How 1r Agency and DIBS Beauty Made Mix-and-Match Bundles Feel Effortless

Beauty brands are one of the most common industries we see here at Simple Bundles, but DIBS Beauty really raised the bar with one of the smoothest, most thoughtful bundle setups we’ve seen on Shopify.

They wanted customers to build their own bundles, choosing shades that worked for them without friction. That’s not exactly easy to pull off with Shopify’s built-in limitations.

But with help from the team at 1r Agency, they did it — and the results speak for themselves:

• 28% increase in AOV on bundle orders
• 13% drop in bounce rate on bundle landing pages due to a more seamless UI
• +10% overall AOV

This is because of the incredible work that the 1r agency team did for DIBS’ website experience. It’s a strategy that works so well for DIBS that similar bundles were implemented across other clients at 1r, like Westman Atelier, PAPATUI, ILIA

But beyond an increase in profits and engagement, there’s another win for the DIBS team worth mentioning… And this one particular area is exactly where Simple Bundles shines. 

Here’s how DIBS implemented custom bundles that don’t break within Shopify — and what other brands can take away from the experience.

All of this is also on our YouTube channel. You can watch the video here:

The challenge: let customers mix and match — without breaking Shopify

DIBS Beauty knew they wanted customers to build bundles that felt personal — not just “add this 3-piece set to cart,” but truly choose their shades.

Mix-and-match bundles were the only way to go. Especially since, for some bundles, they wanted to allow shoppers to choose two different shades of the same item.

But doing this in Shopify isn't easy. Native limitations (like the 3 options / 100 variants cap) make it difficult to offer customizable bundles without breaking your product pages, backend systems, or customer experience.

DIBS didn’t want to compromise on customer experience, so 1R Agency stepped in with a smart approach to bundling, merchandising, and UX.

The setup: thoughtful design meets operational simplicity

Here’s a breakdown of what made the DIBS Beauty bundle experience so effective, both on the frontend and behind the scenes.

Backend that doesn’t create chaos

First, DIBS needed to make sure its product bundles wouldn’t break in the backend. When syncing bundles across various fulfillment, warehouse, and inventory management platforms, it gets complicated to track bundle items when using Shopify’s bundle functionality out of the box.

This is the part we mentioned earlier about where Simple Bundles’ shines.

When creating bundles in the Simple Bundles platform, items are broken down into their child components. Those SKUs are the ones that get synced in Shopify, along with the rest of a brand’s backend tech stack.

As soon as someone adds a bundle to cart, the bundle SKU breaks down into the individual SKUs that make up the set. This ensures everything syncs correctly with:

• Their warehouse
• Their inventory and fulfillment systems
• Shopify
• And even returns

This step is crucial. As soon as the backend part of selling product bundles is clean and efficient, it makes the front-end part of selling bundles a lot easier. That’s what 1r focused on next:

Real-time swatches with visual feedback

When shoppers land on a bundle page, they’re met with a clean, intuitive swatch selector. 

Next to the swatches, a mini image of the product updates in real time based on the selected shade.

At the same time, the main image carousel shows off the full bundle, including shade-specific visuals, so customers have complete clarity on what they’re buying. This kind of visual feedback is especially important in beauty, where color confidence drives conversion.

Bundles placed in high-traffic spots

Instead of hiding bundles in a “Sets” section, DIBS features them in other key places across the site — like their Bestsellers collection. This helps more shoppers discover bundles naturally, without needing to dig through a specific category.

It sounds simple, but it makes a big difference in exposure and sales.

Cart upsells that change dynamically

One of the smartest parts of this setup is how the cart upsells adjust based on what’s in the cart.

• Add an eyeshadow bundle? You might see a highlighter and a brush set.
• Remove an item? The upsells change accordingly.

And yes, many of those upsells are other bundles, which is a smart move when targeting high-AOV shoppers who already showed intent to buy more than one product.

Final thoughts

A huge shoutout to the 1R Agency team for pulling off one of the cleanest, smartest bundle implementations we’ve seen on Shopify.

They took a complex idea — mix-and-match bundles with real-time shade selection, smart merchandising, and clean fulfillment — and turned it into a high-performing, easy-to-use experience for both the DIBS team and their customers.

If you're a brand looking to do something similar, Simple Bundles has a free plan that lets you test out bundle types, including mix-and-match, infinite options, and fixed bundles. You can get started here.

And if you’re looking for support on creating an experience similar to DIBS, you can learn more about 1r Agency here.