Stuck with a flat average order value and little margins?
Don’t worry, there’s a solution:
Meet product bundling - the easiest way to increase order value.
And in this post you’ll learn about 5 unique product bundling examples.
All to make your average order value explode!
Vitals features a newly improved app for product bundling.
Right from the dashboard, choose options to boost revenue.
The sleek design helps you create bundles in minutes.
For a full guide on how to set BOGO sales, check out our video,
For all Shopify users out there, it is crucial to remember that bundling apps don’t play well with each other, so choose bundling apps wisely.
Amazon does it all the time.
Well, here’s the thing: Everyone does it. That’s why selling bundled products is increasingly harder.
Before going over the best bundle selling practices, let’s talk about what product bundle selling is.
Bundle selling is selling more than two products at once.
How does product bundling benefit ecommerce retailers?
- Increases perceived value – the price of a bundle is higher than a single product. However, the bundle is perceived as a better deal because it features additional products that customers might oversee in the store.
- Price friction is eliminated – For example, if selling smartphone gadgets and offer a phone case $10$ for the purchase of a $30 travel kit bag, and at the same time you are featuring an eyeshadow pallet with an included makeup brush and lipstick for $50, it is evident that second option will cause less friction and the customer will get the most out of their purchase.
- Move stagnant merch – Bundling quickly moves products that aren’t selling well. Ideally, these would be non-expensive products. However, occasionally products that are not selling well are products that have lower prices than shipping.
- Reduces marketing costs – Instead of running a campaign for each product, you focus on one product mixture with bundling.
- More product usage – If your product is good, then bundling products will increase your product placement in the market. This leads to more reviews and more product recommendations.
How does product bundling benefit buyers?
- Reduces cost – Starting with a better price for a bundle to reduce the volume of repurchase and shipping, customers like bundles because they can estimate their saving rates.
- It is convenient – For example, if the customer buys toothpaste in a bundle, they don’t have to think about this product for months; they cover their need for this specific product and search for good deals for different items.
What products should you bundle?
- Top sellers – To sell more and offer better deals for new and returning customers, create a bundle for your best-selling products.
- Items that complement each other – If selling sports t-shirts, throw in shorts or socks. Create a bundle that will complete buyers’ experience.
- Customers’ favorites – By following up on the purchase placed by customers, you can bundle products by selecting items from the store that will correspond with their favorite items. For example, if returning customers always buy shoes from the store, throw in some shoelaces, soles, or shoe cleaners.
- Slow selling products – If you have difficulties moving specific items, the best way is to bundle these with best-selling items or feature them as a gift.
- New product you want to test – When testing the market for a new product, the best way is to include it in a bundle. Depending on the reviews, optionally, re-purchase or reproduce these.
- Cross-bundling with different retailers – This is good practice for expensive products, such as cameras, consoles, etc. When only selling cameras, consider partnering up with tripod or lens sellers; together, feature a bundle of complete equipment.
How brands bundle their products in physical and online stores – Best practices to learn from
Big brands hire marketing pros and market researchers to do the heavy lifting; if it’s not possible to hire a team, no worries; you can still learn tricks from brands and apply them in your store.
Samsung – Moving new products in a bundle
Samsung is an example of a retailer that features various products (home appliances, smartphones, audio equipment, electronics, and more.) in stores, online, and through partners and distributors.
In October 2020, Samsung released a new smartphone Galaxy Z Fold 2.
A couple of months later, Samsung bundled this smartphone with a smart monitor.
As we can see from the example, Samsung is bundling a 32 inch M7 Smart Monitor with the new product, in this case, the Galaxy Z Fold 2.
First, let’s look into prices and reviews for both products.
Galaxy Z Fold 2 is priced at $1,278 on Amazon; it is rated with four stars.
On the official Samsung website, pricing is different.
The new item is priced at $1,199.99, which is the exact same price as a bundle, but when we look at the bundle offer– it states that for $1,199.99, you are getting an M7 Smart Monitor for $100.
Next, we wanted to know what the actual price of the M7 Smart Monitor is?
On Amazon, the price is $349,99 with a 4.5-star rating.
Samsung bundling these two products taught us two lessons.
First, suppose new products are not selling that well. In that case, the brand will try to bundle them together with better-performing products, and second, the period in which Samsung is testing the market is approximately six months before bundle sale.
The best practice is to test the market by bundling new products with your best-selling and best-rated products.
This way, you avoid stocking up the products before you have more profound and excellent insights and statistics about product placement.
If the product starts selling well and gets good reviews – proceed with increasing stock.
JRINK – Mix and match bundle practice
JRINK is a great example of a mix and match bundle sale.
Build a 6-Pack is an ongoing promotional campaign that allows customers to select similar products and purchase them in a bundle.
In this specific case, a customer can select six drinks and create their own 6-pack.
How does this benefit retailers and customers?
Retailers ensure the purchase of at least six products; new flavors are easy to incorporate in a bundle and check how products are placed, which opens the space for different promotions.
If 6-pack is a bit much, why not select smaller packs? By following this logic, at any given time, you are selling more than a single product.
As far as consumers’ benefits go, by purchasing a bundle, it is easy to have this healthy mix drink every day without having to pick it up daily and think about it throughout the week.
Purchase in a bundle comes with an adjusted price. In addition, customers can select flavors that they like instead of pre-selected options that the seller chose for them.
This type of bundling is commonly applied in food, drink, and fashion industries, but of course is not excluding others.
Mix and match practice is an excellent option for retailers with fast-moving products with short expiration dates.
JRINK could have easily promoted their drinks as Buy 2 Get 1 Free. However, they allowed customers to decide for themselves – Build a 6-Pack. In this way, customers feel in control of their own choices instead of being forced to pay for the package that might not be their preferred product selection.
Individually bought, the price of 1 drink is $10, but the bundle pricing starts at $20.
The lesson to learn from JRINK is the promotional practice of mix and match bundles; allow your customers to say in product selection.
Koh – Upsell bundles practice
A great example of a bundle upselling is Koh – an eco cleaning company that features cleaning supplies and certificates for private business owners.
Bundles are featured on their landing page. It is a straightforward approach; commonly, these types of bundles are reserved for pop-up forms or newsletters, but why not promote your bundles and upsell within minutes.
This is similar to a mix and match product bundle selling strategy, but in this case, the kits are pre-selected, and products don’t only include cleaning formulas. Upselling bundles provide cost cleaning supplies, cleaning devices, and cleaning appliances.
Of course, the price is different for bundles.
The price of a universal cleaner is $29.95, but the price of the entire bundle is $44.90.
Lesson to learn from Koh: Place your featuring bundle offers on the website landing page and if you include a variety of products, create a product mix to upsell crucial items.
Care to Beauty – Necessity bundles practice
Care to Beauty is an ecommerce brand that sells cosmetic products.
Beauty industries have an opportunity to constantly create bundles – weekly deals, special occasions, holidays, promotions of new products, etc.
To attract customers, include free gifts with bundle purchases and motivate customers to click the add to cart button. It is an additional motivator to go for the bundle.
It is common to bundle the same products, either best sellers or worst sellers, especially if your stocks are filled and products need to be moved.
Another great option for stores similar to Care to Beauty is to place a time limit on the bundle promotion. “24-hours left” or weekly offers allow new bundling of different items and products you want to sell consistently.
Lesson to learn from Care to Beauty: if selling necessities and want to create bundle sales consistently, consider featuring bundle sales with two or more of the same products.
Beardbrand – Less known products bundle practice
Beardbrand is a startup brand specializing in men’s grooming.
Their primary goal is to promote products, and of course, they feature bundle sales in addition to marketing campaigns.
Less-known brands have to work extra hard to place their products in the market and gain customers. Creating affordable and convenient bundles by meeting the customers’ needs boosts product placement, and the brand is being introduced to broad audiences.
For example, if a customer searches for beard oil, why not create a promo package of beard cream, perfume, and a comb.
Since you introduced hair care with the first bundle sale, a grooming kit can be featured separately or be included with a cosmetics pack, especially if this is your luxury line of products.
Lesson to learn from Beardbrand: If new to the market and own a product, create a bundle sale of your main products and your luxury items; this way, customers will have the opportunity to test most of the products and review them.
This article covered different business practices on product bundle selling strategies; startup independent and big brands bundle their products to boost sales, introduce products, and move the merch.
Are you ready to feature product bundling?
Before you decide to create the bundle, there are three main questions to answer:
- Can you afford a high volume of the product purchase? Inevitably, bundles will attract customers. This will increase the selling rate, but can you actually afford to stock up on the merch? It’s best to start small, see how the products are selling, test the market prior to placing big purchases. Cheaper items, for example, phone cases, can be purchased in bulks for a low price. However, to avoid losses, the design and quality need to be tested first. The risk includes a volume of similar businesses; if the competition is fierce and you are a new brand, it is more challenging to beat competitors and rank the store.
- Does your e-commerce platform support bundling? First, check if your current platform features a bundling option, and check if it allows external apps integration.
- Is there a demand for your product? Market research is a key – check the competitors, read reviews and think long and hard if your products are in demand. On the one hand, if you sell what most of the stores sell, the competition is massive; on the other hand, it is hard to gain customers if you are a start-up or a less-known brand.
To be ready for product bundling, you should answer these three questions. If the answer to all three is yes, then make sure to select the optimal bundling practice specific for your use case.
We are looking forward to checking your bundles.