What holds in every store
- Recommend the item that finishes the purchase, priced below it. A $15 belt next to $80 jeans is an easy add; a $150 jacket next to a $40 top is a second shopping decision.
- Put the piece that completes the product on the product page, below the add to cart button. Put small extras (a cable, a card, treats) in the cart.
- Write the detail that makes a pair right into the product itself: the model, size, species, skin type or design name, in the title or as a tag. In your Shopify admin, the Tags field is in each product's Product organization section. To tag many products at once, open Products, search or filter (for example by vendor), select them, open the menu with three dots and choose Add tags.
- After any change, check the picks on your ten best sellers by hand. Word the heading by what the shopper is doing ("Goes with this mat", "Complete the gift"), and leave out "most customers buy this" unless your own orders show it.
Apps that pick products automatically match on those product details, so the tags do most of the work. The guide to how recommendation apps pick products explains the matching.
Clothing and jewelry
Clothing
Clothing shoppers think in outfits, so show what completes the look: a belt, shoes or a bag with the dress, a top that suits the jeans' wash and cut, a scarf or knit with the coat, a cover-up or sandals with swimwear, a sports bra with leggings. A watch strap or a sunglasses case works the same way.
With sized clothing, a one-tap Add button usually adds the first available size, which may be the wrong one. One-size accessories (belts, bags, scarves) make the easiest adds, and sized pieces work better as a link to their own page. Change the pairs with the season: coats and scarves in autumn, swimwear and sandals in summer.
Jewelry
Jewelry is a considered purchase and often a gift. Suggest the matching piece from the same collection on the product page (the earrings for the ring, the band for the engagement ring, a necklace to layer with the bracelet) and a gift box, pouch or care kit in the cart. Keep collection name, metal and stone consistent in titles and tags, and don't mix metals the shopper didn't choose.
Set pairs that must be exact by hand. Shopify's free Search & Discovery app lets you choose up to 10 complementary products for each product (Product recommendations, then Add recommendations), and themes with a complementary products block show them. Keep a pricier version of the piece away from the add to cart button: a shopper who chose a $90 necklace and then sees a $400 one may leave to think it over.
Beauty, health and fitness
Skincare
Skincare sells in routines, so recommend the next step: a toner after the cleanser, a moisturizer after a vitamin C serum, a hydrating moisturizer with retinol, SPF with an AHA or BHA exfoliant. For a best-selling moisturizer, three picks are enough: the serum before it, SPF for the day and a travel size if you have one.
Match the skin type. Put "oily skin" or "sensitive" in the title or tags so a cleanser for oily skin doesn't sit next to a rich cream for dry skin. Keep headings to how products are used together ("Pairs well with your retinol"), since saying a combination treats a condition is a medical claim. Kits suit beginners and gifts once your orders show the same products bought together; single add-ons suit shoppers who already have half a routine.
Supplements
Supplement customers build stacks: protein with creatine or a shaker, a pre-workout with an electrolyte mix, a probiotic with a prebiotic fiber, a morning formula with its evening one. Base the pairs on your order history, which shows what ends up in the same orders, and stop at two or three products.
Recommendation headings are marketing copy. "Pairs with your morning routine" is fine. A line that says a product or a combination treats, cures or prevents a condition is a medical claim, and supplement rules in most markets restrict it, so check the rules for the countries you sell to. For the next order, a reminder before a 30-day supply runs out, or a subscription option, does more than an on-page suggestion.
Sports and fitness
Show what makes the main product usable: a block and strap with a yoga mat, performance socks with running shoes, electrolyte packets with a hydration vest, a shaker with protein powder, gloves with dumbbells. Word the heading around the activity ("Goes with this mat", "For your first run").
Next to a treadmill or a rowing machine, suggest the mat that goes under it, a cleaning kit or a spare part instead of a second machine. Spare parts usually fit one model, so give the part and the machine the same model tag. Demand moves with the year: home-workout basics in January, running gear in spring, hydration and outdoor gear in summer.
Electronics
A phone needs a case and a screen protector, a camera a memory card and a spare battery, a laptop a sleeve or a USB-C hub, headphones a carrying case or replacement cushions, a microphone a pop filter or a boom arm. Protection goes on the product page. Cables, adapters and cleaning cloths go in the cart.
Every accessory has to fit the exact model on screen, because a case for the wrong model is worse than no suggestion. Put the model in each accessory's title and tags ("for Pixel 9", "MagSafe", "USB-C"), give the device and the accessories that fit it the same tag, and check the picks on your best sellers. If your theme shows Shopify's own recommendations, Search & Discovery lets you set complementary products by hand, and Shopify shows them only while they have inventory above 0.
Home, gifts and food
Home goods
Home goods shoppers are furnishing a room. Complete it with a shade or bulbs for the lamp, pillowcases or a throw for the duvet cover, coasters or a tray for the coffee table, hooks and a bath mat for the shower curtain. Add what the product needs in use: seasoning oil for cast iron, board oil for a cutting board, a saucer for a plant pot.
Match material and style line (walnut with walnut, linen with linen) through titles and tags. Next to a sofa or a large table, suggest the small things that finish it, and say on the page if an add-on ships separately from a large delivery.
Gift shops
Gift buyers want the present to feel complete: a holder for the candle, an oil refill for the diffuser, a pen for the journal, a stopper for the wine glasses. Cards, wrap and gift boxes belong in the cart, where the gift is chosen and the next question is how it will arrive. Price gift notes and wrapping clearly if you sell them as products. Shopify's own product recommendations leave out products priced at $0.00, so a free gift note won't show in them.
Change the picks a couple of weeks before each gifting date (gift sets before the holidays, candles and cards for Valentine's Day, self-care for Mother's Day), and show your real shipping cut-off dates.
Food and drink
Food and drink sell in meals and rituals: filters or a frother with coffee beans, an infuser or honey with tea, dipping spices with olive oil, pasta with the sauce, a spice blend with the ingredient it's made for. Before you recommend an item, check that it ships with the main product. Chilled, frozen, glass and heavy items may need separate packaging, so pair shelf-stable add-ons with chilled products.
Use dietary tags (gluten-free, vegan, nut-free) in titles or tags, and keep allergen details on each product's own page. In apps that match on product details, a shared tag ranks a product higher without filtering others out, so check the picks for your gluten-free best sellers and remove any that don't fit.
Pets and families
Pet supplies
Pet products come in sets: dry food with training treats, a harness with a leash from the same line, shampoo with a slicker brush, flea treatment with a flea comb, litter with a deodorizer or a litter mat, a carrier with a calming spray, a habitat with the right bedding for its size.
Species and size have to match. A large-breed harness needs a large leash, and kitten food shouldn't sit next to senior dog treats. To tag by animal, open Products, search for one animal (for example "cat"), select the products, open the menu with three dots and choose Add tags. Food and litter that people reorder respond better to a reminder email at the right interval than to an on-page suggestion.
Baby and kids
Parents shop by milestone, so complete the one they're buying for: a waterproof protector and fitted sheets with a crib mattress, a bottle brush and a drying rack with bottles, a bib set and suction bowls with a high chair, a changing pad with a diaper bag, a lunch box with snack cups.
Add the age or stage as a tag ("newborn", "6 to 12 months", "toddler") so a toy for 3 years and up doesn't appear next to newborn products. Let parents choose the size of clothing and shoes, and leave safety certifications to each product's own page. Small add-ons in the cart (wipes, a spare pacifier, a teether) are the easiest to say yes to.
Stores that run differently
Print on demand
Shoppers buy a design, so the natural cross-sell is the same design on another product: the mug that matches the shirt, the tote or the poster with the same print. Name designs consistently ("Mountain Sunrise T-shirt", "Mountain Sunrise Mug") and tag every product with its design name. To tag a whole design at once, search Products for the design name, select the results and choose Add tags.
Print partners often make different product types in different places, so a shirt and a mug can arrive in two packages with two shipping charges. Check how your shipping rates handle mixed carts, and say on the product page when items ship separately.
Dropshipping
Pair products from the same supplier, so the add-on arrives in the same package for one shipping charge. Items from different suppliers can arrive days apart with separate tracking, which shoppers read as a problem with your store. Shopify keeps the supplier in each product's Vendor field, but not every app reads it, so add the supplier or warehouse as a tag too: open Products, filter by vendor, select the products and choose Add tags.
Large dropshipping catalogs hold many near-identical products. Recommend what goes with the product (a ring light with a phone stand) rather than three look-alikes, and shorten long supplier titles, since clear titles and a real description improve every recommendation and every search result. Check that the delivery estimate on the product page still holds when the add-on ships from another warehouse.
Subscription stores
Next to a subscription, recommend one-time add-ons that make it more useful from the first delivery: a grinder for a coffee subscription, a dispenser for refills, a shaker for protein, a sample of another flavor. Keep them cheaper than the subscription and show them on the product page and in the cart before the first checkout.
Subscription apps such as Recharge, Skio and Shopify's own subscriptions each handle a cart with a subscription and a one-time item in their own way. Place a test order with both, and check that the subscription is created correctly and that the one-time item isn't added to future deliveries. Existing subscribers are easier to reach by email or through the subscription app's customer portal before their next delivery.
B2B and wholesale
Business buyers order to keep a café, salon or workshop running. Recommend the consumables the equipment uses (filters, blades, cartridges), compatible spare parts for the same model and the rest of a set (lids with cups), under a plain heading like "Used with this machine".
A wholesale buyer orders by the case, so a link to the product page, where they set the quantity, helps more than a one-unit add. If you sell on price lists, log in as a business customer (or a test customer with the same prices) and compare the price on a recommendation card with the price on that product's page. For these buyers, reorder reminders usually bring more than add-ons.
Single-product stores
With one product, order value comes from multipacks, accessories, refills, gift packaging and, for durable goods, an extended warranty you can honor. A multipack sits in the variant picker, where the shopper is choosing. Example, with assumed prices: one for $29, three for $79 (about $26 each), six for $149 (about $25 each). Shopify's free Shopify Bundles app can create multipacks from the Shopify admin.
A recommendations app has little to choose from in a one-product store, so set the multipack up as variants, add your one or two accessories and place them yourself in the theme editor. Unrelated products added just to fill a row make a focused store look less focused.
Holiday season changes
In the holidays more shoppers buy for someone else, and more are new to your store. In early November, add gift sets and gift packaging, check the picks on your best sellers and test the cart on a phone. In Black Friday week, make sure best sellers are in stock and their recommendations don't point to sold-out items. In December, show your real last order date for delivery and suggest gift cards after it. In January, take gift packaging out of the cart and go back to everyday pairs.
A small free gift above a spend level gives shoppers a reason to add to the order without a discount on your main products. State the spend level and the gift, keep it available for as long as you say, and say plainly if stock of it is limited. The guide to honest urgency on Shopify covers deadlines and countdowns that hold up, and the free shipping threshold guide covers the other spend-level offer.
Where Dropr fits
Dropr picks recommendations from your own catalog by reading product titles, descriptions and tags. It doesn't read collections, product type or the Vendor field, which is why the tags above matter, and a shared tag ranks a product higher without filtering others out. It leaves out sold-out products and anything already in the cart. Its Add button adds the product's first available variant, as a one-time purchase, and shoppers can tap the product name to open its page and choose a size.
On Dropr's Products page you can reorder, remove or add picks for any product, and a list you've edited stays as you set it when Dropr updates its matches. You write each row's heading under Heading on its Recommendations page. "Popular right now" ranks best sellers from paid orders since you installed Dropr (up to the last 90 days) and fills the rest with your most recently updated products, so a store that installs in late November has little to rank before the holidays.
Frequently asked questions
Does this work with a small catalog?
Yes, if your products belong to the same rooms, routines or style lines. With under 50 products, check every product's recommendations once by hand.
Should I recommend a more expensive version of the product?
Offer it while the shopper is still comparing, for example between metal or size options in the variant picker. Once they've chosen, a pricier alternative under the add to cart button can send them away to think it over.
Can I choose the pairs myself?
Yes. Shopify's free Search & Discovery app sets up to 10 complementary products per product for themes that show them, and recommendation apps, Dropr included, let you replace automatic picks by hand.