Bundling is a core function of many companies that sell a variety of products. There are plenty of reasons a company may want to bundle products. For example, customers may order a specific group of products over and over that it becomes a good percentage of sales. In situations like these, it may be wise to consider bundling products. Bundling involves taking different units and combining them into one SKU. This can be especially beneficial in saving time as warehouse workers do not have to go through different sections of the warehouse to combine the order together. The likelihood of issues in fulfillment is also significantly decreased when pre-bundling items. Here are some of the key reasons you may want to consider bundling your products with a 3pl company.

Scalability: Optimizing warehouse space can be critical to a business in order to scale. Unwanted warehouse space is very costly and can prevent a business from ordering more of the goods that they want to sell. One method of optimizing warehouse space is by bundling goods currently in stock. This involves taking leftover products from a peak season of sales and creating a new sku that could potentially attract more customers. This can clear warehouse space as it moves goods currently separated throughout the warehouse into one section. 3pls with advanced inventory management software can optimize the way these products are bundled. Their years of experience will be beneficial as they can provide you guidance on how to best turnover your slower moving inventory. This generates more revenue as you can get rid of some of the slower selling products. In addition, you can lower your total warehouse space which will save you money.

Material Costs: Outsourcing your bundling to a 3pl will be key in reducing costs. 3pl companies work with many different clients at once, many of which do bundling services themselves. Therefore, 3pls buy bulk quantities of products necessary to perform these functions. This leads to reduced costs as well as a larger selection of options for products that you want to include in your bundling. An example of this may be a custom box with your brand name on the side. This can be critical in providing an unboxing experience that customers really enjoy. However, you want to be sure that the box has strong visual appeal while also having optimized dimensions to reduce warehouse space and shipping cost. 3pl companies that have spent years bundling products will know how to design a custom unboxing experience for your clients. They will do this in a fast and efficient way to ensure that you are providing tremendous value to your customers at a cheap cost.

Differentiation: Having unique products is critical to a business to separate itself from the market. In competitive marketplaces such as Amazon, it can be difficult to differentiate from the competition as many people often compete on the same listings. In some instances, over 40 or more sellers can compete on a given listing at once. One way in which you can differentiate yourself from the competition is bundling. Specifically, bundling products with a unique item with your branding so nobody else can copy you. As a case study for this premise, we can look at toy sales on Amazon. A common trend that has been developing over recent years is the bundling of rare toy collectibles that come with some type of branded traveling case or bag. This does a few things. First, it provides your customer an option to purchase multiple toys at once which will drive your total revenue. Often customers will buy products in bundles that they would not have bought on their own. Second, the value-added from providing some type of carrying accessory far outweighs the COGS of getting a branded bag. Third, it makes your listing unique and prevents competitors from being able to hop on your listing. It can be difficult when trying to implement this process on your own. 3pls will have the infrastructure and training in place to quickly make bundles and fulfill orders. More importantly, they will have connections in the industry to outsource manufacturing of the branded gear that is critical to making your product unique. This process can be expensive when not done in an efficient manner. Thus, it is important to trust a 3pl provider when moving in this route.