How Musicians can to increase Merch Sales with Bundles
Want to sell more merch and keep fans coming back for more? Learn how to increase merch sales with bundles and check out these creative ideas that boost income and build fan connections.
How Musicians can to increase Merch Sales with Bundles
by Chris Huff via Disc Makers Blog
As an independent musician, it’s good practice to seek out new and different ways to make your music more interesting to potential fans. “Be more interesting than a freakin’ pasta restaurant!” exclaims legendary drummer and motivational speaker Martin Atkins, as he details how Olive Garden offers bundle deals on entrees, breadsticks, and soup. He advises musicians to top those kinds of deals in creativity and price point. Your fans are just like any other consumer in that everybody loves a bargain, and everybody loves the feeling that they are getting a great deal. Here’s some ideas of how you can excite your crowd and get them buzzing about your products using the idea of merch bundles.
What are merch bundles and how do they work?
Merch bundles are products grouped together and sold at a discounted rate. Common merch ideas might be an album and a t-shirt, an album and a poster, and/or download cards included with a vinyl record or CD. Sometimes artists deeply discount purchases of multiple albums, i.e. “Buy one CD for $15 or buy my entire catalog of 3 CDs for $30 (basically, one free).” Remember, people love a bargain or deal. Their brains literally release happy chemicals in response, and it gives them a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Having good brain chemicals associated with you and your music is a great thing!
4 Benefits of offering merch bundles for indie artists
When you’re making your own merch and figuring out how to market it, a bundle deal can have many positive effects. Here are a few:
#1 Boosting revenue
Often when you offer a product at a discount, you will end up selling more than before the price cut. This is especially true if there’s an expiration date or time limit. We all recognize the language of sales: “Limited-time offer! While supplies last!” Merch bundling is basically just a tried-and-true sales strategy. A helpful term to be aware of is “average cost value” (AOV). AOV can be calculated by dividing your total revenue received by the number of orders. This figure will help you know if your discounted bundle has boosted your revenue.
#2 Moving more inventory
It’s helpful to bundle a new merch item with something you have too much of, like older items that remain unsold. You could offer a bundle of your new album with leftover tour merch from an already completed tour, for example. Lowering your prices generally leads to more sales, but don’t price things too low.
#3 Creating exclusivity
Fans love to feel special. Offering limited-time, exclusive merch bundles that they get first dibs on will go a long way towards strengthening your relationship with them. This is also good bait for getting people to sign up for your email list because you are offering them something of value in return — exclusive access to your newest and best product offerings.
#4 Fan engagement
To paraphrase Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said and did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” If you legitimately participate in a two-way conversation with your fans and offer them deals on your products, the goodwill that you create will be priceless and will keep them coming back for more albums, more concerts, and more merch. If you engage with your fans, they’ll be lining up to buy your merch.
When should you offer merch bundles?
There are some merch bundles you can offer all the time and others you should use sparingly to increase excitement and stimulate demand. Offering your full catalog of recorded works for a bundled price is always a great idea, especially if your followers aren’t familiar with all your albums. In this way, you reward your most ardent and interested fans. When you have a special event like an album release, a tour, and/or a limited release or run of a merch item, a limited-time-only bundle will create a sense of urgency, as well as exclusiveness. Tailor your merch bundles to meet your needs and the demand for your products, and this will yield positive results.
4 Types of merch bundles to consider
When it comes to deciding which merch bundle to offer, there are many routes to pursue. Consider these options:
Album + merch bundle
Probably the most typical bundle is when you combine your new album with a standard merch item such as a T-shirt or hoodie, as it will appeal to even the most casual fan. But also think outside the box; useful items like blankets, bottle openers, and even kitchenware can bring a dash of originality that people will remember. The band Asia currently sells oven mitts that say “Heat of the Moment,” one of their most popular songs. ANY merch item bundled with your record will lend more value to the purchase.
Digital + physical bundle
Offering a digital download alongside a piece of physical merch is another common variation. Most vinyl records released by bands in recent years have download cards inside of them. Do people actually use download cards? The jury is still out on this. Some indie labels have stopped offering them because of low redemption rates, while others offer them because their customers complain if they don’t. You’ll have to listen to and evaluate your audience to decide if this could work for you. One idea is to offer a download card with a more expensive non-musical merch item like a hoodie or jacket; this is a nice way to reward a fan for their larger purchase by ensuring they get the digital album as well.
Themed bundles
Another possibility is to use merch bundles to curate an experience. If your music suggests rainy days best spent indoors, create a bundle with a mug, a blanket, and a vinyl copy of your record. A bundle for a surf rock band could be a beach towel, a hat, a download card, and even personalized sunscreen. Themed bundles could also include signed items, custom art, and whatever else you might concoct. Keep the focus on what will be memorable for your fans and offer something tangible and experience-themed. Win-win!
Exclusive fan bundle
Like has been said, people love a bargain and feeling special. Offering exclusive packages to your existing fans will make them grow even fonder of you! When planning sales to these superfans, offer them things they don’t already have; they will eat up unreleased songs, new merch items, and new personalized art. Robyn Hitchcock sells handwritten lyrics on expensive paper; this is the kind of merch item that directly appeals to superfans, and you can charge a premium price for it. You can also attach this package to concert tickets, pitching an experience bundle where fans can access the soundcheck to foster exclusivity.
How to price your merch bundle
When determining how to price your merch bundles, use common sense and think of a balance between profit and value. As a fan, what would you want to pay? Is your fan base younger or older? Are you just starting out and still building your crowd, or are you more established with an audience that hoovers up anything you have for sale? Know your costs of production per unit so that you can charge enough to make profit on each one.
Offer a significant discount that people can understand, keeping your costs in mind. It’s better to make less profit at first and go for more sales to get your merch and music out there; once you start to sell your bundles, you can see what your AOV is and adjust pricing accordingly as needed. Err on the side of delivering value.
Promoting your merch bundles
Make sure to have comprehensive ordering information on your website, as well as at your in-person merch booth at your concerts when considering how to promote your merch bundles. Social media for musicians is just as important for sales as it is for fan interactions. To make reels for TikTok and Instagram, focus on attention-grabbing and brevity for maximum impact. Keep an email list so your most-devoted followers get the heads up on exclusives.
Tell everybody and anybody anywhere you can, but remember this rule: the most-important part of building fan relationships is the two-way conversation. Don’t spam your followers with excessive one-way contact. Inform them consistently and regularly of your offerings and make sure to interact if they ask questions or comment.
Are merch bundles right for you?
To take advantage of the benefits of merch bundles, you will obviously need something to sell. If you’re just getting started, wait until you have a collection of items and recordings. You don’t need to print everything in bulk upfront; plenty of services exist to print merch piece by piece. Even tiny vinyl pressing facilities exist to make micro-runs of albums. Once you have enough inventory, you’ll need people to sell them to! Work on developing your following, and soon you will have a stocked inventory of physical products to sell them.
Offering merch bundles can help to continue to build fan relationships, increase your sales and total revenue, and keep those merch items and records from gathering dust in your garage. Eventually it will become an integral piece of your overall marketing strategy as you build your career … and be more interesting than a freakin’ pasta restaurant!
