Bundle Trap

A simulator in three switches

Three small configuration choices stand between the bundle promo you designed and the discount your customer actually got. Below: the arithmetic of the gap, and the toggles that close it.

Pick a discount type. Choose how the customer assembled their cart. Flip the three switches and watch the effective discount snap to whatever you told it to be.

Your scenario

I'm running a… Each discount type maps to a Voucherify configuration. The same headline number produces wildly different effective discounts depending on how you configure bundle scaling, unit limits, and order-line layout.
Discount value The percentage off per bundle you set in Voucherify — the headline number on your promo email. 5%
Bundles in cart How many qualifying bundles the customer assembled. Five lip balms + five hand creams = 5 bundles. 5
Bundle scaling Voucherify's scaling control. "Multiply" stacks the % once per bundle. "Fixed" applies the % once, no matter how many bundles.
Discount value Fixed euro amount off the discounted item per eligible unit. $20
Bundles in cart Number of qualifying bundles (e.g., laptop + bag pairs). 2
Discounted units in cart How many of the discounted item the customer added — e.g., mice in a laptop + bag bundle promo. 3
Item discount limit Voucherify's "maximum eligible units per order item." Capped = only N discounted units get the discount (N = bundle count). Uncapped = every matching item gets the discount.
Discount value Subtotal discount per bundle application. $40
Bundles in cart Number of qualifying bundles assembled by the customer. 2
Discounted product, total units Total units of the discounted product the customer added across all order lines. 3
Discounted item unit price The retail price of one unit of the discounted item — used to compute line subtotals in the cart preview below. $40
Order line layout Voucherify's subtotal discount applies per order line. Grouped = fires once for all identical items. Split = fires once per line (once per unit if each unit is its own line).
Free item cost (your COGS) Your COGS on the "free" item. The free item isn't free to you — each costs your COGS plus $5 per-order variable cost (fulfilment, packaging, returns reserve). $12
Bundles in cart Number of qualifying bundles (e.g., laptops bought). 5
Bundle scaling Multiply = one free item per qualifying bundle. Fixed = exactly one free item regardless of bundle count.
Your contribution margin Revenue minus COGS minus all variable per-order costs (shipping, payment processing, fulfilment, returns reserve). DTC apparel: 30–40%; beauty: 50–65%; commodity: below 20%. 35%
Cart subtotal at full price The cart's total value before any discount. Used to translate the effective discount into a euro figure and to compute margin impact. $500

Cart preview

Item Subtotal Discount Net
Total discount applied −$0

Intended vs. effective

The Gap column is the conversation with your finance team — the discount you authorised minus the discount the customer actually got.
Intended Effective Gap
Discount given (%) of cart subtotal 5.0% 25.0% +20.0 pts
Discount given ($) per cart $25 $125 +$100
Margin impact ($) per cart · ×1,000 carts $150 $50 −$100 · −$100,000
You designed a 5% promo. The customer assembled 5 bundles. Scaling multiplied your discount to 25% — five times what you intended. Flip the scaling toggle to Fixed to close the gap.
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Methodology & worked example

Each discount type has one configuration toggle that determines whether the effective discount matches your design intent. The gap closes the moment you flip the fix. Below is the full worked math for your current slider positions.

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