Deep into the holiday shopping season, retailers are looking for an advantage that can serve multiple purposes: to drive sales, manage inventory, and impress customers to maintain loyalty. The answer may lie in a simple yet elegant solution: grouping products into packages, or bundles.
Bundling, which is the combination of products or services into a single sales unit, has been a retail strategy for decades. Bundling can take many forms, from bundles of the same product grouped together in a larger order to bundling hardware and services, where a subscription offer includes free or discounted hardware to entice the customer.
Because there are countless forms of bundling, retailers can tailor their offerings to achieve different goals or meet specific metrics. The holidays present a unique opportunity to launch bundling initiatives that can set the tone for the coming year.
Implementing grouping to create new retail opportunities
The holiday shopping season is getting longer every year. You can read more about holiday shopping in e-commerce here. What was once a sprint between Thanksgiving and Christmas now starts months in advance. A recent McKinsey report found that 50% of consumers are spreading out their holiday shopping to October or earlier this year.
However, price and promotion are the main factors influencing purchases, according to the same report. Furthermore, Akeneo research revealed that promotions, offers and deals rank as the three most important pieces of product information for consumers, even more important than information about size, fit or dimensions.
For retailers, the high value of offers means the holiday shopping season is no longer just a three-week opportunity. Year-round discount strategies and targeted bundling in the months leading up to the holidays can have a dramatic impact on overall sales.
Bundling is most effective at increasing basket size. It works by creating one unified product instead of different parts.
The bundle features pre-selection and combination of items, offering customers a curated mix and eliminating the guesswork involved in finding complementary products. This approach differs significantly from simply offering products as it simplifies the selection process for the customer.
At 2025.viste.bg/ we have extensive experience in implementing so-called "bundle" products. As examples, we can cite our clients such as Linsonmoto (online motorcycle equipment store) with the following combo package number 1 and combo pack number 2 and Ready for Life (online store for top brand nutritional supplements) with the following combo offers.
In order to implement this functionality, we have taken into account the platform on which the e-shop itself is located. See which functional modules for Prestashop and Opencart we use.
Modules for Prestashop
The module allows you to increase your average cart value by offering your customers the opportunity to purchase a coordinated set of products, called a bundle, at an attractive price.
Increase the value of the order in the cart by grouping products into “bundles” and sections, offering a discount when selected products are purchased in a “bundle”.
Modules for Opencart
ProductBundles follows the standard OpenCart functionality for applying discounts in the shopping cart, making it compatible with all third-party payment modules.
When multiple products are sold as one combined product, it is called a bundled product. With the help of Opencart Bundle Product extension, the admin will be able to create bundled products for their customers.
Improve customer experience and value with strategic packaging.
Customers not only get a discount through the bundle, but also a more convenient, comprehensive solution that doesn't require them to do any work themselves. It also gives customers the opportunity to try new products from the same company that they might not have chosen for themselves or even known existed.
For retailers, the act of curating bundles can serve multiple functions. As product experts, retailers can demonstrate their knowledge by bundling complementary products that a customer might not think to put together. Additionally, retailers can bundle products that may need a sales boost; combining products that are performing well with underperforming products can have a positive impact on both types of products.
With more and more retailers focused on recurring revenue models, bundling presents a unique opportunity to build year-round customers. Not only can free or discounted items be offered to incentivize monthly subscription plans, but retailers can also explore creating their own bundled subscription boxes. For example, a retailer specializing in soaps, candles, or other items could offer different tiers of subscription boxes at different price points that can establish year-round customers. The holidays are an ideal opportunity to launch these initiatives.
The beauty of bundling products and services is that it provides retailers with an opportunity for creative promotion and merchandising.
Understanding your own product mix and expertly crafting package options for customers demonstrates a level of care and detail that can drive loyalty and retention. It also creates a platform for testing new AI and machine learning technologies to build personalized, algorithmically recommended product packages for individual users.
How grouping can impact inventory management and logistics
While bundling provides brands and retailers with new and untapped sales channels, it also provides a side benefit: better inventory and logistics control.
The ability to pair products into separate SKUs creates new channels for product movement, which is even more impactful when applied to obsolete or excess inventory.
Creating bundles that include a mix of older and newer products allows a retailer to turn over less-relevant inventory at a discount on the promise of newer, more desirable products. Especially with seasonal products that may have a shorter shelf life, bundling can help move products quickly so they aren't left sitting on shelves the rest of the year.
Moreover, bundling creates a flexible and dynamic inventory management solution that can mitigate risk and variances along the supply chain. Creating bundles of products from multiple suppliers adds a level of diversification that can protect product reliability if a supplier experiences a product shortage or delay.
Packages are dynamic, meaning they can be adjusted or adapted based on product availability without sacrificing quality. This control over product selection and time to sell greatly benefits retailers, often reducing their role to mere intermediaries between customers and sellers.
At a time when retailers are increasingly doing business online, grouping provides an additional opportunity to combine shipping and fulfillment for multiple items, rather than processing each item as a separate order. This is especially true in omnichannel retail. Omnichannel retail unifies sales and marketing so that customers receive a consistent experience with your brand across all channels. Every interaction a customer has with you changes their subsequent experience with your products and brand. The customer, with their needs and actions, is put at the center, and your approach to them changes based on their actions, both in the physical world and online. If you want to learn useful tips for a good online presence among your customers, you can read here.
Creating packages is infinitely easier when product information is comprehensive and consistent across all sales channels. It’s a simple advantage that can save businesses thousands per year.
Packaging is great for customers too
It’s easy to see the benefits of bundling for retailers, but the truth is that it’s just as beneficial for customers. As noted earlier, consumers are increasingly price-conscious, and finding the best deal is a major deciding factor when making a purchase, especially during the holidays.
Not only does bundling offer potentially big discounts, it also takes much of the guesswork out of shopping for similar products. Customers often view brands and retailers as experts in their own product ranges, so having recommendations for similar products in a bundle is a chance for customers to capitalize on this resource and save time browsing.
When executed successfully, packaging is a win-win for both customers and retailers. The holiday rush is a prime time to experiment with this exciting retail strategy that has the potential to create lasting impressions that can translate into future sales.
