Bundles is a module that makes it possible to link certain prices (discounts) to certain groups of events.
This feature checks whether the visitor meets the conditions to be able to use the discount bundle price during check-out. In addition, this tool offers the possibility to communicate about cross-sell opportunities from an early stage during the website visit. A bundle can be provided with "advertising" messages meant to nudge the visitor to buy multiple events, and thus to become entitled to the bundle price advantage.
About Bundles
The idea behind Bundles is to promote cross selling. This happens in 2 ways:
- When adding events to the shopping basket, it is immediately communicated that buying tickets for multiple performances provides a discount.
- The special discount prices are visible to everyone on the website, but can be selected only if the visitor buys multiple events. The fact that these prices are visible to everyone is a conscious choice:
- Visitors can see that there is certain benefit, and can adapt their behavior accordingly. When choosing the discount price without meeting the conditions, a message showing the conditions for the discount is displayed after seat selection:
If all validation rules are met, all prizes will get a green check and can be booked.
How to create a Bundle
There are three steps to take to create a bundle.
Step 1: Creating themes
To create a bundle you will use Themes as a start. A bundle campaign is always about a group of events. It is therefore important to first determine which events are eligible for this bundle discount. A bundle of events must be designated for a bundle discount. You can do that in the "Themes" module.
Note that a theme that you want to use for a bundle has to be visible in the "Themes" module, otherwise the bundle will not work! Besides, bundles only work for themes of the type "events". Themes of the type "productions" are not compatible with bundles.
Step 2: Creating Prices and Price Types
Once a Theme is created, the next step is to create a suitable Price Type that will be used for the discount. This price is shown per event, and must be assigned to all participating events in the ticketing system. So first create a new Price Type in your ticketing system, or choose an existing price type. Make sure this price type is included in the price list of each event in the campaign. Then you can import all prices in the price type module in the dashboard. Check whether the intended price type is in the list and has the visibility property "conditional" (meaning that it can only be chosen if the bundle conditions are met).
Step 3: Setting up the Bundle
You can now set the rules of the bundle in the "Bundles" module, and add the corresponding explanatory texts.
- Each bundle has a name and a from-to date.
- You have to indicate the minimum number of events that the visitor has to select to be entitled to the bundle benefit. The maximum number of events is determined by the total amount of events within the theme to which the bundle is linked.
- You can also select a minimum events equate to the total number of events in the theme, forcing your visitor to book the entire theme. You can also lower the minimum amount of events so that you can, for example, make graduated discounts (10% discount with 5 events, 20% discount with 7 events, etc.) throughout the season (theme: all events of the season).
- Validation type can be strict or flexible:
- Only validate "number of events": the bundle may apply if the minimum number of events is fulfilled, regardless of which price type and how many tickets per event a visitor selects.
- "Number of events", "number of tickets" and "price type": the bundle price may only be booked if the minimum number of events has been met, the bundle price has been chosen, and the same numbers of tickets have been chosen for all selected events.
Bundle Messages
There are 5 texts that you can add to your own insight to inform the visitor about the action
Name
The Name of the bundle will be shown in the shopping cart pop-up and during the check-out.
Minimum not reached
When minimum not reached: this message is displayed under the name of the Bundle in the shopping cart pop-up and during the reservation process. Use this text to explain that there is an advantage when a higher number of events (among the theme) is booked.
Minimum reached
When minimum reached: this message is displayed under the name of the bundle in the shopping cart pop-up and during the reservation if the minimum number of events has been added to the basket. It acts as feedback, informing the visitor they have met the minimum and provides information about which price type the visitor can now choose.
Invalid quantity
Invalid quantity: this message will be shown during the check-out if the same numbers of discount prices have not been chosen for each event. This is a strict way of validation that ensures that someone buys exactly the same number of tickets per event to meet the discount.This strict validation can be turned off, making it possible to opt for multiple price types without a notification. This is much more customer-friendly and less compelling. It gives visitors for instance the option to buy 4 tickets for some events with a discount, and 2 for another event.
Hyperlinks
The hyperlink and hyperlink label: with this you can link to a customized page (for instance the theme page) or any overview with more information about the bundle, or with an overview of all events that work with this bundle.
Finally, it must be indicated which price type is possible if the bundle rules are met. Multiple price types can be selected.
Multiple active Bundles and number of simultaneous Bundle messages
Events can be placed in multiple bundles simultaneously. This will cause multiple bundle notifications to appear when you add an event to your shopping cart. You can then simply order if the events meet at least one of the bundle rules.
We have two settings that ensure that the number of bundle messages can be limited in the pop-up and during reservation. The default situation always shows all bundle messages.
To change this setting, you should go to System > Control Panel > Bundles
- Max messages when no valid combo: the number of bundle notifications that are shown if the conditions of a bundle have not yet been met. So if you add one event in your basket you can sometimes expect several notifications: 15% discount, part of theme A, part of theme B. This setting determines how many notifications you want to display.
- Message limit for valid bundles: the number of bundle notifications that are shown after one or more bundles are active (the green check marks). If this is set to 0, only the active bundle messages will be shown, there will be no additional messages about other bundles that are not yet complete.
Automatically select the best price
The best price is automatically selected in the seat selection when selecting a seat. For events with an open seating, the best price is automatically shown at the top of the list of prices during the check-out. The best price is always the lowest "conditional" price that the visitor is entitled to choose at that time. If there are multiple conditional prices, the cheapest one is automatically selected. This can be:
- Price related to privileges (works together with a visitor tag)
- Bundle price
- Price type associated with a discount code
Conditions for best price selection
The automatic selection method mentioned above also looks at the maximum number of seats allowed for the chosen price type. When this maximum is reached, the next conditional price is automatically chosen, to which the visitor is still entitled to. A maximum can be:
- a maximum number of seats per price type (adjustable in the "Price types" module). If this maximum (for example a friends' price for a maximum of 2 seats) is exceeded, another price type is automatically chosen that is still allowed.
- Also for bundles with strict validation: a maximum number of seats based on strict bundle validation over multiple events. If for event A in the shopping cart two seats are chosen for the bundle price, then in event B only two seats can be chosen for that bundle price if the bundle validation is strictly set. For the third seat in event B, a different price type will automatically be chosen that is still allowed.
- A price type based on strict bundle validation over multiple events: if the visitor is intentionally deviated from the bundle price type for event A, or there is, for example, a cheaper privilege price that is automatically selected at event A, then event B will no longer select the bundle prize automatically, as the bundle is no longer valid due to the previous choice at event A.
If there are no more conditional prices, a "normal" price is automatically selected. This is done in order of prices in the "Price types" module (the top price is selected). If the general maximum per order is exceeded, a message appears that the order is not possible.
Best practices/tips
- Strict bundle validation can be complex for visitors. The automatic price selection can handle this for a large part, but a visitor can always deviate from this manually. After logging in, a message will appear explaining why a certain price is not valid. You can create this message per bundle in the dashboard.
- Overlapping bundles (especially with different bundle price types) can cause confusion when using strict validation. It is possible that the price type for bundle 1 is chosen, so that the price type for bundle 2 is no longer valid for some events. Therefore, always use the same price for both bundles with overlapping bundles, and set to flexible validation wherever possible.
- Strict bundle validation prevents "abuse" (2 seats for bundle price at event A and 4 seats for bundle prize for event B), but can also complicate the process for your visitors. Sometimes countering abuse does not outweigh usability. If in doubt, start with a flexible bundle validation and periodically check how much abuse is made of the attractive bundle price. Perhaps it is even desirable to offer visitors the freedom to take 2 new visitors for 1 event in a bundle for the same bundle price!
- The presence of cheaper prices (like privilege prices) for some of the events within a strict bundle can result in undesirable automatic selections. Our advice is to use the flexible form of bundle validation (only on numbers of events in your order) if you also use cheaper privilege prices. In that case it does not matter which price type is chosen, the bundle remains valid as long as you have the correct number of events in your order.
- Try making a bundle without entering a price type, and set the minimum number of events on 1. You can now use the bundle message "Message at minimum" to communicate something in the pop-up and at the bottom of the booking page! Set the validation type to "Validate only number of events".
- Use a bundle to give away a performance as a gift. Put the bonus performance in a "Theme" with a number of other "regular" performances, and only give the bonus performance a new conditional "bonus" price. Make sure the bundle only validates on "number of events", otherwise you will get an error message for all events that do not have the "bonus" price. You can now book the bonus event for the special "bonus" price if it is in combination with 1 or more performances in the bundle.
Related articles