One way you can stand out amongst the competition is through offering bundles. Bundles are collections of products and services that are grouped together into a single product. These bundles provide added value to customers, simplify their purchasing decisions, or offer cost savings for both you and your customers! However, how do you create an effective bundle?

Bundles can come in many shapes and sizes. They can be a collection of products, of services, or a bit of both! They can also be sold as one-off purchases or turned into a subscription service. Overall, bundles are flexible, but have a few base requirements to work effectively:

Your bundle needs to fulfill a customer need

As with any product, your bundle needs to be something your customers want or need. The products and/or services you decide to bundle together should work together to solve a pain point for your customers. For example, if you are creating a bundle of products that is related to hair care, you may create bundles that target specific issues people have with their hair. A variety of bundles can be created depending on the type of hair problems your customers are facing: a bundle for dry, frizzy hair, a bundle for oily hair, a bundle curly or straight hair; the list could go on and on. By creating a bundle that aims to solve a customer pain point, your bundle can become more enticing and attractive.

Your bundled items should be complementary

The key to creating a successful bundle is bundling products and/or services that work well together. Much like with the example of hair product bundles, your bundled items should be related to each other. This could be like having a hair care bundle that includes shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, and serum. All of those hair products are related to each other and work together to improve your hair health. Bundles with complementary products and/or services are an excellent way to offer a complete solution to your customers.

Your bundle should be simple

Ideally, your bundle should aim to simplify your customer’s shopping decisions. Instead of having your customer sort through products, determine what products they may need, and add those products slowly to their cart, a bundle should offer them a complete solution to make the shopping process easier. However, a bundle is only as simple as you make it. It is possible to make a bundle that is over-complicated. This could be due to having too many products that do different things, or even just describing the bundle in a complex manner. Keep your bundles focused and easy to understand in terms of what’s included and what the bundle aims to do.  

Your bundle should be valuable

Your bundle should offer value that can’t be achieved when buying the included products separately. Making your bundle valuable can be done in a few ways. When customers buy your bundle, they could get a discounted price compared to buying the items or services individually. You could also offer exclusive services, products, or features in your bundle that customers can’t buy outside of the bundle.  It could be as simple as including a hair care planner as a bundle exclusive or could be a small discount. Your bundle should already have a lot of its value through its focused items and convenience, so your last bit of value ensures that your bundle is an easy choice to make.

Want to learn more?

Want to explore even more possibilities when it comes to bundling products and services? Listen to our latest eCommerce Made Easy podcast where we explain why bundles are a win-win strategy for both you and your customers!

Just starting with Magento 2? One of the first things you may be eager to do once your shop is up and running is create your products for your store front! In Magento 2, creating a product comes with multiple product types and a wide range of attributes to choose from. Where do we get started?

Products in Magento 2

In Magento 2, there are a variety of product types to choose from. However, each type has their own suggested use and required attributes. In a basic installation of Magento 2, there are six default product types available:

• Simple product – a product that has no variations, or rather, there are no options (such as color, size, material, etc.) for the customer to choose from. It is a set product.
• Configurable product – a product that has variations. An example could be a shirt that comes in multiple colors and sizes. In Magento 2, configurable products are composed of simple products. These collections of simple products represent the individual options customers can choose from.
• Virtual product – a product that has no variations nor is physical. This product could be a service, membership, warranty, and so forth. A virtual product doesn’t require shipping or delivery.  
• Grouped product – a group of individual simple (or virtual) products that can be bought together as a set. These grouped products may be subject to some sort of promotional offer or discount when bought together.
• Bundle product – a group of simple (or virtual) products that have to be bought together. Unlike grouped products, individual items from the bundle cannot be bought separately. The customer must purchase the full bundle.  
• Downloadable product – a virtual product that is available immediately after purchase. This could be a downloadable file, software, ebook, video, etc.

In many cases, the most used product types in Magento 2 are simple products and configurable products. These two product types are very flexible and fulfill most of our basic product needs.

How to make a Simple product

If you are wanting to make a product that has no variations, a simple product is the way to go! To get started on a simple product, do the following:

• Log in to your Magento 2 Admin.
• In the left-hand menu, go to Catalog -> Products.
• Once in products, go to the right-hand corner and click the drop menu arrow next to Add Product. In the menu, select Simple Product.

• Before looking at all the attributes, take a look at the top attribute: Enable Product. By default, your product is enabled, meaning its live. Toggle it to No until you are ready to release the product live.
• On the product creation page, there are many options. First, select your attribute set. If you aren’t sure what that is and haven’t configured a different attribute set, use the default option.
• Next, you must fill out the following: product name, SKU and price.
• There are other options you can fill out. Fill out any attributes that are relevant to your product. Note that not all the fields need to be used. We suggest taking some time to at least fill out quantity & inventory source, assign your product to a category, and add content descriptions & images of your product.
• Once done, click the orange Save button in the right-hand corner. Congrats! You have created a simple product!

How to make a configurable product

If you are wanting to make a product that has variations that the customer can choose from, you should make a configurable product. While making a configurable product, multiple simple products will be made during the process to represent the various choices customers can choose from. To get started on a configurable product, do the following:

• Log in to your Magento 2 Admin.
• In the left-hand menu, go to Catalog -> Products.
• Once in products, go to the right-hand corner and click the drop menu arrow next to Add Product. In the menu, select Configurable Product.
• Before looking at all the attributes, take a look at the top attribute: Enable Product. By default, your product is enabled, meaning its live. Toggle it to No until you are ready to release the product live.
• On the product creation page, there are many options. First, select your attribute set. If you aren’t sure what that is and haven’t configured a different attribute set, use the default option.
• Next, you must fill out the following: product name, SKU and price.
• There are other options you can fill out. Fill out any attributes that are relevant to your product. Note that not all the fields need to be used. We suggest taking some time to at least assign your product to a category and add content descriptions & images of your product.
• Now that the basics are set, its time to create the simple products that make up your configurable product. Under In the Configurations tab, you will be able to create the different variations of the product. These variations will automatically create several Simple Products that are not Individually searchable by customers. To create them, click Create Configurations.

• First, select what the variation is: color, size, etc. Once you have selected your variation type by clicking the left-hand check box, click the orange Next button at the top of the page.

• Next, click the specific choices that this product has. For example, if we are dealing with colors, you may choose things like red, yellow, and blue. If a variant you desire isn’t present, you can create a new one by clicking Create New Value at the bottom of the list. Once you select your variations via the check boxes, click the orange Next button at the top of the page.

• Next you will be asked to determine images, Prices, and Quantity. Products will vary at this stage, as some variations may be different. Click the options that suit your product situation best and fill out the details about them. You can also skip these to do later. Once done, click the orange Next button at the top of the page.

• On the final page, you will be asked to review your variations. If you are content with them, click the orange Generate Products to create your variations.
• Once done, click Save in the right-hand corner to save your Configurable Product. Congrats! You now have a configurable product!

Note: Your variations may need individual edits

For each variation you chose for your configurable product, a simple product was generated. These variations will be bare bones and will need some edits. You will want to either open each variation in a new tab from the Configuration tab of your configurable product or open them in edit mode from your Products page list. You can edit them by clicking Select & Edit. Add detail to your new Simple Products. Areas such as product descriptions, dimensions, and so forth will not be filled out, so you will need to go in and complete those as if you were making a Simple Product like we did above.

Want to learn more?

Want more Magento 2 content? Contact us and tell us what you would want to learn about! In the meantime, read our blog or listen in to our podcast for more tips and guides to help you through your eCommerce journey!

There are many ways to attract customers to your business. In previous articles, we explored the ways quality web design and search engines optimization can turn visitors into customers. However, another aspect of bring traffic to your site is advertisement. One of the most powerful, yet simple methods of advertisement is email marketing.

Is Email Marketing Still Profitable?

When you hear email, you may wonder if email marketing is still useful. With social media now playing large roles in advertising businesses, you may assume that email lists are outdated. However, that is not the case. Email lists continue to be one of the most profitable methods of gaining customers.

Why is Email Marketing important?

It’s Cost Effective

While we can advertise our businesses in many ways, email marketing is an easy and often free method to get our product out there. Even email marketing software tends to be very affordable. Email Marketing offers some of the highest conversions rates when compared to other advertising methods, such as social media. This makes email marketing an option that gets the biggest bang for your buck, generating better results than its counterparts.

It’s Easy to Implement

Bringing traffic to your site can sometimes involve complicated software that can be hard to use and implement. Email on the other hand is simple and, for the most part, universal. A large part of the world uses email, which makes it not only easy to use as a business, but easy for customers to understand as well. Its accessible via multiple devices, scalable as your company grows its email list, and even measurable in terms of its effectiveness.

It Aids Customer Engagement & Retention

Part of creating traffic on your site is encouraging people who have already become customers to use your business’ products and services again in the future. Emails is a non-invasive method of reminding people that your business exist and has a lot to offer. Sharing information about your products via email not only reminds and educates people about your business, but also could compel them to purchase.

It Builds Relationships & Credibility

One aspect of your business that separates it from other competitors is your brand. A good email illustrates your values and mission, whether that be shared through your products, blogs, or personal stories. Your brand may be what keeps people coming to your business, making email a great way to remind them of what makes your company special. Email is also an easy way to share customer feedback, like the success stories of your products or services. They remind customers of the quality and expertise of your business.

Where can I start in using Email Marketing for my Business?

Want to get started in email marketing? At BCS Engineering, we use AWeber to keep our customers informed. With the help of email software, you can create and schedule emails, divide customers into email lists, and track how well your emails are doing! Check out AWeber and other email marketing software out there to start your email marketing journey!