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The Complete Guide to Shopify Bundles

The Complete Guide to Shopify Bundles

Did you hear? Shopify just dropped a bunch of news in their Shopify Editions Summer ‘23 launch, announcing over 100 new products and features added to the Shopify Ecosystem! 

We’re sure tons of these product updates will make commerce better for everyone, but it’s our responsibility to help you understand how it will make Ecommerce easier (and more profitable) for you! 

One of the most exciting updates we’ve come across so far is the native Shopify Bundles feature. What was previously a contentious missing component to a complete ecommerce operating system is now finally seamlessly integrated into the Shopify admin. Gone are the days where a DTC business would need to add a costly 3rd-party app integration that might cause more problems than it solves! 

In this article, I’ll review:

  • What the Shopify Bundles integration is
  • How your DTC brand can benefit from bundles
  • Why you might want to use Shopify Bundles
  • How to create product bundles

And last but not least, why it’s important to analyze how shoppers respond to product bundling opportunities in your store.

Shopify Bundles: Everything You Need to Know

The facts

Never fear, bundles are here! If you’re already using a 3rd-party app in your store for bundles, you might be wondering what’s the big difference? 

The biggest one I can see right off-the-hop is that the Shopify Bundles capability will live directly in the Shopify Admin, versus accessing the feature through the Apps section (which involves interacting with the 3rd-party app servers). Additionally, adding too many 3rd-party apps has been shown to slow down your Shopify store; a slow site = poor customer experience = less purchases, so any way to remove things that can bog it down is great news! 

It will be quick and easy to bundle products, including at the variant level. In my personal experience, I’ve had a difficult time setting up product bundles because I had to search within collections to find specific products, tabbing through various lists to get to where I want. 

Having the ability to bundle at the variant level also gives you over-sell protection, so you can provide an accurate buyer experience. Many 3rd-party apps weren’t able to bundle at the variant level, so this is a huge plus.

The biggest benefit? 

There’s no additional charge for Shopify Bundles - it’s included in your Shopify subscription! Most of the apps with bundling features on the Shopify app store are an additional charge of $6.99 USD/month or more. This Barbie is saving money on a feature she already uses.  

Why did Shopify roll this out?

Long story short, it’s been a heavily requested feature from Shopify merchants for a very long time. 

Since the day McDonald’s started selling a Big Mac in a combo with an icy fountain drink and salty fries, consumers have understood that buying products together at a discount is valuable. 

Product bundling has been shown to drive product awareness, increase the average order value (AOV), and also to improve the customer experience. It’s beneficial to use bundling to your advantage, and Shopify Bundles, built directly into the Shopify Admin, is a simple way to make it happen!  

If you’ve got a single bestseller that’s driving your company’s revenue - your hero product, so to speak - bundling the hero with a product that doesn’t sell as well on its own will introduce the customer to a new product they may never have tried as a standalone purchase. Perhaps that little product just needed a strong recommendation from its big sister, and selling those two items together will elevate its status. It’s just like when you entered high school and you already had a sibling who sat with the cool kids that was two years your senior - you’re interesting by proxy. 

By upselling a bundle, you’ll increase your average order value (AOV), which is extremely important for managing cash flow as a growing business. The higher the AOV, the better margins you can achieve, and the more marketing dollars you can stick behind your brand.

Finally, Shopify rolled this out because it improves the customer experience, and a happy customer that can check out quicker and at a discount is more likely to make a purchase. 

What about 3rd-party solutions?

Since the mix-and-match bundling option isn’t available in Shopify Bundles, there’s still plenty of room for 3rd-party app developers to keep providing this much-needed functionality. For most simple bundling with Fixed and Multipack options, Shopify Bundles will likely be the best options for merchants, since it’s both free and directly integrated into the Shopify Admin. We’re confident 3rd-party developers 

How to get access to Shopify Bundles

To get access to Shopify Bundles, your Shopify store must: 

  1. Use the Online Store sales channel
  2. Unpublish all Shopify Scripts; Scripts are small pieces of code that let you create personalized experiences for customers in the cart and checkout, and they don’t work with Shopify Bundles.
  3. Be using checkout extensibility; the ability to customize functionality and appearance of the checkout is needed for Shopify Bundles
  4. Not be using checkout.liquid; it’s over for checkout.liquid, so make sure you update your pages before checkout.liquid is fully deprecated on August 13, 2024. 
  5. Not be using Global-e, Licensify, Exemptify, or Recharge Subscriptions - these apps are not compatible with Shopify Bundles

How to Create Bundles on Shopify

Types of bundles

  1. Fixed: a bundle made from a predetermined set of product variants (customer can choose from the associated variants). For example, maybe you sell a variety of pickleball rackets, and you want a customer just getting started with pickleball to be able to choose their racket combined with a set of balls. 
  2. Multipack: a fixed bundle with more than one of the same products available to bundle. This kind of option is great for something that you might need to replenish frequently. Someone who purchased the pickleball starter pack a few months ago might now realize they’re running low on outdoor balls and that they’d like to pick up some balls for indoor pickleball, too. 
  3. Mix-and-match: a bundle made of interchangeable products. Your customer will build the bundle by choosing from products and associated variants. A mix-and-match pickleball bundle might include a racket, set of balls, and a t-shirt where you can select the size as well!

Note: the Shopify Bundles feature allows you to create fixed or multipack bundles, but if you want to create a mix-and-match bundle, you will need to search in the Shopify App Store for 3rd-party apps that integrate directly with the Shopify Admin to do so. 

Create the bundle

1. From the Shopify admin, click Bundles then Create bundle.

2. Enter a title for your bundle in the Title field.

3. Click Select products.

4. Select the products you want to include in the bundle in the Add products dialog, then click Select.

5. Optional features: 

  1. Adjust the quantity of a product in the bundle in the quantity field.
  2. Change the variants included in the bundle by clicking the variant name to select/deselect it.
  3. Add the quantity as a bundle option if desired.
  4. Create a multipack bundle by clicking the gear icon and selecting Duplicate product.
  1. Click Save and continue.
  2. Make sure to edit the product details to highlight your bundle. Give Shopify Magic a try to write your product description for you! 

6. Save your work, and set the product Status to Active to go live! 


Analyzing your Shopify Bundles with Triple Whale

Once you start using Shopify Bundles, you’ll want to analyze your sales data to understand just how the product bundling is working for you. Using Triple Whale’s Cart Analysis tool (part of our Insights suite), you can uncover real data that shows you exactly how customers engage with your products. 

You could use Triple Whale’s Cart Analysis tool before building your first bundle as well, by evaluating what the top products purchased together are by product, SKU, or variant. The tool will show the number of orders, sales revenue, average order value (AOV), and new versus returning customers making the purchase over a selected time period. By evaluating which products are purchased together most, you can determine what bundles might drive the most value for both your customer and for your brand. 

You can also analyze segments of customers, such as new versus loyal, to tease out which bundles might appeal to either or both segments. It can also inform how you choose to recommend products to a customer who’ve purchased in the past when it comes to the loyal ones! 

Bundle your way to success

To conclude, the new Shopify Bundles feature is an exciting part of the Shopify Editions Summer ‘23 announcement. 

Not only does this integration simplify the product bundling process, but it also aids in driving product awareness, elevating the average order value (AOV), and enhancing the overall customer experience - all without additional costs. The careful analysis of sales data and customer segmentation are crucial for optimizing the use of this feature and tailoring effective product bundles. 

The native integration of Shopify Bundles may herald the sunset for many third-party solutions, though they still hold relevance for stores requiring mix-and-match options. 

As you explore this new tool, remember the power it has to transform your business and ensure your decisions are always guided by the data.

© Triple Whale Inc.
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