Increase average order value with cart item page's suggestion features

'Let the buyer buy' is a favorite sales mantra of ours. It elaborates in a positive way on the adage that 'people love to buy, but hate to be sold.' In the latest System Update, new shopping cart / basket features help you the merchant let those buyers buy, offering new suggestions at a most opportune time. Let's explain: 

The page viewed by a shopper after she adds an item to her basket or cart is one we've called the cart items page. It's the page that lists all the items in the cart, their total cost, and an invitation to checkout. This System Update releases a new version of this cart items page with a great many improvements. For now, let's focus on the feature that helps you increase the average order value on your site. Cross-sell or up-sell in the basket. Here's how:

Underneath the items in the cart, shoppers now see a shopping suggestions section. The "Continue Shopping" link directly above this section will return the shopper to the page of the product last added to the cart, if any. Underneath this link there are two rows of up to three products, including a thumbnail photo and link, that are suggestioned to the customer:

• The first row of suggested products are products related to the category of the last item placed in the cart.
• The second row contains featured products in the category of the last item placed in the cart.
• If there are no products shown in this suggestions section, it means you have not flagged any of your products to meet the above two criteria.

The intent behind this design is that there ought be, without extra effort on your part, related products in the category from which an item was just added to the cart. This means it ought be easy for you to ensure there's always at least one suggested item. The second part, the featured products row, makes it possible for you to intentionally bring extra visibility to whatever product you feature. Now a featured product will show up in category pages, and the cart items page. Makes sense, right? 

To ensure understanding of how to use this new feature, see the help topic "Cart Effectiveness Tips" in your site's Commerce Admin Area. 

• Note: select sites will receive this new feature in the April 13th System Update, and others will receive this upgrade on 20 April.