11 Cross-Sells for your Shopify Store to Complement Sales

Adding cross-sells to your Shopify checkout is one of the best ways to increase your AOV (Average Order Value).

It is estimated that nearly 300 million people in the United States will become online shoppers by 2023. In fact, it’s quite clear that online shopping is rapidly becoming the norm worldwide. But it’s still a growing market and there are still many people who are somewhat skeptical about buying certain goods online. The key is knowing what the majority is after and if they’re willing to buy it from a virtual store.

Nearly every product will have some niche that it caters to, but you want to target the larger niches that will help you increase your sales.

Here is a list of items that have been popular among customers for both online and offline purchases:

Popular Categories

This is a categorical division of items that you can sell to lead to a growth in sales of your online store.

1. Athleisure

Research indicates that athleisure sales are forecasted to reach a whopping $355 billion by 2021. While many fashion trends come and go, athleisure is here to stay. You probably see countless people on the subway every day in their striped yoga pants, tank tops and rubber slides. It’s basically activewear that is worn as an average daily wear look as opposed to being worn for some sort of physical activity.

This one niche can be exploited in multiple ways to enhance sales. It can include a unisex line, collaboration with another renowned brand (or a popular celebrity) or even selling in bundles. Design your website in such a way that it leads customers from their daily wear items to other accessories, such as a yoga mat to go with their new sweat pants or a fitness watch.

With fitness being the new millennial “trend”, you need to make your products their must- haves. One major way many brands are doing this is through celebrity endorsements and publicity through Instagram fitness gurus. For instance, Kylie Jenner recently became a brand ambassador for Adidas.

2. Pet Care Supplies

Within the US alone, expenditure on pet care has risen from $48.35 in 2010 to around $75 in 2019. In addition, the percentage of people buying pet products online is also constantly on the rise.

The best place to catch your customers is through Instagram. Select a certain pet, such as an account dedicated just to dogs or cats. For most pet owners, pets are a part of the family. What you want to focus on is their impulse decision of wanting to buy a dog bed (or a cat castle) if they see a golden retriever lounging on one.

In fact, you may even have animal “ambassadors” such as the internet famous “grumpy cat” to amp up sales through merchandise collaboration or just to market your existing products.

3. Jewelry

We’re not talking about selling luxury jewelry items, such as those from Cartier or Tiffany & Co. you may have noticed numerous stores on Etsy selling customized accessories and other contemporary jewelry, such as minimalist necklaces, color-changing stones and so on. Although this market is already quite densely populated with countless stores involved in nearly the same line of business, you just need to find a way to stand out from the crowd.

In this case, the path to profitability is to focus on a particular niche and find the right channels to increase your brand’s visibility. Videos, celebrity endorsements and sponsoring small-scale fashion events (if you have the funds) are a great way to get publicity and up your brand’s image.

4. Baby Care Items

It seems fitting that new parents won’t really have the time to go to the store and pick out what they want. Mothers, in particular, may take care of their shopping needs on their phone as they breastfeed their child. This particular segment provides you plenty of room for expansion and diversity. After all, children require everything, from strollers, to high chairs to car seats. Not to mention, all those items that parents buy just because they saw them online, such as giant stuffed toys, musical toy sets and so on.

You can even customize promotions according to the season. Child-sized colorful pool floats are perfect for summer, whereas baby-sized parkas are better if you’re targeting customers in colder regions. Just remember, parents are willing to splurge on their newborns (provided they have the budget) and it is relatively easier to arouse a latent need for items they didn’t know they needed.

5. Nail Care

If you’ve ever had the time to explore the DIY side of YouTube, you’ve probably noticed that there are quite a few nail art channels gaining popularity. With nail artists making it to the infamous YouTube rewind, they’re part of the many new creative trends of the late 2000s.

Nail art isn’t just about your standard range of nail polish with a plain or sparkly nail polish.

Modern innovations, such as gel polishes that can be dried instantly under UV lamps and nail polish kits you can use to quickly apply a fresh coat at work have entered the market.

Find out what makes you stand out: are your polishes vegan, cruelty-free, organic, breathable? Market them based on that niche to develop a loyal customer base.

6. Technology

Technology is, of course, a very broad category, but the broader the category, the more room you have for expansion. You may start out with a particular item as your primary focus, such as headsets and earphones or smartwatches, but you can expand to include mobile phones, smart devices (such as Google Home) and laptop computers.

You need to choose which socio-economic sector you want to target. For instance, are you after premium users such as those who have to own a pair of AirPods or the latest iPhone, or are you

after budget users who prefer cheaper versions of the same items, such as those from certain Chinese brands? Many e-stores are able to increase sales by providing both options and catering to the masses.

7. Home Care Accessories

Similar to the new moms who shop online while taking care of their children or when their child rests, you’ll need similar marketing to capture those who buy home accessories online. It’s all about the aesthetic here, and since the customer may not really have a strong urge to buy, say a new handwoven rug, you need to find the right way to convince them that they can’t live without it.

Again, this is also a very broad category with plenty of room for expansion. From kitchen to the lounge to bedroom accessories, you can cover every room in the house and even the patio space outside. In addition, you can make your marketing specific, for instance, advertising new kitchen décor for a newlywed couple or a wall shelf with many compartments for people with children.

For relatively high involvement items like these, videos are a good way to capture your potential customers’ attention since this will help them visualize what the product will actually look like in their own home. You can even take your marketing strategies to the next level (if you have the budget) by offering a virtual reality tour, or the option to upload a photo of their own space so they can have a look at how the new set of frames will fit into their living room.

Specific Items That’ll Sell

While we’ve covered some broad categories that can increase sales for your company over time and help you maintain it over the years, there are certain products that can specifically be the cause for your increased sales. If you’re confused, let us help you out with an example: Although Disney produces media content, has its own parks and merchandise, it is their media content that generates the major share of their profit. Similarly, a tech e-store may sell a range of products, but the smartwatches might be contributing to 50% of its sales revenue.

There are certain items like these that have been trending, particularly in 2018-19:

8. Shape Wear

Shape wear may be something that comes to the top of your mind with Kim Kardashian’s latest controversy surrounding the name of her newly-launched shape wear line. It is estimated that this niche will be worth around $5.6 billion by 2023! And it’s not just the lingerie industry that’s

tapping into this trend. Many fashion retailers provide body shaping wear to go under their clothes, making it the norm to wear it on the daily instead of just on special occasions. In fact, many brands are producing body-shaping wear that comes in a range of colors to match any skin color and blend in.

9. Wireless Chargers

Everyone needs a portable, wireless charger that they can carry with themselves wherever they go. You will have to cater to any and every phone user, from the one with a Samsung S9 who needs a premium charger, to the one who doesn’t care if the charger eventually fizzles out, as long as they don’t have to shell out too much money for it.

10. Car Phone Holder

With Google maps dominating nearly all our journeys, whether they’re by bike or car, a car phone holder is somewhat of a necessity. Everyone needs to be able to see the map without having to hold on to their phone as they drive. Remember, that a product like this will not exactly be the only product you sell. However, it will be a great way to complement your regular sales. For instance, every time someone buys a phone, ask them if they’d like a car phone holder with it.

11. Posture Corrector

With a majority of the population being stuck in a 9-5 situation, everyone tends to slack off and start slouching while they’re at their desk. There are a number of interesting posture correcting items that have recently entered the market: there is a device that sends you a small buzz if you slouch, a dive that can turn into a chair if you’re out with nowhere to sit and so on. It is still a growing market and a niche you can definitely get into to design the latest gadget that can

improve posture without breaking the bank.

A Final Word on Complementing Sales Growth

With the right strategy and the right insights on your customers, you can sell anything. It is important to keep track of changing demands, what your competition is up to, and creating a need in the market before it is even discovered. After all, the world didn’t even know it needed touch phones till Steve Jobs came along. Rather than following existing trends, discover a gap in the market and become the trendsetter.

For online sales, just remember that social media has an influence on nearly 87% of online shoppers. Essentially, it is through well-targeted social media marketing that you will get the majority of the customers to visit your store. Once they’re there, you have to get them to click on “add to cart” by providing them with the relevant products.

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