Overview

Upsells in Upcart rely on multiple Shopify and app-specific conditions to display correctly. If your upsell isn’t appearing on the storefront, this guide walks you through every step to identify and resolve the issue.

Common Causes of Missing Upsells

The most frequent reasons an upsell might not appear include:

Inventory issues or product status in Shopify
Incorrect product or channel configuration
Upsell module settings in Upcart (such as triggers or limits)
Missing collection relationships for AI-recommended upsells

Let’s look at each of these in more detail.

Shopify Product Configuration

Inventory Settings

There are two inventory settings that affect product visibility:

Track quantity: If enabled, the product must have available inventory to appear.
If Track quantity is disabled, the product won’t sell out and the upsell will display regardless of stock level.

💡 To verify:

Go to Shopify Admin > Products > Inventory.
For single-variant products, scroll to the Inventory section.
For multi-variant products, scroll to Variants and check stock for each one.

📘 Learn more: Shopify Inventory Management Docs

Product Status: Active vs Draft

Ensure the upsell product is marked as Active, not Draft.
Draft products will not appear in the cart drawer.

💡 To check:

Go to Shopify Admin > Products or open the product and check the status badge in the top right.

📘 More info: Shopify Product Status Docs

Sales Channels: Online Store

Upsell products must be published to the Online Store sales channel.

💡 To verify:

Open the product in Shopify.
Look for the Publishing section and confirm Online Store is selected.
If missing, click the three-dot menu > Manage sales channels and check Online Store, then save.

Product Type Limitations

Upcart doesn’t support certain product types for upsells:

❌ Subscription-only products
❌ Bundle products (unless built as standard Shopify products)

Upcart Module Settings

“Show Upsell If Item Already in Cart”

This setting determines whether upsells appear when the product is already in the cart.

✅ Checked: The upsell always displays.
❌ Unchecked: The upsell hides if the product is already in the cart.

“Limit Number of Upsells”

If this setting is enabled, only a limited number of upsells will appear.

The Upsells module reads from top to bottom in your list.
If the cart already includes the maximum number of upsells, any lower-priority ones won’t display.

🧠 Example:
If the maximum number of upsells is set to 2, and the first two upsells are triggered, any additional upsells (even if valid) will not appear.

Upsell Triggers

Manual upsells require a trigger product to function.

✅ The trigger product must be:

In stock
Active
Published to the Online Store channel

✅ If the trigger product has variants, at least one variant must be selected in the Upsell settings.

⚠️ If no variant is selected, the upsell will not appear, even if all other conditions are met.

Also, make sure the upsell product itself meets the same criteria.

AI-Recommended Upsells

If you’re using AI-recommended upsells, there are specific conditions to check:

Related Algorithm

Upsells only appear if the cart item shares a collection with other products in the store.

✅ Solution: Add both products to the same Shopify collection.

Complementary Algorithm

These upsells are based on Shopify’s purchase behavior data.

Shopify must have sufficient data to identify product pairings.
Ensure your store’s data settings allow for AI-based recommendations.

📘 Learn how to set up complementary upsells:
Shopify Complementary Products Guide

Summary

If your upsells aren’t showing, review the following:

The upsell product is Active, in stock, and published to the Online Store channel.
Your Upsell Module settings are correctly configured (no limiting conditions preventing display).
Your trigger product and upsell product meet Shopify visibility requirements.
Collections and AI configurations are correctly set for AI-based upsells.