How to Write Cross-Sell Emails [14 Real-Life Examples] | Loop Tech
What number of occasions have you ever been to a McDonald’s and heard them ask, “would you like fries with that?” after putting your order? That’s a traditional instance of cross-selling.
Do you know this easy gross sales method reportedly will increase McDonald’s annual income by 15-40%?

And the identical method might be deployed in on-line companies. In your enterprise. In truth, McKinsey & Firm studies that cross-selling and different class penetration ways can increase gross sales and income by as much as 20% and 30%, respectively.
Right here is the opposite fascinating factor. Cross-selling and upselling for ecommerce shops can transcend the web site. Along with pushing the “Continuously Purchased Collectively” suggestions in your checkout web page, you’ll be able to run cross-selling campaigns as part of your e-mail advertising technique.
And that’s what we’ll deal with on this put up. You’ll learn to write cross-sell emails that may skyrocket your gross sales. Additionally, you will see how these post-purchase emails may help you construct worthwhile, long-lasting buyer relationships.
However first…
What are cross-sell emails?
A cross-sell e-mail means that you can suggest extra associated or complimentary merchandise, a.ok.a. cross-sell merchandise, to a potential buyer or an current buyer. The advisable gadgets rely upon the merchandise a customer is presently viewing in your retailer or those of their purchasing cart.
You too can use current buyer buy historical past to suggest acceptable merchandise, persuading clients to return again and full their journey.
These emails (featured under) successfully flip potential clients into returning clients. Furthermore, cross-sell emails mean you can attain a customer or a buyer lengthy after they’ve left your retailer.
Cross-sell emails are sometimes despatched proper after a customer leaves your retailer, no matter whether or not or not they’ve accomplished the acquisition. In truth, these communications are a wonderful option to persuade misplaced prospects to rethink.
Beneath is a superb instance of a cross-sell e-mail recommending gadgets primarily based on a consumer’s previous buy historical past.

Now that you understand what cross-selling emails are, let’s focus on why they’re important.
Why are cross-sell emails so necessary?
Win extra gross sales with the least funding; that’s the objective of each marketer. It’s additionally one of many advantages of cross-selling in e-mail advertising.
Listed here are the 3 main causes to cross-sell by way of emails:
1. Drive repeat purchases
What’s the first place you look when it’s good to enhance your income? New clients? Certain, however that’s not your most beneficial asset. Your most beneficial asset is your current buyer base.
Cross-selling and upselling emails assist you to capitalize on that to drive repeat purchases. And one of the best half is that repeat clients are identified to spend 67% extra than new clients.
What’s extra, because you’ve constructed up that belief, they’re extra seemingly to purchase your costlier merchandise.
Furthermore, it’s method tougher to promote to a brand new buyer than an current one. And with restricted assets, wouldn’t or not it’s higher to make use of them the place you’d get one of the best bang in your buck?
In spite of everything, getting a brand new buyer can value you as much as 5x extra. And to get them to spend on the present spending stage of your current clients will value you 16x extra, in accordance with Francis Buttle.
2. Construct loyalty by personalization
The effectiveness of cross-selling emails depends in your skill to suggest the suitable merchandise. It’s a must to know what the client is taken with primarily based on their conduct in your retailer or their previous purchases. Then, personalize your product suggestions accordingly. That’s the one option to generate gross sales by cross-selling.
After all, you don’t have to do this manually. There are many sensible AI algorithms that collect invaluable buyer knowledge and personalize the client provide for you. Such product suggestions study over time, adapt to the consumers’ wants, and simply make an integral a part of your automation workflows.

This personalization cultivates model loyalty over time. Clients will see that you simply perceive their wants primarily based on the cross-selling emails they obtain.
Furthermore, they’ll by no means need to search for different merchandise elsewhere. That’s since you’ll proactively recommend these merchandise to them. So that they’ll stick along with your model for longer and should even change into model advocates over time.
In spite of everything, loyal clients are identified to refer extra individuals. For instance, this report exhibits a buyer who has made ten purchases from an attire retailer normally refers seven different individuals to that website.
Be taught extra about model loyalty from the highest trade’s consultants on our advertising podcast:
3. Enhance CLV
The largest good thing about loyalty is a rise in a buyer’s lifetime worth (CLV). In the event you didn’t already know, CLV estimates the income a buyer will convey your model in the course of the size of your relationship.
Whereas most individuals suppose CLV is all about income, it goes past that. Let me clarify.
CLV is a good indicator of how deep your relationship along with your current clients is. What’s extra, it may assist you to establish huge spenders in addition to potential model advocates.
So what’s the relationship between cross-selling emails and CLV?
When used successfully, cross-sell emails helps enhance your common order worth. That interprets to a lift in income. An ideal instance of a model utilizing cross-sells emails is Greenback Shave Membership, featured above.
They provide a month-to-month subscription the place they ship shaving merchandise like razors. However earlier than their members’ month-to-month packages ship out, they ship out a cross-sell e-mail.
It accommodates just a few associated merchandise that current clients can add to their month-to-month shipments. Doing this may enhance their common order worth within the quick time period.
In the long term, cross-sell emails result in an prolonged buyer lifetime worth.
The right way to write cross-sell emails that enhance CLV

Cross-sell emails are sometimes quick and candy. But when your objective is to spice up your ROI particularly, then there are specific parts you need to embrace. These are:
Spotlight the product a buyer is seeking to purchase or has already purchased
Begin by reminding your buyer what they’ve already bought. This works in case you’re cross-selling in an order affirmation e-mail.
Alternatively, you’ll be able to remind the prospect of the product they’ve left of their cart if the cross-sell is hooked up to an deserted cart e-mail.
Provide a handful of associated or complementary merchandise
That is probably the most important side of your e-mail as a result of that is the place you provide your buyer different merchandise.
Advocate merchandise that complement the merchandise they purchased. Once more, there are devoted AI options that may mechanically establish the suitable merchandise and suggest them to your clients. It’ll prevent a number of time and trouble!
That mentioned, ensure that solely to incorporate just a few merchandise. This fashion, you don’t overwhelm your clients inflicting selection paralysis.
Make it part of a collection and never a one-time e-mail
Each profitable cross-sell e-mail is normally a part of a collection. You could must do follow-ups to spice up the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.
Utilizing an ecommerce advertising automation device, you’ll be able to ship out cross-sell emails at particular intervals. You too can deploy them primarily based on particular triggers, e.g., when sending an order affirmation e-mail, deserted cart e-mail, and so on.
With all that in thoughts, it’s time to reply the large query: how one can really write a changing cross-selling e-mail?
Copywriting greatest practices for e-mail advertising cross-selling
To this point, we’ve lined fairly just a few profitable cross-sell e-mail examples. They usually all stood out to us for one purpose solely: their glorious copywriting.
So listed below are some ideas to bear in mind when working in your subsequent copy.
1. Write intriguing topic traces
You gained’t promote something in case your cross-sell e-mail by no means will get opened. So listed below are just a few hacks to create killer topic traces.
- Hold your topic traces quick quick and candy
- Add an emoji 🙌
- Use personalization, Alex
- Reply the query, “What’s in it for me?”
- Attempt our new AI Topic Line Generator

Utilizing these topic line ideas can drastically enhance your e-mail open charges.
2. Craft partaking preheaders
A preheader is that quick piece of textual content you see subsequent to the topic line when taking a look at your e-mail inbox.
Preheaders are invaluable in elevating curiosity and drawing consideration. In copywriting, the preheader is synonymous with a lead. Listed here are 6 methods for beginning your preheader:
- Provide lead, e.g. “Get our newest footwear at 40% off”
- Promise lead, e.g. “Get ripped in 3 months with no negative effects”
- Drawback-solution lead, e.g. “Bored with carrying boring outfits? This outfit will make you seem like a runway mannequin…”
- Large secret lead, e.g. “Uncovered: The one everlasting, long-lasting treatment to hair loss…”
- Story lead, e.g. “I didn’t consider it the primary time till it occurred once more…”
The objective right here is to entice your reader to open your e-mail.
3. Add social proof

Nothing will get your buyer over the sting higher than social proof. This may be within the type of testimonials, evaluations, and so on.
You need to make your buyer really feel extra assured about their determination. Subsequently, ensure that your e-mail copy gives social proof.
4. Give them a purpose to behave now
Are you working a clearance sale? Black Friday sale? Put a timer on it and persist with it.
You too can obtain this by providing a restricted variety of merchandise or an expiring low cost code. Doing this places strain in your clients and offers them a purpose to behave earlier than they miss out.
5. Provide a powerful assure
How assured is your message? Amazon does this with Amazon Prime. Are you able to assure quick purchasing? Are you able to provide a 100% money-back assure?
Your objective is to remove as a lot threat out of your buyer that it makes it laborious for them to say no.
When is it good to ship a cross-sell e-mail?
Now that you understand the ‘what’ and ‘why,’ it’s time to resolve on the ‘when.’ You could have 4 important alternatives you’ll be able to capitalize on to ship cross-sell emails.
After a earlier buy
Right here you may give a buyer suggestions on different associated or complimentary merchandise. It is a distinctive alternative so that you can capitalize on whereas the client remains to be within the shopping for temper.
Ralph Lauren (featured above) does a great job of those e-mail campaigns. You too can do that along with your order affirmation, replenishment, and delivery affirmation.
Within the cart abandonment e-mail
One other alternative for a cross-sell e-mail is within the cart abandonment e-mail. When guests don’t take a look at, you’ll be able to ship them an deserted cart e-mail that cross-sells.
Use this chance to encourage them to take a look at and add a few gadgets to their cart. You possibly can see this motion within the above cross-sell e-mail instance by Massdrop.
Including a cross-sell in these emails can even inform the prospect of different associated merchandise, which can set off their curiosity as soon as extra and drive a worthwhile sale.
In common gross sales emails
Acquired a sale occurring? Cross-sell emails may help you maximize it for a better ROI. You possibly can flip any common gross sales e-mail right into a cross-sell e-mail. Because you have been going to ship the e-mail anyway, why not take that chance to suggest extra merchandise?
Google Retailer does a great job at this for one in all their Black Friday Gross sales.
Within the welcome e-mail collection
When individuals join your publication, they’re declaring that they need to hear from you. They need to obtain product updates primarily based on what they’ve proven curiosity in.
That provides you a novel alternative to inform them about your different merchandise.
Lush does a beautiful job of welcoming clients whereas providing some merchandise.
Forms of merchandise you’ll be able to suggest
Cross-selling is about recommending associated or complimentary merchandise.
Often, you’ll have the information for all buyer purchases and shopping conduct. With this knowledge and an AI advice device, you need to be capable of establish and suggest the suitable complementary merchandise to your clients as an integral a part of their pure buying cycle.
Plus, you’ll be able to automate the entire course of with superior ecommerce advertising automation software program, like GetResponse MAX.
As an illustration, the automation function enables you to set dynamic section filters. By combining it with an AI product advice, you’ll be able to guarantee your clients solely obtain related product strategies.
In the event you don’t have the information, decide your best-selling or hottest merchandise as suggestions.
Listed here are among the suggestions you’ll be able to show:

Now, let’s check out some good examples that you should utilize as cross-sell e-mail templates in your marketing campaign.
5 good examples of cross-sell emails
1. Methodical Espresso
That is an instance of an embedd that cross-sells inside your typical product gross sales e-mail. With the topic line “Methodical Greatest Vendor” and a espresso emoji, it grabs your consideration.
They go straight to the purpose with the headline “crowd favorites” and add a contact of persona with their quirky product names.
2. Crate & Barrel e-mail instance
Speak about maximizing each sale alternative! Crate & Barrel exhibits us how one can add a cross-sell e-mail to an order affirmation e-mail with ease.
They suggest 4 merchandise utilizing a easy, clear design proper after the order particulars.
3. Saatchi Artwork e-mail instance
Saatchi Artwork leaves no stone unturned to enhance its e-mail advertising ROI. First, they give you a reduction to return and take a look at. Then, they embrace just a few items of artwork to lure the shoppers in with extra beautiful items.
The topic line “The Artworks You Checked out Are Being Found;” stirs your aggressive spirit and offers you a way of urgency and FOMO.
4. Soak & Sleep e-mail instance
Right here’s an instance of a cross-sale masquerading as a clearance or common gross sales e-mail.
With a topic line providing a reduction of as much as 50%, they know how one can make clients really feel they’re getting an ideal discount.
Furthermore, they use belief badges for social proof. In addition they show their new product line in addition to their prime sellers.
5. Atoms e-mail instance
Yet one more common gross sales e-mail turned cross-sell by Atoms to make the most of the back-to-school fever. They’re providing two shoe fashions and “On a regular basis Masks” as a part of the cross-sell.
Begin cross-selling immediately!
Electronic mail advertising helps nurture and deepen your relationship with clients. However cross-sell emails give your marketing campaign tooth. These emails assist drive repeat purchases, construct loyalty by personalization, and finally enhance a CLV.
You possibly can embed these emails in most of your common e-mail campaigns. That features welcome, deserted cart, order affirmation, and thank-you emails.
With the confirmed copywriting greatest practices and cross-sell e-mail examples to attract inspiration from, you need to be capable of launch a profitable cross-selling e-mail advertising technique in your retailer.
Prepared to start out including cross-sell emails to your e-mail advertising marketing campaign?
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How to Write Cross-Sell Emails [14 Real-Life Examples]