Optimize communication with the client: with upselling and cross selling emails
Miguel Nicolás
17/06/2025
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Cross selling and upselling emails are a type of client communication that needs to be optimized. We are going to show you how.
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After many posts about optimizing communication with the client through email, we arrive at the final article. All of them, taken together, make up a very good and extensive collection of best practices and tips for your email marketing campaigns, with plenty of examples.Therefore, I cannot help but recommend that you take a look at the posts already published on: promotional emails, newsletters, reactivation, feedback, outreach, relational emails, surveys and, of course, the article that precedes this one, in which we talk about events and brand activations.Do not worry, you do not have to read them in order. In fact, you do not need to read them all; you can just choose what interests you most, because they are completely independent from each other.That said… let’s dive into the role of email in cross selling and increasing value.
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How to use well-optimized cross selling and upselling emails
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Logic says it is best to start by explaining what they are, in case someone is not familiar with the concept. But, if you do not mind, I will do it quite briefly to keep things agile, however, you can dive deeper into upselling and cross selling in these specific posts.Basically, they are two tactics that allow to increase the average ticket or purchase frequency through promotions and other direct actions with the client.The main difference is that upselling tries to persuade the buyer, generally before finalizing the purchase, to buy a superior version of the same product they have shown interest in. In contrast, the objective of cross selling is to “increase” the ticket based on related or complementary products to one already purchased.Let´s see some examples: in the first case, it would be convincing a client who wanted an iPhone 15 to buy an iPhone 16 Pro Max. On the other hand, the second case would involve selling that same client a case, insurance, screen protector, and portable battery.As you can see, aside from being different, they are also completely complementary, and the advantages of optimizing this type of communication are crystal clear:
- Increase in sales and/or average ticket: this is the main goal and benefit of incorporating these types of emails into our flows.
- Greater personalization: we’ve often spoken about the positive impact personalization has on user experience.
- Higher perceived value: especially in the case of upselling, the client makes a larger investment, but with the feeling of “buying better.”
- Increased customer retention: as a result of everything already mentioned, the client’s lifecycle, as well as purchase recurrence, is considerably longer.
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Examples of optimized upselling and cross selling emails
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Well, it is time to move on to real examples, emails that thousands of e-commerce customers have received in their inboxes and which, in our opinion, are particularly well designed and constructed.The methodology is simple: we give you some context and a screenshot so you can see each detail. Then we highlight the strongest points so you can directly apply them to your strategy.
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#1 – Complete your purchase
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The first store we are going to talk about makes it easy for me, mainly because it does not need much introduction: it is the eCommerce of the sports brand Adidas, which is without a doubt a modern classic.The best part is that it shows us that cross selling can be applied to any type of business, from the smallest or niche ones to the big multinationals that have been market leaders for decades.
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We like this cross selling email because:
- It creates the right feeling just with the subject. By removing some letters from the text, it plays a little mental trick that grabs our attention, forcing us to complete the sentence… exactly what it proposes as a strategy: to complete our outfit with complementary products.
- It advises through personalization: notice that, rather than selling you directly, it recommends those sneakers or that jacket that would suit you perfectly. Almost like a personal shopper would.
- A subtle call to action: in line with what we are saying, note that they have chosen to avoid a button that says “buy” and have left it at “click to grab.”
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#2 – Buy what is coming
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If Adidas does not need an introduction, what can we say about Google? One of the most recognized brands on the planet also uses email marketing to sell. Specifically in the part of its business that sells devices, especially phones.The Pixel smartphones are Mountain View’s alternative to other giants like Apple or Samsung and, naturally, in such a competitive segment, you have to go all in on marketing.
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We like this upselling email because:
- Based on advantages: tech lovers know that one of the biggest drivers to change phones is new features. In fact, it is one of the segments where upselling makes the most sense. That is why the entire email content is a showcase of what the new device brings (battery, camera, processing power, built-in security…).
- Mid-term campaign: precisely because they know their market, they know Pixel users change phones every two years, so they created a subscription program where you pay a monthly fee and have the right to upgrade the device. This is taking upselling to a subscription model that guarantees recurrence.
- And it does not forget cross selling: if you look closely, just under the image of the phone, there’s a banner trying to sell us a pair of earbuds. Makes perfect sense, does not it?
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#3 – Play with timing
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Let’s look at another business model and a more modest brand (though no less interesting). This time it is Dollar Shave Club, the subscription service for shavers.If it does not ring a bell, I will tell you that it is one of the most disruptive brands of the past decades. That is true both for its business model, of which it is considered a pioneer, and for its communication and strategy. Naturally, email marketing is one of its strongest points, and this email is a great example.
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We like this cross selling email because:
- How it plays with timing: once you have completed the whole purchase process, before closing the shipment, they send you an email like this, with a series of complementary products to the one you just ordered and, best of all, you are still in time to add them. Timing and urgency, a winning combo.
- Less is more: you want to sell and you know what you want to sell, so you will always have better conversion chances if you keep it simple. Show less but show it well. Too many options can sometimes be a friction point that frustrates the sale.
- But there are also options for those who want to explore further, with a link to the store where they can build a better bathroom (great message, by the way).
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#4 – The importance of influence
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Mr Porter’s fashion is designed for elegant people who care about their appearance.It is an online store that sells products with a strong aspirational component, related to a certain lifestyle.Let’s see how they handle cross selling and upselling emails, because although at first glance it may seem like a similar strategy to Adidas, conceptually it has some very interesting nuances.
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We like this cross selling email because:
- The influencer component: in marketing there are many mixes that work well, and this is a great example. It combines the power of cross selling based on the client’s interests with the authority of a person with a name, surname, and, most importantly, a position of authority in a relevant medium. Big plus.
- Aspirational component: sometimes it is not just that products are recommended to us, how they are recommended is even more important. For starters, it is a wish list, which is already promising. But also, each item has a personalized review.
- Carefully curated selection: truthfully, none of the above would work if the inventory were not so well thought out and refined.
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Are you going to give your customer communication optimization a review using cross selling and upselling emails? Do not hesitate, do it now!