Posted on 11 July 2026 by Jeff Fuge | Reading time 1 min
It’s estimated McDonald’s famous cross-sell of “Would you like fries with that?” adds 15–40% to the company’s annual revenue. Fries are a low-cost, high-margin item that are easy for customers to say yes to. It’s a well-known and proven cross-sell strategy – but one that others seem to struggle with.
After buying my fast-growing daughter a new bike from friendly local cycle shop, it occurred to me I should have bought some spare inner tubes. She’s small, so the bike has different size wheels to an adult model.
The chap who served us would have known this. OK, what would probably be £15 for a pair of inner tubes may not add much to the shop’s bottom line on their own. But then again, if they sell 250 bikes a year that’s up to £3,250 left on the table.
“Would you like tubes with that?” would also have snapped me out of my laser-focus on picking up the new bike. It would have got me thinking about other stuff my daughter might need. She’s had that bike helmet a long time: does it still fit? Is it time we changed it for the sake of safety?
And cycling gloves: she fell off the other day and scratched her hands. I’d been thinking some cycle mitts would be a good idea for our off-road rides around the woods.
So, a sensible cross-sell question about some inner-tubes may have resulted in adding £50–£100 to my spend.
My experience seems not to have been a one off. A friend had the same experience in another bike shop. He bought a new e-bike and, like me, left the store without any “Would you like tubes with that?” nudging.
A few days later, when the new bike had a puncture, my friend realised he didn’t have any tubes the right size (27.5 vs his usual 29). Worse was to come. Due to the rear wheel having a hub motor, the wheel was held in place by two nuts that were larger than the spanners on his multi-tool.
The folk in the bike shop would have known this and could have easily cross-sold the correct spanner as well as some tubes.
Or, to reduce the future hassle for the customer, they could have offered some puncture-proof inner tubes and some workshop time to fit them.
To me, these are all easy gains for shops to make. The add-ons are focussed on helping the customer avoid pain points down the line – and they open minds to other additional purchases.
Once a customer says yes to one thing, they’re predisposed to say yes to something else. They came in for a Big Mac, but left with fries, a Coke and a McFlurry as well.
But even when the cross-sell is present, people don’t always get it right.
When buying my younger daughter some new trainers, a cross-sell was offered. “Would you like a shoe-care kit with that?”. Nice try, shoe-shop assistant, but while you convinced me about the need to protect the suede finish on this £30 pair of daps, spending £25 on a shoe-care kit to do so is never going to fly.
The helpful or tempting cross-sell of tubes with a bike or fries with a burger works. The hustling cross-sell of stuff you don’t need at a cost that almost doubles your spend is almost always going to fail – and almost always is going to leave a sour taste.