Would You Like Fries with That? Cross-Selling 101

Back in January and December, I was spending a lot of time on Amazon trying to create a Baby Registry.

As a first timer whose Mom didn’t necessarily use the internet to create a baby registry, I was on my own figuring this out.

Fortunately, hundreds (or thousands) of moms-to-be in recent years have used Amazon to create a registry, so Amazon has plenty of guides for people creating a registry from scratch.

One of the helpful tools that Amazon has as you are viewing a specific product is “Customers who bought this also bought…” (and “…also viewed” and “Sponsored Products related to this item”).

As someone who needed a little bit of handholding during this process, this feature was greatly appreciated. It’s also known as “cross-selling,” or selling a different product/service to an already existing customer.

If I was shopping on a specific brand’s website, cross-selling would look a little different. Say for instance I’m looking for a crib. Common cross-sells would be crib sheets, a blanket, and maybe a mobile. Other times you may have seen cross-selling in action include “Would you like fries with that?” and “Who wants to see a dessert menu?” (Guess where my brain is at today?).

Your business may not be quite as big as Amazon, but you can still implement cross-selling techniques on your own website.

General Facts About Cross-Selling

Since it involves selling to someone who is probably already a customer, or even in the middle of a purchase, cross-selling really is a “nothing to lose” scenario. In order to get the most out of your cross-selling , there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind.

First- cross-selling is relevant. If someone is buying a baby stroller, Amazon doesn’t offer a Keruig as a suggested purchase- they offer other baby products and/or different baby strollers by other brands. While you could argue that a Keruig is sort of related to someone gearing up for a baby, that’s too much of a stretch for a good cross-sell.

This article suggests using “you” in cross-selling pitches, because it feels more personal. Amazon does this using “Recommended for You,” or in some cases, “Recommended for [your name].” My advice is to go with your gut on this one- during an in-person transaction, I’d probably feel closer to the sales-person and more likely to make a purchase if they were using my name, but knowing that a website is using an algorithm to produce my first name doesn’t elicit that same response (and some people are creeped out by this). Sticking with the general “you” might be the safer way to go.

Shopify also offers the suggestion of adding products that people would generally be familiar with as cross-selling options, because it’s more likely more people will make a purchase if they know what the product is.

Another tip- keep the cost of cross selling items relatively low. The actual suggestion is to keep the overall cost of the order within a 25% increase of the original order (i.e. whatever the customer was planning to order before adding on), while Forbes suggests 35%. Either way, that’s more money than you would have made otherwise.

Cross-Selling Before/During Checkout

Odds are, your website is not as robust as Amazon (the idea of creating that website makes my head spin). However, depending on what type of cart software you have, you may have the ability to add cross-selling into your cart.

Woocommerce comes built with the ability to add cross-selling options to your cart, whereas Shopify requires you to get an add-on app through their website. Investigate the software you use for ecommerce- it may require an add-on or already be built in, but it’s usually fairly simple to set up afterwards. This requires some data entry and thoughtfulness on your part, as you go through your products and think of relevant recommendations (remember- you don’t have to have a cross-sell option for each one of your products- just where they make the most sense).

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box here, either- you can cross-sell services for your products, too. For instance, if I were purchasing a crib, maybe the cross-sell service would be delivery + assembly for people who live within 25 miles of the store. Other examples of services you can add to products include 24 hour support, 1 year warranty, insurance, and so on.

Even if you don’t have a product/service on your website that you’re trying to sell, you can still offer something similar. A lot of the blogs I read will offer suggested posts based on the one I’m currently reading, and they’re usually related to the topic at hand (it’s also a great way to remind people of your older content). If you have a WordPress website, WP Beginner suggests these 5 “Related Posts Plugins” that can set this up for you.

Cross-Selling After the Sale

Although cross-selling typically happens as a person is shopping or as they are checking out, there is still a chance that they’ll be interested in a cross-sell after the fact. This can double as a customer service follow-up after a purchase.

For instance, if someone buys a lawnmower from you, sending them an email newsletter following up about the quality of their product is never a bad idea. You can include some cross selling items in that newsletter, such as a bagger that stores the cut grass as you’re mowing. Maybe at the time of purchasing the customer didn’t see a need for this, but after a few weeks and seeing the email they will think, “Hmm, I have had to spend a half hour raking after I mow, this could really cut down my time…”- in other words, the value is now apparent.

This isn’t quite the same as a checkout cross-sell, but you get points for customer service follow up and it’s a good chance to get customer service points, and you may make another sale.