How to Set Up Cross-Selling and Upselling

This quick planning step helps you focus on the highest ROI opportunities.

Identify a pilot category or top 10 products where recommendations will have the biggest impact. Define success metrics (e.g., +10% AOV, +5% attach rate in 30 days). Prioritize SKUs with high traffic and low attach rate, strong margins, and categories with natural complements (e.g., shoes → insoles, socks). Map for each base product: 3–5 related products, 2–4 upsells, and 2–4 cross-sells.

Go to Catalog > Products. Search for and click the base product (e.g., RUN-SHOE-100). Ensure the product is Enabled, In Stock, and Visible Individually. Confirm it is assigned to the correct Website.

Scroll to the Related Products, Up-Sells, and Cross-Sells section. Click Add Related Products. Use filters to find complementary items (e.g., SHOE-INSOLE-DELUXE, SHOE-CLEAN-KIT). Select 3–5 items and click Add Selected Products. Use the Position column (or drag-and-drop) to set display order; storefront sorting typically respects this order (theme-dependent).

In the same section, click Add Up-Sell Products. Search for premium or higher-margin alternatives (e.g., RUN-SHOE-200-PRO, RUN-SHOE-NEW-TECH). Select 2–4 items and click Add Selected Products. Use the Position column (or drag-and-drop) to set the priority order; confirm on your storefront.

Click Add Cross-Sell Products. Select items suited for impulse purchase at checkout (e.g., ATH-SOCKS-PACK, SPORT-BOTTLE-700ML). Choose 2–4 and click Add Selected Products. Use the Position column (or drag-and-drop) to set order; most themes respect this.

Click Save at the top right. Repeat the process for additional high-traffic products. Focus first on top 10–20 SKUs to maximize impact quickly.

Prepare a product CSV with these columns for each base SKU: sku, related_skus, upsell_skus, crosssell_skus. Example file:

sku,related_skus,upsell_skus,crosssell_skus
RUN-SHOE-100,"SHOE-INSOLE-DELUXE,SHOE-CLEAN-KIT","RUN-SHOE-200-PRO,RUN-SHOE-NEW-TECH","ATH-SOCKS-PACK,SPORT-BOTTLE-700ML"

Go to System > Data Transfer > Import. Set Entity Type = Products, Import Behavior = Add/Update. Upload the file, Validate, then Import. Reindex if needed.

Go to System > Cache Management and click Flush Magento Cache. Then open System > Index Management and confirm key indexers are Ready, especially:

• Product EAV
• Category Products
• Catalog Search (if applicable)

If indexers are set to Update by Schedule, ensure cron is running. CLI alternative: run bin/magento indexer:reindex from your Magento root.

On the storefront, open a configured product page. Verify Related Products and Upsell Products blocks display the exact items you added, in the order you set. Check mobile and desktop views.

If blocks don't appear:

1. 1. Ensure linked products are Enabled, Visible (Catalog, Search), and In Stock
2. 2. Confirm all products are assigned to the same Website as the base product
3. 3. Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Inventory > Stock Options: If Display Out of Stock Products = No, out-of-stock linked items won't show
4. 4. Some themes remove or relocate these blocks—test with a reference theme (e.g., Luma) or consult your theme docs

Add the base product to the cart. Open the cart page (not just the mini-cart). Confirm Cross-Sell items appear. If you added multiple cross-sells, confirm limits and ordering are respected by the theme.

Record a baseline AOV from Reports > Sales > Orders for the prior period. After deployment, monitor AOV weekly. Use Reports > Products > Products in Cart to identify popular combinations. In your analytics, create events or segments to track clicks and add-to-cart from recommendation blocks.

Implementation tips:

• Add a unique CSS class or data attribute to recommendation links (e.g., data-rec-block="related|upsell|crosssell") and configure GA4/Adobe Analytics click events
• Track per-block KPIs: CTR, add-to-cart rate, conversion rate, revenue per session, and AOV
• Review weekly for 4 weeks; prune low performers and replace with better candidates
• Consider an A/B test (show vs hide blocks) for ~2 weeks to quantify impact