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Getting started with Bundles

Shopify Checkout integration Recharge Checkout on Shopify
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Bundles allow you to bundle multiple products to create a "build-your-own-box" experience. You can customize the subscription settings to offer bundles as one-time products and/or subscriptions and include add-ons or extras. You can create boxes with fixed items, or allow customers to customize their boxes. 

Platform:
  • Recharge Checkout on Shopify
  • Shopify Checkout Integration

Before you start

Key features

There are two types of bundling options available:

  • Customizable “build-your-own-box” experiences
  • Fixed bundle with preselected items

Customizable bundles

Use customizable bundles to offer customers a build-a-box experience, allowing customers to purchase specific products in groups. This enhances the shopping experience by providing customers flexibility over their purchases and conveniently allowing them to get everything they need in one purchase.

Recharge provides three different customizable bundle types to ensure customers receive exactly what they want: 

  • Fixed-price customizable bundles - Customers choose the products to add to the bundle for their checkout order, and have the flexibility to update the bundle contents before every recurring order. The cost to purchase the bundled product is fixed regardless of what products the customer adds. 
  • Customizable (subscribers-only) - All customers receive the same products in the first delivery but can change the bundle products for recurring orders if they subscribe. The cost to purchase the bundled products is fixed regardless of what products the customer adds. 
    • This method is ideal for encouraging customers to subscribe and try multiple products while providing complete control of their subscriptions on future orders.
  • Dynamically-priced customizable bundles - Customers choose the products to add to the bundle for their checkout order, and have the flexibility to update the bundle contents before every recurring order. The bundle product price is dynamic and changes depending on the products customers add. 

Preset bundles

Simplify the purchasing decision for all customers with preset bundles, where customers get the same preset products in a bundle with a fixed price. Preset bundles are a great way to ensure customers receive consistent products at a fixed price.

Customers cannot update or select the contents of the bundled product in a preset bundle.

Note: You also can offer add-ons or extras to the first delivery only for Preset bundles, or for all subsequent deliveries.

Use cases

The following use cases highlight how you can use the various bundle types to increase average order value, streamline inventory management, and offer personalized shopping experiences to your customers.

Use case

Bundle type
A meal plan box where subscribers select the meals they will receive each week, and pay the same price for each recurring order no matter their selections. Fixed-price customizable bundle
A wine club that offers curated bundles of wine bottles, providing customers a discount for purchasing multiple bottles at a time. Preset bundle

A beauty subscription box service that sends all new customers a standard introductory box with a curated selection of skincare and makeup products, ensuring that every new customer experiences the brand's best offerings initially.

For all subsequent subscription orders, subscribers can customize their boxes by choosing specific products that match their beauty preferences and needs, all at a fixed subscription price.

 Customizable (subscribers-only)
A subscription-based snack box service where customers can choose from a selection of snacks to add to their bundle, with the flexibility to update their selection before each recurring order. The price of the bundle changes depending on the snacks customers choose. Dynamically-priced customizable bundles

Set-up instructions

Each bundle type has different set-up instructions to ensure that you implement the most impactful solution for your business. See the specific how-to guides for each bundle to get started:

Considerations

Review the chart below when configuring Bundles.

Consideration

Notes
Prepaid subscriptions

Prepaid subscriptions are compatible with preset bundles and fixed-price customizable bundles.

Prepaid subscriptions are not compatible with dynamically-priced bundles.
Discounts

You can offer subscription discounts and use discount codes with Bundles.

Tiered discounts are compatible with dynamically-priced bundles.
Gift Subscriptions Allow customers to gift bundles to their friends and family through the Gift Subscriptions feature.
Theme Engine

The Theme Engine is available for preset bundles and fixed-price customizable bundles. The Theme Engine is not compatible with dynamically-priced bundles out of the box, however, you can create a custom widget in the Theme Engine.

The customer portal bundles widget automatically displays on bundle subscriptions on the following customer portal themes:

If you are using an older version of the Recharge Theme Engine, you must add the bundle code manually. 
RechargeSMS

Customers can use RechargeSMS to update the main bundle product.

However, customers must then update bundle contents through the customer portal. Review bundled subscriptions in the RechargeSMS product guide for more information.
Workflows

Preset bundles are compatible with Workflows.

Fixed-price customizable bundles are partially compatible with Workflows, with some limitations. Note the following about using Workflows with customizable bundles: 

  • If you use a workflow to swap a subscription product to a customizable bundle, the contents are not carried over. In this scenario, the customer must log into their customer portal and select bundle contents prior to the charge date. It is recommended to use fallback contents for all bundles to prevent empty bundle orders.
  • You can use a workflow to swap a customizable bundle to a regular subscription.
  • In general, Workflows will not impact individual bundle contents. Workflows can swap to or update the parent bundle product but content selections will still need to be made through the customer portal. 

Dynamically-priced customizable bundles are partially compatible with Workflows, with some limitations. Note the following: 

  • Swapping workflows do not work on checkout orders and only work on recurring order triggers
  • Dynamic bundles do not work with price change workflows

The following workflow use cases are commonly used with Bundles:

  • Product swap workflows - With this workflow, you can swap the parent bundle product for another parent bundle product. For example, you sell a coffee starter kit bundle and would like to swap the starter kit for a replenishment bundle after the first charge. In this case, you can use a product swap workflow for the parent bundle products. You cannot swap individual items in a bundle with a product swap workflow.
  • Free shipping workflows - With this workflow, you can offer free shipping to customers who purchase bundles. For example, you may want to offer free shipping for bundle customers to incentivize them to purchase a bundle instead of a one-time purchase or regular subscription.  
  • Price change workflows - Price change workflows use the same logic as free trial workflows. With these types of workflows, you can offer discounted first-time bundle products and use a workflow to change the bundle's price after the first charge. 
Note: It is recommended to configure fallback contents for any bundles used with workflows to ensure default selections are available if the customer does not configure their bundle.
Multi-currency

Preset bundles and fixed-price bundles are not compatible with multi-currency orders.

Dynamically-priced customizable bundles are compatible with multi-currency orders.
Nested bundles

Bundles do not support nested bundles (bundles within a bundle). 
Local delivery

 Only dynamically-priced customizable bundles are compatible with local delivery. All bundle types are compatible with local pickup orders. See Local Delivery and Pickup for more information on how to enable these settings.
Customer portal location: Hosted by Recharge

The Bundles customer portal widget is only compatible with customer portals embedded in the storefront. See Understanding the customer portal for more information.
Third-party applications

 Most third-party applications are compatible with Bundles if the app doesn’t modify the add-to-cart behavior or impact fulfillment. We recommend running a test bundle order to ensure the third-party app is compatible.
Partial order fulfillment

Bundles is incompatible with the partial order fulfillment feature. 
Recharge Analytics
  • Recharge only tracks the parent bundle product
  • The product forecast is incorrect as bundle contents are not displayed
  • The revenue numbers displayed on both the Home Analytics and V1 analytics dashboards are accurate for fixed-price customizable and preset bundles
  • Revenue is only allocated to the parent bundle product on orders processed on or after March 26th, 2024 for dynamically-priced bundles
    • Revenue in the Analytics dashboards does not include bundles orders processed before this date, and may not be accurate
Surprise and Delight Subscription Experience

You can add free gifts to orders with bundles, although you should not use fixed-price or dynamically-priced customizable bundles as the gift option, as customers will not have a way to customize the bundle. Recharge recommends using preset bundles as the gift option for a seamless customer experience.
Win Backs

Resources

There are a variety of Bundles resources to help you get started, or to troubleshoot common issues. See the following resources below for additional information:

Getting started guides

How to guides

Using bundles guides

Troubleshooting and FAQs

Developer documentation

Merchant academy resources

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