Everything You Need to Know About Dynamic Bundles

Product bundling isn’t anything new in ecommerce or retail. It’s been a proven way for retailers to increase order values and upsell products for decades. But in a retail environment that’s become increasingly digital, matching the right bundles to the right customers while factoring in things like inventory availability, individual preferences, and constant shifts in shopper behavior is challenging. 

The bottom line is this: customers expect more than just one-size-fits-all product bundles. They want product recommendations to feel like relevant, personalized recommendations.

Thanks to major strides in AI, there’s emerging technology that can help with that. It’s called dynamic bundling, and it’s shaping up to be a total game changer for both merchandising and customer experience. Dynamic bundling solutions automatically create customized product bundles tailored to each individual shopper.

In this post, we’ll define what dynamic bundling is, provide some real-world examples of it in action, and list some key features you should look for when selecting dynamic bundling software.

What are Dynamic Bundles?

Dynamic bundles are a type of automated product bundling capability offered within certain ecommerce personalization platforms. These AI-powered tools help merchandisers easily create tailored complementary product sets and collections to showcase and promote to each customer. 

Dynamic bundles can be generated from human merchandising input combined with algorithmic identification of items a particular shopper may be interested in.  The automation inherent in bundling software makes it possible to scale the curation and promotion of customized product combinations that feel handpicked to your website visitors. Bundling, when it resonates with customers, helps increase average order value (AOV), improve conversion rate, and unload excess inventory. It can also enhance customer experience by providing highly relevant recommendations that aid in product discovery. 

Examples of Dynamic Bundles

Since dynamic bundles use AI, they allow retailers across a range of industries to build curated product sets that work for specific use cases. Automation lightens the burden on merchandising teams and helps maximize key sales metrics like revenue, AOV, and repeat purchases.  

Here are some examples of personalized bundles powered by platforms like Monetate:

1. Apparel & Fashion – “Complete the Look”

Bundles complementary fashion pieces like tops, bottoms, shoes, and accessories that work together as an outfit. Helps customers conveniently shop for entire looks.

2. Automotive – “Complete the Job”

Curates parts, tools, and materials into bundles for specific automotive jobs like brake repairs, fluid changes, etc. Streamlines shopping by job.

3. DIY/Home Improvement – “Complete the Project”

Groups together related products needed for home upgrade projects – flooring, lighting, hardware, appliances etc. Bundles by room or project type. 

4. Home Goods – “Complete the Collection”

Assembles decorative accessory groupings that align aesthetically like throws, pillows, rugs and table pieces into a cohesive collection. Merchandises by style.

5. Makeup – “Complete the Routine”

Dynamically creates bundled daily makeup sets that include complementary complexion, eye, cheek, and lip products tailored to the individual. Curates by beauty routine.

Dynamic Bundle Features

Monetate offers robust bundling functionality for merchandisers. Configuring and optimizing dynamic bundles is a painless process – some features built into Monetate’s functionality enable our customers to:

• Define Product Categories: Retailers can use catalog filters to specify which products are eligible for inclusion in bundles. This allows precise targeting by brand, category, inventory status and more.
• Apply Business Rules: Set rules to meet brand standards, thus ensuring bundled items are currently in-stock, on-brand through attributes like price range, ratings, etc.
• Build a Recommendation Strategy: The algorithm looks at behavioral data, product associations, order history signals and other inputs to assemble relevant bundle recommendations for each customer.
• Add Merchandiser Input: Humans can supplement the dynamic bundles with manual product groupings that meet merchandising goals. The platform enhances these expert picks further.
• Generate Bundles: With the categories defined, rules set, recommendations activated, and manual input incorporated – the platform automatically generates tailored bundle options.
• Test and Optimize: Dynamic bundles can be A/B tested to optimize presentation, messaging and placement for maximum engagement.

 

Benefits of Dynamic Bundles

AI-powered product bundling comes with many advantages for both retailers and shoppers.

• It enables merchandising at scale which gives you the benefit of human expertise combined with AI so you can more efficiently bundle large product catalogs.
  • What this means for shoppers is that fresh finds are being presented in real-time while also spotlighting leftover inventory.
• Bundling also inspires more confident purchasing through curated, complementary products shown together in ways that make sense (both aesthetically and practically).
  • It helps shoppers visualize how the pieces of a bundle work together, building confidence in buying more items.  
• Automated bundling allows for accelerated time-to-value. Bundles update automatically as new items launch, styles change, or stock availability shifts, with no manual upkeep required.
  • This means shoppers see the latest offerings in pre-styled combinations instantly.
• Since bundling is tied to your inventory and sales performance, it enables you to make data-driven merchandising decisions.
  • Retailers can use data intelligence to double down on winning designs and refine any underperforming bundles. 
• Finally, dynamic bundling helps bridge merchandising gaps and move inventory more efficiently.
  • Algorithms ensure your entire catalog gets enhanced with automated bundles – going well beyond what you could manually style alone. Shoppers benefit from seeing bundled ensemble ideas they may have never discovered on their own.