Term

What is Cross-Selling?

3 MIN READ

Cross-Selling

Cross-selling is a selling technique to increase revenue from a customer by offering him to buy an item, which is related to the purchased product. For example, when a customer orders french fries at McDonald’s he will be asked whether he wants a sauce to it. 

Examples of cross-selling

One of the most relevant examples of cross-selling in ecommerce is a “frequently bought together” section under the product’s page. This section covers combinations of a selected product with other goods, which are related to it. For example, when purchasing a tablet, customers frequently buy cases and screen protectors, thus it will appear in the “frequently bought together” section.

Other examples of cross-selling are:

  • At the checkout in supermarkets, customers are asked whether they want to purchase a bag to carry their groceries.
  • When buying electronics, sales representatives offer customers purchasing an extended warranty or service packages.
  • Car dealers can offer to buy insurance for the car during or after the purchase.

Cross-selling and upselling

Cross-selling can be confused with the upselling sales technique. Still, these two approaches differ from each other because cross-selling encourages customers to buy a related product while upselling aims to convince customers to buy a more expensive version of the product. As an example, if a customer buys a smartphone, upselling technique will be to offer this customer buy a version of this phone that has more storage, while the cross-selling technique, in this case, is to offer a power bank along with the purchase.  

Ways to implement cross-selling

Here are some practices, which can be used to make cross-selling a part of any business:

  • Discounted prices. Usually, customers don’t want to make an additional purchase because it seems expensive for them. But they can change their minds if they’re offered to buy both items with an additional discount
  • Required accessories. For instance, let’s take wireless headphones. Usually, they only include a power cord, which is impractical in terms of charging, so there is a higher chance of them buying a power adapter in addition to their headphones.
  • Bundles. As well as manufacturers, retailers, and ecommerce businesses can offer customers a bundle with related products, which they find useful. For example, gaming console bundles include a console and games to play.

 

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