With bundles, your customers pick the items they want from a collection you curate, and the whole order ships together. You can offer fixed-price promotions, upsell premium products, or introduce items that don't sell as often. Bundles work with subscriptions, so customers can receive a new selection on a schedule they choose.

Available on all Recurly plans

1Definition 2Key benefits 3Key details

Definition

Bundles empower your customers to build their own bundle from a curated selection of your products. By offering a personalized shopping experience and the convenience of all-in-one shipping, you create a high-value offer that increases your Average Order Value (AOV).

Bundle types

Recurly Commerce supports two pricing models for Bundles.

Bundle type	Fixed Price	Flexible Price
Best for	Any "3 items for $50" style promotions.	Upselling premium items within a custom box.
Pricing logic	The price is defined by the Shopify Bundle Product and doesn't change based on the selected contents.	The price is the sum of the individual products the customer selects.

Key benefits

Pricing Flexibility Choose fixed or flexible pricing to match your business requirements.

Custom Constraints Control the size of the bundle and set limits on specific products to manage fulfillment and inventory.

Increase Average Order Value (AOV) Encourage customers to add more items to their cart through a curated, guided experience.

Product Discovery Introduce customers to unique or slower-moving products by including them in a bundle collection.

Key details

Set up Recurly Commerce Bundles in your Storefront

To use Recurly Commerce Bundles, start by adding a new template to your Online Store.

Create a New Product Template

Open the theme editor

In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes, then click Edit theme on your current theme.

Access the product templates

Select Home page at the top of the editor, then select Products.

Create a new template

Click + Create template. In the Based on dropdown, select Default product, then name the template "commerce-bundles." Select Create template to save.

Configure the Template Layout

Clear your product page

Hide any existing sections on the page so you can build the layout from scratch.

Add the Commerce Bundle App

In the Template area, between the Header and Footer, click Add section, open the Apps tab, and select Commerce Bundle Builder.

Adjust theme settings

In your theme settings, turn off Reveal sections on scroll. This creates a smoother transition as customers interact with your product page.

Note If this is your first time using Recurly Commerce, also add the Commerce Subscriptions Widget to your layout so all features work correctly.

Adjust Display Settings

Depending on your Shopify theme, you may need to adjust the layout so the Bundle Builder displays correctly.

Select the section

In the left sidebar of the theme editor, click the Commerce Bundle App section you added.

Configure dimensions (optional)

In the Size settings, set Width to Full and Height to Full screen.

Save your changes

Click Save in the upper-right corner of the screen.

Once your storefront is saved, you can create your bundle products and collections in Shopify.

Set up bundle products in Shopify

To power a bundle in Recurly Commerce, you need a Parent Product (the bundle) and a Collection (the items inside it), both set up in Shopify.

Creating the Parent Product

The Parent Product is the container for your bundle. It's the primary SKU customers see in their cart and at checkout.

Create the bundle product

Follow the standard Shopify process to add a new product.

Set the pricing

For flexible price bundles, set the price to $0. Commerce calculates the final cost from the items the customer selects. For fixed price bundles, enter the total price you want to charge for the whole bundle.

Add variants (optional)

You can add variants, such as Small, Medium, and Large, to the Parent Product for both fixed and flexible bundles. In Recurly Commerce, you then set the product count for each variant.

Warning Only one level of variants is supported. Nested variants, such as Color and Size together, don't work in Commerce Bundles.

Manage inventory

If you track inventory on the Parent SKU, the bundle's availability depends on that stock level. If inventory is 0 and "Continue selling when out of stock" is turned off, the bundle is automatically disabled on the product detail page (PDP).

Creating the Bundle Collection

The Bundle Collection is the library of items customers choose from to build their bundle.

Add products to your collection

Create a new collection and add the products you want to offer in the bundle. For step-by-step instructions, see the Shopify Collection Guide.

Choose your collection type

Manual collections give you full control and work right away. Automated (smart) collections are also supported. Keep these points in mind:

Commerce recognizes standard product fields only, such as Product Type, Tag, or Price.
Custom metafields can't be used as conditions for automated bundle collections.
Changes to product attributes and inventory update the bundle automatically only when the collection is linked to a bundle.

Warning When you change a smart collection's conditions, Shopify takes several minutes to recalculate which products it includes, and in some cases up to about 15 minutes. During that time, the bundle may show outdated products. To avoid this, create a new smart collection with the conditions you need and link it to your bundle, rather than editing the conditions on an existing collection.

Warning A change to a smart collection's conditions can take several minutes to sync to Commerce. Until the sync finishes, bundles may show products that no longer match the conditions or leave out products that do.

Create a bundle in Recurly Commerce

Once your products and collections are ready in Shopify, follow these steps to build your bundle in Recurly Commerce.

Start the bundle setup

Open Recurly Commerce, go to the Bundles tab, and select + Create Bundle. Under Bundle Informatino, enter a name and description. These are for your internal use only and aren't visible to customers.

Choose your bundle type

Select the pricing logic that matches your business model. A Flexible Price Bundle calculates the total dynamically from the items the customer adds to their cart. A Fixed Price Bundle pulls the total directly from the Parent Product price you set in Shopify.

Link your Shopify product

Select + Select Product and choose the Parent Product you created in Shopify.

Warning A Shopify product can only be linked to one bundle at a time. If a product is already assigned to another bundle, it won't appear in the selection list.

Complete the bundle type configuration

For a flexible bundle, set the minimum and maximum size by entering the number of products allowed. If you don't set a maximum, it defaults to unlimited. For a fixed bundle, set the bundle size for each variant. For example, a Small could allow 2 products while a Large allows 6.

Define bundle contents

Select the Shopify collection you created earlier. This populates the bundle with the items your customers can choose from. Keep the collection linked to this bundle so product and inventory changes update it automatically.

Set single product limits (optional)

Enforce a Single Product Limit to prevent customers from adding too many of the same item to one bundle. For example, you might allow a maximum of 2 of any specific flavor.

Removing a deleted collection

If you delete a collection in Shopify, Commerce removes it from your bundles. If a deleted collection still appears in a bundle, contact [email protected] for help clearing it.

Creating a Subscription Plan for your Bundle

Now that your Shopify components and Commerce Bundle are configured, you can wrap them into a subscription offer.

Create the subscription offer

Go to Subscription Plans in Recurly Commerce and select + Create Plan. Under Subscription Information, enter the Subscription Offer Group Name and Description. Like the bundle settings, these are for internal tracking and aren't visible to customers.

Attach your bundle product

Select Add Product, choose the Parent Bundle Product you created in Shopify, and select Confirm.

Warning Bundle products must stand alone on subscription plans. You can't add non-bundle products to the same subscription plan.

Configure purchase options

Bundles support two purchase models on subscription plans:

One-time purchase: A single, non-recurring sale.
Subscribe & Save: A recurring subscription with optional discounted pricing.

Customize the subscription experience

Configure the following options for your plan:

Swaps & Add-ons: Define which products customers can swap in the future.
Discounts: Apply special pricing based on order frequency or item quantity.
Shipping: Enable Free Shipping for this offer if you want.
Contract Terms: Set contract terms, such as a 3-month minimum commitment.
Cancellation Flow: Define the steps or retention offers a customer sees when they try to cancel.

Publish the offer

When you've reviewed your settings, select Publish Offer in the upper-right corner. Your bundle is now live and ready for customers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Gifting & General Features

Can customers gift a bundle subscription?

Yes! Bundles are fully compatible with gifting. To enable and configure gift options, contact [email protected] for setup assistance.

Can customers pause a bundle subscription?

Yes. If you've enabled the Pause Subscription feature in your Customer Portal settings, customers can pause their bundles. All standard pause logic, including duration limits and resume dates, applies.

Product Swaps & Pricing

Can customers swap products within their bundle?

Yes. Customers can swap individual items for any other item in the approved Shopify collection. For fixed price bundles, the price stays the same regardless of the items chosen, but if a customer changes bundle size, for example from a Small to a Large, they're charged the price for the new variant. For flexible price bundles, the customer is charged the total price of the newly selected items.

Note Products added to or removed from the collection in Shopify can take a short time to appear as swap options.

Can customers include add-ons with their bundle?

Yes. Customers can add both subscription and one-time add-ons. You configure these during subscription plan setup, and they're billed alongside the bundle.

Inventory & Stock Issues

What happens if a product in the collection goes out of stock for new customers?

Recurly Commerce syncs with Shopify inventory. When an item reaches zero stock, it's labeled "Out of Stock" in the storefront widget so customers can't select it. It becomes selectable again after you replenish inventory in Shopify. Inventory updates aren't instant, so the storefront may take a short time to reflect a change.

Still need help?

If you have additional questions or need help with your setup, contact our support team at [email protected].