The Benefits of Amazon’s Virtual Product Bundles

You have heard about product bundles since you were young. Bundles have been a popular sales strategy in brick-and-mortar stores, like department stores and supermarkets for many years. The concept is simple: group different or related products together into a single unit at a discounted price. The idea is to price the bundle at a lower price than the sum of each product when added together. It makes sense, right?

The actual challenge is how to translate this terrific sales concept to eCommerce. In the digitized online sales world, one can’t simply make and add a new product code for a bundle and sell them alongside the individual products that are part of the bundle. The problem is, this can mess up stock levels or get your inventory all mixed up. It gets more complicated and utterly confusing if each bundled product is located in a different warehouse. 

This dilemma gave birth to Amazon’s Virtual Product Bundle program. The program was rolled out during the latter part of 2019. With this new tool's delivery, qualified Amazon Sellers can choose the products they would like to bundle, and it automatically becomes a stand-alone product listing. 

Amazon then assigns the selected bundle a unique SKU, and from there, you can create the bundle’s title, bullets, product description, and selling price. Amazon also allows you to upload a maximum of 9 product images. The main image would depict the bundled products together. 

Amazon, from her end, will automatically update your bundle quantities based on the availability of the lowest-stock item within the bundle. In addition, there is no longer a need to transfer the items physically into one package, as FBA will send the bundled items together in a single shipment to the customer.

Eligibility and Other Requirements

Are you interested in selling virtual product bundles on Amazon? You will need to study the Virtual Product Bundle policy very carefully. At the moment, not everyone can use this tool, and not every product can be incorporated. But if you need help understanding the policy or setting up a Virtual Product Bundle campaign for your brand, reach out to Sellers Launch, and we will be more than happy to schedule a meeting with you.  

How to Create Virtual Bundles

Assuming you are eligible to use the Virtual Product Bundle tool, there are other restrictions for creating Virtual Bundles:

• Your product must be Brand Registered, and the ASIN to be bundled must be from the same brand.
• ASINs in the bundle need to have an active FBA inventory and should be in “New” condition.
• Non-tangible items such as gift cards, digital items like music, videos, and books, and renewed/used ASINs cannot be made part of a bundle.
• Bundles are only allowed in Amazon USA.

How to Use Virtual Product Bundles to Your Advantage

Virtual Product Bundles are cost-effective and easy ways to increase your sales in Amazon. Bundles are excellent cross-promotion tools for your product and are positioned more prominently than the “Frequently Bought Together” box. The bundle's main product will have a widget placed on its product listing, right under the main image and above the “Frequently Bought Together” section. The widget quickly directs shoppers to the bundle listing.

Some good examples of Virtual Product Bundle opportunities include, but are not limited to, bundling together: 

• knives and honing steel
• shampoo and conditioner
• beauty soaps and moisturizers
• dog food and pet feeding bowls
• and other products that will complement your main product or what your customer would buy alongside the main product. 

Whatever items customers tend to purchase together from your brand will make a good bundle and may also have the possibility of becoming one of your best sellers. 

Another consideration when creating a bundle is to look for complementary inventories that are slow-moving. A good example is stocks that are slow-moving because of the pandemic, like lipstick. You might want to bundle it with a faster-moving item like cologne, eyeliners, or face powder. 

Seasonal shopping themes are also opportunities for product bundles. Peak shopping seasons like Christmas, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday are just a few holidays that drive traffic to your listing. You might want to take advantage of this organic traffic by creating bundles around these shopping themes. 

Benefits of Creating Amazon Product Bundles

Creating attractive and practical product bundles is expected to:

• Increase both the number of sales and your average order value 
• Encourage Amazon shoppers to spend or buy more.
• Speed up inventory clearance
• Improve cross-selling and repeat orders
• Appeal to a more price-sensitive online market who are always looking for more value for their money
• Provide online shoppers the convenience of purchasing related products without the need to search for them on Amazon
• Enhance the Amazon customer experience. Bundling allows buyers to save time when shopping, anticipate the customer's condition by suggesting complementary products to go with their primary purchase and add more value to their hard-earned money.

Designing an effective bundle doesn’t mean you mix cheap items or slow-moving items to improve inventory clearance. When deciding on the products to bundle, one should keep the customer's needs in mind. Anticipate products that the customer might need when they buy a fast-moving product like kitchen knives. Why not bundle it with a honing steel and a bamboo knife block or a bamboo chopping board? Bundle products that complement each other and anticipate the needs of the shoppers. 

How Can We Help? 

Amazon’s Virtual Product Bundles may not be for everybody. But if you think you are eligible, it is worth exploring virtual bundling for your products to encourage online shoppers to spend more to increase your sales volume and average order value. Just make sure you know the profitability of every product bundle you create. 

If you need help setting your Virtual Product Bundles up, we at Sellers Launch can help you set up your Virtual Product Bundles. Just reach out to Sellers Launch, and we will be more than happy to schedule a meeting with you.