Product bundles are one of the most reliable tactics for increasing average order value and the number of items per basket in eCommerce. They work because they make buying more feel natural, not forced. Instead of asking shoppers to search for complementary items, you bring those items directly into their decision flow.
In this guide, we will look at how product bundles work, when they make sense, how to create them, and how AI product bundles outperform manual setups as stores scale. You will also see a real example of how smart bundles increased basket size by 9 percent.
A product bundle is a group of two to four products that are offered together as a single, easy-to-buy set. Most commonly, bundles are displayed on the product detail page, right next to or below the main product.
The bundle always includes the product the shopper is currently viewing, plus one to three complementary items that are frequently bought together. Typical examples include accessories, refills, or products that complete the main purchase.
The most important UX element is the one-click add-to-cart button. With one click, all products in the bundle are added to the cart at once. This removes friction and increases the likelihood that the shopper adds more than one item to their order.
This format is now standard across most product bundles apps, because it aligns perfectly with shopper intent at the moment of purchase.
No. Product bundles can exist without any discount at all. In many cases, simply surfacing the right products together is enough to increase items per basket, especially for accessories or consumables.
However, shoppers have learned to associate bundles with added value. When they see a bundle, they expect some form of benefit, even if it is small. This is why many stores choose to include a discount, such as:
a nominal discount, for example €5 off the bundle price
a percentage discount, for example 5% off when buying together
The discount does not need to be aggressive. Its purpose is to make the decision easier and to communicate value clearly. For premium brands, bundles without discounts can work just as well, as long as the relevance is strong.
A good product bundles app should support both options, so you can test what works best for your customers.
The main goal of product bundling and cross selling is not just to sell more products. It is to increase revenue per customer by improving:
the number of items per order
average order value
checkout efficiency
Bundles work because they appear at a high-intent moment. When a shopper is already committed to buying a product, the likelihood of adding complementary items is much higher. Product bundles simply make that behavior easy and obvious.
This is why bundles often outperform other cross sell tactics like popups or post-purchase offers.
You should consider creating product bundles when:
products naturally go well together
accessories are lower priced than the main product
customers often buy multiple related items in one order
support or sales teams frequently recommend additional items
If a shopper could reasonably ask, “What else do I need with this?”, you likely have a strong opportunity for product bundling.
There are three main approaches to creating bundles, each with its own strengths and limitations.
These are manually created bundles where merchants define which products should be grouped together. This works well for small catalogs or very clear relationships, but it does not scale well and requires constant maintenance.
AI product bundles analyze historical orders, browsing behavior, and co-purchase data to automatically suggest which products should be bundled. This is especially useful for larger catalogs or stores with complex buying patterns.
The most effective approach is combining AI with merchandising rules. AI finds opportunities at scale, while the merchant keeps control over margins, brand rules, and exclusions. This setup balances automation with business logic and is increasingly the standard for growing ecommerce teams.
Many merchants assume that creating bundles requires custom development. In reality, most modern product bundles apps allow you to launch bundles in minutes, directly on product pages, with no code required.
A typical setup includes:
placing the bundle widget on both desktop and mobile views
choosing whether to apply a discount
activating one-click add-to-cart
measuring performance over time
This makes product bundles one of the fastest AOV optimization tactics to test.
Aqurate offers smart product bundles as part of its personalization platform. Bundles appear on product pages, include one-click add-to-cart, and can be configured with a nominal discount, a percentage discount, or no discount at all.
For Pursehuit (case study), smart bundles led to a 9% increase in basket size after launch. The store used AI product bundles combined with manual review to ensure relevance and margin safety.
bundling unrelated products
offering discounts that hurt margin without increasing volume
showing too many bundles on the same page
not measuring attach rate or AOV impact
Bundles should feel helpful and natural. When they feel forced, customers ignore them.
Product bundles are one of the simplest ways to increase revenue without increasing traffic. They are easy to launch, easy to test, and easy to measure. Whether you use manual rules or AI product bundles, the key is relevance, timing, and frictionless UX.
If you want to test smart bundles, you can explore Aqurate’s product bundles app for Shopify here.
Start with a small experiment on high-potential products, measure results, and scale what works.