What is a cross-sell?
A cross-sell is a sales tactic used by businesses to encourage customers to purchase an additional product or service that is related to their current purchase. It is often used in retail and e-commerce, travel and hospitality, banking, and insurance industries.
Cross-selling vs up-selling — what’s the difference?
Cross-selling and upselling are both marketing strategies that businesses use to increase sales.
Cross-selling involves recommending related products or services that complement the item/s a customer has selected.
Upselling, on the other hand, involves offering customers a more expensive alternative to what they have already chosen.
What are some examples of cross-selling?
Below are some examples of cross-selling across different industries:
Retail: a brick-and-mortar clothing store offering customers a discount on a belt or denim cleaner when they purchase a new pair of jeans.
E-commerce: a customer buying a smartphone online being shown cases and screensavers that would complement their purchase.
Travel/hospitality: a customer booking a flight may be given a discounted rate on car rental or hotels at their destination.
What are the benefits of cross-selling?
For brands willing to invest the time in devising an effective cross-sell strategy, cross-selling can provide many benefits, including:
- Increased customer loyalty and satisfaction.
- Increased revenue from additional sales and higher average order value.
- Improved customer engagement by increasing product exposure.
- Enhanced understanding of customer preferences and behavior.
- Greater potential for upselling or introducing customers to new products or services they may not have known about before.
How to create a cross-sell strategy
Brands can build cross-selling into their overall marketing strategy by following these steps:
- Analyze the customer’s purchase history and determine what products they may be interested in. Use historical purchase history from other customers who’ve bought those same products to determine best cross-sell options.
- Identify items that can be easily bundled together or add value to a customer’s current purchase.
- Offer customers discounts to incentivize them to make additional purchases.
- Strategically place information about related products on the product pages of their current items.
- Monitor customer feedback and adjust your strategy accordingly.
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