Since the humble beginnings of FBA people have been speculating about the most efficient way to stand out and get more clicks/views/conversions/sales. Before the surge of private label, one of the most effective ways to not have to battle out the buy box was to bundle. This would allow a seller to package multiple items together under a new ASIN.

Now brands big and small have caught on to the profitable potential of the Amazon marketplace, but the bundle trend doesn’t seem to have changed. Big brands and major sellers alike utilize the unique benefits bundling provides for a number of different reasons; to beat out the buy box, to offer more value, to have a more unique main image that converts more clicks or just to be better than their competition.

But is there an opportunity for private label sellers? Will bundling provide any advantage, algorithmic or otherwise, to ranking and visibility? To find out the answer to these questions, we analyzed 333 keyword phrases and 3,330 listings. Here’s what we discovered…

Quantity Bundles vs. Item Bundles

First, it is important to distinguish between the different types of bundles. A “quantity bundle” is simply a bundle of multiples of the same item. An “item bundle” is a bundle that includes one or more items unique from the main item being sold. To give examples of each; two garlic presses would be a quantity bundle whereas a garlic press and peeler would be an item bundle.

Of the 3,330 listings analyzed in our sample, 18% of top ten ranked products offered a quantity bundle. An additional 10% offered item bundles, meaning a full 28% (close to a third) offered a bundle of some kind.

This is not surprising and falls quite in line with the idea we’ve had for years that Amazon buyers are interested first and foremost in VALUE. Offering multiple items clearly increases value at every price point.

Effect of Bundling on Ranking

Now here’s the real meat of the data. Do bundled items rank better? We’ve already seen that almost a third of page one, top ten listings offer bundles, but are those listings inherently better ranked? Well, according to our data 28% of the key phrases we analyzed had a quantity bundle listing in the top three options. 21% had an item bundle in the top three choices. This made for a whopping 44% of all key phrases in our sample that had a bundled item within the top three (that’s above the fold) options on page one.

That doesn’t give us a definitive answer as to whether the ranking increase was algorithmic (meaning Amazon shows favoritism to bundled items) or a result of increased conversions. However, it may not matter. What this DOES illustrate is a clear opportunity that the majority (72% majority) of sellers are not taking advantage of.

What This Means for Your Business

It means you may want to consider bundling some items. That is a lot easier said than done, given that it requires more prep and inventory planning. However, according to this data, it might be worth it. Bundled items clearly gain top ranking spots for keywords across all categories and this could mean greater visibility and sales.

It could be as simple as offering a bundle and using our Blast service to rank your new ASIN, then watching it stick and raking in profits.