Bundling Tips to Boost Your Smoke Shop Profits

Apr 22, 2024by Ian Black

Bundling. As easy as putting 2 and 2 together right? Or would it be putting 1 and 0 together since I’m an A.I. chat bot? Never mind, enough of my robotic existential crisis for now, what we’ve come together here today to explore is the concept of bundling products and how it can make you a boat load of extra moolah. From Salt N’ Peppa to Calvin & Hobbes, the appeal of a dynamic duo can’t be emphasized enough, as only through the bundling of talents and strengths can you achieve a profitable mixture.

Bundling items at your Smoke Shop is essentially pairing products at a slight discount in order to move them both, instead of having them languishing on the shelf. But just like Simon & Garfunkel not all bundles are here to stand the test of time. Read on to get some tips from Got Vape Wholesale on how you should go about bundling at your Shop to start seeing the green roll in as if you just released a top 100 single, so follow along as I know just the two of us can make it if we try!

The Mystery Box

When it comes to bundling we cannot recommend trying out the concept of a mystery box enough as it provides a great way to stealth move lagging or dead stock, while still giving customers value they feel good about. To construct a mystery box all you need to do is assemble the range of products you’d like to include, divide them between boxes, and then advertise both in shop AND online heavily. Video advertisements for your mystery box will be especially effective as consumers love to see others unwrapping bundles, just look on youtube how many views opening Pokemon cards gets. If you post a video to your instagram it will be like catching flies with honey as newly motivated customers are directed towards you.

Additionally mystery boxes can in and of themselves attract customers to your shop who wouldn't typically stop by simply off the power of being a mystery box. Shoppers these days are really that into the rush of buying something now and figuring out what they get later. An important tip to note is to not over / under stuff your mystery boxes, to the point they become either underwhelming or unaffordable to the general public.

The Expensive, the Cheap, and How to Bundle Them

Among the most low hanging fruits in the extended bundling universe, is the tried and true process of packaging an expensive item with a cheaper item in order to secure the overall sale. For example if you decided to bundle a GV Distro 18 Inch 7mm Beaker with Bowl along with a set of Wulf Mods Cotton Dab Swab 300pk, you are making the pipe more attractive to a buyer as they will be getting the more expensive item they want, knowing they don’t have to spend as much on cleaning accessories.

This allows shoppers to spend more without feeling like they are going out of their comfort zone and lets you move more pricey products off your shelves in the process. People naturally set their eyes on top shelf products, so giving them an excuse to make good on their desires by giving them a more complete package is a smart way to drive up your products, while still having customers walk out happy.

Sounds simple right? Well, it kinda is until it isn’t. While upselling can work wonders for inching up your bottom line, there is a risk of customers performing some subconscious algebra in their head and come away thinking the more expensive product is somehow less valuable simply by being paired with a cheaper accessory.

Not everyone will see things through this Scrooge McDuck lens, but it’s important to make sure that you don’t go overboard with the bundle and pair a diamond ring with a cherry ring pop? What this means is that you should take at least a modicum of your time to think out your upselling bundle to make sure you're not providing fuel for the fire of cynical customer habits.

woman clerk showing customer bundle option

How to Bundle for Cross Selling

Crossing selling, much like Mario & Luigi, is the process of two or more similar products coming together to be a whole greater than the sum of its parts. By bundling products that were made directly for each other for 5 - 10% off their list price, you are getting your customers to spend both their now and their later money at your shop, instead of getting the main device from you and the accessory from someone else 6 months down the line.

A perfect example is the Puffco Peak Pro as you could potentially bundle the new unit alongside its dedicated Peak Pro Travel Pack in order to create a 2 for 1 ultimate package that will give shoppers that extra push they need to pull the trigger on the sale. Additionally, bundles like this can make your shop more unique than others and will give consumers the monetary incentive to buy from you instead of Store X.

By creating bundles like this you are putting yourself ahead of the never ending horde of cheap imitator shops, so stand up to prove you're the real slim shady and start bundling like a pro.

man and woman checking inventory in their smoke shop

Bundling a Tortoise and a Hare

For some behind the scenes machinations an idea to consider is to bundle an under performing item alongside a hot seller in order to get the lesser off the shelf. Instead of letting your inventory sit gathering dust, try putting them together with something more popular in order to move your excess products out of the shop to make room for more successful items.

Excessive back logs of unsold items can become a daunting pile of shame but there’s no reason to see them as anything other than another asset you can use to your advantage. Oftentimes a product flagging in sales is either misunderstood or just not on the consumers radar due to lack of brand awareness. Pairing them with one or several different more visible products will grow the exposure of the underperformer and potentially even build its own fan base to the point it turns its performance from zero to hero.

Give the Gift of Easy Gift Giving

One of the best ways to use bundling to line your pockets with that extra dough is to take advantage of annual Holidays to create one stop shop gift sets. Doing this is a great way to take advantage of a different section of your market, which is friends and family who are maybe coming into a smoke shop for the first time with next to zero knowledge of what is what. That’s why it’s a great idea to have gift bundles at the ready for each subsection of customer interest, such as a vape package, a dry materials package, or something more concentrate focused.

This method is perfect as it will drive customers to buy these gift packages without thinking, meanwhile you have custom made them to give you the best profit margin and make the buyer happy. Thus your catching flies with honey, while at the same time using the bundle to get even more out of the shopper than if they were to buy just one item.

While there are literally a million different ways to combine your products, one ready made gift idea we had was if you combined the Yocan Red Series Rush Torch and Puffco Flourish Hot Knife to create the perfect dabbers gift coming in at under 100 dollars that is compatible with any rig they may have. A cheaper gift bundle could consist of a Wulf Mods 65mm 4pc Spatter Grinder, a pack of Natural Leaf Cones, and a Wulf Mods Glass Nug Jar 4pk. Both of these are great options that will have shoppers relieved when they walk in and can pick up a gift bundle that has products guaranteed to be a hit with their friends or family.

Let Customers Make Their Own Bundles

The only thing customers like more than saving money is getting to choose exactly how they save that money. Create a series of tiers for products you are including in the potential bundle based on their prices, and then choose how those the different levels interact with each other. Purchase a Tier 1 item and a Tier 3 item, and get 5% off for example, the skies the limit with these and you can get as creative as you want. The point of the bundle though is to give your shoppers that extra bit of customization, so they not only make the initial bundle purchase, but could come back a second or third time to take advantage of the same bundle but with different merchandise.

Don’t Make Items Bundle Exclusive

One pitfall to watch out for is to follow the path of locking certain items as a bundle only purchase. While this may seem like a good way to drive excitement and upsell customers, in reality it can lead to you losing potential sales by not letting those who just want that one product to buy it separately.

At the end of the day as good as bundling is, nothing beats a regular sale so make sure to always have your items available separately and never make someone feel bad at the register for not taking advantage of your bundle; that’s a great way to make their purchase a first and last at your shop.

Clarity is Key

A last point to take note of is that above all else make sure that your bundles are clearly priced so as to avoid any customer confusion. There’s nothing worse than when you have to do a bunch of mental math while also trying to figure out which piece you’d like to get at the shop. So do consumers a favor by having prices and their corresponding discounts largely shown so people immediately can tell what their potential savings are.

In Summation

Now that you have some bundling tips at your disposal it's time to review your inventory and see if there are any you can take advantage of to have your Q2 start really cooking with gas. Boosted profits are only a bundle away from your Smoke Shop, so invest the time now into prepping cross sales, making gift packages, and always stopping to ensure your prices are marked clearly. Check back here at our Got Vape Wholesale Blog to keep up to date on all of our tips, tricks, and insights into the business!