While shopping on your favorite sites, you’re very likely to see offers like “Bundle and save”, “Works better together”, or “Buy 2+ for a bigger discount”.
Product bundles and volume discounts have become popular offers due to their promise of increased value to customers and their effects on average order value (AOV) & increased revenue for merchants.
Also growing in popularity are product subscription offers like “Subscribe and Save”, “Autoship” or “Repeat Delivery” due to their promise of increased convenience for customers and increased lifetime value (LTV) and retention for merchants.
In a world where both of these offers are compelling for customers, how do merchants offer both? Can bundles and subscriptions both work for the same online store?
In this article, we’ll review several real-world examples of merchants that do a great job of offering bundles and product subscriptions on the same online store, what their offers look like, and why their offers work.
Legion Athletics: “Stacks” that are flexible & friendly for Subscribers
Wellness companies like Legion (https://legionathletics.com) offer products that can be consumed together for added benefits. Legion’s “Stacks” offer customers a simple way to combine their supplements to take advantage of how they work together and also get the best value for their purchase.
“Stacks” offer a discount when purchasing products together
Legion offers its “Stacks” to customers in a banner that is displayed on their PDP (Product Display Page) with a single “Add to Cart” button: Save up to 10% with a stack! → Add to Cart
When a customer selects “Add to Cart”, they are then shown a simple pop-up form inviting them to choose between the different flavor variations that Legion offers for each product in their stack.
Each product in the “Stack” is added to the cart
After making their flavor selections, the customer selects “Add to Cart” and each one of the products in the Stack is added to the cart. If the customer wants to Subscribe to receive any one of the products in their Stack on a repeat order, they can easily select the option to “Subscribe and Save” and select their desired frequency right from the cart page.
Why Legion’s “Stacks” are Subscription-friendly Product Bundles:
- Each product (SKU) is added to the cart when purchased together as a Stack. This means that each product in the cart can still be offered as a Subscription on its own and increases subscription sign-ups.
- The contents of the actual Order are still regular SKUs so there is no need to sort out what SKUs were purchased even though they were purchased as a bundle.
- The products that the customer does choose for “Subscribe & Save” are each added to the customer’s repeat order, so it’s really easy for them to make changes like adding or changing items in their subcription.
- The pop-up form that displays after a customer selects “Add to Cart” to buy their Stack enables customers to still choose different flavor variations if they wish. This small step ensures that customers can still pick the flavors they want after indicating that they want to save by purchasing the products together.
Algae Barn: “Ecopacks” are Bundles with Quantity Discounts
Algae Barn bundles products that work well together into “Ecopacks” and then offers quantity-discounts to increase order value.
The value is clear for Algae Barn’s customers: “Ecopacks” offer a better price as a bundle than purchasing each product individually.
Subscriber-Friendly Bundles
For their most popular bundles, Algae Barn offers the opportunity to save 10% more with Subscribe & Save, and also gives customers who already have a Subscription the option to add the bundle to their next subscription box.
Maximize Order Value with Quantity Discounts on Bundles
Customers can maximize their savings by up to 50% more by purchasing higher quantities of Ecopack bundles.
A great example is the ECOPACK POD & PHYTO COMBO which pairs Algae Barns’ two most popular aquarium feed supplements into one simple bundle.
From the product page, customers can easily see multiple options to increase their saving by purchasing up to 8 EcoPacks to save 50%.
How Algae Barn makes “Ecopack” Product Bundles Subscriber-friendly:
- Ecopacks are very simple and customers only need to choose the quantity of each bundle purchased. This keeps customers focused on quantity and subscription options, and avoids the pitfall of customers losing time & focus deciding which products to combine in a bundle themselves.
- The Subscribe & Save discount option is presented right below the Quantity Discount options, and the total savings is easy for customers to preview as they update their choices.
- Existing subscribers can also add the product bundle as a One-Time purchase to their next subscription order and get the same subscription savings without being required to start a new subscription plan.
- In the Subscriber portal – where subscribers can view and make changes to upcoming Subscribe & Save orders – quantity and subscription price discounts are seamlessly integrated into Subscriptions. This means that each Subscriber can easily adjust their Subscription to purchase the highest quantity possible and maximize their savings.
Herbsmith: “Curate the Bowl” is a Subscription Bundle Personalized for Your Pet
As many pet owners already know, each animal is unique and has different needs. So making sure that each animal is prescribed the right combination of feed & supplements while making it easy & convenient for pet owners to manage orders is a priority for Herbsmith.
A Subscription Bundle that Gets Personal
Featured prominently on Herbsmith’s homepage, customers are invited to “Curate the Bowl” by taking a quiz about their pet. They can also visit the “Curate the Bowl” landing page which features a video and details about how a more unique & personalized program leads to better health for your pet.
After answering questions about your pet – including their name, current diet and health needs – Herbsmith sends you an email with your pet’s personalized plan, and an option to save 20% your first month by subscribing to receive the personalized plan on Autoship.
Voila! A Personalized Subscription Bundle in 1-Click!
Clicking the link in the email “Take 20% Off Your First Month” adds each product in the personalized plan to the cart including the specific quantity and frequency at which each product is uniquely prescribed for your pet. A coupon adding a 20% discount is automatically applied to the cart – which gives new customers a one-time discount for purchasing the bundle as a subscription.
Why Herbsmith’s “Curated Bowls” are a Subscription-friendly Bundle Offer:
- Curated bowls are highly personalized bundles that don’t require customers to visit any product pages. A new Subscriber can purchase a bundle of 5-6 products by clicking a single link.
- Each individual product (SKU) is added to the cart on its own unique subscription frequency. This means that products that only need to be used seasonally, or less frequently than others, can still be subscribed to and delivered on their own schedule.
- The new subscriber discount of 20% is offered via a single link that is easily sent to customers via email or SMS.
- The contents of the actual Order are still regular SKUs so there is no need to sort out what SKUs were purchased even though they were purchased as a bundle.
- The products that the customer does choose for “Subscribe & Save” are each added to the customer’s repeat order, so it’s really easy for them to make changes like adding or changing items in their subscription if their pet’s needs change.
