Marion Drapala
Introduction
A well-executed cross-selling campaign enables an e-commerce business to boost its revenue by growing the average order value.
This cross-selling marketing strategy—in French, “ventes croisées”—is all about suggesting complementary products to those your visitors view, add to their cart, or purchase.
A Cross-selling Strategy Proven for Centuries
From its origins…
Historically, cross-selling started in physical stores. Sales associates naturally recommended shoe polish with a just-tried pair of leather shoes, or a matching tie with a newly-bought shirt.
Over time, marketers saw that cross-selling increased the average order value without reducing purchase frequency.
At the same time, it boosts customer loyalty through personalized recommendations that make buyers feel understood.
Cross-selling has become an essential marketing tactic for most retailers—except, of course, for those who offer just a single product or service.
…to its automation
Today, Marketing Automation tools like ShopiMind allow you as an online retailer to automate and personalize the product recommendations you show your customers.
These tools automatically analyze each customer’s profile based on their preferences, purchase history, and browsing activities. They then intelligently suggest the most relevant products for each contact.
This is a powerful lever to drive up your average order value—requiring only a simple initial setup.
Discover our real-life use case & see how to increase your average order value and sales with AI-powered product recommendations in “Cross-selling/Up-selling e-commerce”
From your very first customers, you increase your ROI. Afterwards, you simply monitor your statistics and optimize your campaigns.
A Tool to Integrate Into Your Marketing Automation & Campaigns
Cross-selling can enhance most of your marketing campaigns, regardless of the channel (Email, Smart Content on site, Facebook Messenger).
One major benefit is that you can weave it seamlessly into your campaigns without increasing marketing pressure.
Cross-selling & Marketing Automation: The Winning Combination
It’s also highly effective in a Smart Content on site strategy. Since your lead or customer is already in a discovery or purchase process, it’s the perfect opportunity to suggest complementary products.
Make sure your messaging remains consistent throughout the customer journey—don’t overwhelm your contacts with options, but rather guide them toward making choices.
For instance, you can highlight product bundles that combine well on your social channels.
Then refine the bundle using smart lists within a newsletter—with a call to action leading to a personalized product page featuring more recommendations.
See a cross-selling, multi-channel scenario in our article “10 must-have automated marketing scenarios for your e-commerce.”
Cross-selling: The Right Product at the Right Time
To increase the ROI of a cross-selling campaign, it’s essential to segment your audience strategically. Expectations differ depending on their progress within the customer journey.
Acquisition
Acquisition is one of the few phases of the customer journey where cross-selling should be used sparingly.
At this stage, you don’t yet know the interests of each lead.
Even if your campaigns are well-targeted, most are based on social-demographic factors that don’t reflect the unique preferences of each individual.
Avoid spreading yourself thin—too many choices can confuse prospects and dilute your brand image.
Focus on simple cross-selling using your bestsellers for best results.
ShopiMind Smart Lists Ideal for Acquisition:
- Smart cross-selling
- Bestsellers from my catalog
- Bestsellers from certain categories
- Bestsellers from the most represented category
- Bestsellers of the most represented product category
- Bestsellers from certain manufacturers
- New arrivals from certain categories
- New arrivals from my catalog
- New arrivals from certain manufacturers
- Manual selection from your catalog
To explore additional acquisition strategies, check out our article “How to boost your client acquisition?”
Conversion with Personalized Product Recommendations
When aiming to convert a lead who hasn’t purchased yet, their browsing history is your best source for cross-selling.
Recommend products similar to those they’ve viewed by focusing on the top sellers in their most recently visited category.
If you want to suggest more products, add those that are frequently ordered by customers with similar behaviors.
ShopiMind Smart Lists Ideal for Conversion:
- Smart cross-selling
- Bestsellers in the visited category
- Bestsellers in the last viewed category
- Bestsellers from the current or most recently viewed product category
- Bestsellers from the visited manufacturer
- New arrivals from certain manufacturers
Reactivation
Like any brand, your database likely includes inactive clients who haven’t purchased in several months.
At first glance, it may seem challenging to re-engage these clients.
However, a customer who has already bought from your store has already trusted you—and may be ready to do so again.
They may be interested in your additional offers provided via cross-selling.
Purchase history is your best starting point for these clients. This can reawaken past positive experiences that spark new purchases.
Reactivating lapsed customers is all about tapping into reassuring purchase history and offering a tempting new product.
Recommend your latest bestsellers or products frequently reordered by similar customers.
ShopiMind Smart Lists Ideal for Customer Reactivation:
- Smart cross-selling
- Order product reminders
- New arrivals from my catalog
- New arrivals from certain categories
- New arrivals from certain manufacturers
- Bestsellers from the visited manufacturer
- Bestsellers in the last viewed category
- Bestsellers from the current or most recently viewed product category
Retention After the First Purchase
In a post-purchase email, such as a confirmation or thank you, products promoted via cross-selling are directly related to the order.
This is the perfect moment to suggest complementary products.
A customer who already ordered has a 60% to 70% probability to buy again, compared to just 5% to 20% for new clients (source: Marketing Metrics).
ShopiMind Smart Lists Ideal for Initial Retention:
- Smart cross-selling
- Order product reminders
- Bestsellers in the visited category
- Bestsellers in the last viewed category
- Bestsellers from the current or most recently viewed product category
- Bestsellers from the visited manufacturer
- Manual selection from your catalog
Retention After Multiple Purchases
One of the best ways to nurture customer loyalty is by creating a sense of belonging to a community.
Other customers’ purchases influence your buyer. You give them a concrete view of the latest trends in the category they’re interested in.
These recommendations can be supported by testimonials from other buyers, to inspire and reinforce that sense of identification.
ShopiMind Smart Lists Ideal for Retention:
- Bestsellers from my catalog
- Bestsellers from certain categories
- Bestsellers in the visited category
- Bestsellers in the last viewed category
- Bestsellers from the current or most recently viewed product category
- Bestsellers from the most represented category
- Bestsellers of the most represented product category
- Bestsellers from certain manufacturers
- Bestsellers from the visited manufacturer
Focus on B2B Services
In a B2B campaign, it’s smart to focus on additional services to what your client already uses. Support for implementing a product or extra sessions for a training course are great examples.
ShopiMind Smart Lists Ideal for B2B Services:
- Bestsellers from my catalog
- New arrivals from my catalog
- Bestsellers from certain categories
- Bestsellers from the visited category
- Bestsellers in the last viewed category
- Bestsellers from the current or most recently viewed product category
- Bestsellers from certain manufacturers
- New arrivals from certain categories
- Manual selection from your catalog
Conclusion
Cross-selling is a strategic asset you can integrate into your campaigns to boost ROI by increasing your average order value.
It’s an indispensable tool that’s quick to implement and delivers ongoing results, especially during key periods such as the holiday season.
Now it’s your turn!
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