With absolute conviction and with 100% certainty, most people on planet earth have been unconsciously manipulated into buying a product bundle. You and I both, it’s just propaganda sales at its finest.

When it’s finally time to replenish your go-to facial cleanser, you feel tempted/obliged to buy the toner or perhaps even the moisturiser to complete ‘the’ standard beauty facial regime. It’s like the say, stick to the same brand for your regime for the best results. Is this tactical, or scientifically proven to have better results on the skin? Who knows, either way it’s strategy and fundamentally, it just works.

If it’s not obvious which direction we're headed, this is a A1 example of a product bundle. The genius way of combining an inseparable set of products with a small-scale discount. Paying less for the set than you’d pay if you had bought the products individually. #winning

The force is oh so strong with bundling. Such power so strong that you can even hear your shipping costs increase your average order value. However, lets not get ahead of ourselves, a little segregation is required to further understand the compartments of such powers..

• The bundle benefits
• Store Implementation
• The differences between; Product bundling, upselling, and cross-selling

Right, it's time to play a game..

Truth or false: the vast majority of eCommerce companies use bundles? The correct answer would be false. Sacrilege!

So one might say, there’s a window of opportunity that presents  itself, putting you in the driver's seat, pocketing customers from le competition? Yes, we're getting there. Let's further segregate..

The benefactors

• Dwindle cost of shipping: it goes without saying, that the higher cart value can incentivise customers to barter more in order to land on free shipping. Furthermore, with product bundling, you’ll only need to just do one pick to farfill the order, if that's not an incentive on both parties I don't know what is.
• Avoid dead stock: an opportunity to fashion bundles that help mingle your populars and less favoured products, helping to ensure continual stock tumble. Worse case scenario, you don't want to be storing elerdy and unmarketable products, you will lose money.
• Average Order Value goes up (AOV)

On the customer front,  product bundles are very ‘come-hither’..

The self-evident reasons why:

• One ship: your customers don’t have to pay for shipping twice because the entire order is sent in one package.
• Subtractions: the possibility to buy two or three products at a discounted price.
• Pressies: When people say they don't like gifts, their liars. Bundling is perfect, as they are usually gift wrapped, packed beautifully and shipped in the same parcel. Customarily used for occasions like Christmas/Weddings/birthdays etc..

The power of three’s

Generally speaking, there are three main types of product bundles that eCommerce companies put to good use. By all means, fashion your own bundle idea, but what your main concern really is, is the interest of your customers, give the people what they want.

Mish-mash Bundling

Time to do some research, dig a little deeper and analyze the order history. Find the frequently purchased products prevalent in specific sectors and appropriate for bundling, i.e:

• Ankle weights
• Resistance bands
• Dumbells

To further secure the ‘reasoning’ behind such bundling, it’s recommended to show how much these products cost separately. Show customers how much they are saving, even if it’s small, it’s a visible discount.

Bona fide Bundling

An approach where it can only be purchased in a bundle. Par exemple: car mats. In most instances, you can’t buy just the one...

Same is the same bundling

As the title states, such a bundle comprises the same products. For instance

• Toilet paper
• Beverages
• Sweets

You get the idea..

Scheming a strategy?

Want to know how to scheme a strategy to implement product bundling? It’s all about that ‘gift of the gab’. Use ‘off the shelf’ attraction words such as:

• Special Offers
• Sets
• Promotions

You can simply add new products to your inventory that comprise two or more products and start selling them. Show the people how much money they can save. For instance, many companies offer products that make up a bundle in the same product tab and present their individual prices, subsequently, customers can make a more informed decision. If the savings are clearly visible, they will indeed feel the reassurance to buy!

Don't let your store/online browser be your only source of marketing tool. Promoted ze bundles using email campaigns, newsletters and social media profiles, especially around the holiday seasons, when gift manipulation is at its finest..

Bang for the buck..

There’s always a catch, so let’s not lose consciousness of the operational issues:

• In a company with bundles, many items will be sold separately, hence, you must forever monitor your inventory. Should the product be out of stock, then the bundle is void.
• The Stock-Keeping Unit is the king and the one ruler: be mindful that the bundle SKU is not a tangible self-contained product. Merely an exemplification that is more than one item.

If at this point you're feeling a little overwhelmed and find yourselves wanting to lean towards partnering up with a logistics partner, there’s judgment. Let them know about your plans, as there is no shame in that. Providing them the relevant data will help implement a strategy harmoniously, eradicating any lulled hindrances.

The great escape

Focus your breathe, and visualise your bundle scheme and exhale your knowledge to the world, and repeat after me:

Upselling: it’s really just the difference between a Toyota Prius and an Aston Martin, offering a far more expensive model of the same product..

Cross - selling: a space time continuum, where you can propose your customer to also buy other compatible products. Although still separate items in your store that can be bought within the same cart or not.

Product - Bundling: with product bundling, your customers don’t have such a choice. We could say that product bundling is just cross-selling as a default setting.

These three techniques are quite similar, with each one designed to sell more (or more expensive) products. Their differences are far-sightedly slight, and it is in their differences that will scheme and unite a bundle more of moolah.

The choice is yours, should you wish to accept it..