Jason Wong of Doe Lashes on using bundles to boost AOV

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As you’ve likely noticed, product bundling has become an increasingly popular strategy used by ecommerce merchants to boost average order value (AOV). 

This trend is happening for good reason: Bundles perform phenomenally well for online retailers. Research even suggests that anywhere from 10-30% of all eCommerce revenue comes from upselling and cross-selling via product bundles.

Future Commerce co-founder Phillip Jackson also agrees that bundles are a strategic play for online retailers, saying:

“Bundles give shoppers the ability to buy multiples at a discount while packaging together complementary products that reinforce their value when bought or consumed together. It's also a built-in product discovery tool. Bundles take the guesswork out of finding ideal products and provide a meaningful suggestion mechanism for the customer without having to build something interactive.”

One example of this approach working well can be seen with Doe Lashes, a Korean silk false lashes brand. They recently implemented a high-value bundling approach to raise their AOV by a whopping 86%.

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The Doe Lashes origin story
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Doe Lashes was founded in 2019 by eCommerce entrepreneur Jason Wong, who founded the brand after watching his girlfriend struggle with the discomfort she experienced from wearing false lashes all day. 

Realizing there had been little innovation in the lashes industry in years, he set about creating the most weightless, comfortable false lash possible. Doe was born to provide all-day comfort not just to his girlfriend, but to any false lash wearer. 

“Doe's values are simple: we believe that makeup should be an extension of your natural beauty. We focus on creating products that aren't heavy on your face so you can experience all-day comfort,” Jason said.

Jason is not new to the eCommerce space: He’s helped a variety of eCommerce brands achieve more than eight figures in annual revenue through his agency Wonghaus Ventures. He used that same expertise to grow Doe, and he now has a team of 17 people just two years in.

While Jason is an innovator in the false lash space, he’s also an innovator when it comes to raising AOV. 

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Jason Wong on bundling to boost sales
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If you ask Jason, product bundles can serve a variety of purposes, but all of them help eCommerce merchants drive more sales and move more products.

They do this by:

• Selling multiple items as a single, bundled product offering
• Reducing stagnant inventory by pairing slow-moving products with popular ones
• Increasing sales by creating a new, more valuable product offering
• Boosting product awareness by giving customers a chance to try products they might not have purchased individually

Today, Doe is pushing the limits of what we’ve long considered the basic bundling rules of thumb.

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The Doe Lashes approach to early-stage bundling
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Doe first introduced bundles to its assortment in June of 2020 in a bid to raise their AOV. 

Jason found his advertising strategy was struggling to achieve a positive ROI thanks to ever-increasing digital advertising costs. With single lashes costing only $12.50 a pair, Doe’s margins were razor-thin. 

“Our product collection is on the lower end at $12.50 a pair, so it was difficult being profitable on paid with CPM and CPA constantly rising.” 

While Jason initially brought lash bundles onto the scene to raise AOV, Doe has since discovered that their bundles provide the brand with plenty more benefits. 

Their bundles have increased Doe’s:

• Sales: Bundle purchases now make up 26% of their revenue on average
• Product sell-through: Bundles made up of several popular items help sell out multiple products at once
• Product awareness: The lash bundle containing all styles allows new customers to try everything at once and find the ones they like best

“Bundling isn't an option for all brands if they don't have a lot of SKUs, to begin with, but if given the opportunity, DTC brands should bundle their most popular combinations or curate it based on certain objectives.”

Where Doe innovates is in how they create their bundles. Jason unpacks Doe’s sales data rigorously and uses it to guide his bundling decisions, even when the data seems to contradict best practices.

Jason shared that Doe’s first bundles were created simply: he looked at how many pairs of lashes customers ordered when they ordered multiples. He discovered there was a pattern of buyers opting for four or five specific lash sets. 

“We noticed that a number of customers always bought four or five pairs of lashes individually, so I got the idea to create the bundle...in nice packaging so it's more visually presentable...and it gives the customer the extra value to buy a bundle set instead of four or five lashes individually.”

Thus Doe’s first bundle, the Starter Kit, was born. The bundle was made up of multiple lash sets and a lash applicator (in special packaging) at a slight discount. Doe offered a starter kit for both of their lash lines: the Subtle and the Glam.

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‍Advanced bundling

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As Jason realized how popular bundles were for his customers, he dug further into Doe’s sales data. There, he noticed some unrelated items that single customers would purchase together or over time. Guided by this data, he began to create curated bundles featuring a variety of their most popular products. 

“We started to create more bundles of popular order combinations that we saw people buying, such as our makeup removal cotton rounds paired with headband and lashes.”

As bundle sales soared, Jason realized something unexpected was happening: Customers were buying multiple bundles at one time. 

From here, Jason decided to take a leap of faith on the data. He created the super bundle: A $110 bundle that includes both the Subtle and Glam starter kits at an even steeper discount.

“The super bundle came from the same inspiration as our initial bundle: we saw customers buying both bundles together and realized that we could try offering them as a single, higher-priced offering to make it easier for people who wanted to get both.”

Most companies wouldn’t create a bundle worth more than 8x their primary seller. Jason himself says that he never thought anyone would spend $100 in one go at Doe, where the staple product is only $12.50. 

Yet Doe’s super bundle now accounts for 15% of their overall revenue-on top of the 26% that the other bundles create. The super bundle has been so successful, Doe has created a second one, combining two-holiday bundles.

The takeaway for fellow eCommerce merchants? Jason suggests that brands dig into and trust their data.

“I see a lot of DTC brands do sampler packs or multiple quantities of the same product. Those are low-hanging fruits and are good for starters, but brands should pay attention to what customers commonly order together and build bundles around those combinations.” 

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How to market bundles
 

There is a multitude of ways a brand can promote its product bundles. Doe relies largely on social media advertising for their paid promotions of bundles. 

The starter bundles are advertised as a way for a new customer to try every lash at one time. Given that Doe’s first bundles were created specifically to maintain profitability on their ad spend, this avenue makes a lot of sense. 

Brands can replicate Doe’s ad success by advertising the benefits of their bundle. Jason says that whether your bundle provides all the ingredients for a perfect product application or everything you need to cook dinner, focus your ad on the value it provides.

Bundles should also be a prominent part of the website. Doe places the bundles on every product page so that customers can see there’s a convenient way to try Doe’s products rather than purchasing a single pair of lashes. 

Jason shared that it’s also wise to display bundles on product and checkout pages. For brands that do buy-more-save-more bundling, Jason suggests making heavy use of banners that announce the bundle. You can even make those banners dynamic and have them indicate how many more items the customer needs to reach the target discount.

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The future of product bundling
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With no cap in sight to ever-rising online advertising prices, product bundling is only going to become more important for eCommerce brands. Anything brands can do to increase AOV and customer loyalty has become a priority, which is why bundling is such a smart play.

If you ask Jason, he expects to see growth around curated product bundles meant to allow customers to fully experience a wide range of complementary products together. Curated sets in particular allow a brand to both increase AOV and customer loyalty in one go, making them an extremely powerful tool.

Jason feels that Korean skincare brand Soko Glam is the gold standard for curated bundles because they have many SKUs to start with, but also because as the destination for K-beauty, their customers trust their recommendations.

To create curated bundles, brands will need to understand which items customers buy together in a single purchase and over time. It will mean mining the data and potentially experimenting with a bundle that doesn’t follow best practices, like Doe’s Super Bundle.

However, brands need to go beyond knowing which products customers purchase together. They need to understand why customers are purchasing those products together. This “why” will help you both add additional products to the bundle and market the bundle effectively. 

Here, eCommerce expert Phillip Jackson again agrees. “Bundles are powerful AOV builders. A well-priced bundle can serve as an easy free shipping qualifier or drive AOV to allow for better experiences, like upgraded shipping,” he said.

The bottom line: Start digging into your sales data and curating bundles. It’ll boost your AOV, provide your customers with greater product awareness, and help you sell through your products faster. 

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Brands can replicate Doe’s ad success by advertising the benefits of their bundle. Jason says that whether your bundle provides all the ingredients for a perfect product application or everything you need to cook dinner, focus your ad on the value it provides.

Bundles should also be a prominent part of the website. Doe places the bundles on every product page so that customers can see there’s a convenient way to try Doe’s products rather than purchasing a single pair of lashes. 

Jason shared that it’s also wise to display bundles on product and checkout pages. For brands who do buy-more-save-more bundling, Jason suggests making heavy use of banners that announce the bundle. You can even make those banners dynamic and have them inidcate how many more items the customer needs to reach the target discount.

‍

The future of product bundling
‍

With no cap in sight to ever-rising online advertising prices, product bundling is only going to become more important for eCommerce brands. Anything brands can do to increase AOV and customer loyalty has become a priority, which is why bundling is such a smart play.

If you ask Jason, he expects to see growth around curated product bundles meant to allow customers to fully experience a wide range of complementary products together. Curated sets in particular allow a brand to both increase AOV and customer loyalty in one go, making them an extremely powerful tool.

Jason feels that Korean skincare brand Soko Glam is the gold standard for curated bundles because they have many SKUs to start with, but also because as the destination for K-beauty, their customers trust their recommendations.

In order to create curated bundles, brands will need to understand which items customers buy together in a single purchase and over time. It will mean mining the data and potentially experimenting with a bundle that doesn’t follow best practices, like Doe’s Super Bundle.

However, brands need to go beyond knowing which products customers purchase together. They need to understand why customers are purchasing those products together. This “why” will help you both add in additional products to the bundle and market the bundle effectively. 

Here, eCommerce expert Phillip Jackson again agrees. “Bundles are powerful AOV builders. A well-priced bundle can serve as an easy free shipping qualifier or drive AOV to allow for better experiences, like upgraded shipping,” he said.

The bottom line: Start digging into your sales data and curating bundles. It’ll boost your AOV, provide your customers with a greater product awareness, and help you sell through your products faster.