A Checkout upsell appears in the cart during the checkout flow, before the customer pays. It's a low-friction "you might also like" placement: the customer can add a suggested product (with a discount, if you offer one) without leaving the page they were already on.
This article walks through every section of the Checkout upsell form. If you're brand-new to upsells, start with Getting Started with Upsells for an overview of both types.
What customers see
Inside the cart section of checkout, the upsell appears as a small block with:
A heading (your Title, or "You might also like" if you don't set one)
An optional supporting line of copy below the heading
One or more product cards with:
The product image
A title
A variant selector (if the product has more than one variant)
A quantity stepper (if you've enabled multiple quantities)
The price (and a strikethrough comparing to the original price, when a discount is configured)
An Add button
Tapping Add drops the chosen variant straight into the cart and (if a discount is configured) applies the discount automatically.
Creating a Checkout upsell
Open the Triom app and go to Upsells.
Click Create upsell.
Choose Checkout as the type.
Fill in the form section by section (see below).
Save in Draft to preview, then click Activate when ready.
Section: Basics
Two simple fields:
Name — internal label for your dashboard. Customers never see it. Keep it descriptive (e.g. "Phone case after iPhone purchase").
Status — start in Draft while you configure. Switch to Active when you're ready to launch.
Section: Filters
Decide who sees this upsell. The default is Show to all customers — every checkout that meets the rest of your configuration will see the offer.
If you want to target specific scenarios (cart subtotal over $X, customer is logged in, cart contains a particular product, etc.), switch to Match conditions and add the conditions you need.
The filter system is shared with order-editing upsells and has its own article: Choosing Who Sees an Upsell.
Section: Product source
Choose which products show up in the upsell card. You have three options:
Manual selection — hand-pick the products you want to suggest.
Related items — let Shopify auto-pick "Customers also bought" recommendations.
Complementary products — pull from pairings configured in Shopify's Search & Discovery app.
Each option is covered in detail in Choosing Which Products to Show.
Section: Discount (optional)
A discount is a powerful sweetener. The customer sees the offer at a moment when they're already paying, and a small extra incentive often tips them over.
The Checkout discount editor offers three kinds. Toggle Apply a discount when the offer is accepted on, then pick:
Product discount
Discounts the upsell product itself.
Percentage — e.g. 10% off the upsell product. Best for general "save 10%" framing.
Fixed amount — e.g. $5 off. Best when the dollar value is meaningful (a $5 discount on a $20 item lands harder than "25% off" emotionally).
Free shipping
Discounts the order's shipping cost when the upsell is added. Useful when the upsell pushes the cart over a threshold and you want to reward the bigger order.
The discount message
Whatever discount kind you pick, the Discount message is the label shown on the cart's discount line at checkout (e.g. "Upsell 10% off"). Make it short and clear — this is what the customer reads when they confirm the discount applied.
Using {{discount}} in your copy
In the Settings section below, the Title and Description fields support a {{discount}} placeholder. When the offer renders, it's automatically replaced with the configured discount (e.g. "10% off" or "$5 off"). Use it to make the offer copy dynamic:
Title: "Add to your order and save {{discount}}"
Description: "Limited-time offer — get a free shipping upgrade." (the placeholder is optional)
Section: Settings
Three knobs that fine-tune the customer experience.
Title
The heading shown above the offer cards. Defaults to "You might also like" if you leave it blank. Supports the {{discount}} placeholder.
Description
Optional supporting copy under the heading. Use it to explain the offer or play up the discount. Supports the {{discount}} placeholder.
Allow customer to add multiple quantities
When on, each offer card shows a quantity stepper so customers can add more than one. Useful for consumables, accessories, or anything customers commonly buy in pairs.
When off, customers add exactly one of the selected variant per click.
Hide products already in the customer's cart
When on, any offer whose default variant is already in the cart is filtered out — so you don't waste a slot suggesting something the customer is already buying.
When off, all eligible products are shown regardless of what's in the cart.
Tip: Leave this on by default. It keeps the cart upsell relevant and avoids the awkward "why is the app suggesting what I'm already buying?" moment.
Best practice picks
Goal | Recommended setup |
Try upsells with minimum risk | Manual selection of 3–5 best-sellers, no discount, shown to all customers |
Push add-on products | Manual selection of cross-category accessories, 10% off, hide products already in cart |
Drive higher AOV | Cart subtotal |
Reward customers spending more | Cart subtotal |
When the upsell isn't shown
A Checkout upsell can be configured perfectly and still not show — usually for one of these reasons:
The upsell's status is Draft or Paused.
The filters didn't match this checkout (e.g. cart subtotal is below the threshold you set).
All eligible products are already in the cart and Hide products already in the customer's cart is on.
For Complementary products, no pairings have been set up in Shopify's Search & Discovery app for the cart's anchor product.
Another active Checkout upsell came first. The first matching upsell wins — see Getting Started for the lifecycle and Filters for how to scope multiple upsells to different scenarios.
What's next
Choosing Which Products to Show — manual, related, or complementary
Choosing Who Sees an Upsell — target specific scenarios
Reading Your Upsell Analytics — measure what's working