How to Upsell on Shopify: Five Placements and What They Need
To upsell on Shopify, choose the moment: on the product page, in the cart, on a page right after payment, on the thank-you page, or by email later. Shopify gives you product recommendations for the first and marketing automations for the last; the cart widget, the post-purchase page and the thank-you page need an app, and the last two use Shopify’s checkout extensions, which are available from the Basic plan up.
Feature requirements are from Shopify’s Help Center pages on checkout apps, recommendations, automatic discounts, marketing automations and Shop post-purchase offers, read on October 23, 2026.
Upsell or cross-sell
An upsell offers a better or larger version of what the customer is buying; a cross-sell offers something that goes with it. Shopify’s Search & Discovery app covers both ideas on the product page. Related products are similar products, potential substitutes, which is where a pricier version can appear. Complementary products are add-ons often bought with the product, which is cross-selling. Many upsell apps on the App Store offer both kinds of offer. The cross-sell side gets its own guide, product recommendations on Shopify.
Five placements
| Placement | What Shopify provides | App needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Product page | Complementary and related products through Shopify’s own Search & Discovery app, if your theme has those sections | Shopify’s free app |
| Cart | Automatic discounts (amount off, free shipping, buy X get Y) apply in the cart and at checkout; a cart upsell widget is a theme or app feature | For widgets, yes |
| Post-purchase page (between payment and the thank-you page) | A slot for apps built with post-purchase app extensions, on the Basic plan and higher | Yes |
| Thank-you and order status pages | Blocks from apps built with UI extensions for those pages, on Basic and higher, added in the checkout and accounts editor | Yes |
| Marketing automations in Shopify Messaging | No |
Outside your storefront there is a sixth route. In the Shop app, a post-purchase offer gives returning customers an in-app discount if direct selling is on in the Shop channel. For email, Shopify Messaging has an Upsell customers after their first purchase template; the setup is in post-purchase email automation.
Details that decide what you can build:
- Product page. Related products are generated automatically for every product, from purchase history, similar product descriptions (English storefronts only) or related collections; you can’t edit the generated list, but you can add your own picks in Apps > Search & Discovery. Complementary products are the ones you choose. A recommended product shows only if it is active, published to the Online Store, priced above $0.00, not a gift card and not already in the cart. It also has to be in stock: a related product can still show when Continue selling when out of stock is on, but a complementary product needs inventory above 0.
- Cart. You can have up to 25 active automatic discounts, app-based ones included, and shoppers need to add all eligible items for them to apply.
- Post-purchase page. Automatic discounts created in the admin don’t apply here, and neither does a discount code the customer entered at checkout. The offer has to come from an app that handles its own discount.
- Shop app offer. Only one active at a time, with a free shipping, fixed amount or percentage discount. You can’t restrict it to specific collections or products.
Pick the offer
Shopify’s own advice for complementary products is to pick add-ons customers will find useful, that make a good add-on to the original product, and that cost the same or less. Our rules for any placement build on that:
- Make one offer per placement.
- Keep it related to what the person just chose.
- Keep the price below the main item, so saying yes is a small decision.
- Leave out anything the customer has already bought.
A worked example for a store selling a $60 pair of running shoes. On the product page, the related products show the $85 model with better cushioning, which is the upsell, and the complementary slot shows $12 running socks. On the post-purchase page, where an app runs the offer, a $9 shoe cleaning kit comes with 15% off, priced low enough that the customer doesn’t reconsider the shoes.
Measure it
Count the average order value and the orders with the offer accepted, over equal periods before and after, and change one placement at a time so you know which one moved the number. If an app runs the offer, compare what it reports with your Shopify sales reports for the same dates. A post-purchase offer comes after the order is paid, so it can’t get in the way of the first purchase; an offer in the cart or on the product page can add a decision before checkout. For apps, Shopify upsell apps compares options. Other pricing guides are in the pricing and sales hub.
FAQ
Can Shopify upsell without an app? Shopify’s own free tools cover part of it: Search & Discovery (a free Shopify app) for related and complementary products on the product page, the Shop app’s post-purchase offer, and Messaging upsell emails. Cart widgets and the post-purchase page need a third-party app.
Which Shopify plans support post-purchase upsells? Apps built with post-purchase app extensions work on the Basic plan and higher.
Do discount codes work on the post-purchase page? Discount codes can’t be applied on the post-purchase page, and automatic discounts created in the admin don’t apply to that page either.
How many upsell offers should I show? We recommend one offer per placement, because a single offer keeps the choice simple and makes the result easy to measure.
What is the difference between related and complementary products? Related products are similar items a customer might buy instead, and Shopify generates them automatically. Complementary products are add-ons bought together with the product, and you choose them in Search & Discovery.