Frequently Bought Together vs Order Bumps vs Upsells

CartFlows gives you three ways to put an extra product in front of a shopper: Frequently Bought Together, Order Bumps, and one-click Upsells. They look similar on paper, but each one catches the shopper at a different moment and suits a different kind of offer.

This guide explains what each one does, what it needs, and how to pick the right one.

How the Three Offers Differ

The simplest way to tell them apart is when the shopper sees them.

• Frequently Bought Together appears on the product page, before anything reaches the cart.
• Order Bumps appear on the checkout page, beside the order summary, while the shopper is paying.
• Upsells appear after payment has gone through, on a page of their own.

That timing decides everything else: how much you can ask for, how much it interrupts the purchase, and what happens if the shopper says no.

Frequently Bought Together

This shows a short list of companion products on a product page, each with a checkbox. The shopper ticks what they want and one button adds the whole selection to the cart. You pick the companions per product, and you choose where the section sits on the page.

It is the only one of the three available on the free plugin. Choosing companion products by hand works on free CartFlows, while Auto Suggest, which picks the companions for you, needs CartFlows Pro with your account connected.

Reach for it when the extra product only makes sense next to a particular item, like a lamp with a desk or filters with a coffee machine. It works best for small, obvious additions the shopper can decide on without much thought.

Order Bumps

An Order Bump is a single offer shown on the checkout page, usually as a highlighted box with a tick box. Accepting it adds the product to the order without leaving the page or re-entering anything.

Order Bumps need CartFlows Pro, and they appear on a CartFlows Checkout step rather than the default WooCommerce checkout page. You can also run an A/B test on a bump to compare two versions and see which one people accept more often.

Reach for it when you have one low-priced, low-effort add-on that suits almost any order, such as gift wrapping, express shipping, or a small accessory.

One-Click Upsells

An Upsell is a full page of its own that appears after the shopper has paid. Because the payment details from the original order are already on file, accepting the offer takes one click with nothing to fill in again. If the shopper declines, you can show a Downsell, usually the same offer at a lower price or a smaller quantity.

Upsells need CartFlows Pro and a payment gateway that supports charging the customer a second time. The original order is already complete by this point, so nothing the shopper does on the upsell page puts that first purchase at risk.

Reach for it when the offer is bigger, needs explaining, or would clutter the checkout page. This is the right home for an upgrade, a bulk deal, or a related product that deserves its own pitch.

Which One to Use

Start from what you are offering and how much thought it needs:

• A companion product tied to one specific item belongs in Frequently Bought Together, where the shopper is already looking at that item.
• A small extra that suits nearly every order belongs in an Order Bump, where accepting it costs one tick.
• Anything that needs a paragraph of persuasion belongs in an Upsell, where it has room and cannot disrupt the sale you already made.

If an offer would make the shopper hesitate at checkout, move it to an Upsell. If it is so obvious that it barely needs explaining, it probably belongs on the product page instead.

Using Them Together

Nothing stops you using all three in the same funnel, and a shopper can meet each one in turn: companions on the product page, a bump at checkout, an upsell after paying.

If you do, give each stage a different product. Seeing the same item offered three times reads as pestering, and every extra offer costs a little goodwill. A good rule is one decision per stage.

Frequently Asked Questions