Those ecommerce sites that want to see a nice increase in sales should certainly consider all of the benefits that cross-selling can offer. It is a great way to help your customer get everything he or she needs while increasing your own sales. Cross-selling simply means that you are offering your customers merchandise related to the items they are already buying. You are not requiring that they buy anything else; you are merely suggesting some things that they might want or need.
Amazon is very good at this. Their “customers also bought” feature shows several products that customers often buy at the same time. You should do the same thing with your customers whether you are selling through Amazon or not. It offers a number of benefits, namely increasing the value of the order. It can also help to increase conversion rates.
Best Practices for Cross-Selling
Customers do not want to feel as though your site is the equivalent of the impulse buy displays in a grocery store. You need to make sure you are showing items that are actually relevant for the items they are already considering. If they are purchasing a videogame, showing them other games, controllers, and related items is perfect. Showing them shoes or fishing rods is not. The only way to show additional sales is to make sure the products somehow relate to one another.
Many ecommerce websites will couple this with some upselling. For example, if the aforementioned customer is buying one game, you could offer a 10% discount if they also buy a controller with it. You can show different sizes of the same or similar products as well. If someone is purchasing a memory card for their camera, show other cards on the product page or the checkout page that may offer more space.
Things to Avoid
While it might be tempting to add as many different types of products as you can to a page thinking that you could get more sales or that you could sell higher priced items, doing so could be a bad idea. Do not clutter the page up with too many options and offers. Instead, have just a few of the most relevant items come up as additional options to purchase. Never show items that are out of stock unless you are able to take backorders for them.
You have to consider where you will show the additional items you are hoping to cross-sell. There is no tried and true method of what works the best, so it might take some experimentation. You may have more success by placing the items directly below the one the customer is buying. Instead, it might work better for you to have them in the right sidebar where they are easy to see. Determine which one will work the best for your ecommerce website and the products you are selling.
You can also get help from Appath who can assist with your site, management, promotions, and much more. They can help to make things be easier for sellers of all sizes.
Summary: One of the great ways to get some more sales is with cross-selling. This simply means you will show the customer some items related to the one that he or she might be purchasing, such as accessories. For example, if someone were to buy a new phone, some of the great cross-sell items would be phone cases, protective plastic sheets for the screen, and chargers. Adding cross-selling to your ecommerce website is a great way to help boost sales while letting customers know about other products they might actually want and need to go along with their purchase.
Resource: http://www.getelastic.com/cross-selling-tips-ecommerce/