Bundles have been an effective strategy for eCommerce stores. They help brands increase the average order value by selling more products in one go compared to individual products. One such bundles strategy is upsell product bundles.
In this blog, we focus on upsell product bundles. This comprehensive guide will tell you the benefits, best practices, and how you can create upsell bundles on your Shopify store.
Let’s get started!
What are upsell product bundles?
Upsell product bundles are designed to drive customers to make additional purchases than the products they were going to purchase initially. For instance, say a customer was interested in purchasing one t-shirt but you recommend a bundle that has a t-shirt, a trouser, and a belt to them at a discounted price. Upsell product bundles help increase the average order value (AOV). Moreover, these bundles enhance customer experience as they not only get to buy products at a discount, but also offer convenience, help customers shop better and add value to their shopping experience.
Key features of upsell product bundles
Let’s look at the key features of upsell product bundles and some aspects related to these features and how these features impact customer experience and eCommerce brands.
1. Complementary products
By offering upsell product bundles, you can drive customers to buy complementary products. For instance, if a customer is about to buy a yoga mat, you could offer a bundle that includes a yoga mat, a towel, and a yoga mat bag. This upsell bundle at a discounted rate can enhance customer experience. Moreover, customers may not have thought of buying complementary products but the bundle made their purchase decision easier.
2. Higher value
Upsell bundled products help eCommerce retailers increase the average order value. Typically, the upsell product is more expensive than the original product. Besides, the upsell product should also add more value to customers and make their purchase valuable. By packing higher-value products and services together, retailers can attract customers with more comprehensive bundles.
3. Discounts or added value
Upsell product bundles typically have a discount on them because that is one of the factors that appeals to customers. This gives customers a perception of getting financial benefit as they have to pay less. Apart from discounts, upsell bundles may also offer other benefits, such as warranties, a discount code for the next purchase, free upgrades in future, etc. All these add more value to their purchase.
4. Convenience
Today’s customers expect brands to help them shop. Offering upsell bundled products is one way to enhance customers’ shopping experience. Wondering how? It simplifies purchase decisions. When customers see they can get more value by buying a bundle, they are most likely to go for the bundle. This also leads to satisfaction and they get a good perception of the brand. Moreover, it saves customers’ time as they do not spend time looking for different products separately.
Here’s an example of an upsell product bundle from Samsung:
Benefits of upsell product bundles
Here are some benefits of upsell product bundles:
1. Increased revenue
Upsell product bundles offer more than one product to customers. This increases the AOV of orders. Upsell bundles help especially where the profit margins are low. Retailers can club different products together to ensure higher margins.
2. Enhanced customer experience
You can enhance customers’ overall experience with upsell product bundles that are carefully and thoughtfully put together. By curating personalized upsell bundles, you can save customers time and effort in browsing and selecting multiple products. Relevant products put together in a bundle makes customers’ shopping experience convenient, satisfying and smooth.
3. Higher AOV
Upsell bundled products are typically of higher value compared to a single product. This leads to increased AOV, which in turn boosts overall sales and profits. Ecommerce sales can be unpredictable as they rely on seasons, sale periods, festive times, etc. During such times, maintaining AOV can help businesses ensure steady revenue, thus making AOV one of the most important metrics for eCommerce retailers. And having upsell product bundles ensures this.
4. Improved inventory management
When planned strategically, upsell bundles can also help with inventory management. For instance, bundles are an effective way to clear extra stock. Bundles also help in promoting slow-moving products. For example, if you sell gardening products and garden scissors are a slow-moving product, you could bundle it together with fast-moving items such as compost and seeds. This will help you clear scissors stock.
How to set up upsell product bundles
Here’s a step by step we follow to set up upsell product bundles on Shopify stores:
1. Identify potential bundles
How well your bundles perform depends on how appealing they are. Here’s how to put together enticing bundles:
- Look for products that complement each other and could be bought together
- Use past sales data to identify patterns of items being bought together
- Choose products that offer more value to customers compared to buying a single product separately
- Understand which complementing products would solve customers needs
- Put together high-value and low-value products to ensure an effective AOV
2. Decide bundle structures
Once you have clarity about which products you want to bundle together, the next step is to decide the structure of your bundles. Here are some cues to help you with it:
- Choose from different bundle types, such as tiered bundles, advanced bundles, premium bundles, etc.
- Offering multiple bundle types will allow you to cater to diverse customer segments, hence, understand your potential customer segments and their needs, spending capacity, etc.
- Offering multi-tier bundles also increases the potential of customers upgrading to higher-value bundles
- Use an upsell bundle products Shopify app that offers a wide range of bundle structures
3. Set upsell product bundle pricing strategies
One of the most critical factors of bundles is its pricing strategy. It is what attracts customers and drives sales. However, pricing bundles is a bit tricky. There are many factors to consider. Here are some cues to guide you.
- Price the bundle in such a way that customers see value in it
- The pricing should be beneficial to customers at the same time ensure doesn’t eat into your profit
- The bundle price should be lower than the combined price of individual products
- Monitor pricing and profit margin continuously as prices of products may change
- Offer tiered pricing – premium bundles at a higher price but with more discounts and savings
4. Create bundle listings
Once the pricing strategy is in place, the next step is listing the upsell product bundles on your Shopify store so that your bundles get noticed. Here’s what you can do:
- Make the bundles simple and less complicated so customers can understand them easily
- Make the listing visually appealing
- Write a clear and concise description
- Highlight the benefits, such as discounts, amount of savings, other value-add benefits
Here’s a product bundle listing example:
5. Promote your upsell product bundles
Your potential customers may be spending time on different platforms. The best way to promote your bundles is to create campaigns for those platforms to promote your upsell bundles. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Promote bundles on various pages on your website
- Create pop up notifications on your website
- Promote bundles on third-party websites via web notifications
- Create social media campaigns using tactics such as quizzes, sales, etc.
- Use other methods, such as paid ads, etc.
6. Monitor and optimize
The market is always changing and so are customer needs and preferences. To ensure success with your upsell product bundles, monitor their performance consistently and make adjustments for best results.
- Measure the basic KPIs, such as sales, conversions, profits, etc.
- Monitor which bundles are performing well and which ones aren’t
- Make changes to the ones not performing well by changing products, pricing, etc.
- Collect customer feedback and reviews to understand customer sentiment
- Compare your bundles with competitors via market research
Also read: 15+ E-Commerce Product Bundling Metrics You Need To Maximize Profitability
Best practices for upsell product bundles
- Monitor and analyze customer purchase behavior and preferences
- Segment your audience to personalize upsell product bundles for them
- Select complementary items for bundling together to make them more appealing
- Offer premium upgrades in bundles, for example, with tiered bundles
- Ensure and highlight clear value and savings compared to individual purchases
- Consider flexible, tiered pricing options to cater to diverse customer segments
- List bundles with clear, high-quality images and descriptions
- Highlight savings and added value prominently
- Display bundles on product pages, during checkout, or as recommendations
- Use cross-selling and upselling techniques to promote bundles
- Promote bundles with email marketing, social media ads, and website banners
- Create limited-time offers or exclusive deals to boost sales
- Monitor performance metrics, such as conversion rates and average order value
- Test and optimize upsell bundled products with A/B testing
- Manage inventory levels for products and bundles
- Plan for efficient shipping and handling
- Offer support and guidance to customers for bundle selection
- Follow up with customers to ensure customer satisfaction and a better customer experience
- Gather, review and address customer feedback
- Refine bundles based on insights and data from your Shopify store
Ready to start your Shopify upsell product bundles?
Follow the above steps and best practices to get started with a robust upsell product bundles strategy for your SHopify store. To make the strategy more successful, use an efficient Shopify product bundle app.
For instance, Appstle Bundles and Discounts helps you create and manage upsell bundles. The app automates functions and processes, making it easy for you to launch and manage bundles strategy.
Install Appstle Bundles & Discounts on your Shopify store today!