Key takeaways
- Some themes have a native product recommendations toggle in the cart settings.
- Upsell apps (ReConvert, Frequently Bought Together) offer more control and logic.
- The cart is one of the highest-converting placement points for upsells - buyer intent is highest here.
- Fudge can build a custom upsell section in your cart drawer with the exact layout you want.
Cart upsells target the moment of highest purchase intent. A buyer who has already decided to add something to cart is far more likely to consider a relevant addition than a cold visitor. A well-placed upsell can increase average order value by 10-20% without increasing traffic.
Why you can trust us
We’ve worked on cart optimisation strategies for hundreds of Shopify brands. We also built Fudge — an AI storefront editor with a 5.0 rating on the Shopify App Store.
What is an upsell in Shopify?
An upsell in the cart context is a prompt to add an additional product before checkout. The goal is to increase the average order value of the current transaction.
Upsell: A higher-value version or upgrade of what’s in the cart (“Would you like the larger size?”, “Add the premium edition for $5 more”).
Cross-sell: A complementary product (socks with shoes, screen protector with a phone case). Cross-sells are covered in the cross-sell guide - the cart placement mechanics are similar.
In practice, most “cart upsells” include both upgrade and complementary product suggestions.
Option 1 - Native theme product recommendations toggle
Some Shopify themes include a built-in product recommendations section for the cart.
Step 1. Go to Online Store > Themes > Customize.
Step 2. Navigate to the Cart page.
Step 3. In the cart section settings (left sidebar), look for a toggle labelled “Product recommendations”, “You might also like”, or “Frequently bought together”.
Step 4. Enable the toggle.
Step 5. Save.
When enabled, this uses Shopify’s product recommendations API to show 2-4 suggested products in the cart. The recommendations are algorithmic, based on purchase and browsing data.
Limitation: You can’t control which specific products are recommended. The algorithm decides.
Option 2 - Cart upsell app
For more control over which products appear and when, an upsell app is the next step.
Popular options:
ReConvert - post-purchase upsells on the order confirmation page, plus cart drawer upsells. Good for single-product recommendations tied to cart contents.
Frequently Bought Together - shows products commonly purchased together, using store purchase data to build the recommendation.
Candy Rack - one-click upsells and cross-sells in a pop-up or inline in the cart.
Monster Upsells - cart drawer upsells with progress bar integration (free shipping threshold).
Install from the Shopify App Store. Most have free tiers with paid upgrades for higher order volumes.
Related: Track Conversions in Shopify.
Related: Add a Free Shipping Progress Bar in Shopify.
Related: Update Cart Drawer Text in Shopify.
Related: Add Cross-Sells in the Shopify Cart.
Option 3 - Custom cart upsell with Fudge
For a cart upsell section that’s fully native to your theme design - no app widget styling conflicts, no third-party scripts - describe it to Fudge.
Example prompts:
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“Add a ‘Complete the look’ section to the cart drawer showing one manually curated product below the cart line items. Use a small product image, product name, price, and an Add button. Style it to match the cart drawer.”
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“Add a product upsell section to the cart page that shows the most-viewed product from a collection tagged ‘upsell’. Keep it minimal - thumbnail, name, price, ‘Add to cart’ button.”
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“Show a cart upsell row when the cart contains any product from the ‘Skincare’ collection - suggest the toner as a complementary product with a short ‘You’ll also need’ heading.”
Fudge generates this as a draft in your theme. Review and publish.
Related: Add Custom JavaScript in Shopify.
Related: Create a Bundle Page in Shopify.
Upsell placement: cart drawer vs. cart page vs. checkout
Cart drawer (the slide-out panel): Highest visibility, shown immediately when a product is added. Shorter attention window - keep upsell suggestions to one or two products.
Cart page (/cart): More scroll space. Buyers navigating to this page are often more deliberate. Can support a fuller “You might also like” grid.
Checkout upsells (post-purchase): After payment, on the order confirmation page. Lower friction (payment already made), good for add-ons or digital products.
Most stores benefit from starting with the cart drawer or cart page upsell before adding post-purchase complexity.
How to customise your cart upsell messaging
Avoid generic labels. “You might also like” is weak. Consider: “Complete your routine”, “Frequently bought together”, “Others who bought this also got”, “Don’t forget your -”.
Keep it relevant. One highly relevant upsell outperforms four generic ones. Curate by cart contents or product collection.
Make the add action easy. A single “Add” button that goes straight to cart - don’t send the buyer away from the cart to a product page.
