Bundling Your Way to More Sales:
​How Pairing Products Can Boost Profits

By Laura Gayle, Business Woman Guide

E-commerce merchants can learn a lot from fashion designers. Not just how to put together killer business looks, but how to sell more merchandise through product pairing.

Designers develop seasonal lines with multiple pieces that are meant to work together. They send models down the runway wearing different combinations to help consumers to visualize how items can be paired. The same applies to catalog photos and mannequin displays in store windows. Showing consumers multi-piece outfits gives them confidence in their choices and often inspires them to purchase more.

Boost Sales by Pairing ProductsProduct bundling is a tactic that almost any business can use. When you pair products online and offer them as a bundle, you communicate to customers that they’re getting more value. It’s a great strategy to upsell complementary and related products. You can also pair less popular products with more popular ones to close out overstock inventory. Offering limited-time bundles lets you leverage A/B testing to determine the most appealing combinations.

Benefits of BundlesProduct pairing works so well because it makes life easier for the consumer. How many times have you grabbed a bundled set of shampoo and conditioner? How often have you ordered a combo meal at a fast food restaurant because it was just simpler?

When bundling products, it's best not to overwhelm buyers with too many options; just enough to make the proposition convenient and appealing. If you do it thoughtfully, instead of coming across like a pushy upsell, it feels like a helpful suggestion. Research shows customers actually like it when merchants make recommendations.

From Amazon sellers to Netflix, bundling or pairing works to increase sales. The benefits go way further than making shopping go quicker. The basic benefits of bundling include:
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• enhancing the customer experience to produce a happier customer,
• offering a tailored shopping experience,
• reducing or eliminating decision exhaustion by limiting choices,
• improving customer confidence by increasing product value,
• increasing product understanding by the consumer,
• increasing product insights through automatic customer feedback,
• increasing average order value.

Tips for Product BundlingThere are endless ways to bundle products and it’s a strategy that almost any business can benefit from. Research suggests that 10 to 30 percent of e-commerce revenues come from upsells and cross-sells. If your business does not already bundle items, use these tips to get started.

1. Offer customers a true deal. Buyers will see through fake benefits and it will damage your credibility. The bundle should save them a little money.
2. Personalize bundles based on specific buyer behaviors. Personalization is a must in online selling today. Fortunately, intelligent sales platforms can give you a lot of information about buyers. Use their browsing histories and past purchases to tailor bundles that might vary from one buyer to the next.
3. Let buyers customize their bundles. Offer discounts if customers choose a certain number of items from groups of goods. They can interchange items as they please within various categories to make their own bundle.
4. Bundle slow sellers with popular products at a friendly price. Calculate your inventory turnover to identify slow-selling items. You can bundle these strategically with hot items to prevent inventory from getting stale.
5. Bundle one of your products with another company’s. Partnering with a firm that sells complementary goods can benefit both of you, as long as you have an appropriate agreement in place.
6. Leverage the psychology of sales. A majority of customers make purchasing decisions based on subconscious habits and influences. Researchers have determined that convenience and perception of value are powerful motivators.
7. Mix equal or near equal cost items. Never bundling a cheap item with an expensive one. It diminishes the value of the entire bundle.

Why Product Bundling WorksWhen a customer sees a product pairing or bundle, it does more than just offer convenience or help them match like items. It reaches them psychologically to raise the value of the main item and its mate.

Most people inherently see a value in getting two items for less than their standalone prices separately. You position both items as more valuable when you bundle and provide added-value. Mixing a cheap item with an expensive item fails though by reducing the perceived value of the offer.

In a survey of marketers, 85 percent acknowledged that the majority of factors driving consumers’ purchasing decisions are subconscious. Quite simply if a bundle looks nice and saves them having to put individual items in the cart, they are more likely to buy it.

You can increase sales with product bundles. Getting started is pretty easy. Look at your inventory to see what related or closely related products move off the shelf quickly and which ones of similar price sell slowly. Create pairs and test which pairs sell best. You’ll increase sales, decrease inventory and learn about customer interests and likes with one simple action.