How to Add Product Add-Ons to Shopify Products? (With & Without app)

When it comes to creating Shopify product add-ons to maximize revenue potential, thoughtful execution matters; a well-structured strategy not only accelerates customer journeys but also effectively increases average order values. According to McKinsey, these cross-selling tactics help to increase sales by 20% and profits by 30%. 

For those who have yet to venture into the realm of Shopify product add-ons, now is an opportune moment to consider them seriously and thrive in such a competitive e-commerce landscape.

Our comprehensive guide will walk you through five proven methods to help merchants easily upsell product add-ons on Shopify, with and without using third-party apps.

Let’s dive in!

1. What are Product Add-ons?

Shopify product add-ons are extra items or services that customers can choose with their main purchase. Typically, add-ons should be products or features from the same category as your main products. For example, when shopping for cosmetics, you’ll commonly see cushion foundations attached to their refills. 

Unsurprisingly, gaining a competitive edge in the e-commerce industry requires Shopify merchants to create strategies encouraging customers to spend more. This is where add-on products come into play. For example, Amazon has recently reported that 35% of its online retailers’ revenue comes from upselling and cross-selling. 

So, what exactly can you profit from upselling product add-ons on Shopify? Here is a short breakdown you should  keep in mind:

• Increase average order value (AOV): Encouraging customers to buy additional products or more expensive versions of the main one can significantly boost revenue. 

• Enhance customer lifetime value (CLV): Many customers would be interested in valuable add-ons and upgrades. From there, you can enhance their satisfaction, leading to long-term loyalty and repeat purchases.

• Optimal inventory management: If you want to clear out less popular products from the inventory, try upselling them as add-ons. Moreover, encouraging buyers to purchase complementary items can help maintain a balanced stock.

2. 2 Ways to Include Shopify Product Add-ons Without App

Before diving into advanced solutions, many Shopify merchants prefer to explore native options that don’t require additional app installations. Shopify’s built-in features offer two effective ways to implement product add-ons directly within your store’s existing framework.

Let’s explore both methods, understanding their benefits, limitations, and step-by-step implementation process.

Option 1: Use Product Variants to Include Product Add-ons

This approach involves creating product variants that include your main product plus add-on options. Instead of selling just a “Basic T-Shirt,” you’d offer variants like “T-Shirt Only,” “T-Shirt + Gift Wrapping,” or “T-Shirt + Extended Warranty.” Each variant represents a different combination of your core product with various add-ons.

Pros:

• No apps or theme edits – Built entirely in Shopify Admin.
• Automatic price adjustment – Variant prices update order totals.
• Inventory tracking – Each variant can have its own stock count.

Cons:

• Option limits – Maximum of 3 option groups per product and 100 total variants.
• Poor scalability – Quickly blows up if you need more than a couple of add-ons or combinations.

To include product add-ons as variants on the Shopify product page, follow these steps:

• Step 1: Navigate to your Shopify admin dashboard > Products
• Step 2: Add a new product or edit existing products
• Step 3: Scroll down to Variants > Click on “Add options like size & color”
• Step 4: Click “Create a custom option.”
• Step 5: Fill in Option Name & Option Values (Option Name is like Color, and Option Values are red, green, yellow)
• Step 6: Fill in Variants Detail: Price, Image, Stock Available.
• Step 7: Save & Preview your product.

Option 2: Include Product Add-ons as “Frequently Bought Together” Widget.

This approach involves creating standalone products for your add-ons and then displaying them alongside your main products using Shopify’s “Frequently Bought Together” or related products functionality. Most modern Shopify themes include these widgets, allowing customers to easily add complementary items to their cart.

Pros:

• Unlimited add-on options – No variant restrictions
• Individual product SEO – Each add-on can rank separately
• Flexible pricing – Easy to adjust add-on prices independently
• Better analytics – Track performance of individual add-ons
• Cleaner product pages – The Main product remains uncluttered
• Cross-selling opportunities – Add-ons can appear on multiple products

Cons:

• Requires theme support – Not all themes have “Frequently Bought Together” widgets
• No discounts included – Eg: Add another product to get a discount
• Trigger rules are limited – You have to manually add product add-ons for each products

To include product add-ons on the product page as a “Frequently Bought Together” widget, first create a new product in Shopify, then follow these steps to showcase your add-ons:

• Step 1: In your Shopify Admin Dashboard, navigate to “Online Stores” > “Themes” > “Customize”
• Step 2: Navigate to the “Product Page” theme editor by following these steps: Click on “Homepage” > “Products” > “Default Products”

• Step 3: In “Template”, click “Add Section”, then type in “Related Products” in the Search Bar.

• Step 4: Customize the “Related Products” section appearances as you like
• Step 5: Publish & review your product page

To control where each product add-on appears, you can use Shopify’s Search & Discovery app (pre-installed in your admin). In the app, go to the Recommendations section, then manually assign the desired add-ons to each product.

3. 3 More Advanced Strategies to Upsell Product Add-ons on Shopify

While Shopify’s native features provide a solid foundation for product add-ons, savvy merchants looking to maximize their revenue potential often turn to specialized third-party apps. These advanced solutions unlock sophisticated customization options, automation capabilities, and conversion optimization features that go far beyond what’s possible with built-in functionality.

The investment in a quality app typically pays for itself through increased average order values and improved customer experience. Upselling & Cross-selling apps like BOGOS have helped thousands of Shopify merchants increase their revenue by up to 30% through intelligent upselling and cross-selling automation. Let’s explore three powerful strategies that can transform your upselling and cross-selling game.

Option 1: Use a Shopify app to create FBT sections 

While the native Shopify approaches we’ve covered provide excellent starting points for implementing product add-ons, many merchants find themselves hitting limitations as their business grows. Manual variant management becomes cumbersome with large product catalogs, and static “Frequently Bought Together” widgets lack the intelligence to adapt and optimize based on customer behavior.

Using a third-party app to upsell product add-ons on Shopify brings you many benefits:

• Advanced Discount Integration – Automatic percentage discounts, free shipping thresholds, and tiered pricing
• Strategic Placement Flexibility – Display recommendations across product pages, cart, checkout, and thank you pages
• Sophisticated Targeting Rules – Show specific add-ons based on categories, types, vendors, or customer segments
• Real-Time Optimization – Continuous performance monitoring and automatic recommendation adjustments
• Comprehensive Analytics – Detailed insights into which combinations drive the most revenue.

Just look at the Eightvape product page, besides just showcasing a traditional Product add-ons section, they include a 12% discount when customers purchase this product with add-ons using the BOGOS app.

Including product add-ons is a good way to boost AOV, but you can enhance its effectiveness by using a third-party app like BOGOS. With BOGOS, you can create intelligent upsell campaigns with automatic optimization, strategic discounts, and multi-location displays. BOGOS offers a 7-day free trial, so you will be free to test all of the app’s functionality.

Option 2: Using Product Bundles 

The second option for driving sales is to group product add-ons on Shopify into a bundle that works best as a set. By grouping complementary products into collections, you’ll simplify your customers’ decision-making by allowing them to purchase related items together rather than searching for them separately. Plus, it’s a win-win when customers can buy at a lower price and businesses increase their average order value.

When it comes to creating product bundles on Shopify, there are three practical ways to do so directly within the Shopify admin dashboard without having to use a third-party app: 

• Creating a new product as a bundle
• Using product variants
• Leveraging collections with native discounts

👉 For a detailed walkthrough of each method with screenshots and step-by-step instructions, check out our comprehensive blog post that will guide you through the entire process of setting up product bundles on Shopify without any apps.

These approaches may appear cost-effective, but they require many manual setups, which increase unexpected human errors. Alternatively, creating product bundles on Shopify using a third-party like BOGOS will be a game-changer, especially for high-volume inventory stores.

It allows you to create product bundles alongside other powerful offers like free gifts, gift with purchase, BOGO, tiered value offers, and frequently bought-together bundles. Furthermore, the BOGOS app helps to streamline your buyers’ online shopping experiences by featuring a slider or auto-add to customers’ carts.

Here are several principal bundles BOGOS offers that can enable you to maximize the average order value:

• Classic discounted product bundle
• Mix and match bundle
• Tiered pricing product bundle
• Bundle Builder
• BOGO product bundle

BOGOS offers a 7-day free trial, allowing merchants to test all of these bundling features and explore how they can boost their store’s performance without any upfront commitment.

Option 3: Using Pop-up

Although the two approaches mentioned above are pretty practical for upsell strategies, they still have their setbacks, especially regarding their ability to trigger offers suddenly at the precise moment. That’s why pop-up-based bundles were developed and operate based on specific triggers: 

• Cart value triggers: Popups will appear after a customer’s cart reaches a certain amount
• Product or category triggers: Target particular items or categories to recommend complementary products
• Time delay triggers: Display popups after a customer has spent a specific time browsing
• Specific page views: Trigger popups when customers browse particular product or category pages
• Scroll depth triggers: Show popups when customers scroll halfway down a page

To maximize engagement, ensure the pop-up timing feels natural. A survey revealed that 45.6% of users feel annoyed by frequent popups, and 28.6% dislike popups that appear immediately when they enter a site. Poorly timed or irrelevant popups can frustrate customers and even push them to leave. 

In short, if you require a more advanced experience, consider using a third-party Shopify app that offers upsell popups. BOGOS stands out as a front-runner. This app allows shoppers to choose their preferred add-ons and enhances personalization with advanced configuration and powerful triggers. 

4. Best Practice To Maximize The Impact Of Product Add-Ons On Shopify

Product add-ons can be a game-changer for merchants to gain a competitive edge in the e-commerce industry. Nevertheless, it’s essential to have a thorough optimization strategy to maximize their impact and scale your revenue. In the next section, we’ll explore the main takeaways for Shopify merchants to acknowledge when setting up product add-ons.

4.1. Understand Your Audience 

There is no doubt that deeply understanding what additional products or services are necessary for your customers matters significantly. Every merchant should carefully analyze their store’s actionable data to choose targeted add-ons that can directly meet their audience’s specific needs. This approach not only identifies the most suitable add-ons for your main products but also provides an upselling strategy that avoids irritating your customers.

4.2. Dynamic Pricing Strategies

Pricing strategy remains imperative in determining whether customers will choose your add-ons or not. Therefore, we recommend that you make your Shopify product add-ons more affordable than purchasing them individually. However, remember to create attractive packages that encourage customers to buy more while ensuring your store’s margins stay healthy.

4.3. Enhance Visual Appeal

It is evident that a visually appealing product add-on package can easily attract customers 

at first glance. A confusing and unattractive layout finds it very hard to keep customers’ attention. That is why utilizing a third-party Shopify app becomes a go-to choice. With their advanced features, merchants can automate the entire process, save valuable time, and minimize unexpected human errors.

4.4. Limited-Time Offers

Limited-time deals will help you motivate customers to complete their purchases quickly. A countdown timer on your homepage or product page will highlight the limited availability of a promotion. Also, consider running flash sales for your add-ons. They can last for a few hours or days to encourage prospective buyers.

4.5. Strategically Promoting Add-Ons 

In this digital landscape, inbound marketing positions itself as a leading role in engaging the target audience with product promotion. Shopify add-ons products are no exception. You should highlight them in your email marketing and social media, ensuring they receive sufficient attention for your campaigns.

5. Conclusion

To sum up, Shopify product add-ons serve as a strategic tool that streamlines the shopping experience, enabling merchants to create valuable touchpoints that increase sales. With a well-structured upsell product add-ons Shopify campaign, you’ll be able to create a win-win situation where your customers enjoy a more tailored shopping experience. In contrast, you enjoy higher average order values.

If you’re ready to implement this revenue-boosting strategy, consider using a specialized third-party app to automate the entire process. It will offer both high customization potential and significant time savings as you launch your multiple add-on campaigns.

Discover how BOGOS can fuel your eCommerce business here or book a demo call today. 

8. FAQs