For regular Joe's, Amazon is a huge online marketplace where they buy lots of stuff from Uncle Jeff himself – they don't realize that most of the time, they're buying products from small (ish) independent sellers and not the Global behemoth of Amazon.
But we're here to focus on Amazon FBA sellers like you and me, and how we can grow our revenue by tapping into this global customer base. One such strategy is to leverage the virtual bundle program on Amazon.
This blog post will tell you everything you need to know about this free addition for brand owners – and how you can sell multiple products in one click to boost your revenue in 2023.
What are Amazon virtual product bundles?
Amazon's Virtual Product Bundles are a powerful sales mechanism that allows sellers to combine 2-5 complementary products together into one packaged deal. Since the feature's pilot launch in 2019, it has slowly gained traction. It's easy for sellers to showcase their product offer, with an easy, one-click upsell of multiple items.
If you already track your conversion rates using some of these Amazon seller tools, you would have thought virtual bundle sales data could be tracked too.
Unfortunately, that's not the case – Sales of virtual bundles are only tracked on each component of that particular bundle.
The importance of virtual bundles for Amazon sellers
Every piece of real estate on your Amazon listing is up for grabs – and over time, depending on which category you're selling in, you can see how Amazon's sponsored product ad placement is slowly eating up every bit of space on the page.
If you don't believe me, check out a competitive category like supplements, and look at the many different ad spots on virtually every product detail page. And as with most things in life, try to focus on the things you can control – virtual bundles being one of them.
Located just below the buy box, the Make it a bundle section spans the entire width of the page, located just above the frequently bought together and product recommendations section. See how much real estate these guys are using below.
Why is it essential to use the product bundle tool?
In a time when it is more and more challenging to drive traffic to your Amazon listing if you can own as much space as humanly possible, you're gonna come out on top. As brand owners, we know selling on Amazon is about squeezing every last drop of juice out of the lemon.
Virtual bundles allow that, and at least for the moment, free of charge.
Are Virtual Bundles on the Amazon mobile app?
In a word, no, virtual bundles are only displayed on desktop.
Nearly 65% of Amazon customers shop via desktop computers, and only 16.6% of users buy from mobile devices (source). I'm sure if the ratio of users increases on mobile, we will see virtual bundles migrate over too, but we'll have to wait and see.
Criteria for creating virtual bundles on Amazon
So, you need to know a few things if you are fired up and want to create those bundles.
Amazon allows you to make as many bundles as you like providing they adhere to the following criteria:
- You must have a brand registered with Amazon
- The products in the bundle must be sold under the same brand name
- The seller who creates the bundle must be internal to the brand
- Virtual bundles must include 2 to 5 products
- The products included must all be from the same brand and have their own product detail pages
- FBA must ship products in the bundle
How to create Amazon virtual bundles on Seller Central in 2023
You must create your Virtual Bundles through Seller Central on a desktop computer.
- Log in as usual and then head over to Brands from the main drop-down.
- Select Virtual Bundles.
- Click the ‘Add Products' button by selecting an ASIN from your catalog – this will be the main product on the bundle.
- Add at least one other product to your bundle (remember you need at least two ASINs for a virtual bundle).
- Next, you need to add images – this is the one hold-up if you don't have bundle images ready. Each bundle needs a new idea, which is likely a different image from your individual ASIN. Thankfully, subsequent images can be taken from your existing ASIN library.
- Return to the bundle page and add a full title, short title, price, description, bullet points, and optional SKU.
- Finally, click the save and publish button to finish your bundle – Virtual bundles normally become visible within 24 hours on the Amazon catalog.
Optimizing your virtual bundle listings
If you are spending the effort to enroll products into the virtual bundle program, it is worth spending a bit of time to optimize your listing.
You can try to choose products that pair well together, set a great bundle price, and make sure you provide relevant bundle details such as a great title and description.
As with any Amazon listing, using authentic images are vitally important – so either get some help from someone on your team or outsource from a place like Upwork to ensure your bundles really stand out.
Some critical requirements of virtual bundles
- Bundles need to be organized around a main product or ASIN.
- The keywords of this product become the bundle's keywords.
- Best suited for standalone ASINs, not products with size variations for example.
- Cannot be a multi-pack, case-pack, or pallet.
- CAN include a two-pack PLUS another of your products.
- Works best for complementary products – for example, shampoo and conditioner.
- The price must be the same or lower than the individual ASINS.
- Bundle prices don't update automatically if you change the individual price. or set price rules.
Virtual bundles allow customers to purchase the items as a group in one click, but the products don't need to be packaged together – hence the term virtual.
Each item is fulfilled by Amazon separately and most likely shipped separately to the other items in the bundle.
Amazon virtual product bundle strategies to boost your sales
Here are a few virtual product bundle strategies I have used to get a leg up over my competition.
Fresh Eyes
It's crucial to see your listing through the eyes of a customer and provide information that answers their queries and convinces them to buy – look at negative reviews and try to answer any queries prospective buyers may have.
Maximize your products' real estate
Maximize the real estate on that individual product page. If you have enough products in your catalog, try to max out the number of virtual bundles to take up as much white space as you can on the product page. The more of this space you can use, the less space there is for competition.
Increase brand awareness
Similar to the point above, getting more eyeballs on your brand is key – If you've ever heard of the rule of seven you know what I mean. Basically, potential customers need to see your brand or product at least 7 times before they commit to a purchase. Utilizing virtual bundles is a good way to do this.
Limitations of Amazon virtual bundles
The first and obvious question many sellers ask is “Do I get a fulfillment fee discount when I sell a bundle”?
Sadly the answer is no, you do not, as each item is fulfilled separately.
You need to be the brand owner of the items you wish to bundle – It would be great if you could create a bundle with another brand that's complementary to yours, but at this time you can’t do that.
Another restriction is the fact you can’t do regular sponsored product campaigns – the only option for driving traffic is externally or via Sponsored Display ads.
The Benefits of Virtual Bundling
A great benefit of using bundles is that your individual ASINs should end up being shown in the ‘Frequently bought together section' just above the sponsored products carousel. If you convert a few sales, it should be enough of a spike to show up in this great spot on the page.
Additionally, if you run some sponsored brand ads to your bundle you will inevitably rank for some great keywords like pack, bundle or combo. Being able to specifically target these types of shoppers will boost your overall order value and in turn your topline revenue.
Finally, a lot of sellers see virtual bundles as a preventative measure – as I explained a little earlier – taking up more real estate on the product detail page that your competitors cannot gain access to.
Conclusion
To sum up, Amazon's Virtual Bundle tool offers brand owners a unique opportunity to enhance sales by grouping relevant products under one listing.
Even though it doesn't offer fulfillment discounts and restricts us to single-brand bundles, the benefits such as increased brand visibility and keyword ranking can outweigh the limitations.
As Amazon sellers, we all know the only constant is change, and it's critical for sellers to stay updated with Amazon's evolving seller tools to maintain a competitive edge.
By utilizing virtual bundles, sellers can bolster their brand presence and hopefully increase sales in this ever-changing marketplace.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do Amazon bundles work?
Virtual bundling provides Amazon brand owners the convenience of grouping several FBA products under a single listing offer, eliminating the need for physically packaging them together.
Are virtual bundles available in the UK?
Unfortunatly no. Only North America at the time of writing.
Can virtual bundles be advertised on Amazon?
Yes, Virtual Bundles are exclusively promotable through Sponsored Brand Ads and unfortunately are incompatible with Sponsored Product Ads.
Key considerations for Virtual Bundles include the following: This feature is solely accessible to sellers who own their brand, and the SKUs/ASINs included in the bundle must be associated with the registered brand.
About the author:
Matt Hapgood is a father, surfer, and entrepreneur. He has worn many hats in his career, from being a removal guy in Vancouver to teaching elementary kids in the UK, as well as a parking valet in the French Alps. He’s the founder and main contributor to MattHapgood.com and is currently living in the Algarve, Portugal.
