Product bundles have become a favorite of both customers and eCommerce merchants.
And why not! Bundles offer discounts to customers and for merchants, they drive an increase in the average order value (AOV).
There are different types of product bundles for Shopify. One type is ‘nested product bundles’. This blog deep dives into nested product bundles, what they are, and how your Shopify store can make the most of it.
Let’s get started!
What are nested product bundles?
Nested product bundles refer to a strategy in which there are bundles within a bundle. Each nested bundle includes a specific set of products. Nested bundles offer a wide variety of products to customers, combining products in different ways to meet specific customer needs.
For example, in an electronics bundle, there could be multiple bundles within the overarching bundle. Here’s what it could look like:
1. Basic bundle: smartphone + charger + earbud
2. Bundle 2: Basic bundle + screen guard + phone case
3. Bundle 3: Bundle 2 + warranty + charging pad + bluetooth speaker
What is the difference between nested and simple product bundles?
| Nested bundles | Simple bundles |
| Multiple bundles within a bundle | A single bundle of products and services |
| Easy to tailor to different customer segments | Usually targeted at a broad audience |
| Offers increasing value in each nested bundle | Fixed value on a single bundle |
| Tiered pricing based on the different bundles | Single pricing for one bundle |
| Has a high upselling potential as there are many bundles and tiers | Low upselling potential |
| Provides more options for customers | Customers cannot choose from different bundles |
Benefits of nested product bundles
Ecommerce stores that want to grow and increase revenue must definitely explore the many advantages that Shopify product bundles can offer. Here are some:
1. Enhanced customer choice and customization
Nested bundles on Shopify offer multiple tiers of products to choose from. Compared to a single bundle that customers have to either buy or leave, nested bundles provide more choice to customers. Customers can choose from different tiers of bundles based on their needs and budgets. For instance, a yoga nested bundle could have these options:
- Bundle 1: Yoga mat, yoga wear
- Bundle 2: Bundle 1 + meditation cushion + yoga towel
- Bundle 3: Bundle 2 + online yoga class subscription + aromatherapy diffuser
Ecommerce brands can offer more choices and customized bundles to customers through nested bundles.
2. Increased sales and average order value
Maintaining sales and average order value (AOV) is a must for businesses to ensure profitability and growth. This can be achieved through strategic steps. One such strategy is nested product bundles.
Nested bundles offer multiple choices. Additionally, it provides an opportunity for upselling. With high-value bundle tiers that offer enticing products in a set, customers can easily get attracted to buying these Shopify product bundles, thus, increasing the AOV.
3. Improved inventory management
The competency with which you manage your Shopify store’s inventory can make or break your business. This is another area where nested product bundles help make inventory management easy.
With nested bundles, tracking and managing stock becomes quite easy as you are aware of how much stock you’d require. It reduces the complexity associated with inventory management. Some of the benefits are streamlined order fulfillment, reduced stock discrepancies, faster processing time, and more efficiency. All these aspects also lead to an increase in customer satisfaction.
4. Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty
What do today’s customers want when shopping online? Convenience, ease, and personalization are some factors customers look for. Nested product bundles combine complementary products and offer options to choose from. This saves time and effort in searching for single products, making customers’ shopping experience easy and convenient.
Moreover, cost savings due to discounts make it a good deal for customers. What is more, brands often enable customization of nested bundles. This enhances customer experience to another level as customers can purchase products that are relevant to their needs and likes.
How to plan your nested product bundles?
Follow these actionable steps to ensure your nested bundles are based on a strong foundation with all the basics in place.
1. Identify products for nested bundles
Select products for your bundles strategically so that both your customers and your business benefit. Here are some cues to help you identify the right products for your bundles.
- Choose products that complement each other
- Bundle up products in such a way that bundles add value to customers
- Mix up high-value and low-value products in each bundle tier to maintain AOV
- Introduce newly launched products in nested bundles
2. Analyze customer needs and preferences
When planning your Shopify product bundles keep your customers at the center. You may put together the best products and create bundles, but if they don’t match your customers’ needs and preferences, you find it hard to sell them.
Here’s what you can do:
- Analyze past data to understand customer preferences
- Run customer surveys asking them about their needs and preferences
- Conduct market research to understand what consumers want
- Look at your competitor brands and what are they offering in their Shopify bundles
- Segment customers so you can create relevant product bundles
3. Set up bundle pricing strategies
People prefer bundles and get attracted to bundles for the price benefits and discounts. And hence, it’s a must to strategically think about pricing. Proper pricing can help you stand out in the crowded bundles market. Here are some pricing strategies for nested product bundles:
- Offer fixed amount discount on each nested bundle
- Offer a percentage discount on each bundle
- Take a cost plus pricing approach — calculate the total of each bundle and then add a predetermined profit margin on each bundle
- Use value-based pricing strategy — price each bundle based on the value it offers
- Use psychological pricing strategy — introduce a less attractive bundle to make the other high-value bundles look more attractive
4. Determine nested product bundle structure
One of the most critical steps is to decide the structure of your nested bundles for Shopify. For instance, there may be various complementing products that you might want to include in the bundles, but which ones should you pair in which bundle? Let’s explore some strategies.
- Decide what will go in the parent bundle (the big, high-value bundle that includes all the smaller bundles) and in the child bundles (the smaller nested bundles)
- Your strategy may change based on your goals, such as the need to maintain AOV or the need for variety in each bundle, or value provided to customers in each bundle, etc.
Best practices for managing nested product bundles
Ensure you follow these best practices to make the most of your nested bundle strategy on your Shopify store.
1. Regularly reviewing and updating bundles
Just like any other business strategy, you must monitor the performance of your Shopify nested bundles. Use Shopify apps that allow you to automate collecting data about which bundles are selling, and which are not. Based on the insights you gather, keep making necessary changes and optimizing your bundle strategy. For instance, you might require to change a few products in some of the bundles, or add an additional tier, or introduce a new product in one of the bundles.
2. Monitor customer feedback
One of the best ways to optimize your nested product bundles is to keep your customers at the center. There are many ways to do so, including customer feedback. Here are some things you can do around feedback.
- Consistently collect customer feedback
- Collect customer feedback via other methods, such as social listening, customer reviews, etc.
- Address customer feedback and ensure you incorporate it into your bundle strategy
3. Ensuring accurate inventory and pricing updates
Managing your product inventory with bundles can be a bit more complex than not having a bundle strategy. The reason is because there are multiple products involved, and multiple bundles, too. A slight change in the price of one of the products would require you to make changes in the inventory and pricing updates to all bundles.
Here are some practices to follow:
- Review inventory and prices on a regular basis
- Automate inventory and pricing updates
- Set up notifications for stockouts and low inventory
- Set up automated messages to inform customers about pricing changes, etc.
- Use an intuitive Shopify bundle app for seamless operations
4. Optimizing bundle presentation on your eCommerce store
The effectiveness of your nested product bundles relies on how they are presented on your Shopify store. For instance, if the information mentioned is confusing, or if the design is poor, it could mislead customers. Here are a few factors to keep in mind for optimizing your Shopify product bundles.
- Write clear headings, subheadings, and descriptions
- Highlight benefits, value, and discounts/ savings
- Use high-quality, attractive images
- Make the checkout process easy
Marketing your nested product bundles
Unless you market your nested bundles well, you may not be able to achieve your goals. Here are a few tried and tested marketing strategies:
1. Create effective bundle promotions
Even though nested bundles are attractive and engaging for customers, retailers still have to focus on promoting these bundles via various strategies. The average person comes across hundreds of advertisements every day and hence, without promotions, customers might soon forget about your bundles. Let’s look at some promotion strategies for nested bundles.
- Offer attractive prices on bundles. Highlight savings and the percentage of discount on each bundle
- Create limited-time nested bundles to make them more enticing and to encourage FOMO-driven buying by customers
- Create seasonal bundles based on customers’ needs according to different seasons
2. Leverage email and social media marketing for bundles
Depending on your product type and industry, you must make use of email marketing and social media to promote your nested bundles for Shopify. With 4.48 billion email users the world over, it’s no surprise that 81% of companies continue to use email marketing. Meanwhile, more than 5 billion people use social media, making it one of the best platforms for promoting products and services.
- Create personalized nested bundle email campaigns based on customers’ past purchase data
- Create upselling and cross-selling campaigns to be shared on social media and emails
- Offer exclusive discounts for email subscribers and social media users
3. Use targeted ads and retargeting strategies to increase visibility
Data is one of the best assets for eCommerce stores. It enables you to craft targeted and relevant marketing campaigns that bring better results. Here’s how you can create targeted ads and retargeting strategies for your Shopify store:
- Use data from customers’ past purchase patterns
- Understand and predict customers through their current actions on your site
- Use different platforms to meet customers with targeted strategies
Get started with nested product bundles for your Shopify business
Nested bundles benefit both customers and your eCommerce business. With multiple options to choose from, more convenience to customers, better value-add, and higher engagement opportunities, it is a strategy worth exploring, if you haven’t already. And to get you started, Apple Bundles offers the most comprehensive set of features.
