How to Use Cross-Selling to Increase Revenue on Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify

Want to increase your average check by 30% on average? We explain how to use cross-selling and why it should not be confused with upselling. As usual, let's start from theory to practice.

A subtle way to sell more
The main factor in the success of cross-products is that they are almost 100% needed by your customer. When buying a new mobile phone, we are interested in cases, protective glasses and other additional accessories. When buying shoes, we usually do not mind adding care products to our basket: cream or water-repellent impregnation.

Actually, here is the answer to what cross-selling of goods is - cross-attributes that complement the main purchase. Of course, the probability that the client will 100% agree to spend a larger amount is impossible. But the chances are still high.

The cross-sell technique is actively used on many trading platforms. In particular, when making purchases on Amazon, we see the recommendation “Buy it with…” right on the page of the selected product.

And then also in the cart, “Recommended products you might like”

So our task is to correctly implement recommendations on page seo service into the marketing funnel, in particular: not to appear intrusive, but to create the effect of a profitable deal.



But do not confuse cross-sell with upsale, since in the second case we offer not a related product, but a more expensive one. For example, get a more spacious apartment for a small surcharge (often used on Booking) or choose a computer with better gaming characteristics if you slightly increase the purchase budget.

On Amazon, upsale is often implemented very delicately, natively - through an offer to compare the selected product with other, more expensive models/products.

Along with upselling, there is also downselling - an offer of a similar product from a lower price segment. This allows you not to lose a client who is interested in buying but does not have sufficient funds.

Cross-selling to increase sales on Amazon, Etsy, Shopify and other platforms
Now let's move on to practice. The first thing you need to do to implement cross-sell for any online store is to conduct data analysis.

In particular, we are interested in which products are most often purchased together. Of course, this can be done from a logical standpoint (watch + strap, set of glasses + coasters). But what, say, can an Etsy seller offer with a handmade sweater?

Without analysis, many would not have guessed that most often customers order a bow hair clip in the color of the sweater and/or earrings made of epoxy resin.

The second step is to create a summary table: we select for each product not only the accessories, components and additions that we have in stock, but also those that we could produce/purchase. That is, there is a possibility that we will have to expand the existing range in parallel.

It’s important that customers can easily find related products. Optimize your site navigation, create a “Frequently bought with this product” block, or add a “Buyers also viewed” section to your listing.

Use attractive offers to encourage cross-selling. These could be discounts on bundles, free shipping when you buy a certain bundle, or limited-time promotions on certain combinations.

The highest level of cross-selling is creating personalized recommendations based on purchase history. For example, you can offer relevant products to a customer via automated email newsletters. Moreover, such offers can be significantly “stretched” in time. For example, on the eve of Halloween, a customer orders a tablecloth with pumpkins from you, and on the eve of Christmas, we offer him to complement the collection with textiles with thematic images.

Once you have implemented a cross-selling strategy, it is important to continually monitor its effectiveness. Conduct A/B tests, study analytics data, and optimize offers to achieve the best results.

Conclusion . Implementing cross-sell to increase sales on Amazon, Etsy, Shopify and other platforms involves: careful data analysis, understanding customer needs and the right offer strategy. Creating convenient navigation and personalized offers will help you effectively use cross-selling to increase your store's revenue.

You can also entrust the development of a marketing strategy and the implementation of changes to experienced marketers from the Nexus digital department.