As the holiday season kicks off, Etsy has just launched an exciting update to their Average Order Value (AOV) initiative. You might recall the brief appearance of the "Buy More & Save" badge back in May-June, which Etsy discontinued rather quickly. Now, without much fanfare, Etsy has introduced a much-improved tool designed to help boost sales which is
"Buy together" - Mix and Match Bundles
Back in June, we talked about Etsy's focus on increasing order values, and this new feature is a great opportunity to implement any strategies you tested over the summer.
The ability to bundle and upsell products has been missing from Etsy until this point, but this new tool can be a game changer for almost every niche. From upselling matching listings to linking customization options, the potential is big and it comes right on time for peak season.
1) What is Etsy's "Buy Together" / Mix and Match feature?
For the first time, sellers can directly link up to 3 listings within Etsy’s interface. No more relying on customers to click links in the product description or navigate your shop to find matching items. With this feature, bundled products appear directly below the "Add to Cart" button on any participating listing. Shoppers can purchase them together at a discount or explore the other listings in the bundle.
This is treated as a discount program, so every bundle you create will need to include a discount. The minimum discount is 5% or if you are already running a sale, the bundle discount should match it. For example, if your current sale is 20% off, the bundle discount must be at least 20% for the feature to appear.
2) Why is the "Buy together" feature so useful?
The new "Buy Together" tool opens up a lot of opportunities for nearly every Etsy niche. Whether you’re offering matching outfits, coordinating home decor, or bundling complementary products, this feature gives you the flexibility to shape your customer’s experience and create unique strategies that suit your shop.
- Easier SKU management
In the past, bundling products was often a headache, especially for stores that rely on SKU systems. You often had to create entirely new SKUs just to offer bundles, which bottlenecked a lot of marketing initiatives. Now you can bundle products while keeping each item’s original SKU intact, providing a lot of flexibility for marketing strategies without the need to adjust your inventory management.
- Linking listings
The ability to link listings within the "Buy Together" section helps focus buyers' attention where you want it most. After the buyer sees the add-to-cart button, what do you want them to see next? This tool gives you much better control. You can showcase complementary items or best-sellers, directing shoppers to the next logical step in their journey, rather than relying on Etsy’s automatic suggestions or links in the product description.
- More comprehensive shopping experiences
For stores where having 2 variations per listing is limiting, "Buy Together" provides a new level of flexibility. If your products require more involved customizations, or if you offer paid add-ons that don’t fit into the standard variation fields, this feature allows you to create a better shopping experience. You can link customization listings or upgrades directly within the bundle, giving customers the full range of options they need.
3) How to create "Buy together" bundles?
Since Etsy treats this as a discount program, you’ll find the new tool under the "Sales and Discounts" section of your Etsy Shop Manager. Simply go to: Sales and Discounts.
The tool is straightforward to use - just add up to 3 listings to link in a bundle and choose your discount percentage. Bundles work with 2 linked listings as well - in case this fits your strategy better.
On the back-end, Etsy refers to this as "Mix and Match Offers." You can manage these offers alongside other discounts in your "Sales and Discounts" section. From there, you’ll be able to see active bundles and end them if necessary.
4) Mix and Match strategies for the holiday season
The "Buy Together" tool offers tremendous flexibility, allowing you to tailor it to your brand and product offerings. While bundling matching or complementary products is an obvious way to use this, here are a few creative ideas to elevate your holiday campaign:
- Bundle your top performers with premium upgrades
Customization or personalization options often require separate listings, and this new tool is a fantastic way to highlight add-ons.
However, keep in mind that, for now, a listing can only be included in one bundle. This means you can bundle your premium add-on with only one top-selling product. If you want to do this for multiple best-sellers, create several add-on listings. Just make sure to keep the number of duplicated add-on listings in the store manageable to avoid disrupting other parts of the customer experience.
- Bundle your top performers with Holiday Season upgrades
You can also highlight season-specific add-ons - rushed orders, gift wrapping with personalized notes and so on. You can be creative here to make your products gifting ready. Once again, the 1 listing / 1 bundle limit helps you specifically focus your attention on your best-sellers.
- Bundle your top performers with cheaper complimentary products
If you’re not offering add-ons, consider bundling your top performers with 1-2 relevant, lower-priced items. The goal is to boost order values while keeping the upsell reasonable for customers. Ideally, aim for a cart bump in the 20-30% range.
For example, if your best-selling product costs $100, you could bundle it with matching products priced between $20-30. The key is to encourage customers to spend slightly more than they initially planned. If the bundle doubles or triples the original listing price, customers may ignore the offer - or worse, they could leave your store altogether. 2-item bundles can help to manage the total bundle price.
To make this strategy work, bundle items that complement your best-seller, match its theme or design, or offer small accessories that could be used as holiday gifts. This approach gently nudges customers towards a higher-value purchase without overwhelming them.
5) Integrating "Buy Together" offers into your pricing strategy
As mentioned earlier, Etsy treats the "Buy Together" feature as a discount offer but they will show up even if the bundle offer simply matches the on-going discount. If you don't have a running promotion, the minimum bundle discount is 5%.
At this point this is is more of a marketing feature and you can use this without any big discounts. Still, you can consider bumping your bundle discounts at least 5% above your regular promo. The savings from handling and shipping a bigger order instead of individual items should usually cover the 5%.
As always, keep in mind that any discounts you run, shouldn't eat into your margins and good pricing strategy plays a big role for your financial success.
Most of your bundles should focus on your best-sellers, which attract the most traffic and orders. A simple way to offset a 5% bundle discount is by slightly increasing the price of the complementary or add-on listings within the bundle - especially those that are less likely to be ordered individually. This way, you preserve your margin on bulk orders while maintaining the original pricing of your best-sellers.
The Holiday Season presents a unique chance to maximize your sales, and beyond traffic and conversion rates, we already have a specific tool targeting order values.
If your store needs a customer experience boost, our Creative Team is here to support you. While free slots are limited for the season, you are free to drop us a line at cs@artery.team to see if we can take you in for a store refresh.
