The advantages of online shopping are that the products are available from anywhere, classical shopping can be done in a few clicks, and the number of products that can be put into the basket is almost without limits. It is therefore important to serve returning customers, retaining customers with various promotions, discounts, related services, packages, etc. as the returning customer spends more.
Good pricing is essential to increase the value of the basket, but it is not enough in itself. We can and should use several tools, one of which is bundles.
The idea of bundling is, the purchase of one product is bundled to the purchase of another. For example, product X and product Y can only be ordered together, but one of the products can also be purchased by itself. Offering products in a bundle rather than one by one sometimes is more efficient. A good example of this is the car industry, when a new car is offered with extra features based on different levels, so in different packages.
Why do bundles work? What is the psychological background? On one hand, the buyers tend to be economic. Therefore, in order to buy at a higher value, it is worth offering several products at once in a package or as related goods, so that it costs less than buying them one by one. They don’t get a simple quantity discount, but we combine different products. On the other hand, the acquisition of a desired, popular product is a strong motivating factor.
Where and how should bundles be used?
One of the most important rules is that bundling should not be used to stock sweeping, nor to get rid of the products that are very hard to sell, or are of low prestige. Bundling is not equal to scrapping, and it is not the case when we add a random cheap product that most probably is not necessary to another product. Customers should not feel like giving money to unnecessary products or services.
IT companies can use bundles in a great way. An example of this is a classic win-win situation: software offered in packages is much cheaper than buying them one by one, in the meantime, this is a secure sell for the seller.
The food industry also provides some examples: the classic marketing example of quality improvement created by bundling is the case of morning muesli. In this case, the product sells oatmeal together, as well as seeds, nuts, pieces of fruit, they offer a higher quality compared to simple oatmeal.
We can also implement efficiency-increasing bundles if, for example, we offer various online services together to eliminate or solve certain problems, or if we sell workshops and courses in a bundle if you are a company dealing with education and training.
A method that works well for a webshop that sells tech products is to connect a relevant accessory or product to the purchased product, for example, a special earphone, or microphone for a dictaphone, MP3 player. For the customers, it is always good, if we offer accessories that make the usage quicker and easier. In the case of clothing, you can play with accessories, for example, for a branded, especially popular shoe, it is also needed to buy a cap, but its style can be chosen.
