Cross selling

What cross selling means

Cross selling is selling matching additional items alongside the product already chosen. The customer has decided, and complementary goods are offered: accessories, consumables, a matching addition. The advantage is obvious, because the visitor is already paid for. Every extra euro in the basket costs no further advertising, and the contribution margin rises without new traffic.

It has to be distinguished from upselling. There the offer is not an addition but an upgrade: the larger model instead of the smaller, the better version instead of the simple one. Cross selling widens the basket, upselling lifts the line item.

Which forms exist

• Accessories: the clearest case. Anyone buying a camera needs a battery, anyone buying a drill needs bits. The relation is factual and arguable.
• Consumables: spare parts and refills secure the follow up purchase. A reminder for reordering is worth it here as well.
• Additions: items used together without being technically connected, such as a table and a chair.
• Alternative: strictly speaking not cross selling, but often implemented as such: a second option in case the first does not fit.

How the selection works

Three routes lead to recommendations. The first is manual care: a person decides what matches which item. That is accurate for smaller assortments and not feasible for large ones. The second is evaluating orders: items frequently bought together are linked to each other. That is solid because it rests on real behaviour, and it only works with enough orders. The third is automatic recommendation by a system that finds patterns in purchases and views. That scales but is harder to verify.

Why wrong recommendations are expensive

A recommendation that does not fit costs more than it brings. The customer becomes unsure whether they found the right product, and the basket tends to shrink rather than grow. It gets worse with a technically unsuitable accessory recommendation: it produces a return and a customer who no longer trusts the shop. The rule therefore holds that only recommendations with a factual basis are shown.

A second mistake is quantity. Anyone placing six suggestions under every item distracts from the purchase. Two or three in the right place work more reliably than a long list.

Frequent questions

• Where does the note belong? On the product page and in the basket. After the order the revenue is already made.
• Does it work for services? Yes, for instance as a combination of course and coaching, or of seminar and materials.
• How do I measure success? By basket value and the share of orders containing an additional item, not by clicks on the recommendation.