Last week the news broke that Amazon and Shopify were going to enter into a partnership. Amazon is going to create an app in the Shopify ecosystem that will allow for a deeper integration between the two companies. As a Shopify Plus agency owner, I think this is huge news and a win for four different groups: Shopify merchants, Shopify customers, Shop Pay, and Amazon FBA.
Shopify merchants that already use Amazon fulfillment network (FBA) will be able to offer customers on their Shopify store a Buy with Prime button. Most importantly, Shopify merchants will be able to keep all of their customer data (email, contact info, etc). The bottom line here is that the Shopify merchant will be able to own their brand and customer information, which is critical for driving future sales.
Shopify customers can use their Amazon wallet to make payments through Shopify’s checkout. In addition, customers will get the free and ultra fast delivery through FBA that they have come to expect when making purchases on Amazon.
Shop Pay will process all the payments when customers select the Buy with Prime button during the Shopify checkout process. This is a big win for Shopify as they are able to maintain the payment processing volume and merchant gross merchandise value (GMV) on their platform.
Amazon FBA will now be an option for Shopify merchants. Most Shopify merchants currently use their own third party logistics company (3PL) to ship products. In the past, Shopify merchants could only use FBA if they sold directly on Amazon, but now FBA will become a viable alternative to using your own 3PL.
I think this news is really big for the entire Shopify ecosystem. Shopify gets to leverage Amazon’s excellence in fulfillment, while Shopify merchants continue to own their customer’s experience. If I’m a Shopify competitor (Magento, BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, etc.) I would be very worried about how close Amazon and Shopify just became. As a Shopify Plus agency owner, I’m excited to get out there and talk about this new partnership and the benefits for the merchants we serve.
Bundling (packaging related products or services together at a discounted price) in e-commerce is proven to increase average order value (AOV), customer lifetime value (CLV), and overall sales for merchants. In addition, bundling provides added value, convenience and potentially bulk savings for your customers. In fact, according to Shopify, “First-time buyers are 27% likely to return, but after their second or third purchase, this grows to 54%.” Bundling for e-commerce brands has evolved over the years continuing to prove its efficacy, with more upselling and cross-selling data fueling elements like dynamic and AI-powered bundling systems.
Why are Merchants so Keen on Bundling?
Fundamentally, bundling is about boosting your AOV, but it’s so much more than that. We’ve compiled a list of additional benefits for bundling, check it out:
Greater Product Selection: Customers can see products that complement each other or are frequently purchased together and are incentivized to add more to their cart with a bundle discount.
Unique Discounts: Offering discounts for a unique group of products gives your customer the impression they are getting a deal designed just for them. Create a discounted bundle that is attractive enough to encourage purchases, but be careful not to cut too deep into your margins so you’re losing money on each sale. Make sure the discount the customer receives is prominently displayed and show the regular prices alongside the bundled deal to really highlight the value!
Optimize Sales with Lesser Known Products: Strategically combine underperforming items with high-demand ones, such as new or lesser-known products or overstocked inventory. This approach motivates customers to buy both the popular and lesser-known items, benefiting the merchant (moving inventory) and the customer (ensuring they get what they need!)
Incentivized Conversion: Create a sense of urgency by making the bundle deal a limited time offer, nudging customers to hit that buy button sooner rather than later. In addition, consider offering different tiers of bundles with increasing value. This way, you cater to all sorts of shoppers and increase that AOV.
Personalization: Use customer data and purchase history to create personalized bundles just for them. Personalizing your product offerings will help increase loyalty, email and SMS open rates, and conversions.
Cross-selling: Bundle related or supporting add-on products together that enhance the customers experience with the main product to encourage a higher AOV and a better purchasing experience.
Free Shipping Thresholds: Test out the pricing on some of your bundles to ensure the overall purchase qualifies for free shipping. For example, Ambaum helped an alcohol brand create a bundle using Shopify’s native bundling feature of 4 products that was priced just north of $50 so the overall bundle qualified for free shipping.
Testing, testing, testing: Regularly analyze the performance of your bundled offer, mix up the products, tweak the discounts, and change how you display them to determine what works best for your particular customer.
Challenges with Bundling on Shopify
Bundling can really supercharge your AOV and add to your top line revenue, but you need to consider some of the potential issues when you first get started. Many merchants are unaware that when you create a new bundle you could also unintentionally create downstream issues that cause incorrect product counts in both your store and your warehouse. Also many out of the box bundle apps don’t offer custom functionality or may be incompatible with customizations you built into your Shopify theme.
Here’s some common challenges that merchants face when implementing bundling:
Inventory Management Issues: Depending on how you create your bundles you might find it tricky to break them apart in Shopify checkout into discrete products post purchase. For example, if you have an inventory management system or ERP that connects to Shopify, it’s important that each product in a bundle accurately gets updated in your inventory counts. In addition, if you set up bundles in your store you will want to work closely with your 3PL or warehouse employees so they know which SKUs go into each bundle for shipping.
Dynamic Bundles won’t work with Shopify Scripts: Dynamic bundles allow customers to select individual products and create a personalized bundle. Creating a dynamic bundle can be a home run for AOV, but merchants need to be careful using out of the box bundle apps. Shopify’s native bundling feature doesn’t work with Shopify scripts and if you publish a script, the bundles are moved to a draft status. Dynamic bundles are a big win for merchants, but often a more custom solution is required to set it up correctly.
Customized Checkout Difficulties: If you have customized checkout.liquid on your Shopify store, it’s important to know that checkout.liquid customizations aren’t compatible with Shopify’s native bundle functionality.
Point of Sale and Payment Processing Problems: If you are using Shopify POS for in store sales, you can’t create and sell bundles using native bundle functionality. In addition, some apps and payment gateways aren’t fully compatible with bundles.
Bundles and Subscription Orders, What to Watch for: Brands want the flexibility to offer bundles both as one-time purchases and as subscription options. At Ambaum this might be one of the most common feature requests we get from Shopify Plus merchants. Recharge is the most common subscription application on Shopify and they allow you to add bundles to subscriptions, but you must be on Recharge Pro or have access to the bundles SDK.
Track Bundle Metrics so you don’t Lose Money: Merchants need to track the performance of different bundle offerings and understand which bundles are most popular and profitable. Over time the cost inputs that go into your products will change and if you’re not careful you might be losing money selling your bundles. Customers might get wise to your mistakes and only purchase bundles that give heavy discounts on certain products.
Shopify Bundle Apps
Let’s dive into a few tech partner’s solutions, the pricing, and the advantages (and disadvantages) of each. Then, we’ll take you through a detailed bundling solution we built for one of our clients.
Description: Rebuy utilizes personalized customization by blending exclusive AI/ML technology with various software approaches (no-code, low-code, and custom code), top-tier integrations, flexible merchandising rules, and methodical A/B/n testing. This comprehensive solution empowers brands to create data-guided shopping experiences across the entire customer journey, spanning from the initial homepage visit, through the checkout process, and even after the purchase is completed.
Rebuy has many different widgets you can use to add functionality to your Shopify store. These widgets allow you to do upsells, cross-sells, gift with purchase, and even upgrade to offer subscriptions. One thing to note is that it requires 2 widgets to fully setup subscription products & bundles on Rebuy, so plan to invest some time fully understanding their widget landscape.
For one-time purchases or subscriptions, the current Rebuy backend takes some time to learn as it uses the “data source” as the bundle creator.
Description: Recharge stands as a reliable solution for managing subscriptions. With Recharge, you can expand your subscription-based enterprise and empower your customers to oversee their subscriptions seamlessly from your store. There are plenty of customization options to craft the subscription journey you have in mind. Furthermore, they offer integrated solutions that effortlessly connect with your existing technology toolkit.
Easy to create: set up the bundle in Recharge and it will add the new Bundle product to Shopify.
When Bundle is added to the cart it only shows the Bundle SKU- not the contents of the bundle.
Displays one-time or subscription offerings just like single products.
If you would like the bundle to have options (a dynamic bundle) you create collections of each offering. For example: breakfast, lunch, dinner collections for a daily meal bundle.
Disadvantages:
Costs an extra $199/mo if you do not have the Pro Plan.
Potential issue with analytics as all bundle sales show one more product purchased (i.e. bundle products + the bundle itself).
Description: With Shopify Bundles, you gain the capability to effortlessly craft bundled packages and multipacks directly within your Shopify administrative panel. Your customers can easily pick from different product variations linked to the bundles. Moreover, Shopify Bundles ensures that inventory is constantly updated in real-time, eliminating concerns about overextending stock.
Cost:
Free on Shopify and Shopify Plus
If not on Shopify: Subscriptions range from $39 – $2,000 per month, with annual options shaving off 25%
Features and advantages:
Easy to set up in Shopify admin.
Ability to create fixed and multipack bundles.
Inventory is updating in real-time to protect from overselling product.
Disadvantages:
To use the Shopify Bundles App, your store must meet the following requirements:
Your store must be using the Online Store sales channel. Other sales channels aren’t yet supported.
Your store must not use any checkout.liquid customizations or features. Reverting to checkout.liquid will make your store incompatible with the Shopify Bundle App.
Case Study: Custom Bundling Solution for Premier Catch
Choosing a bundling solution for the premium seafood brand Premier Catch was a no-brainer to increase customer retention, loyalty, and lead generation. With the need to move forward with bundling, we chose to implement Rebuy’s dynamic bundling product as many additional services Rebuy offered suited the current and ongoing needs of the brand:
In order to implement the bundling strategy for the brand, we built and implemented the following step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Create aProduct Page widget in the Rebuy App:
Step 2: Click the “New Widget” button in the top right. Or Duplicate an existing widget to copy the settings needed to keep styles and format consistent. Click the 3 vertical dots on the far right or the widget you wish to duplicate to expand the menu and then click the “Duplicate” button.
Step 3: If Creating a New Widget, scroll down to the “Dynamic Bundle” option and click “Create New”.
For compatibility with the custom widget toggle block in the Shopify theme, it will be very important to set and differentiate between the two widgets needed per bundle. Name each bundle widget according to its bundle relation and purchase type (ex: Salmon Lovers Bundle – One TimeorSalmon Lovers Bundle – Subscription)
Widgets can be renamed in the “General” settings accordion menu on the right side as well as setting the product type between “One Time Only” or “Subscription Only”.
The “Data Source” menu on the right side will be used to select which endpoint to use with the widget. The data source endpoint manages which products show in the widget. A “One Time Only” and “Subscription Only” widget can share the same “Data Source” endpoint.
Step 4: For custom bundles widgets a custom endpoint will need to be created for each bundle. When a widget is duplicated it will continue to use the same data source. To create a new data source, click on the “Data Sources” menu item on the left and click “New Ruleset”.
Step 5: Editing the data source will only require one rule since it applies to only one bundle. Name the data source and check “filter input product” Set the first IF to “Anything” so that the widget isn’t expecting a data check. The RETURN should be set to “Specific Products”, which can be selected from the search field next to the dropdown.
Step 6: Go back to the widgets and make sure the review is showing the expected products. Keep note of the widgets’ ID as they will be needed from adding to the PDP section.
Step 7: Go to Shopify Admin.
IN SHOPIFY:
Step 1: In the Shopify customizer, create a new template for the new bundle.
NOTE: if this will not work if bundles share the same product template. Each bundle should have its own template.
Click “Online Store”.
Step 2: Click Customize on the live theme.
Step 3: From the top middle drop down select Products.
Step 4: Select Create Template.
Step 5: Name it specific to the Bundle being created- no spaces.
Step 6: Select an already created bundle template like “salmon-lovers-bundle” under “Based on”.
And select Create Template.
Step 7: Select or add the “Rebuy Widget Toggle” block in the Product pages (assume images below are on your new “bundle-name” template).
Step 8: FIll in the appropriate widget IDs to their corresponding fields and hit save. The page should reload with the rebuy widgets ready to use.
Connect the new template to the new bundle product in the Shopify admin.
Step 9: Create a new product with the bundle name, or select the already existing product in Shopify.
Step 10: On the product change the Theme template to the new template created above.
Step 11: ALL DONE
At the end of the day, the data makes the decisions, and building these foundations into your strategy will provide the pillars for long term success.
The last option we’ll float here is, rather than setting it and forgetting about it, consider looping in an experienced leader in the e-commerce industry, who has Shopify experts and seasoned merchants to uplift your business. If you’re looking to increase your average order value, customer lifetime value, and customer loyalty through bundling, contact us and let’s talk. Our initial conversations are always free and informal, so let’s sit down for a chat.
Zero-party data is data that is voluntarily provided by customers, and is collected directly from them. This type of data could be information such as a customer’s preferences, lifestyle, life stages, opinions, and values. It is different from other types of data, such as first-party data, where we’re indirectly learning about the customer through website analytics, social channels, and other sources.
Why Do We Need it?
We’ll tackle this question two fold:
Because third-party cookies and new privacy changes to iOS, retailers across the board are facing difficulties in data collection. Brands will need to draw from reliable data more in the face of stricter (and more consumer-aware) privacy rules, and this is most succinctly achieved through zero-party collection methods.
Ultimately, collecting zero-party data will be a requisite for success for all merchants across B2B and B2C because it provides companies with more direct and valuable insights into their consumers.
How to Collect Zero-Party Data
This all sounds well and good in a brick and mortar business, but how do you collect data directly from your customers in a digital environment? Here are a few methods of collection to get in touch with the customer on your site as an e-Commerce brand:
Whether it be through a subscription, membership, or loyalty program, allow customers to create an account through your site, saving their preferences while signing up. Customers who receive offers and recommendations that are customized to them are more inclined to purchase from brands, according to 91% of consumers.
Build a survey/questionnaire into your customer journey. Quizzes are such an engaging way to interact with your customers, and our brilliant partners over at Okendo have tackled this and more.
Create an email preference center where customers can specify the kind of content (and product categories) they would like to receive from you.
Conduct a drawing or contest using a landing page form, gathering more information with embedded forms on your website than just an email address.
The Power of Personalization
To a consumer, privacy is power, and it is ever slipping through the cracks in a digital world. With consent at the core of its concept, zero-party data is quickly becoming a hot topic among marketers and merchants alike, and for good reason. In the future, companies will need to create a balance between providing customers with personalized experiences while respecting their privacy. This means that companies will need to be more transparent about how they’re using their customers’ data, and provide customers with better control over their data.
If there’s improvement to be had with your business strategy, submit an inquiry today, and let’s talk. Our initial conversations are always free, and informal, so let’s sit down for a chat.
Recently, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Miles Shattuck, Rebuy’s Senior Content Marketing Manager for a think tank of Shopify Plus solutions. Our Founder, Chad Fisher, and our COO, David Stober, hashed out legacy D2C brand potential, professional recommendations for online store improvement, and exciting projects on the horizon. Check out the full article through Rebuy here, and a TL;DR 10 minute video below.
Key Takeaways
Ambaum provides Shopify Plus users with the resources they need to grow their businesses, integrating into unique templates to raise performance indicators.
Every three to four years, revitalize the template for your Shopify store to stay current with software updates and improve performance metrics.
Although top-of-funnel awareness can be generated from social selling on sites like Facebook or Instagram, Shopify businesses are best benefited by driving traffic to their online store.
Future ecommerce tech stacks must be adaptable and agile, able to react swiftly to shifting trends.
Whether you are an entrepreneur with an idea on a napkin, a bootstrapped startup, an SMB re-platforming, or a high-flying CPG brand, we help accelerate your growth through world-class strategy, design, and development. Get the most out of your Shopify Plus store, and schedule your complimentary consultation today.
The order is not really complete until the customer has the product in their hands, but getting from point A to point B can be arduous and time consuming. There is so much involved such as packaging to planning, to strategy. In this article, we’ll dive into why we suggest ShipStation as our top pick for “getting ship done”.
ShipStation works with the most widely utilized shipping companies such as FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL, and more, across the globe. ShipStation also holds their finger on the pulse of updates on these shipping carriers, and can offer premier discounted rates from select carriers. This can be extremely beneficial as these discounted rates do not typically have any volume requirements. Alternatively, ShipStation allows the merchant to connect to any existing negotiated rates, as well as the ability to compare prices and delivery times in-app and in real-time.
Bulk Processes
Whether fulfilling orders through your e-commerce site or other sales channels, manually processing these orders can quickly become extremely overwhelming. With ShipStation’s cloud-based assisted software, bulk order processing and multi-channel fulfillment creates a superiority over other shipping solutions. ShipStation allows the merchant to print shipping labels in batches, up to 500 orders at one time. The UI allows the merchant to set up their shipping settings easily so these batches can be processed successfully every time. This is a huge advantage for merchants wanting to create a one-stop shop for streamlined and organized fulfillment.
Fulfillment Operations
In that vein, being able to customize internal operations toward the specific needs of the business is integral to streamlined and scalable growth. ShipStation allows the merchant to take out the guesswork of processes by fully customizable merchant UI, so with a bit of work the process can be as simple as a click of a button. ShipStation works if the business has multi-channel fulfillment, so creating those standard operations becomes a possibility.
Integrations
ShipStation has created and connected a vast number of APIs, making the process of setting up ShipStation on a Shopify store incredibly simple. Additionally, ShipStation will connect other third-party tools that are already integrated into a business model such as:
This ability to connect to the marketplace, selling channel, and other business integrations makes ShipStation’s fit right at home into the success of an e-commerce store.
And, that’s just the tip of the iceberg; there are many additional advantages to using this industry standard. In short, ShipStation’s flexibility allows the system to grow with the business, becoming as robust as one might need.
Excited to get started? We’ve got a special partner deal where, after starting a 30 day free trial, ShipStation is offering an additional 30 days for merchants coming from Ambaum. So, start a free trial today to get ShipStation in the toolbelt. Questions for us on how to optimize with ShipStation or our other Shopify tech partners? Drop us a line.
What’s new in 2.0, and should your brand upgrade now?
The summer of 2021 saw some significant changes from Shopify with the launch of Online Store 2.0. As a partner that is ever-listening to their customers, and optimizing their service, this upgrade offers streamlined solutions for developers and merchants alike.
But, when has anyone ever accepted transition without a modicum of hesitation? We’re here with our expertise and services to help. Let’s dive into some of the major updates.
Themes and Editor Update
On earlier versions of the online store, we were limited in the number of blocks we could include in the store, with a wide range of templates for products. Now, usability is improved with adding sections to each page (not just the home page). As opposed to needing Liquid code for templates, we can now use templates with JSON files to get even more granular with the UI both frontend and backend. With the updates to the app extension and app blocks, apps can also integrate with the themes for greater consistency across multiple themes. This means a development team can greatly improve the site for faster and easier functionality.
Metafields
Although integration to external apps is easier, Shopify’s Online Store 2.0 has implemented user-friendly metafields that can be edited directly from the admin view, making those apps or special urls obsolete. This is a major change, as the merchant is now able to modify metafields, as well as add content to product pages (i.e. lists and size charts). This update makes metafields more flexible and simpler for developers to keep the UI for merchants clean across market verticals.
The metafields can simply be linked on the frontend through a field already in a section’s settings so now supported PDF files and images can be directly integrated without needing to hard code into the theme. Last, the theme editor now showcases a side view, with movable sections to allow frontend arrangement of those sections.
Developer Tools
Previously development teams needed to create complex systems in order to deploy updates. Now, the Shopify GitHub integration provides streamlined use of the Shopify CLI tool and theme check for a more direct experience on deploying changes.
Another fantastic update is the functionality to scan the theme for errors with Theme Check. This scan highlights the possible errors of the platform and Liquid language, providing best practices before implementing. These tools enable developers to test their work, improving overall processes in Sandbox. The Shopify GetHub integration into the themes allows the developer greater collaboration in deployment before pushing updates live, with the new CLI tool giving developers a more exact view of the final customizations.
Do I need to update now?
At this moment, Shopify does not plan on disintegrating any older versions, but the advancements in the Online Store 2.0 deployment are hard to deny. In some examples of the clients we helped migrate, we saw a significant jump in pagespeed. Previously, even the most optimized Shopify stores would score in the mid 50’s, but our clients are now seeing 98 – 100 Google pagespeed scores with the switch to Shopify Online Store 2.0.
With the Online Store 2.0, new and expansive opportunities are available for developers and merchants alike, making the Shopify experience easier than ever before. Having more extensive sections means we’re able to reuse templates rather than repeatingly building out new ones, and simple content updates no longer require lengthy development recycles. Shopify has detailed the process of migrating to Online Store 2.0, and we’d love to help. Questions? Drop us a line.
