---
title: "Cross-selling: definition and example | Product Metrics"
description: "Cross-selling is selling a related product alongside the one a customer is buying. See an example and how it changes what a product’s ad return is worth."
canonical: "https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/cross-selling"
pageType: article
language: en
publisher: "Product Metrics"
author: "Berend Vrakking"
datePublished: 2026-10-07
dateModified: 2026-10-07
---

> Content index: https://www.productmetrics.io/llms.txt

# Cross-selling

Cross-selling is selling a related product alongside the one a customer is already buying, such as running socks with a pair of running shoes.

## Example

One product’s ad, with and without cross-sell:

| Step | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Orders that began with an ad click on Trail Runner Pro | 40 |
| Revenue from Trail Runner Pro (40 × €120.00) | €4,800.00 |
| Revenue from other products in those orders | €1,200.00 |
| Ad spend on the Trail Runner Pro ad | €1,600.00 |
| ROAS from Trail Runner Pro alone (€4,800.00 ÷ €1,600.00) | 3 |
| ROAS with the other products (€6,000.00 ÷ €1,600.00) | 3.75 |

Count only Trail Runner Pro and the ad returns 3. Count the rest of the basket and it returns 3.75. Same ad, same spend. Illustrative data.

## For one product, and for an account

In advertising terms, cross-selling is everything in the basket beyond the product that was clicked. Read a product’s ROAS from its own sales alone and the product that opens the door gets no credit for what follows it in. That extra revenue comes with its own margins, though, so it is not all profit either.

Product Journeys follows each journey from the Shopping ad click to the order in your GA4 data, and splits the revenue of each entry product into direct revenue and cross-sell revenue. It explains why a product performs; it is not an attribution tool.

## Common mistake

Lowering priority on a product because its own sales look thin, when its ad is the one bringing in the customers who fill their baskets with other products.

## Questions

### What is cross-selling with examples?

Offering a related product to someone who is already buying: a case with a phone, socks with running shoes. The second product goes alongside the first instead of replacing it.

### What is the difference between upselling and cross-selling?

Upselling offers a more expensive version of the product the customer is considering, such as a larger size or a higher model. Cross-selling offers a different, related product alongside it. One makes the main item dearer; the other adds to the basket.

## Keep reading

- [Product Journeys](https://www.productmetrics.io/product-journeys): See direct and cross-sell revenue for each product that starts a journey.
- [Market basket analysis](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/market-basket-analysis): Count which products are bought together.
- [ROAS](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/roas): The return figure that cross-sell revenue changes for one product.
- [Break-even ROAS calculator](https://www.productmetrics.io/break-even-roas-calculator): Find the return each product needs to break even.

---

Written by Berend Vrakking, founder of Product Metrics. Last updated 2026-10-07.

HTML version: https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/cross-selling