Product bundling strategies can boost sales, improve inventory control, and improve the customer experience. Coconu’s annual report states that since introducing these packages and the free delivery threshold, the average order value has increased by 20%.
You can create value-driven offers that appeal to customers looking for convenience and savings by grouping complementary or related products at a discounted price. You can also let your customers build their bundles!
Whether through seasonal offers, personalized suggestions, or loyalty-based bundles, the right bundling strategy can drive more conversions, boost average order value, and foster long-term customer loyalty. This guide will explore how to leverage product bundling effectively for your Shopify store.
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What is Product Bundling?
Product bundling works by grouping individual products and selling them as a single package. For those of us who went to McDonald’s as kids and are deeply familiar with Happy Meals, that’s one of our favorite examples of product bundling. Now that we’ve pointed this out, you’ll probably start to see bundling strategies across many fast-food restaurants.
Bundles are appealing to subscribers because they are typically offered at a more reduced price than if the consumer had purchased the individual items separately.
What often ends up happening is that consumers buy more than they would have had they purchased the items on their own because of a psychological phenomenon known as customer value perception. Because consumers feel like they’re getting more for a lower price, they’re willing to spend a little extra to get the bundle offer.
Top 9 Product Bundling Strategies to Enhance Your Shopify Store
- Understand Who Your Customer Is
- Analyze the cart report in Shopify
- Leverage Seasonal Trends
- Use Customer Feedback
- Put Complimentary Products Together
- Sell Items Separately
- Clearly Promote Discounts And Savings
- Prioritize Personalization
- Watch How Customers Interact With Your Customizable Bundles
Strategy#1 Understand Who Your Customer Is
What do you know about your customer? While you may already have information on your customers in your CRM system, including past sales and purchase behavior, what makes them purchase specific products? Look at what they buy together and when (seasonality), as well as the products they don’t purchase (those left in the shopping cart and abandoned). Once you understand purchase behavior, you can start to create tailored product bundles and strategies.
Strategy#2 Analyze the Cart Report in Shopify
This report will give you an idea of which products you should offer as a bundle. You can see what items are being commonly purchased together. Items that are purchased together 5-10% of the time is a pretty strong indicator for a product bundle.
Go to your dashboard and click analytics.
You will see two options: reports and live view. Click reports.
You’ll find many reports here. You can also create custom reports. Click “online store cart analysis”.
Strategy#3 Leverage Seasonal Trends
Seasonal trends present a great opportunity to boost sales and customer engagement through strategic product bundling. By aligning your bundles with holidays, weather changes, or shopping trends, you can create timely, high-demand offers that drive conversions.
Bundle products that fit major holidays like Valentine’s Day, Black Friday, Christmas, or Halloween. For example, A “Valentine’s Date Night Bundle” with chocolates, candles, cake, decors, and a greeting card. Adjust bundles based on seasonal needs (winter warmth, summer essentials, etc.). If you own a winter store, then offer a “Cold-Weather Survival Kit” with gloves, a scarf, and a hot chocolate mix. You can also align bundles with trending events like back-to-school, sporting events, or festival seasons. For example, A tech store sells a “Back-to-School Laptop Bundle” with a laptop, a backpack, and a wireless mouse.
Strategy#4 Use Customer Feedback
Use social listening and customer feedback to understand their expectations. Analyze reviews, surveys, and purchase behavior. Identify frequently bought-together items and common customer pain points. Use this data to craft value-driven bundles that solve problems or enhance convenience.
Strategy#5 Put Complimentary Products Together
To create effective product bundles, put complementary products together that naturally go hand in hand. This not only enhances the customer experience but also increases the average order value. Here are some examples: pair a face cleanser with a moisturizer or serum, bundle a phone with accessories like a case, screen protector, and charger.
This strategy ensures that customers see value in purchasing items together, making their shopping experience more convenient and enjoyable.
Strategy#6 Sell Items Separately
An excellent strategy is selling the bundled products separately. Let customers compare the bundled price with individual products’ prices. It will make them understand that buying the bundle is a better deal for them.
Strategy#7 Promote Discounts And Savings
Customers are always looking for the best value. This means they’ll shop around for discounts and offers. To enhance your sales, consider applying a discount to your bundles. This will make your products much more appealing without hampering your profit margins. Promote them strategically so they can reach your target customers.
Strategy#8 Prioritize Personalization
Customizable bundles are a prime opportunity to make the shopping experience feel more tailored to the user, and your consumers walk away with only the items that they need. Leaning on your analytics is a great way to identify two products that would be great candidates for a bundle. Keep an eye out for items that are commonly bought together (like, say, a razor and shaving cream) to suggest to your consumers. This is another great opportunity to play up personalization. Learn your consumers’ tastes and shopping habits to inform tailored recommendations, whether that be a pre-built bundle or a bundle they create themselves with a “you may like” section.
Strategy#9 Watch How Customers Interact With Your Customizable Bundles
By regularly asking your consumers to interact with and edit their bundles, you can quickly gauge which products people are loving — and which just aren’t flying off the shelves. If you’re noticing that 85% of your customers are opting to remove one product from their bundle or regularly swap it out for something else, you might decide to retire that product altogether — or perhaps that product really doesn’t belong in that bundle.
Common Mistakes to Avoid While Implementing Product Bundling Strategies
When creating product bundles, Shopify merchants should avoid these common mistakes to maximize their effectiveness:
Bundling Unrelated Products: Avoid bundling items that don’t complement each other. This can confuse customers and reduce the perceived value.
Overpricing Bundles: Ensure the bundle price offers clear savings. Overpricing can deter customers from purchasing, thinking they’re not getting good value.
Ignoring Customer Preferences: Don’t create bundles without understanding your customers’ needs. Use feedback and data to build relevant, desirable bundles.
Lack of Clear Communication: Failing to highlight the value of a bundle (e.g., savings, convenience) can result in missed sales.
Not Testing Bundles: Don’t assume all bundles will sell well. Test different combinations and analyze performance to optimize offerings.
Should You Consider Product Bundling As A Marketing Strategy?
The main reason for using product bundling strategies is that it’s a win-win for both the business and the customer — but there are several others:
Create a positive impression of your brand
If an offer includes a discounted or free product, customers will see it as more of a bargain than if the two products were sold separately. By offering more bundles, you give your customers the best value for money while maximizing your sales.
Get rid of excess stock or non-shifting products
Combining hard-to-sell products with popular ones can increase their chances of being purchased, rather than them becoming depreciating assets that take up space. This is a great approach for inventory clearance and management.
Save time and marketing costs
Bundling products means saving marketing time. The products can be sold as a package deal, meaning you’re marketing just one thing, not two, and it’s much easier (especially for physical products) for staff to stock. Another benefit is that rather than marketing two products, you market just the one.
Open customers up to new product lines
If your bundle contains items that customers have never tried before, this enables them to sample goods and expose them to a whole new range of products.
Improve customer satisfaction
Customers want to feel appreciated and understood. For example, if you create bundles of products that work well together — and customers want them together — it shows that you understand their needs.
Sell more to customers
Bundles provide customers with more choices and better value, especially if the bundle contains products that they need. In most cases, customers are more likely to choose a well-made bundle over a product sold individually
Reduce shipping costs
Bundling items together, along with a discounted price, leads to lower overall shipping costs as you’re sending items in bulk.
Why Your Customers Will Love Product Bundling
Get a better deal
Product bundles often come with a discount. If customers intend to purchase these products together anyway, bundles are the best way to go. Customers will also shop around to find the best discounts on the bundle.
Try out different products
With product bundles, customers get to try out new products or product ranges that they may not have tried before. For example, when purchasing make-up from a cosmetics store, customers are sometimes offered free or discounted products to try.
Reduce the amount of research
Product bundles naturally bring together complementary solutions. As such, customers don’t have to do any research to see if those products would work together. This speeds up the purchase process and provides a frictionless user experience.
Personalize orders
Customize bundles to suit requirements. By offering a degree of customization, customers aren’t limited to predetermined options.
Final Thoughts
Product bundling strategies are great for you as Shopify merchants to enhance customer experience, increase sales, and build brand loyalty. By offering complementary products, personalizing bundles, and leveraging customer feedback, merchants can create valuable offers that resonate with their audience. Remember to avoid common mistakes like overpricing or bundling unrelated items. With careful planning and ongoing testing, bundling can become a powerful tool to drive higher conversion rates, larger orders, and long-term customer satisfaction. Start implementing these strategies today to maximize your store’s potential.
Product Bundling Strategies FAQ
What is a Product Bundling Strategy?
A product bundling strategy involves grouping multiple products and selling them as a single package, often at a discounted price, to increase perceived value and boost sales.
What Are The Advantages of Product Bundling?
Product bundling increases average order value (AOV), enhances customer convenience, clears slow-moving inventory, and encourages customers to try more products.
Can You Bundle Products on Shopify?
Yes, Shopify allows product bundling through manual setup or third-party apps that automate bundle creation, pricing, and discounts.
How to Use Product Bundling to Increase Sales on Shopify?
To boost sales, offer relevant product bundles, use psychological pricing, highlight savings, and promote bundles through product pages, email marketing, and social media.
