How can I track inventory of non-sale items included with products?

[JuanBingo]

Hi there! 

This is a long shot but we are looking for an app (or someway in Shopify) to track the inventory of items that aren't technically for sale in the store, but that included with specific products. 

For example, when we sell a greeting card it always comes with a matching envelope. But since the envelope isn't a product (more like an add on with the cost built into the price of the card) we have to track the inventory manually. Sometimes it's a bookmark, sometimes it's a display bag, but same story. It would be amazing if we could track these behind the scenes with Shopify or some app.

I hope that makes sense, happy to answer follow up questions if there's confusion.  

Thanks, 

John 

[Jesse-James]

Hey Jon,

This can be achieved while staying in the bounds of Shopify inventory reporting..

Basically you could add "unpublished" promotional/packaging product(s) and then add them to your orders when applicable.  That way, inventory would be tracked without those items showing up in your online store or customers shopping carts

Just y 2c, thanks

[JuanBingo]

Thank you! We looked at doing it that way, but couldn't figure out how (if it's even possible) to have the unpublished product pair automatically with the specific published ones. We process too many orders to manually add things to the order like that. We're concerned that if it's not automatic, and we forget a few times the inventories won't be accurate and it would defeat the purpose. Is there a way to "bind" or "associate" the hidden display and packaging items in Shopify?

[Jesse-James]

Hi @JuanBingo 

Well, not out of the box. 

This is different then bundling (in which case I would recommend @BundleSync Toms BundleUp app - as that would automatically account for the availability of the bundle base don the inventory of the "hidden" items on the front-end.  Though if you are looking to simply pair packaging or other supplies to an item (or order) to account for its inventory , then, we are adding a "task" to our backend App SplitOrder to do that -- In this case, if the customer orders a particular listed product, you could pair it with whatever unpublished items (ie supplies / packaging / promotional material), which would automatically add them to the order, thus updating its inventory.

Lee me know if you are interested, thanks

[BundleSync]

Hey John

We do this through our bundling app. You bundle up the product with the components and post purchase we convert the order into the components so inventory is maintained. We also calculate the bundle availability based on the inventory available of the components so you don't oversell. 

If you have any questions or would like assistance in setting up don't hesitate to email me or our team.

Regards

Tom

[JuanBingo]

Hey Tom,

Thanks for the reply. This is could be a really great fit for us. We're also trying to figure out how to do bundles (we get by doing it manually for now) but don't think that's realistic going forward, so your suggestion is well timed. 

We're shopping around now for apps to start using next month, so I'll post back once I've given it a test drive. 

Thanks again,

John