To Bundle or Not To Bundle?
What’s the Sales-Boosting Alternative If You Don’t Bundle Your Product On Amazon?
It’s a very popular notion among new Amazon Sellers that you must have an “add-on” item to sell your main product effectively. It makes sense to think if you have something “extra”, customers will automatically find you more attractive and your price won’t feel so high. Now, if you’ve been around for a while, you may remember the days of the “e-book”. And once that trend died out, you may have noticed “cleaning tools” became the new add-on. In the baby market, the popular go-to add-on was a “wash cloth” or “burp cloth”.
But any bundle you create won’t be uniquely yours for long. Hundreds will bundle it, then hundreds will bundle something better. Many of those Sellers will be Chinese manufacturers and large volume wholesalers, and therefore more price flexible. As you know, many bundles are created for cents on the dollar. And in many cases it’s to get rid of dead stock! But the upshot is, once a bundle-trend begins, it’s not long before you find your product undifferentiated again. Aka, “me too”. If you’re really unlucky, you will be forced to go into a price war.
But Bundles Can Be Useful!
I recently worked with a jewelry client who bundled his product with a gift bag, jewelry box and polishing cloth. These are standard items you see on most jewelry products and they’re useful. The box stores the jewelry, the cloth keeps it shiny and new and the gift bag is convenient for gifting and shows the recipient this is a luxury item. But one reviewer commented that it would have been better if it came with a blank gift card! A bundling opportunity! Many reviewers marveled at the gift packaging, and zero reviewers talked about how great the polishing cloth is.
Trust the reviews. Reviewers will always tell you what they want!
If many reviewers talk about the add-ons – it’s important.
If they do not, then the add-on / bundle wasn’t of value.
Even if the bundle doesn’t exist yet, you can find out if you should do it.
Do reviewers write about wishing for the add on? (like the gift card in the jewelry set)
Or is there literally no mention of it? (like a polishing cloth)
Your answer is in the reviews! I’ve read more than 40,000 reviews and I rarely see people raving about the add-on. It happens from time to time, but only if the add-on is AMAZING. For the add-on to be amazing it needs to enhance the use of the product and be a must-have. AKA, bring value.
It’s common to add a straw cleaning brush to reusable straws! That’s useful! It makes sense to add a cleaning brush to a juicer or chicken shredder, as using your own cleaning cloth will shred because of the spikes. It’s a great idea to add a carry case to a pacifier to keep it clean. A set of utensils should at the very least come with a storage solution, lest they run amok in your kitchen drawer!
These, are useful bundles.
But Your Bundle Will Be Everyone Else’s Bundle Soon.
We all know once a Seller starts doing well with something then others will follow. And when enough people follow, it becomes the norm. So in the case of jewelry - we all bundle with a gift bag, jewelry box and polishing cloth. Now what? How much more money will you need to spend adding things to your product to “try and be different”. It can be tiring trying to figure out how to bundle your main item.
Thankfully, There’s Another Solution!
When a shopper starts searching for an item, they NEVER search a bundle. Do you know why? It’s all down to problem/solution. The shopper has a problem (let’s say, opening a tin can) and they need a solution (a can opener). And I hate to sound basic, but that’s almost all there is to it. If you just had a Brazilian Butt Lift, your main problem could be trying to sit down. The solution? A BBL Pillow! Let’s do one more. Do you keep breaking your cellphone screen? That’s a problem. What’s the solution - a glass screen protector and/or a better phone case.
Instead of a bundle, we simply use messaging through our Product Description (done right) to win the sale.
Messaging is WHAT you say
Copywriting is HOW you say it
Images are how you SHOW it
On Amazon, everyone writes about their product using the same messaging, executed with the same boring limp-dick style of copywriting. Therefore, literally the EASIEST way to differentiate your “me-too” product is to have copywriting that does the opposite of being the same. With creative execution you can make your product sound more interesting, more useable, more robust… just more! (without bundling!)
Surprise people with a pattern interrupt. A pattern interrupt is like a tap on the shoulder that says “hey you… listen up!” It literally interrupts their existing thoughts, and stops the mindless scrolling to the next Seller. Stop them by saying something different, unique or highly relevant.
Inform shoppers with EVERYTHING they need to know. Put another way, the customer shouldn’t need to ask a question on our product description. Every customer who is waiting for an answer from you… is not buying your product. You can’t avoid Q&A, but, the more informed a shopper feels the more confident they are to purchase. Approximately 20% of shoppers leave your store if you don’t inform them fully.
Point out FEATURES of the product. But not in a generic AI kind of way. You must make those features YOURS! Even if everyone else has it, great copy will make the feature and its benefits sound like it’s special to you.
Make sure your USP is HEARD! Don’t bury the lead under boring copywriting
Highlight BENEFITS. But not dumb benefits like “this glass will hold your drinks and keep your hands dry”. (don’t laugh, I literally saw this) It’s outrageously stupid considering all glassware holds drinks. A great copywriter will make your benefits sound unique.
Create an emotional connection about something. It could be as simple as dealing with their fear that the product will arrive broken. Emotional copywriting doesn’t just have to be all hearts and snowflake language - any emotional thing is fine. In the case of the necklace client, a lot of reviewers had a fear that it would look like costume jewelry. So we made sure to address that emotion in our copy.
To Bundle or Not To Bundle? What’s the Verdict
YES! If the product NEEDS it. If it enhances the use of the product, and without it the customer is somewhat inconvenienced.
NO! If you’re just throwing it in there for the hell of it. If it’s cheap and pointless, don’t waste your money.
NOT SURE? Don’t sweat it! You’ll be fine without it. Just use creative strategies in your Product Description to win the sale instead!