Amazon Virtual Product Bundles: Details, Examples, Listing, and Ideas

Would you like the ability to create product bundles without sending additional inventory to Amazon? Are you looking to test and validate product combinations or cross-promoting them? Amazon has launched a new function named Virtual Product Bundles to help sellers do just that! In its beta version, the feature is currently available for a selected group of FBA sellers in the US market only. There is no news from the e-com giant if a full roll-out is in the works.  

What is an Amazon Product Bundle?

According to Amazon, product bundles are between two to five products from your catalog sold as one, typically at a discount to increase conversion rate. These items are not packaged together but sent as individual units instead. Whenever a customer places an order, Amazon bundles the products into kits and dispatches them from its FBA centers saving sellers both time and hassle.  

Do You Need a Separate UPC for a Bundle?

No, you don’t need to buy a separate UPC to list a bundle on Amazon. However, each item in the bundle must have a barcode (and an ASIN) already assigned to it.

Let’s take a look at Amazon’s product bundling policy in more detail.

Overview of Amazon's Bundle Policy

• A bundle can only have a single category. If the products are from multiple categories, you must list the bundle under the category of the highest priced (primary) item.
• Each bundled-product must be purchasable on its own and should be complementary to the primary product.
• Video, music, books, DVDs, or products from the Video Games category cannot be used as primary items when creating a bundle.
• The referral fee for the bundle will be the same as that of the primary product’s category.
• Don’t use generic items for bundling

Difference Between Bundles and Multipacks

Just a quick note. Many sellers seem to confuse product bundles with multipacks and use the two terms interchangeably. Product bundles are not multipacks. You can’t list and sell two (or more) units of the same ASIN as a bundle. For that, you have multipacks.

How are Product Bundle Quantities Determined?

The number of product bundles available for customers to purchase is based solely on the products contained within it.

For instance, if you have a pizza blanket with an available quantity of 28 and a pizza pillow with 38 units, then there would be 28 product bundles available. The total amount is automatically adjusted taking into account individual sales as well; if one of those pizza pillows sells as an individual item, the available bundles would go down to 27.

Can Product Bundles be Edited?

When you create a product bundle, Amazon assigns a unique SKU to it. Like other products, you can edit the title, description, bullets, images, and price. However, you can’t change the products offered within the bundle itself.

Amazon Bundle Examples

So what are some real-life virtual product bundle examples? We have compiled a few to help you get an idea:

1. Thermal laminator and scotch thermal laminating pouches bundle:

This is from the Office Products category, featuring a two-roller lamination system and a 100-pack thermal laminating pouches.

2. Sparkling water maker and carbonization bottle bundle:

A bundle from the Kitchen & Dining category, offering a water and beverage carbonator, and a 3oz carbonization bottle.

3. Defrosting tray, tenderizer, injector, and cutting board bundle:

Another bundle from the Kitchen & Dining category for meat lovers, featuring a meat defrosting tray, marinade injector, meat tenderizer, and a plastic cutting board.

4. RAK wristband bundle with hammer multi-tool:

This one here is from the Tools & Home Improvement category, offering a magnet-embedded wristband (for holding different types of fasteners) and a multi-purpose hammer.  

Virtual Product Bundle Program - Seller Requirements

To be eligible for selling bundled products on the smiling A, you need to meet certain requirements specified under the Amazon virtual product bundle program:

1. Sellers need to be brand registered.
2. They must be operating in the US marketplace.
3. ASINs need to have active FBA inventory in the 'New' condition.
4. The seller must not be selling gift cards, electronically delivered products (such as digital music, video, and books), or renewed/used ASINs.

Benefits of Product Bundling

Amazon product bundling is particularly attractive to customers who benefit from a single, value-oriented offering. They don’t have to hop from listing to listing, looking for complimentary items to go with their original purchase. Everything is served on one page. Plus, it offers plenty of benefits for your business too:

1. Increases Your Average Order Value

By bundling your products, your customers buy more than one product during a single purchase, which increases your average order value. For example: instead of buying a pizza blanket, your customers are given an option to purchase it together with a pizza pillow as a bundle.

2. Reduces Inventory Waste

Products can be bundled and sold at a discount to clear dead stock and avoid inventory waste. This also increases your IPI (index performance score), leading to warehouse cost reduction.

3. Helps with a New Product Launch

Are you about to launch a new product? You can bundle it with one of your best sellers to promote it to customers. This cross-promotion decreases your marketing costs while increasing exposure for your new merchandise. Talk about an early win!

How Do I Create Virtual Bundles on Amazon?

Step 1 - Navigate to Virtual Bundles

Navigate to the Brands tab within your seller central main page. Click on “Virtual Bundles” located in the dropdown menu.

Step 2 - Insert Product Bundle Details

Add products to your bundle by inserting your ASIN number. You are required to enter the title, selling price, and description for your bundle. It is vital to insert hot keywords to both your title and description for the Amazon A10 algorithm to pick them up during customer searches.

Important Tips for Writing Titles

• The title should be no more than 200 characters. This includes whitespaces.
• Use the name of the primary product at the start of the title.
• Mention the word “Bundle” in the title.
• If the bundle only has a few items (3–4 max), list the names of the primary and secondary products in the title. Use this order: Primary Product name + “Bundle with” + Secondary product name(s).
• If the bundle has many items, specify the number of items too. [Primary Product name + “Bundle with” + Secondary product name(s) + “Number of Items”].

Important Tips for Writing Product Descriptions

• Make sure that the description clearly states that the offer is a product bundle.
• It must identify all the items included in the bundle accurately. If there are any product designators, such as color, size, or model number, use them as-is.

You are required to insert product bundle images (maximum of 8) to showcase your products. Bullet points are required, and do remember to optimize them with high-search volume keywords. You can leave the SKU blank and let Amazon auto-populate it for you. If you decide to insert your own SKU, do not reuse an SKU from an existing product in any marketplace, or your bundle won’t be approved.

Golden Nugget: New bundles don’t have the luxury of including back-end search terms. Therefore, you must use the front end in the best possible way to maximize your visibility. We recommend including as many component ASINs’ keywords as possible. This will help you with the traction, especially if your primary and secondary products are already ranking on those keywords. Use Listing Optimizer to keep track of the keywords’ usage.  

Important Tips for Images

• The main (or hero) image must feature all the products included in the bundle. This should be a professional image and not an illustration or a mockup.
• Use exact images for the products and avoid images of similar-looking items. Failure to do so may result in a penalty from Amazon.
• The images should be high resolution and in TIFF, JPEG, PNG, or GIF format.

Note that bundle ASINs have separate reviews and ratings from those of the individual ASINs in the bundle.

Optimize Your Bundles with ZonGuru's New Listing Optimizer

Speaking of maximizing visibility, ZonGuru has just launched a revolutionary tool that takes listing optimization to the next level. Our new Listing Optimizer, backed by ChatGPT-4 AI technology, is designed to help you find the best keywords for any Amazon category. Whether you're looking to auto-generate new product listings or rewrite existing ones, this tool uses data from the best keywords in your category to enhance your sales potential.

Why Choose ZonGuru's Listing Optimizer?

1. Competitive Analysis: Compare your listing against up to 8 competing ASINs to see how you stack up.
2. Enhanced Scoring System: Get real-time Optimization and Listing Strength scores to gauge your listing's effectiveness.
3. Time Efficiency: Start seeing tangible results in just a few keystrokes, saving you both time and effort.
4. Increased Sales: A well-optimized listing can significantly boost your sales, potentially by thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars each month.

With features like importing keywords directly from our 'Keywords on Fire' tool and algorithmic alignment for Amazon's A10 algorithm, this tool is a game-changer for serious Amazon sellers. Don't miss out on this opportunity to give your listings the competitive edge they deserve.

Step 3 - Save, Publish, and Evaluate

Once you have entered all relevant details, click on the “Save & Publish” button to complete the product bundling. Always evaluate product bundles that you have created and split test new ones.

Remove product bundles that don’t work and keep the ones that do it to maximize your effort. Remember to check the Amazon Bundle Policy before submitting any new ones.

Golden Nugget: Bundles are compatible with Sponsored Brands ads. So if you're looking to gain more exposure and sales, you can create a sponsored brand campaign for your bundles.

Amazon Bundle Offer

When deciding the offer for your product bundle, make sure that it is priced equal to or lower than the sum of the prices of the individual items included in the bundle. Amazon will suppress your Buy Box if you don’t follow this rule. Likewise, whenever you update the price of one (or more) of your products, adjust the price of the bundle too.

How to track the performance of your new Amazon bundle

Unfortunately, at this moment, there is no bundle performance tracking feature available for sellers in the seller center. However, Amazon does send you weekly reports to keep you informed of how your virtual bundles are doing. The download links for these reports remain active for 6 days.

Amazon Virtual Product Bundles – Pitfalls

While selling bundled products on Amazon (without having to change your inbound FBA inventory) sounds great, it has a few pitfalls that you need to be aware of:

• Not all products do well in bundles.
• The bundle widget is currently available only on desktop devices. That means customers who shop on their mobile will not be able to view (and order) your product bundles.
• Regular sponsored ads are not available for bundle listings.  
• There are no special discounts on fulfillment fee for bundles.
• Amazon product bundles tend to do well when financially incentivized, which may sometimes shrink your profit margin.

Amazon Bundling Ideas

So how do you create a profitable virtual product bundle, which your customers would love buying too? Here are some Amazon bundling ideas (and strategies) to help you get started:

1. Look at the “Frequently bought together” section of your products. This will help you identify what other items your customers are buying with the original one.
2. Head over to Amazon.com and type “Bundle” in your product category. Study the possible options and check if you can replicate them.
3. Open all your listings and identify the slow-moving products or items that haven’t been selling well. Analyze if they can be paired with your popular items.

Final Thoughts

There are multiple ways to bundle your products to boost sales. You can try the cross-sell bundle method by bundling a low-priced complimentary product as an add-on to your main product. Offering a gift bundle during the holiday season is another excellent way to promote your brand.

All in all, bundling adds value to your brand and helps you stand out from the competition. Remember to track your product bundling performance and customer satisfaction for long-
term benefits.

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