a substantial impact on your overall revenue growth.
- Enhance Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Customers who purchase across multiple product categories develop a deeper relationship with your brand and are significantly more likely to return for future purchases. When you successfully cross-sell complementary items, you’re not just increasing a single transaction – you’re demonstrating your expertise in solving customer problems comprehensively. This builds trust and loyalty that turns into repeat business, referrals, and higher purchase frequency over time. Studies of a market research company, Forrester, show that customers who buy from multiple categories can have a lifetime value that’s 2-3 times higher than single-category purchasers.
- Improve Customer experience and satisfaction
Strategic cross-selling enhances the shopping experience by presenting customers with complete solutions rather than leaving them to figure out what else they might need. When a customer buys a camera and you suggest a memory card, tripod, and carrying case, you’re solving problems they might not have even considered yet. This proactive approach saves customers time and effort while ensuring they have everything needed to fully enjoy their purchase. The result is higher satisfaction rates, fewer returns, and positive reviews that drive future sales.
- Better Inventory Management and Turnover
Cross-selling provides an effective mechanism for moving slower-selling products by strategically pairing them with your best-sellers.For example, if you’re a fitness equipment retailer with popular resistance bands but slow-moving yoga blocks, you can cross-sell the yoga blocks as “perfect for deeper stretches” alongside resistance band purchases.
This approach helps balance your inventory levels and reduces the risk of dead stock that ties up capital and warehouse space. By bundling less popular items with high-demand products, you can maintain healthier inventory turnover rates across your entire catalog. This optimization directly impacts your cash flow and allows you to invest in new products and growth opportunities more effectively.
- Reduce Customer Acquisition Cost
It costs significantly less to sell additional products to existing customers than to acquire entirely new ones through advertising and marketing campaigns. Cross-selling leverages the trust and relationship you’ve already built with current customers, resulting in higher conversion rates and lower cost per sale. This efficiency in sales generation means more of your revenue flows directly to profit rather than being consumed by acquisition costs. The compound effect of this benefit becomes even more pronounced as your cross-selling strategies mature and become more sophisticated.
11+ Cross-Selling Examples That Work (Why They Work)
1. Glow Recipe - Skincare Routine Bundles
Store Overview: Glow Recipe is a K-beauty brand specializing in fruit-based, clean skincare.
Cross-Selling Strategy: They create curated “Routine” or “Duo” bundles, e.g., cleanser + serum or moisturizer + eye cream. These are sold at a slight discount and feature prominently on product pages.
Why It Works:
- Encourages customers to try more products in one order.
- Bundling products that work well together reinforces a complete skincare routine.
- Educates shoppers while increasing AOV.
Key takeaway: Glow Recipe smartly turns routines into revenue by bundling complementary skincare products, guiding customers toward multi-step regimens. These curated sets reduce choice overload while increasing perceived value. By promoting bundles tailored to specific skincare needs (like morning or night routines), they make it easy for first-time buyers to try more products with confidence. This approach nurtures loyalty while boosting initial order size.
2. Brookilen - Related product recommendations
Store Overview: Brooklinen sells premium bed linens, towels, and home accessories.
Cross-Selling Strategy: On each product page, Brooklinen displays a “You Might Also Like” section with items such as pillowcases, throw blankets, or sleep masks based on what you’re viewing (e.g., sheets or comforters). These suggestions are tailored to product categories or customer behavior.
Why It Works:
- Helps shoppers build a full bedroom set without actively searching.
- Makes cross-selling feel natural and curated, not pushy.
- Enhances the customer’s lifestyle experience with smart, minimal suggestions.
Key takeaway: Brooklinen leverages related product recommendations to guide shoppers toward building a complete home environment. By suggesting tasteful, relevant add-ons that match the shopper’s browsing behavior, the brand makes cross-selling feel organic. This method strengthens their positioning as a lifestyle brand while driving higher cart values. It’s an elegant solution that delivers utility without disrupting the shopping flow.
3. Popsockets - Quantity Discounts
Store Overview: Popsockets is a well-known mobile accessory brand that sells customizable phone grips, mounts, and cases. The brand is popular for its fun designs and utility-focused products that improve smartphone handling and usability.
Cross-Selling Strategy: Popsockets encourages customers to buy multiple grips or accessories by offering tiered quantity discounts. For example:
- Buy 2, get 10% off
- Buy 3, get 15% off
- Buy 4+, get 20% off
These offers are clearly highlighted on product pages and in cart, nudging shoppers to explore more styles or mix-and-match designs. It’s a classic case of cross-sell bundling with a volume-based incentive.
4.Glossier - Online Only Deals
Store Overview: Glossier is a cult-favorite beauty brand known for its minimalist skincare and makeup, with a strong DTC (direct-to-consumer) presence. While they have some physical showrooms, most of their business operates through their online store.
Cross-Selling Strategy: Glossier regularly offers online-exclusive sets and bundles, such as “The Skincare Edit” or “Makeup Essentials Set”, that are only available through their website. These often combine bestsellers at a slight discount, encouraging customers to try more products in one order. Some deals are time-limited or only shown to logged-in users, creating a sense of exclusivity.
Why It Works:
- Online-only deals create a sense of exclusivity and urgency.
- Bundles are carefully curated to align with buyer needs (e.g., complete skincare routines).
- Perfectly tailored for social media-driven discovery, where links drive users directly to the online store.
Key Takeaway: Glossier drives cross-selling by packaging its bestsellers into exclusive online bundles, turning FOMO into conversion. These digital-only deals are strategically timed and curated for ease of decision-making. Because Glossier’s audience is social-first and mobile-savvy, the limited-time offers integrate perfectly into their digital discovery flow. This reinforces brand loyalty while encouraging trial across product categories.
5. OLIPOP - Cart Drawer Cross-Sell
Store Overview: OLIPOP sells healthy, prebiotic sodas focused on gut health.
Cross-Selling Strategy: When customers add a flavor to their cart, OLIPOP’s cart drawer recommends other flavors to help “complete your variety pack”.It’s smartly integrated, using a layout that feels like building a custom box.
Why It Works:
- Encourages product exploration while increasing quantity.
- Reinforces brand’s “try them all” message.
- Works especially well for products sold in bundles or subscriptions.
Key Takeaway: OLIPOP makes great use of cart drawer design to softly prompt customers into building a sampler experience. By positioning variety as part of the value, they normalize cross-selling within a fun and low-pressure UX. The customization aspect resonates with health-conscious consumers seeking options, increasing both order value and product discovery. It’s an intuitive, brand-aligned approach to drive multi-flavor adoption.
6. Peachy Shapewear - Pop-up cross-sell technique
Store Overview: Peachy Shapewear sells inclusive, body-positive undergarments, such as backless bras and shapewear for all body types. The brand emphasizes confidence and comfort in its product messaging.
Cross-Selling Strategy: Although the pop-up in the screenshot is primarily used for email collection and offering a 10% discount, it opens the door for effective cross-selling via:
- Post-signup email flows featuring personalized product bundles (e.g., matching bras and shapewear sets).
- Timed exit-intent pop-ups that could suggest best-selling complementary products right before checkout.
Why It Works:
- The pop-up grabs attention and incentivizes action with a discount offer.
- Once the customer is in the system, email marketing can introduce related items, complete looks, or value bundles based on what they viewed or purchased.
- The playful tone (“No, I’ll pay full price”) makes it more engaging and keeps bounce rates low.
Key Takeaway: Peachy Shapewear blends lead generation with cross-selling by offering a discount pop-up that transitions into personalized product suggestions. Once users opt in, targeted emails nudge them toward matching sets or top-sellers. This layered strategy builds customer intent gradually—first by offering savings, then by showcasing related products aligned with their behavior. It’s an efficient, non-intrusive funnel that supports AOV and list growth simultaneously.
7. Hydrant - Time-limited discount on complementary products
Store Overview: Hydrant is a wellness brand that sells science-backed hydration and wellness drink mixes, including products for energy, sleep, immunity, and daily hydration. Their clean ingredients and functional benefits attract health-conscious, active consumers.
Cross-Selling Strategy: Hydrant uses post-purchase email flows and pop-ups to offer limited-time discounts on complementary products. For example, if a customer buys a Hydration Mix, they might receive an offer like “Get 20% off Sleep Mix for the next 48 hours”. These are time-sensitive, personalized based on the original purchase, and often bundled with shipping incentives (e.g., free shipping if added within the offer window).
Why It Works:
- The discount creates urgency and FOMO, encouraging impulse buys.
- Complementary products (e.g., hydration + sleep) are naturally aligned to daily wellness routines.
- Increases product trial while maintaining a personalized customer experience.
Key Takeaway: Hydrant uses urgency-based cross-sells to convert first-time buyers into returning customers through smart product pairings. Their follow-up offers feel relevant because they fit into wellness routines (e.g., hydration + sleep). The limited-time aspect taps into buyer psychology, prompting faster decisions. By aligning promotions with lifestyle logic, Hydrant encourages deeper engagement with the product line..
8. CIDER - Targeted Marketing Email
Store Overview: CIDER is a fast-growing, Gen Z-focused fashion brand known for trendy, affordable clothing with a strong online presence and social media influence. The brand offers a wide variety of styles across collections, often based on moods, aesthetics, or seasonal trends.
Cross-Selling Strategy: CIDER uses targeted email marketing to suggest cross-selling items based on customers’ browsing history, past purchases, and collection interests.
For example, after purchasing a floral dress, a customer might receive a follow-up email with subject lines like “Complete the Look” or “Style It Your Way”, featuring matching cardigans, accessories, or shoes from the same aesthetic collection.
These emails often include:
- Product recommendations personalized by past behavior or wishlist
- New arrivals
- Timed discounts or bundle offers
- Styled visuals to inspire outfit completion
Why It Works:
- Highly visual content appeals to CIDER’s fashion-conscious audience.
- Email personalization increases open and click-through rates.
- Encourages the discovery of more products from the same style line.
Key Takeaway: CIDER’s targeted emails turn fashion discovery into a personalized, guided experience that encourages complete outfit purchases. Their aesthetic-first content matches shopper preferences and uses AI-driven suggestions to make cross-sells feel tailored. By blending product education with social-style visuals, they drive higher engagement and repeat shopping. This approach creates a seamless blend of inspiration and monetization.
9. Starbucks - Gamification
Store Overview: Starbucks is a globally recognized coffeehouse chain known for its wide range of beverages, snacks, and branded merchandise. Beyond coffee, it has built a strong ecosystem around convenience, personalization, and digital loyalty.
Cross-Selling Strategy: Via the Starbucks app, customers are presented with personalized challenges like: “Buy a drink + a breakfast sandwich 3 times this week to earn 50 bonus stars.” These challenges encourage cross-category purchases, effectively getting someone who only buys coffee to try food or merchandise.
Why It Works:
- Personalized and time-bound, creating urgency.
- Drives habit-building across product lines.
- Uses rewards to create stickiness and boost AOV.
Key Takeaway: Starbucks uses personalized challenges in its rewards app to gamify the customer experience and strategically encourage cross-category purchases, like pairing a drink with a breakfast item or seasonal treat. These time-sensitive offers tap into customers’ desire for achievement and instant rewards, increasing both frequency and average ticket size. By tailoring challenges to individual purchase behavior, Starbucks makes each cross-sell feel relevant, attainable, and rewarding. This approach not only drives short-term sales but also builds long-term loyalty through habit-forming engagement.
10. Amazon - Daily offers
Store overview: Amazon is the world’s largest online marketplace, offering millions of products across virtually every category, from electronics and fashion to groceries and digital services. Known for its unmatched convenience, personalization, and fast delivery, Amazon operates with a data-driven ecosystem designed to maximize conversions and repeat purchases.
Cross-Selling Strategy: Amazon uses its “Today’s Deals” section to highlight rotating limited-time offers. These often showcase complementary or bundled products (e.g., laptop + mouse, skincare set + travel pouch). Additionally, Amazon layers in “Customers who bought this also bought…” and “Frequently Bought Together” sections on product pages – cross-selling directly at the point of interest. Deals are promoted via homepage banners, email alerts, and push notifications to create a sense of urgency and habitual browsing.
Why It Works:
- Limited-time deals create FOMO and drive impulse purchases.
- Amazon’s AI-powered suggestions surface highly relevant add-ons based on real shopping behavior.
- Daily exposure to diverse products increases the chance of cross-category discovery.
- Seamless checkout and one-click ordering reduce friction in adding extra items.
Key Takeaway: Amazon turns cross-selling into a daily habit by combining urgency (daily deals) with precision (data-driven recommendations). Instead of hard-selling, it gently nudges users toward higher-value purchases by showing what others buy, and what pairs well. These tactics feel helpful rather than salesy, increasing trust while boosting average order value. Brands can learn from Amazon’s approach by blending timing, personalization, and subtle prompts to drive consistent upsells across categories.
11. IKEA - Customer reviews
Store Overview: IKEA is a globally renowned furniture and home goods retailer known for its affordable, functional, and minimalist Scandinavian designs. With a strong omnichannel presence, IKEA offers everything from sofas and beds to kitchenware and lighting, enabling customers to furnish entire living spaces.
Cross-Selling Strategy: IKEA leverages customer review photos and testimonials that often showcase not just the product being reviewed, but entire room setups with multiple IKEA items. For example, a review of a bed frame may include matching side tables, lamps, and rugs—all subtly cross-promoting other products in the IKEA ecosystem. These real-life visuals are featured prominently on product pages and sometimes even repurposed in marketing materials or social galleries. Customers frequently mention how different products complement one another, naturally encouraging others to consider full-room purchases.
Why It Works:
- Visual context helps customers envision how multiple products look and function together.
- Authentic testimonials build trust and reduce decision anxiety for large purchases.
- Encourages customers to shop in sets or themes, increasing average cart size.
- Demonstrates IKEA’s brand promise of offering complete, affordable home solutions.
Key Takeaway: IKEA uses customer-generated room photos and testimonials to inspire lifestyle-based cross-selling, turning product reviews into personalized showrooms. This strategy leverages authenticity to build trust and promote multi-product purchases without overt marketing. By highlighting how products work together in real homes, IKEA helps shoppers confidently buy into full-room solutions rather than just individual items. It’s a powerful way to boost AOV while deepening customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Implementing these examples in your Shopify stores
- Focus on Product Relevance, Not Just Value
The effectiveness of a cross-sell lies in how naturally it fits into the customer’s intent. Instead of offering your most expensive products as upsells, suggest items that complement or complete the shopper’s original purchase. For example, if someone adds a facial cleanser to their cart, recommending a matching moisturizer from the same line feels intuitive and helpful. The key is to make customers feel supported, not sold to.
- Map the Entire Customer Journey and Insert Cross-Sells Strategically
Don’t limit your cross-selling to one page, place relevant suggestions at multiple touchpoints. On product pages, you might show “Complete the Look” or “Customers Also Bought” sections. During checkout, offer time-sensitive upgrades or bundles, and after purchase, follow up via email with complementary products or refills. Each stage offers a unique opportunity to reinforce value without overwhelming the customer.
- Use Incentives to Nudge Multi-Item Purchases
Adding small incentives like tiered discounts, free gifts, or limited-time offers can make cross-selling more compelling. For example, offering 10% off when buying two or more items encourages customers to explore more options without needing a hard push. Time-limited offers also create a sense of urgency and drive impulse buying, especially when customers are already in purchase mode. Keep the language positive and value-driven, focus on what they gain, not what they spend.
- Leverage Social Proof to Inspire Confidence
Customer reviews and testimonials can be powerful cross-selling assets when they mention how different products work together. Highlight user-generated content or star-rated combos to help new visitors visualize what others are buying and using in tandem. For example, a review that says, “I pair this backpack with their waterproof pouch and it’s perfect for travel” is a natural way to cross-sell. This builds trust while also inspiring new purchase combinations.
- Personalize Cross-Selling with Smart Automation
Generic product suggestions no longer cut it—personalization is the secret weapon of effective cross-selling. Use data from browsing behavior, cart history, or past purchases to recommend products that align with the customer’s interests. When done well, personalization makes your customer feel understood, not marketed to.
Shopify apps and tools that could help you:
Shopify apps and tools that could help you:
Best For: Quantity discounts, time-limited offers, post-purchase incentives
Features:
- Create Buy One Get One (BOGO) and Buy X Get Y campaigns.
- Offer free gifts or discounted add-ons for specific items or order values.
- Supports time-limited campaigns to drive urgency.
- Perfect for product lines that benefit from volume-based bundling (e.g., Popsockets, Hydrant).
Use Case: Drive impulse purchases and increase cart value with structured, value-driven offers.
Best For: Product page bundling, routine building
Features:
- Auto-displays related or complementary products on product pages (Amazon-style).
- Lets you manually create smart bundles for skincare routines, home sets, or tech kits.
- Offers discounts when multiple products are bought together.
- Supports routine-building strategies like Glow Recipe’s skincare bundles.
Use Case: Promote product combinations that make sense, and gently push higher-order values at the decision point.
- Klaviyo
Best For: Personalized email cross-selling, post-purchase flows
Features:
- Automate behavior-based email flows (e.g., product-specific follow-ups).
- Segment by purchase history, browsing behavior, or cart abandonment.
- Send “Complete the Look”, “You May Also Like,” or limited-time bundle offers after purchase.
- Great for email-driven cross-selling like CIDER or Peachy Shapewear.
Use Case: Deliver personalized cross-sell suggestions that feel timely and curated, not generic.
- Selleasy: Upsell & Cross-Sell
Best For: In-cart cross-sells, cart drawer product suggestions
Features:
- Add “Frequently Bought Together”, “Related Items,” and product add-ons to product, cart, or post-purchase pages.
- Supports manual or automatic recommendations.
- Includes side drawer/collapsible cart offers, ideal for variety-style shopping like OLIPOP.
Use Case: Help customers customize or build their cart while maintaining a smooth, distraction-free shopping experience.
- Popupsmart
Best For: Pop-up-based cross-selling, exit-intent offers, discount prompts
Features:
- Display timed or behavior-triggered pop-ups to highlight bundles, add-ons, or discount combos.
- Segment by cart content or user activity.
- Ideal for store entry offers and exit pop-ups that recover abandoned users.
Use Case: Blend email capture and cross-sell prompts in one, with a branded and engaging experience.
Wrapping up
Cross-selling is an effective strategy to increase revenue, improve customer experience, and boost brand loyalty. The above 11 examples show how tailored, timely, and relevant offers can turn a single-item purchase into a high-value order. Whether through product page recommendations, post-purchase emails, pop-ups, or quantity discounts, these brands succeed by focusing on relevance, personalization, and ease of discovery. Shopify store owners can apply those strategies of cross-selling to their business, or flexibly implement other tactics such as downsell or upsell.
Most importantly, track your results by monitoring metrics like average order value, conversion rates, and post-purchase engagement to refine your approach.
Sophia Dao is a Shopify Conversion Specialist at WizzCommerce, specializing in e-commerce and Shopify solutions. With a passion for digital marketing and a keen eye for detail, Sophia creates engaging content that helps businesses thrive online. When she’s not writing, she enjoys exploring the latest trends in tech and commerce. Follow Sophia for practical e-commerce tips and the latest marketing insights!
