How to Add Frequently Bought Together on Shopify [2026]

What Is Frequently Bought Together (FBT)?

Frequently bought together in Shopify is a product recommendation strategy that allows you to automatically or manually suggest related or complementary products - items that customers commonly purchase along with the main product.

Think of it as the familiar “Customers also bought…” nudge. When displayed directly on the product page or cart page, it encourages customers to add multiple items to their purchase with just one click.

For example, if a customer is viewing a laptop, the Frequently bought together section may recommend a laptop sleeve, a mouse, or a memory card. 

This type of offer works great when you want to recommend complementary products to your customers - for example, complete the outfit, don’t miss the essentials, everything for your desk setup, get the full glow routine, or perfect additions to your order. These suggestions encourage customers to purchase a complete bundle.

When these items are bought together, they provide added convenience and better value to the customer.

In this article, I will walk you through how to set frequently bought together in your Shopify store using a Shopify app, Selleasy.

Top 5 reasons why you should add Frequently Bought Together in your Shopify Store

Frequently bought together products aren’t just an add-on for your Shopify store. They directly impact how much you sell and how easily customers can shop. Here are a few reasons why this feature truly matters.

1. Increase average order value

FBT encourages customers to add multiple related products to their cart, increasing your store’s average order value - without any additional effort from your side.

2. Makes shopping easier

FBT helps customers quickly find accessories or relevant add-ons alongside the main product. Displaying everything on the same screen saves time, reduces friction and creates a smooth shopping experience.

3. Improves product relevance‍

FBT recommends products that are genuinely relevant to what the customer is buying. This relevance builds trust and improves conversion rates.

4. Reduces decision fatigue‍

FBT simplifies decision-making by showing customers product combinations they are most likely to need. This removes uncertainty and makes it easier for them to complete their purchase.

5. Adds more value to each purchase

‍FBT groups related products into a bundle, often with a small discount. This makes customers feel they are getting more value by spending less and receiving more.

How Frequently Bought Together Recommendations Work (AI and Manual)?

Frequently bought together recommendations are a powerful add-on for your Shopify store because they help customers discover products that are commonly purchased along with the item they’re currently viewing.

Instead of making customers search through multiple product pages, this feature shows useful add-ons at exactly the right moment - making shopping easier while increasing your chances of selling more in a single order.

In most stores, frequently bought together works in one of two ways, and many stores use a combination of both.

AI-based recommendations

In this method, apps analyze your store’s order history and customer buying behavior to automatically identify products that are often purchased together.

So, what does the system actually look for?

It identifies patterns such as:

• Products are frequently purchased in the same order
  
• Items commonly added to the cart together
  
• Customer browsing and purchasing behavior
  

As more orders come in, the system continues to learn and improve its recommendations over time, making suggestions smarter and more relevant.

Manual recommendations

Here, you manually choose which products should appear together in a bundle.

This approach is especially useful when you are:

• Launching new products
  
• Promoting accessories or high-margin items
  
• Running seasonal or promotional offers
  
• Clearing inventory
  
• Creating curated or themed shopping experiences
  

Manual control lets you guide customers to the products you specifically want to promote.

Hybrid approach (AI + Manual)

This is the approach most growing stores use.

AI handles recommendations automatically as your store scales, while manual rules ensure important or strategic products are always shown where needed.

This gives you the best of both - automation with full control.

How to Setup Frequently Bought Together in Shopify?

The frequently bought together offer in Shopify can be set with or without an app. 

Setting up these offers without an app can be done using a native theme customization or custom code. 

However, without a third party app, you cannot have a single “Add bundle to cart” button to add all the items at once. 

Your customer needs to add each product individually and also the layouts and styling are less customisable.

In this article, I will help you understand how to setup a frequently bought together offer in your Shopify store using the Selleasy app. 

Frequently Bought Together (FBT) bundle checklist to create high-converting product bundles.

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Step 1: Install the Selleasy app from Shopify app store.

Step 2: Choose the layout that you want from the three available options. Selleasy offers 3 different layouts to set up frequently bought together offers.

• Frequently bought together (List) – Products are shown in a simple vertical list with checkboxes, making it easy for customers to select or deselect items based on what they need.

• Frequently bought together (Amazon) – Products are grouped together with plus signs (+), showing a combined price and a single “Add bundle to cart” option. 
  
  Customers can still choose to include or remove individual items if they prefer. 
  
  One limitation of this layout is that it usually displays only two additional products in the offer.

• Frequently bought together (Classic) – Products are displayed in a traditional product grid or recommendation layout. 
  
  Here, customers select or deselect items using the product details shown below each image, unlike the other two layouts, where selection can typically be done directly from the product images.

Step 3: Choose the products that you want to upsell and select if you want to manually set your offer products or use AI to do it for you. 

Select the products for which you want to show the frequently bought together offer. 

Next, choose the method you want to use to display the offer products.

Note:

Manual – You manually choose which products should be shown along with the main product.

Basic AI – Automatically shows related or complementary products to customers.

ChatGPT-powered Selleasy AI –  Automatically shows related products, creates upsell messages, and replaces underperforming products. (New feature) 

You can also use prompts to control how offer products are displayed.

Homogeneous recommendations – Shows products similar to the main product.

Example prompt: “Show shirts of similar color and fit.”

Heterogeneous recommendations – Shows complementary products that go well with the main product.

Example prompt: “Show trousers, sunglasses, and other accessories that complete the outfit.”

This means that whenever a customer visits the product page where you’ve set the offer, they will see the recommended products displayed in the layout you selected.

Step 4: Make your frequently bought together bundle more appealing with discounts

You can also add an extra discount to the offer products to encourage customers to purchase the bundle. 

While discounts are optional, even a small saving makes the bundle feel more valuable and worth choosing.

Step 5: Add a catchy headline to your frequently bought together bundle offer

An attractive headline like “Finish your whole outfit” or “Complete your garden setup with these cute pots,” paired with a subtitle that highlights the benefit, such as “At a whopping 30% discount” or “Elevate the look”, encourages customers to explore the options and increases the chances of them purchasing the bundle.

Real store examples for Shopify frequently bought together

Let’s look at a few real Shopify stores that use frequently bought together offers. Here, you’ll see examples of all three layouts, giving you a better idea of how each one might look on your own store.

These examples also show how different brands use the same type of offer in different layouts to suit their stores’ needs and shopping experience.

Example 1: Solar equipment Store – FBT (List)

HQST,  uses Selleasy to set up frequently bought together (List) offers, cross-selling batteries, chargers, and mounting brackets alongside their solar panels.

They use this layout because it allows them to showcase more than two offer products while making it easy for customers to select or deselect items based on their needs. The discounts offered on each product further encourage customers to click “Add bundle to cart.”

Example 2: Apparel store - FBT (Amazon) 

Buddy, uses Selleasy to set up frequently bought together (Amazon) offers, cross-selling hoodies and other products. 

They use this layout because they offer a smaller number of products, and this layout works well by allowing them to showcase up to two offer products in a clean and simple bundle.

Example 3: Truck lift kits & wheels store – FBT (Classic)

TruckBundles.com, uses Selleasy to set up the frequently bought together (Classic) layout to cross-sell accessories related to truck lift kits.

They use this layout because it allows them to showcase a larger number of products while providing proper descriptions for each item, helping customers better understand their options before adding them to the cart.

Products that work well together in a frequently bought together bundle

• Combine low-selling products with popular ones to sell items easily that are less likely to be sold otherwise.
• Bundle products that are used together and those that complement each other. 
• Bundle underselling products with low-performing items at a discounted price.
• Offer customer favorites as a bundle.
• Sell unique items only as part of a bundle.
• Create seasonal bundles during festivals and holidays.
• Launch new items as bundles to test their performance.  

7 Useful Tips to Create a Shopify Frequently Bought Together Offer

If you are setting up a frequently bought together offer in your Shopify store, here are 7 quick tips to help you create offers that actually work.

The goal isn’t just to show more products on the screen. 

It’s to help customers complete their purchase easily with a single click while also increasing your average order value.

Tip 1: Bundle naturally 

Always recommend products that logically complement each other. 

If recommendations feel random, customers may ignore the offer or feel you’re just trying to push extra products.

Tip 2: Keep the bundle simple

Stick to 2 or 3 complementary products. 

Too many options make it harder for customers to decide, and they may skip the offer altogether.

Tip 3: Offer a deal

Why would a customer pick a bundle if there’s no added value? 

Add a small discount or savings message so customers feel they’re getting a better deal than buying items separately.

Tip 4: Place strategically

Show the bundle on product pages, where customers are already evaluating the product. 

This increases the chances that they’ll add everything to the cart at once.

Tip 5: Make your offer simple and flexible 

Customers should be able to select or deselect items easily. 

If the offer looks complicated, most customers will skip it - and honestly, wouldn’t you do the same?

Tip 6: Combine AI & Manual

AI recommendations work well because they analyze products customers often buy together. 

But manual recommendations are still useful when you want to promote new or seasonal products. 

Tip 7: Monitor analytics

Not every bundle you create will perform well. 

Check your store analytics regularly, identify offers that don’t work, and optimize or replace them over time.

These small improvements can make a big difference in how customers interact with your offers and how much they add to their cart.

6 Mistakes to Avoid While Creating a Shopify Frequently Bought Together Offer

Mistake 1: Showing the same bundle for every product

Many stores apply the same bundle to every product. 

But customers have different needs, and someone buying a laptop shouldn’t see the same bundle as someone buying headphones.

Solution: Each main product should have its own relevant recommendations.

Mistake 2: Ignoring mobile experience

Most shoppers browse on their mobile phones. 

If the bundle looks cluttered or is difficult to view and select on smaller screens, customers usually skip the offer and move on.

Solution: Always check how your offer appears on mobile devices and optimize it accordingly.

Mistake 3: Adding irrelevant products to boost sales

Sometimes merchants add offer products simply to push sales, even when those products are not relevant.

Customers easily recognize this, and it can make them lose both interest and trust in your store.

Solution: Bundles should genuinely help customers by offering useful product combinations and meaningful value.

Mistake 4: Recommending over-priced add-ons

Recommending products that are more expensive than the main product often discourages customers from purchasing.

For example, suggesting a $75 add-on for a $25 product creates too large a price jump, reducing bundle acceptance.

Solution: Choose offer products that are reasonably priced compared to the main product, ideally lower-priced complementary items.

Mistake 5: Outdated bundles recommendations

Stores often forget to update bundles when products are discontinued, prices change, or new products are introduced.

This leads to irrelevant offers and a poor shopping experience.

Solution: Review and update bundles regularly to keep your offers relevant and effective.

Mistake 6: Not personalizing bundle messages

Displaying the same message, such as “Customers also bought”, across all products feels generic and unengaging.

Solution: Create customized messages for each offer. 

Personalized messaging feels more relevant and increases the chances of customers adding the bundle.

Final Thoughts

Frequently bought together offers are one of the simplest ways to increase your Shopify store’s average order value while making shopping easier for your customers.

Instead of pushing customers to browse again, you guide them toward products they already need - at exactly the right moment.

Start simple. Bundle products that naturally go together, offer a small incentive, and keep refining your bundles based on customer behavior.

With tools like Selleasy, setting up and optimizing these offers becomes easy, even as your store grows.

When your bundles genuinely help customers complete their purchase, higher sales follow naturally.

Frequently Asked Questions on Shopify Frequently Bought Together

1. Can I hard-code frequently bought together without using an app?

Yes, you can hard-code frequently bought together offers without using an app.

However, this approach is time-consuming and difficult to manage. 

It also requires technical skills and becomes harder to maintain as your store grows, increasing the chances of outdated or out-of-stock product recommendations. 

In addition, manual setups usually miss useful features like automatic discounts, one-click bundle additions, and performance tracking.

Using an app like Selleasy makes the process much easier, as it offers ready-to-use upsell widgets that can be placed across different pages of your store.

2. Should I choose automatic recommendations or manual bundles?

The right choice depends on your catalog size and data. 

While automatic works with well-established stores, manual gives you control for new products or promotions. 

It’s highly recommended that you use a hybrid method to set up your offers.

3. Does FBT really improve average order value or sales for Shopify stores?

Product recommendation strategies like “Frequently bought together” gently reminds the customer of options that they can buy along with their main product they may otherwise forget. 

And when done right by offering relevant products and giving small discounts, this strategy for sure increases the average order value.