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Cross-selling is one of the most effective techniques for increasing average order value in e-commerce websites. By suggesting complementary products with the WooCommerce cross sell plugin, you can:
- Enhance customer experience by showing relevant items.
- Increase average order value by 10-30%.
- Improve customer satisfaction with complete solutions.
- Reduce cart abandonment through bundled offers.
Unlike upselling, which focuses on upgrading the main product, cross-selling adds complementary items to the purchase. In this guide, we’ll cover two methods to implement cross-selling in WooCommerce:
- Native WooCommerce functionality (no plugins required)
- Using a plugin to implement WooCommerce cross-sell (for advanced features)
Both methods have their advantages – the native solution is lightweight, while plugins offer more customization. We’ll walk you through each approach step-by-step so you can choose what works best for your store.
What is WooCommerce cross-sell?
WooCommerce cross-sells are complementary products that you offer based on the product that the customers added to their shopping cart.
For example, if customers add hoodies to their cart, you can show caps and gloves so that they can order them if needed.
Why Cross-Selling is Essential for Your WooCommerce Store
Cross-selling is a powerful sales strategy that can transform your WooCommerce store’s performance. By recommending complementary products to customers, you not only increase revenue but also enhance their shopping experience. Here’s why implementing cross-sells should be a priority for your online business:
- Boost Average Order Value (AOV): Suggesting relevant add-ons encourages customers to spend more per transaction, directly increasing your store’s profitability.
- Improve Customer Experience: Personalized product recommendations make shopping easier and more convenient, helping customers discover items they might have missed.
- Increase Customer Loyalty: A seamless and value-driven shopping experience keeps customers coming back by ensuring that you understand their needs.
- Gain a Competitive Edge: A well-executed cross-sell strategy can differentiate your brand in a crowded market.
- Reduce Cart Abandonment: By bundling frequently bought-together items, you simplify decision-making and minimize lost sales.
- Maximize Marketing Efficiency: Cross-selling leverages existing traffic instead of relying solely on new customer acquisition, improving ROI on your marketing efforts.
- Clear Excess Inventory: Strategically promoting related or slow-moving stock through cross-sells helps clear inventory while adding value for shoppers.
Are you ready to take advantage of this strategy? Let’s review how you can set cross-sells with or without the WooCommerce cross sell plugin.
Method 1: Set Up Cross-Sells Without WooCommerce cross sell plugin
WooCommerce includes built-in cross-selling functionality, allowing you to manually link related products by following the steps below:
Step 1: Access the WooCommerce Product Editor
- Go to WordPress > Products > All Products.
- Find the product you want to add cross-sells to (e.g., a Hoodie with logo), then hover it and press Edit option.
Step 2: Locate the Cross-Sell Products Section
- Scroll down to the Product Data section.
- Click on the Linked Products tab.
- You’ll see a field labeled “Cross-sells“.
Step 3: Add Cross-Sell Products
- In the Cross-sells field, start typing the name of the product you want to suggest.
- Select the correct product from the dropdown list.
- Repeat to add multiple cross-sell items.
- Click Update to save your changes
How to add cross-sell products in the WooCommerce cart?
The cross-sell products are displayed on the cart page to the customers under the title of the “You may be interested in…” section.
Method 2: Use WooCommerce cross sell plugin to automate cross-sells
While WooCommerce built-in cross-sell feature works, WooCommerce cross sell plugins take it to the next level with smart recommendations, automated rules, and better conversions.
Here are the best recommended plugins for smarter cross-selling:
1. Free Gifts for WooCommerce
The Free Gifts for WooCommerce plugin allows you to create customized gifting rules based on cart value, product categories, or specific promotions. For example, you can incentivize customers by offering a free lipstick with any purchase or a complimentary body oil when they buy from a certain category. This not only encourages purchases but also introduces customers to new products they might love.
With unlimited gifting rules and detailed reports, you can track the success of your campaigns and refine your strategy for maximum impact.
One of the best cross-sell strategies you can implement with this plugin is encouraging customers to add complementary products to their cart in exchange for free gifts. By pairing related items (like a shampoo with a conditioner or a phone with a case), you can increase upsells while delighting shoppers with a bonus.
The WooCommerce free gift product plugin supports various gifting methods, including “Buy X Get Y,” making it easy to set up attractive deals.
Advanced Features:
- Unlimited Gifting Rules: Create multiple free gift offers based on cart value, product categories, or promotions.
- Flexible Gifting Conditions: Set rules for specific user roles, or specific product purchases and more with one click.
- Auto-Apply Free Gifts: Gifts are automatically added to the cart when conditions are met.
- Exclusive Gift Selection: Let customers choose their free gift from a predefined list.
- Category-Based Gifts: Offer free products from specific categories (e.g., “Get 1 free item from the skincare range”).
- Time-Limited Promotions: Run seasonal or holiday-based gift campaigns (e.g., Black Friday freebies).
- Gift Reports & Analytics: Track which gifts are most popular and measure campaign success.
2. Cart Products Suggestions for WooCommerce
The Products Suggestions for WooCommerce feature helps you increase conversions by displaying personalized product suggestions based on customer behavior, such as browsing history or past purchases. With AI-powered recommendations, your store can intelligently showcase complementary or trending items, enhancing the shopping experience.
The tool seamlessly integrates with WooCommerce analytics, allowing you to track performance and optimize suggestions for higher engagement. You can also customize placement—whether in the cart, checkout, or product pages—to strategically guide customers toward additional purchases.
By leveraging smart recommendations in this WooCommerce cross sell plugin, you can drive cross-sells, upsells, and average order value (AOV), making it a must-have for any WooCommerce store looking to maximize revenue.
Key Features:
- Dynamic suggestions (no manual linking needed)
- A/B testing for best-performing cross-sells
- Mobile-optimized display
3. YITH WooCommerce Frequently Bought Together
The YITH WooCommerce Frequently Bought Together plugin helps you boost average order value by suggesting smart product bundles (e.g., a camera with a tripod and SD card) based on customer purchase patterns. You can incentivize shoppers with exclusive discounts (like “Save 10% when bought together”) to encourage bundle purchases, driving higher conversions.
The intuitive drag-and-drop bundle creator makes it easy to set up and customize product combinations, while real-time suggestions enhance the shopping experience. Perfect for cross-selling complementary items, this plugin is a powerful tool for increasing revenue and improving customer satisfaction in your WooCommerce store.
Key Features:
- Customizable bundle discounts
- AJAX loading (no page reloads)
- Works with variable & subscription products
Why Free Gifts for WooCommerce Stands Out
If you want maximum conversions without complex setups, this plugin is a game-changer:
- Psychological Triggers – Free gifts create urgency & increase AOV.
- No Coding Needed – Set rules in minutes.
- Works with Any Theme – No compatibility issues.
- Track Performance – See which gifts drive the most sales.
WooCommerce cross-sell plugin setup and customization tips
To implement this WooCommerce cross-sell plugin, download and install the ZIP file on your WordPress website.
Then go to iThemeland > License to activate the plugin by inserting the License key.
Once activated, you’ll notice a new “Free Gift” option in your admin dashboard.
To configure your promotional offers, navigate to iThemeland > Free Gift within the WordPress menu.
Here, simply click “Add rule” to establish your first free gift promotion, where you can define product conditions, select complimentary items, and customize how offers display to customers.
The configuration page dynamically displays different settings sections depending on your selected method. This allows you to customize values for each section according to your specific promotional strategy.
This intelligent layout ensures you only see relevant settings while maintaining complete control over your campaign parameters.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of each configuration section:
1. Method Selection
This section determines the core structure of your promotion. You can choose from multiple strategies, including:
- Subtotal: Minimum cart value requirement
- Simple: Buy any qualifying product
- Buy X Get Y: Quantity-based promotions (e.g., Buy 2, Get 1 Free)
- And more
You can select the method that aligns with your campaign goals, whether it’s increasing average order value or promoting cross sell products.
2. Quantities & Settings
Here, you can define the purchase requirements and reward settings. Set the minimum quantity or the value that customers must meet (e.g., buy 3 items or spend $75) and specify how many free gifts they’ll receive.
Enabling “Auto add-to-cart” ensures a seamless experience by automatically applying the gift when conditions are met, reducing friction and boosting conversions.
This section is ideal for creating urgency (e.g., “First 100 customers get a free accessory”) or rewarding bulk purchases.
3. Product Buy
In this section of WooCommerce free gift plugin, you can select which products or categories activate the promotion. You can target specific items (e.g., Hoodie) or broader categories (e.g., Accessories). This flexibility allows for precise campaigns.
4. Product Get
In this section, you need to choose what customers receive as free gifts—either specific products or items from selected categories. Offering multiple gift options can enhance customer satisfaction.
5. Advanced Conditions
In the last section, you have the opportunity to refine your promotion with granular rules. Limit offers by date (e.g., holiday sales), user role (e.g., loyalty members only), or customer status (e.g., first-time buyers).
These controls ensure your promotions are hyper-relevant, maximizing their impact without overspending on giveaways.
Now, let’s review an example to see how you can use this powerful tool as a WooCommerce cross sell plugin.
Free Gifts For WooCommerce Plugin
The easy way to set up product cross-sell in WooCommerce
Example 1: Offer free gift to customers when they add related products to their carts
To implement a cross-sell strategy on your online store, you can offer free gifts based on the below scenario:
If customers order Cap with a T-shirt from your site, they can receive 1 Belt as a free gift.
To create this rule, you need to set the below values for different sections:
- Method: Buy x Get y.
- Quantities and Settings: Buy 2, Get: 1
- Product Get: Include products: Belt
- Condition:
- Add a new condition.
- Choose Cart item – Products for the first box.
- Set At list one of the selected for the second box.
- Select CAP from the product list.
By clicking on the Save changes, this rule will be activated on your shop. So, when customers add Cap with T-shirts to their orders, they will receive 1 Belt as a free gift.
Cross-selling strategies that actually work
Some useful Strategies to Improve cross-sell conversions are like below:
- Recommend Complementary Products: Suggest products that naturally pair with the item in the customer’s cart, such as accessories, add-ons, or frequently bought-together items.
- Use “Customers Also Bought” Sections: Display products that other customers purchased alongside the current item to inspire similar purchases.
- Offer Discounts on Bundles: Provide discounts when customers buy multiple related products together, such as “Buy the camera and get 10% off a memory card.”
- Personalize Recommendations: Use customer data and browsing history to recommend products tailored to their preferences and needs.
- Highlight Benefits of Bundles: Explain how the recommended products enhance the main purchase, such as “Complete your look with this matching bag.”
- Place Cross-Sell Offers Strategically: Show cross-sell suggestions on product pages, the cart page, or during checkout to maximize visibility.
Conclusion
By implementing the right cross-sell strategy, you can boost average order value, improve customer loyalty, and outsell competitors—without aggressive upselling. The Free Gifts for WooCommerce plugin helps you reward shoppers with enticing promotions. Combined with cross sell product recommendations, these tools create a seamless and persuasive shopping experience that drives conversions.
