Product Page Upsells, by Type of Product

Most product page upsell lists start with the add-ons: a case, a cleaner, a gift box. That is backwards. An add-on only makes sense next to a particular kind of product, and the same accessory that works beside a 200 dollar appliance looks like a trick beside a 20 dollar candle. This guide starts from the product the shopper is already looking at, which we will call the anchor, sorts anchors into four types, and gives each type a rule for what to show, how much the add-on can cost and where it should sit. The price ceilings and placements are our rules of thumb, not benchmarks, and there are no conversion figures here because we have none to cite.

Start from the anchor

Take your twenty best-selling products and write one line for each: what is it, what does the shopper do with it, and what happens right after they buy it. That one line decides the type. A kettle is used for years. A bag of coffee is used up. A jacket has to fit. A candle is often bought for someone else. The four types below cover most catalogs, and a product can sit in only one of them at a time.

Before the list, two vocabulary points from Shopify's documentation, because they decide which kind of recommendation you set up. The Help Center describes complementary products as products often bought in addition to a selected product, and related products as products similar to a selected product. Related recommendations are generated for you automatically, while complementary ones are ones you choose in the Search & Discovery app, up to 10 per product. The developer documentation's recommendations endpoint takes an intent of related or complementary, defaulting to related. Our frequently bought together guide covers the mechanics, so this post only uses the distinction: complements suit the first and fourth types below, and similar items suit the third.

The four types of anchor

Durable products: what it needs to work

A durable product is bought once and used for a long time: a kettle, a lamp, a backpack, a grinder. The upsell is whatever the product needs to keep working or look after it: a cleaner, a replacement filter, a protective case, a spare part. These add-ons are natural because the shopper already knows the main product will need them eventually, and they are easy to say no to because they are small next to the main purchase.

The ceiling matters here. Suppose the anchor is a 180 dollar kettle. Our ceiling of 25 percent is 45 dollars. A 14 dollar descaler and a 22 dollar filter set are both below it. A 90 dollar second kettle is not an add-on, it is a second purchase, and showing it as one makes the offer look like a pitch for a larger spend.

Consumables: the same product, again

A consumable is used up, so the best upsell is more of it: a larger size or a second unit. Both are the anchor, so the add-on cannot be accessory-sized and the ceiling is the anchor's own unit price. If the anchor costs 28 dollars, the second unit at 28 dollars is the most the offer should charge, and a discount belongs in a volume discount, not in the upsell. Our guide on upsell discount pricing shows what a discount on the add-on costs you at different attach rates.

Place it beside the quantity selector, because that is where the shopper decides how many. An add-on below the fold asks them to reconsider a decision they have already made.

Fit-dependent products: a second color, not a second size

For apparel and anything that has to fit, the upsell is an item that does not depend on the size decision: a second color of the same item, listed as its own product, or a layering piece like a scarf with a coat. We steer away from offering a second size of the same item. A shopper who has not decided which size fits should not be invited to buy two. That is our reasoning, not a finding, and your own returns data is the better judge.

Our ceiling is 50 percent of the anchor price. With a 64 dollar jacket, the add-on is at most 32 dollars, which fits a scarf or a beanie. Show it only after a size is chosen, so the offer follows a decision instead of interrupting one.

Gifts: wrap, a card, a match

When a product is bought as a gift, the add-on makes the gift complete: wrapping, a card with a note, or a matching item. Keep the cost small. We use 20 percent of the anchor for wrap or a card and 40 percent for a matching item. On a 50 dollar candle, that is 10 dollars for the wrap and 20 dollars for a matching candle holder.

Put it in the cart, next to the gift's own line, because that is where the shopper has just decided it is a gift. If you also offer a gift with purchase at a spend level, check that the two offers do not stack into a gift the shopper pays for twice.

Choosing the add-on itself

Three checks apply to any add-on in any of the four types:

1. It must be in stock. An add-on that shows as available and then cannot ship damages the main sale. If the add-on is also a component of a bundle, count both uses of its stock.
2. Its margin must hold at the price you show. If the add-on carries a discount, work out how much extra attach it needs before you publish.
3. It must be cheaper to explain than to ignore. The shopper reads the add-on in a second. If it needs a sentence of description, it belongs in a different offer.

Look at the result by type

Measure each type separately, since a durable-anchor add-on and a consumable one are different offers with different results. Our attach rate guide shows how to compute the share of orders that include the add-on from an order export. Review it after enough orders to compare, and change one thing at a time, such as the placement or the ceiling, so you know which change moved the number.

Build it

For a matching-products offer on a product page, the Frequently bought together template in Freebies Engine by Log Studio Lab is described as "Suggest matching products on the product page." Pick one anchor from your twenty, match it to a type above, apply its ceiling to the add-on's price and place it as the table says. See the plan requirements on the pricing page.