Up-Sell, Cross-Sell and Related Products in WooCommerce
Confused about how to use the Up-Sell, Cross-Sell, and Related Products features in WooCommerce? You are not alone. It can be challenging to wade through the differences among the three options and know which is the right one to use for your products.
One of the reasons why WooCommerce is the best eCommerce solution is because it provides powerful tools for increasing sales…for FREE. Up-Sell, Cross-Sell and Related Products are built into the Core of WooCommerce without the need for additional plugins. Used correctly, the Up-Sells and Cross-Sells in particular can be powerful tools to increase sales.
What are Up-Sells, Cross-Sells and Related Products?
Up-Sells are used to entice the customer into purchasing an upgraded model. In other words, they up-sell the customer. Since the customer has not yet chosen the primary product, the WooCommerce places the Up-Sell products in the obvious location – on the product page.
Cross-Sells are used to offer additional items related to the primary item. Unlike the Up-Sell products the Cross-Sell products encourage the customer to add a complimentary product to their cart. (“Do you want fries with that?”) The right time to offer Cross-Sell products to the customer is when the primary product decision has been made. Therefore, WooCommerce places the cross-sell products on the Cart page, where the users go after adding their their product to the cart.
Related Products are a simpler matter. All you need to do to have Related Products display is to use product categories. Like magic, WooCommerce finds products in the same category and displays them below each product. However, if you decide to choose Up-Sell products, you may not want the Related Products to display at all. If you don’t want Related Products to display, your developer can add a PHP script to turn them off. (Instructions to turn them off.)
Compare and Contrast
| Related Products | Up-Sells | Cross-Sells |
| Displayed on Product Pages | Displays on Product Pages | Displays on the Cart Page |
| Title: Related Products | Title: You may also like… | Title: You may also like… |
| Automatically chooses products in the same category. | Products designated in the “Linked Products” tab | Products designated in the “Linked Products” tab |
How to Add Cross-Sell and Up-Sell Products
Time needed: 10 minutes
It’s easier than you think to add cross-sell and up-sell products. Once you navigate to where you add them, the rest is easy!
- Sign in
Start by signing in to your WordPress website. Navigate to the product that you would like to edit.
- Find Product
Navigate to the product you would like to add Cross-Sells and/or Up-Sells to.
- Product Data – Linked Products
Scroll down to the Product Data section, and open the tab for linked products.
- Add Products
Once you navigate to the right place to add your up-sell and cross-sell products, the rest is easy! Just type in a few letters to find the products.
- Save and Check
Don’t forget to “Update” and check your product to see if the Up-Sell products are appearing on the Product page, and the Cross-Sell appearing on the Cart page.
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, it is very easy to set up Cross-Sell and Up-Sell products once you understand how to use them. And Up-Sell and Cross-Sell products are powerful tools store owners can use to increase sales. Like most of WordPress, the adding Up-Sells and Cross-Sells is easy, but not intuitive. Even so, the most difficult challenge will be to decide what the cross-sell and up-sell products should be. If you have a lot of products, you may want to use the automatic Related Products to give your clients more choices, and only use the Up-Sells on the key products for your store.
Frequently Asked Questions
Purpose: Up-Sell Products raise customer awareness of a higher quality product and are intended to “up-sell” the customer on a more highly priced product.
Display Title: You may also like…
Where it Displays: The Up-Sells appear on the product page.
How to Install: The Up-Sell Products are added product by product in the “Linked Products” tab.
Purpose: Cross Sell Products encourage customers to add items connected to the primary product, such as a laptop case for a laptop.
Display Title: You may also like…
Where it Displays: When your customer has selected the primary product and moved toward check-out, Cross Sell Products will appear on the “Cart” page.
How to Install: In the “Linked Products” tab, Cross Sell Products are added product by product.
Purpose: Related Products are similar to Cross Sell products in that they encourage customers to purchase items connected to the primary product. The difference is where they appear on the website.
Display Title: Related Products
Where it Displays: Related Products appear on the product page under “product information” and any Up-Sell Products.
How to Install: Related Products automatically appear as long as you have the products in categories. Related Products can be removed by adding a PHP script.
It depends on the situation and the level of effort you would like to make. Each of the three have different purposes and are set up differently.
The easiest thing to do is allow WooCommerce to run place the Related products for you. In fact, if you don’t want to use Related products, then you need to disable them with a quick PHP script.
If you are willing to do the work you can set the Up-Sells and Cross Sells product by product. It is easy to do this; the settings are in the product section of the product editing page.
When you choose the Up-Sells products that will appear on the Product pages, think about a product that is an upgrade to the product that user is currently viewing. For example, if you are selling garden gnomes, the larger and more expensive garden gnome would be the Up-Sell product.
When you choose Cross Sells for a product, think about additional item that would go with the primary product being purchased. For example, if you are selling a Garden Gnome, perhaps you can suggest that the purchaser should also purchase a stand to hold the garden gnome securely in place.
The Up-Sells is the much stronger choice. The key with the Related Products is that there is no choice. WooCommerce displays products in the same categories, and these may or may not be Up-Sells. If you are able to commit the time necessary to choosing Up-Sells, it could help you sell more steaks over hamburgers.
Would you like one-on one training on how to set up Cross-Sells and Up-Sells to your WooCommerce website? Need help from a developer to turn off the Related Products? White Buffalo Websites can help you set up your website and learn how to maintain it yourself.