The best place to add a cross-sell recommendation in your Shopify store isn't the product page — it's the cart drawer. When someone clicks "Add to Cart" and the drawer slides open, they've just confirmed they're buying. That's the highest-intent moment in the entire shopping session, and most stores leave it completely blank.
Stores that add a single relevant recommendation inside the cart drawer typically see 8–15% of their revenue start flowing through that widget within the first month. Let's look at why, and how to set it up.
Why the cart drawer outperforms the product page
On the product page, a shopper might still be evaluating. They haven't fully committed. But the cart drawer opens after they've clicked "Add to Cart" — the buying decision is made. Their mental state has shifted from "should I buy this?" to "what else do I need?"
That shift changes how they respond to recommendations. Instead of feeling like a sales pitch, a relevant suggestion in the cart drawer feels like a helpful reminder. "Oh right, I should probably grab that too."
Popup modals and post-checkout upsells try to recreate this moment, but they're intrusive. The cart drawer is already open. Adding a recommendation there doesn't interrupt anything.
What does a good cart drawer recommendation look like?
Keep it simple. One product recommendation. A small image, the product name, the price, and an "Add to Cart" button. That's all you need.
Don't show a carousel of four options. Too many choices create decision fatigue and the shopper ends up adding nothing. One well-chosen product outperforms four generic ones every time.
The recommendation should relate to what's already in the cart. If someone has a coffee grinder in their cart, suggest coffee beans or a cleaning brush. Not your bestselling candle.
Step-by-step: Adding it with Dropr
Dropr adds a cross-sell widget inside the cart drawer using Shopify's theme app extension system — no code required.
Step 1: Install Dropr from the Shopify App Store. The install takes about 30 seconds.
Step 2: In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store → Themes → Customize.
Step 3: In the theme editor, use the top dropdown to navigate to the Cart page or look for a "Cart drawer" section in the left sidebar (this varies slightly by theme).
Step 4: Click Add block inside the cart drawer section and select the Dropr cart block. Position it above the checkout button.
Step 5: Save the theme. The block is now live but won't show until you configure pairings.
Step 6: Go to the Dropr app and set up your product pairings. For each product, assign one cross-sell recommendation. Start with your 10 best-sellers.
Total time: about 3 minutes, plus however long it takes you to decide on your pairings.
What if my theme doesn't have a cart drawer?
Some older or more minimalist Shopify themes use a full-page cart instead of a sliding drawer. In this case, you can add the Dropr widget to your cart page using the same block approach — navigate to the Cart page in the theme editor and add the block there.
The conversion rate is slightly lower than a cart drawer (because the shopper had to navigate to a new page), but it's still significantly better than not showing a recommendation at all.
How Dropr decides what to show
Dropr doesn't use an algorithm to guess what products go together — it uses the pairings you define. This matters because algorithmic "customers also bought" suggestions often surface irrelevant products, especially for smaller catalogs.
When a shopper has Product A in their cart, Dropr shows Product B — the one you designated as the cross-sell for Product A. If the cart has multiple items, Dropr shows the recommendation for the most recently added product.
Measuring whether it's working
Dropr's dashboard shows you exactly how much revenue came through cart drawer recommendations each month. Not just how many times the widget was clicked — how many of those clicks turned into paid orders.
This distinction matters. Click rate tells you if the recommendation is attractive. Revenue attribution tells you if it's actually adding to your bottom line.
A healthy cart drawer recommendation sees a click-through rate of 4–10% and conversion on those clicks of 40–70% (these shoppers are already buying something, after all).
Common mistakes to avoid
Showing too many recommendations is the most common mistake. One product, clearly presented, almost always beats a row of four.
The second mistake is showing the same recommendation regardless of what's in the cart. A blanket "you might also like our bestseller" is far less effective than a relevant pairing. Put in the 20 minutes to set up proper pairings for your top products — it's worth it.
Related reading
- How to Add Product Recommendations to Shopify Without Writing a Single Line of Code
- The Shopify Cart Drawer Explained: What It Is, Which Themes Have It, and How to Add Cross-Sells
- How to Get Shopify Shoppers to Add One More Product to Their Cart
- How to Make Your Shopify Product Recommendations Look Native (Not Like an Ad)
- How to Set Up Product Recommendations on Shopify (Free vs Paid Options)
FAQ
Does the cart drawer recommendation work on mobile?
Yes. Cart drawers on mobile behave like a bottom sheet that slides up. Dropr's widget is designed to be fully functional on small screens — the product image, name, price, and add-to-cart button all display cleanly within the mobile cart drawer.
Can I show a different recommendation for each product?
Yes — that's the intended behavior. You set one cross-sell product per catalog item. When Product A is in the cart, the shopper sees the recommendation you assigned to Product A. When Product B is in the cart, they see B's recommendation.
What happens if the shopper already has the recommended product in their cart?
Dropr automatically detects this and hides the recommendation, so shoppers never see a suggestion to add something they've already added.