How to Find a Shopify Cross Sells App for Fashion Ecommerce

The Shopify App store is a competitive place.

There are heaps of apps no matter what you’re looking for and the cross-selling > recommended products category is no exception.

24 apps per page, 7 pages! So how to find an app that stands out? And how do you find one that’s right for your use case?

Knowing what’s available helps define what you’re looking for so the first thing to figure out is what are the common features amongst the best apps.

Common features of top Shopify cross sell apps

Cross selling is a tried and tested online tactic that the biggest ecommerce websites and marketplaces have found great success with for many years. For Shopify merchants, 5 features stand out:

Smart product recommendations

This feature enables the app to recommend related products to shoppers based on their purchase history, preferences, and other data.

Promotional tools for discounts and incentives

Many apps offer promotional tools for discounts and other incentives to encourage shoppers to add additional items to their cart.

Customizable for look and feel

Top brands make their apps match the merchant's website style. Colors and fonts are just the beginning, the best apps are perfectly adaptable.

Analytical insights that matter

Many apps provide analytics to help store owners track and analyze the performance of their cross-sells.

Mobile optimization

Many apps are optimized for mobile devices, making it easier for shoppers to browse and purchase products on the go.

What’s the best recommender system for SMB ecommerce?

There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best recommender system for an SMB ecommerce business will depend on a number of factors, including the size of your business, the type of products or services you offer, and your specific needs and goals.

Some popular options for recommender systems include collaborative filtering, content-based filtering, and hybrid systems that combine both of these approaches. Ultimately, the best approach will depend on the specific needs and goals of the business.

It may be helpful to experiment with different recommender systems and see which one works best for your particular situation.

A particular ecommerce situation: fashion

Some popular options for recommender systems in the fashion industry include collaborative filtering, which makes recommendations based on the actions of other users with similar interests, and content-based filtering, which makes recommendations based on the characteristics of the items themselves.

Hybrid systems that combine both of these approaches are also commonly used in the fashion industry. Ultimately, the best approach will depend on the specific needs and goals of your business. It may be helpful to experiment with different recommender systems and see which one works best for your particular situation.

Visual AI and fashion ecommerce

Visual AI can help improve product recommendations for fashion ecommerce in a number of ways. One way is by using computer vision algorithms to analyze the visual characteristics of different items and make suggestions based on their visual similarity to other products.

For example, if a customer is looking at a red dress on a fashion ecommerce website, Visual AI could be used to automatically suggest other red dresses in different styles.

This can help customers discover new products that they may be interested in, and it can also help businesses increase sales by promoting similar items to customers who are already looking at a particular product.

Star ratings? Reviews?

Most reviews on Shopify are real. Many compliment or complain about customer service but they can also point out the strengths and weaknesses of product features.

And there are fake reviews. Shopify has a feature to discourage it though. Now all reviews show how long a user has been using the app before posting the review.

This feature weeds out suspect activity.

Customer support

This is the top subject of reviews and for good reason. Merchants interact with customer support specialists immediately while onboarding so the quality of the interaction sets the tone for the relationship.

If it goes well during onboarding it’s a great sign that you’ve chosen the right app for your use case.

Onboarding is typically a combination of self-directed action guided by video tutorials and easy access to help with troubleshooting.

Conclusion

Finding the right cross-selling app on Shopify isn’t easy. There are apps that specialize in a particular area and apps that do it all.

The best bet is to find the right fit for your use case. For fashion ecommerce merchants, a cross-selling recommender that’s trained to recommend the right products to fashion shoppers will deliver the the results you're looking for.