Are you looking for a way to increase your sales while providing better customer experiences and increasing retention rates?
Look no more – because there is such a win-win strategy, and it’s called “product bundling.”
Product bundling makes it easier for customers to find everything they need in one place while enticing them to spend more on your store.
In today’s post, we’ll look at product bundling from a 360° perspective: what it is, why you should consider it, examples of creative product bundles, and the 3 commandments of a successful product bundling strategy.
Let’s dive in!
What Is Product Bundling?
Product Bundling represents the marketing strategy of selling several products as a combined package and providing a better deal to consumers. Products in a bundle package will sell at a lower price than if the products were sold separately.
A well-thought product bundling strategy is a win-win situation, offering various benefits to both customers and businesses.
Consumers win because product bundles offer convenience and cost savings, as they can access several complementary products or services in a single purchase.
Businesses win because bundling can increase customers’ average order value by encouraging them to purchase multiple items at once at a more attractive and valuable offering.
One product bundle example is McDonald’s choice in menus. The fast food restaurant offers value meals that include a sandwich, fries, and a drink bundled together at a lower price.
If the consumer opted to purchase the items separately, they would have to pay a higher price.
Instead, bundling these items encourages customers to choose the value meal over purchasing the items separately.
Benefits of Product Bundling
When talking about product bundles, a natural question needs an answer. If you will, the elephant in the room: “won’t selling more products at a lower price affect my bottom line?”
It’s a legitimate question, so let’s look at the benefits of product bundling strategies:
- Smooth inventory management
Product bundling empowers you to manage your inventory more efficiently, as you can create standard product combinations that are easier to manage and track. At the same time, bundling reduces the costs of storing and monitoring individual SKUs.
For example, a beauty supply store might offer a routine skincare bundle with several creams, serums, and accessories. Bundling the products together in a standard package will help you manage your inventory without risking overstocking or understocking individual items.
- Powerful value proposition.
Your customers come to you because they value your unique benefits. You can create a more robust and easier-to-perceive value proposition if you entice customers with attractive bundle deals.
Customers who buy multiple items at a lower cost feel they’re getting a better deal and more value from your brand than other brands.
- Stronger brand loyalty.
Besides the obvious benefits of having a discount for product bundles, customers also love the convenience of getting everything they need in one transaction.
This convenience leads to customer stickiness, increased business & customer loyalty.
For example, suppose you’re an office supplier. In that case, you can provide a product bundle marketed as a “home office starter kit” that includes a desk, chair, and office supplies.
So you’re providing everything a person needs to set up a home office in one bundle, which creates a convenient, positive customer experience and encourages repeat business. While customers won’t need to purchase a desk monthly, they will need to restock office supplies – and they will return to your store.
- Increased sales.
Finally, we’re touching on the hot topic: can product bundles increase revenue?
Yes.
By bundling products, you’re leveraging the attractiveness of the bundled deal and encouraging customers to purchase products they may not have otherwise considered.
For example, Suppose you’re a fashion retailer. In that case, you can offer a “summer essentials” bundle that includes several items, such as shorts, sunglasses, and a hat – all at a discounted price. This bundle example would persuade customers who might have been interested in shorts to buy the additional products – even if they didn’t necessarily need them.
This increases the average order values, convinces customers to spend more, and ultimately increases your sales numbers.
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Types of Product Bundling
There’s more than one type of product bundling strategy, each with advantages and disadvantages.
Depending on the type of product or service you’re offering, your bundles can take one of the following forms:
- Pure Bundling.
This type of bundling refers to products or services sold exclusively together, and there’s no option for consumers to buy them separately.
For example, Microsoft Office offers a bundle of software products (such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) that customers can’t buy separately.
- Mixed Bundling.
In contrast to pure bundling, mixed bundling refers to products that can be bought separately or as part of the bundle.
Mixed bundle examples are best showcased in restaurants. You can order the menu of the day (usually two courses + dessert) as a combo meal at a lower price, or you can order the courses separately.
- Cross-selling bundling.
Cross-selling bundles are usually made of complementary products and incentivize consumers to purchase items as a pack in a single order rather than buying them separately over a more extended period.
For example, sports retailers will offer bundles for weight training – including dumbbells, kettlebells, connectors, etc.
As these products naturally go together, it makes more sense for the consumer to purchase the entire bundle instead of the items separately.
- Joint bundle.
For a joint bundle to work, two or more companies must create a bundle of their products or services.
For example, a traveling company might offer a bundle trip, including transportation and accommodation. In this case, three companies worked together to provide a complete consumer experience. The value proposition of this bundle will be its convenience instead of the price point.
Indeed someone could find cheaper accommodation. However, it’s more opportune to have someone else book a hotel instead of scouring the internet for discounts.
- Subscription bundling.
The last type of product bundling is when customers subscribe to receive a constant delivery of products as a bundle.
For example, a pet care retailer could offer a monthly subscription where pet owners get food, vitamins, and toys as a bundle.
5 Examples of Product Bundling to Inspire and Get You Going
Done right, product bundling can become a game-changer when trying to boost sales and offer greater value.
Let’s explore some creative and practical examples of product bundling that have proven to be a win-win for companies and consumers.
- Pure Bundling Example.
As we said, software companies usually offer pure bundling deals without neglecting the practical aspect of it.
In this example of bundling from Adobe, you can see how bundling comes to the convenience of the creative customer. Adobe offers multiple innovative tools, allowing customers to explore every avenue of their creativity and learn new skills.
- Mixed Bundling Example.
Video game companies like PlayStation will create mixed bundling to increase their average order values. In this case, the consumer is promised a better, more immersive experience with a complete product package:
- Cross-sell Bundling Example.
A typical cross-sell bundling example comes from beauty product companies who try and offer a more convenient and streamlined shopping experience.
Cross-selling bundling also lets you showcase new or less popular products by pairing them with more well-known and highly desired products.
- Subscription Bundling Example.
An excellent example of subscription bundling comes from meal kit companies that create packages that include regular deliveries of pre-portioned ingredients and recipes.
The value of these bundles comes from the convenience of having a predetermined meal plan, with all ingredients delivered to your doorstep, at a convenient price.
How to Create a Product Bundling Strategy
Now that you understand what product bundling means and have seen a series of product bundle examples, let’s uncover the steps to an effective product bundling strategy.
- Identify the rights products for your bundle.
The first step in creating this strategy is selecting the products that make the bundle.
To ensure you choose products that complement each other and naturally go together, use your customer data to inform your bundling tactics.
What products are usually bought together? How often do customers buy them? Are there any complaints regarding the products? Are there returns?
This data will help you determine which products work best together and which ones cause problems. At the same time, you can predict the popularity of your bundles, as you can identify products in high demand among your target audience.
- Work on your pricing strategy.
When creating price bundles, you must find the balance between attractive discounts and wasted efforts.
However, your pricing strategy shouldn’t be limited to a discount alone. You could also set a fixed price for the bundle or offer a free product by purchasing a higher-priced item.
The idea here is to find a strategy that makes the most sense for your bundles, then test it.
- Find your target audience.
Research and understand who your target audience is before creating your bundles. For example, if you’re a sports retailer and one of your customer segments is made out of new moms, it wouldn’t make sense to offer a bundle of camping gear.
At the same time, offering workout equipment that helps the moms get back in shape would, instead, make much more sense.
- Create your offer.
Now it’s time to highlight the value of the bundle and shone a light on the savings customers will make, compared to purchasing the products separately.
Create appealing bundle names, promote the bundle on your website and social media, and offer limited-time deals to create urgency.
- Test and Optimize.
Now that everything’s decided, it’s time to release your bundles into the wild, analyze the results, then apply your findings to future product bundles.
You should test different bundling, pricing strategies, and marketing tactics to optimize your bundle offers and improve sales over time.
The 3 Commandments of a Successful Product Bundling Strategy
What makes the difference between an excellent bundling strategy and a pricing failure?
The mindset behind the process. Not all product bundles will sell like hot cake.
However, here are some product bundling tips to ensure your bundling strategy will indeed increase both sales and revenue while offering convenient deals that keep customer satisfaction levels high.
- Watch the logic behind bundling.
You shouldn’t necessarily package products just because you have bundling ideas. If the items in your bundles aren’t connected or grouping them doesn’t make sense, you’re wasting your time and brand reputation.
For example, bundling a dress and a pair of men’s sporting gear wouldn’t make sense if you’re a fashion retailer. There are few moments in life when this combination might make sense for consumers.
However, bundling a dress and a scarf would be a better, natural fit to attract consumers.
Try to think of products that naturally complement each other and go hand in hand instead of grouping random items from your product suite.
Look at your customer data to see the combination of products customers are already bundled together – that will give you an idea about the pairing you can offer and their prices.
- Ensure it’s in your customer’s best interest to buy.
The single purpose of product bundling is to encourage customers to spend more money to get a better deal.
Usually, this would translate into offering two or more products at a discounted price than items’ prices if bought separately. Customers won’t feel compelled to take advantage of the discount if the discount isn’t attractive enough.
But what if you can’t afford to lower the prices or offer significant discounts? In that case, you should emphasize convenience above price. Enhance the customer experience by showcasing how convenient it is for the customer to buy the bundling, even if he doesn’t save so much money.
For example, you can bundle together often restocked products – such as pet food, water bottles, or even toilet paper. Consumers will get excited to get a more extensive stock at a better price without re-ordering that often.
This is how wholesale businesses operate. No one needs six liters of cooking oil in one go. However, many people prefer to restock once a month on all necessities instead of making weekly trips to the grocery store.
Whatever the case, make sure you’re verbalizing the advantages of bundling clearly, so there’s no doubt why the bundle is such a good deal.
- Don’t limit your customers.
Sometimes people won’t be interested in your product bundles because they genuinely don’t need the second product.
Customers who only want individual products might get frustrated and decide not to buy from you and switch to competitors.
In that case, you should always offer customers the opportunity to buy the products separately.
Wrap-Up
And there you have it: everything you need to know about product bundles.
With a bit of planning and creativity, product bundles can become a powerful tool in your arsenal.
So give them a try – your customers (and your bottom line) will thank you for it!
Frequently Asked Questions about Product Bundling
Which is an example of product bundling?
McDonald’s meals are a perfect example of product bundling. A menu usually includes a burger, fries, and a drink for a lower price than purchasing each item separately.
What are some examples of bundling?
Some examples of bundling include cable or satellite TV packages that offer multiple channels and services, software suites that bundle together different programs, and a technology company that offers a bundle of hardware and software for a lower price than purchasing each item separately.
What are two types of bundling?
The two main types of bundling are: pure bundling (offering items for sale only as a bundle and not individually), and mixed bundling (items can be purchased either as a bundle or individually.) Other types of bundling are joint bundling, subscription bundling, or cross-sell bundling.
What is a bundling strategy?
A bundling strategy is a marketing technique that involves offering multiple products or services for sale as a package, typically at a discounted price, to encourage customers to purchase more items and increase revenue. It can be used to increase sales, appeal to customer preferences, and gain a competitive advantage in the market.
