Note: This article can be helpful for online sellers, especially for those who are new to this eCommerce industry and looking for some effective cross-selling strategies to boost revenue. So this article will take you only 7-8 minutes to read.

First of all: Patience and consistency give definite results

Do not expect that you can RAPIDLY increase revenue with some tips and tricks. Yet patience and consistency with the tricks can take you ahead FOR SURE. So know that there is no rapid elevator, you have to take steady steps patiently to expand your business and increase revenue.

Where you should begin from

Firstly, understand that every sale has its worth. Every single sale is significant enough to give you hints leading towards massive sales. So if you are a new seller and direly need to grow your business, you got to place the right strategies in the right places.

Let’s get the following facts clear before beginning the game:

And it is also observed that 20% of the existing customers give 80% of the future profits.

The above table says that you have to extract most of the profit from your existing customer base. And cross-selling strategies help you achieve the above results.

So in this article, you are going to read five proven cross-selling strategies to increase revenue and AOV.

What is cross-selling?

Cross-selling is a marketing practice to encourage existing customers to buy products that complement their existing purchases. This practice is common in the financial services industry.

Cross-Selling Example

For example, if someone purchases a new mobile phone, you might offer them a power bank or a pair of hands-free as well. Traditionally, salespeople follow this practice at their physical stores.

And on the other hand, digitally, eCommerce stores use smart software personalization to suggest specific items that are relevant to their purchases. These suggestions are offered at various stages of the buying process.

You can see the different statements, preceding the relevant products on different platforms while buying an item like:

• “Customers also viewed these products”
• “You might like to buy these as well”
• “Products related to this item”
• “Buyers also like these products”
• “Frequently bought together”

Here is the most common example, by Amazon:

Cross-Selling vs Upselling

You might have seen people confusing the terms cross-selling and upselling. But there is a thin line between the two that separates them.

Example

So you can see that both upselling and cross-selling strategies are workable to increase revenue and AOV.

But in this post, we will cover only cross-selling strategies. So let’s find out how to get more orders through cross-selling techniques.

Cross-selling Strategies

Here are five effective cross-selling strategies you can try for your online business.

1) Recommend related items

Recommending the related items is one of the most common cross-selling strategies. So let’s just have a quick look at this strategy with the help of an example.

Here’s an Amazon’s example; it has a section named “Products related to this item”

This seems a really basic strategy but it is quite effective. Especially when your products have complementary products in a good number. Moreover, this cross-selling strategy is really simple to accomplish in any eCommerce platform. So you may try this to drive sales more speedily.

2) Recommend recently viewed items

This cross-selling strategy is pretty much similar to the previous one. A thin line that separates the two is, you give the buyer the recommendations related to the recently viewed items. In this section, recommended products are not always related to the product you’re buying.

This is an example of Amazon that has a “recently viewed items” section:

This strategy works the best in a case where you have a good number of returning visitors. And, it helps you maintain user-engagement as well.

3) Present a “Shop the look” to delight customers

The “shop the look” technique refers to the most used feature by fashion stores. These stores also combine multiple products in a complete-featured look. This aim to increase sales. Therefore, it helps your customers in making their purchases by allowing them to see the entire outfit in a look.

 For example:

If a customer is looking for a hoodie and a pair of trousers along, so the website might present him with an entire look. And in many cases, customers usually like the entire look so much that they add the whole set to their cart.

Check out the example below from the ASOS marketplace.

This strategy is observed in the case of furniture too. Suppose you intend to buy a new couch only. But the picture presents is a luxurious living having a couch and a television stand base. So you might like to buy the whole set instead of just the couch.

So it’s about how smartly you present an attractive image to get more orders.

4) Add discount offers on bundle products

This is another effective cross-selling strategy to increase revenue and AOV. All you to do is, combine specific products into bundles. Make a package/deal. Add discount offer on this deal. And finally, emphasize the customer’s savings. This attracts the customers way quickly.

Let’s take an example from Amazon where the customer is willing to buy a bundle of electronics spare parts and save money with a package purchase.

He’d see something like this:

As it is seen that Amazon sells these spare parts individually or in form of several bundles.

5) Market the essential items complementing the product’s performance

Marketing the essential items complementing the product’s performance plays a vital role to boost sales. For example, a visitor comes to your website to buy a lamp. And you have a bulk variety of this very product. Suppose that your website is optimized enough to help visitor quickly reach the exact table lamp he’s looking for.

While making the lamp purchase, he realizes the need to buy a bulb too for the lamp.

So in this case, your website should be smart enough to have a section dedicated to a range of light bulbs.

So, this is another proven example of one of the effective cross-selling strategies. It works for massive item types like:

• Batteries
• Protective cases
• Shoe polish
• Carry bags
• And many more

Summing it up

These cross-selling strategies are very common and basic. But they can give you the full advantage to increase revenue and AOV more effectively. If you successfully accomplish these strategies, you’ll definitely drive sales and grow your business. This also lets you gain a stronger customer experience.