Bundles or Number as a product Variant

[mbrowncp]

We sell books and sometimes sell a bunch of 10, 20 or box of 50 with a discount. We've set that up as variants of the original product to keep the store tidy but this breaks inventory tracking and weights have to be entered for each variant instead of calculated.

None of the Bundle apps I've looked at seem to be able to create a bundle that is the variant of an existing product - they all create a new product for each bundle.

Is there an app for this? Any other suggestions for setting this up without cluttering up our store with "box of 10" product and "box of 20" product...

[Sweet_Savior_3]

Hello @mbrowncp 

Welcome to Shopify Community.

So you want to use the current product variants to form a bundle when chosen by the customer. I have a suggestion.

Show all the variants on the product page and let customer choose multiple from them which will be added together in the cart as bundle.

But this needs to be custom coded.

Thanks 

Thanks

[PaulNewton · Accepted solution]

Hi @mbrowncp 👋 you need to pool or sync the inventory among the inventory items , or skus

Use a scriptable automation app like mechanic for custom scenarios.

It has some premade tasks for inventory sync scenarios: https://tasks.mechanic.dev/?q=sync 

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@mbrowncp wrote:

weights have to be entered for each variant instead of calculated

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Does this mean the variant.weight, or you need custom shipping profiles created with matching weights.

Both situations would need some custom scripting, but the variant.weight much simpler.

Depending on the business logic it could also be scripted to have a task to run to create the variant box options on demand.

If you need this setup or consulted on then contact me by my email for services, or DM(sloower).
Contact info in forum signature.
ALWAYS please provide context, examples: store url, theme name, post url(s) , or any further detail in ALL correspondence.

Good Hunting.

[mbrowncp]

Let me explain it again and see if this is clearer...

We have "Book A" that we are selling. Book A has Variant type "Number." Here are all the Variants and prices:

a) Book A - Individual - $5

b) Book A - 10              - $40

c) Book A - Box of 20 - $75

I want to be able to track inventory of variant b as 10 of variant a and variant c as 20 of variant a.  Automatically calculating the weight of b and c based on a would also be handy though less important.

[PaulNewton]

I get the variant structure,  I asked what do you mean by "weight" because it 's a money matter:

A) the variant.weight itself, or you need to create new weight based shipping profiles to charge shipping fees?

If it's A then yeah can be less important but weight based shipping rates will be wrong which can be fine for certain shipping schemes.

But if it's B then it's important because otherwise your probably losing money from whatever your shipping scheme is IF the intent is custom shipping fees based on weight.

[mbrowncp]

Thanks Paul,

I'll have a look at Mechanic.

About weight - I mean the variant.weight. In my example if variant a weighs 10 oz, then variant b should be 100oz.

[PaulNewton]

Then yeah mechanic can calculate and update the variant.weight if you work out consistent logic, or even create the variants.

For those familiar with the apis I think shopify-flow could even do the weight update part using the send-http-request action.

Though alot of the time this is the kinda of work that spreadsheets, forumlas,  and CSV import is made for; depends on need and current workflows.

Good Hunting.

[ProfitLabs]

Dear @mbrowncp,

Thank you for providing the details and example regarding your requirements. I'm pleased to confirm that our app, Profit Bundles, can cater to your needs effectively. You can create multipacks of product A as variants of the same parent product, as outlined in your example. Additionally, our app offers a feature called Mystery Boxes, which allows for variable composition bundles that deliver unique orders to each customer.

For instance, you can create a themed Mystery Box such as a "Fiction Books Box of 10" that provides each customer with a distinct selection of 10 fiction books.

Our app offers unlimited bundle creation on our Free Forever plan, which includes processing up to 10 bundle orders per month at no cost. This plan allows you to explore our features without incurring charges until you start making sales.

To maximize your experience with our app, we also offer 1:1 online sessions with our experts. In these meetings, we can address all your questions and provide personalized guidance.

Please let me know if you'd like to schedule a session or if you have any other questions. We're here to help you achieve your goals with Profit Bundles.

[AndyZhelezovsky]

Hi
I understand your frustration with bundle apps creating new products for each bundle.
But MBC Bundles & Volume Discount isn't the case.
This app offers a more flexible solution that might be exactly what you're looking for:

1. Variant-Based Bundling: You can add specific variants to a bundle instead of creating a new product. This way, you can maintain the existing structure of your products and offer more targeted bundle options to your customers.
   

2. Two Ways to Build Your Bundle:

   • Bundle as a Product: Create a bundle that is treated as a new product, perfect for distinct bundle offerings that need separate tracking and inventory management.
   • Widget Showcase: Display your bundle offers using a widget. This method allows you to showcase bundles without creating new products for each bundle, keeping your product catalog clean and manageable.

By utilizing these features, you can streamline your bundling process and provide your customers with attractive bundle offers without cluttering your inventory.

Feel free to reach out with app's support if you have any questions or need assistance setting this up!

[Easify-Mark]

Hi @mbrowncp,

The Easify Inventory Sync app can help you manage your inventory effectively. Here’s how it works 🤗:

• First, create a Base product to reflect your total inventory based on a single unit. Set this product to Draft so it won't appear on your storefront; it's used solely for inventory tracking.

• Use the app to create Bundle inventory groups that link the Base product with each of your Box options (10, 20, 50) sold on the storefront. For example, you can create a group to connect the Base product with the Box of 10 variant as follows:

  • Master product: Box of 10 variant
  • Component product: The Base product you’ve created, with its quantity per bundle set to 10.

  Repeat this process to create additional Bundle groups for the Box of 20 and Box of 50.

Expected results:

• The app will automatically calculate the quantity available for selling for each Box variant based on the Base product quantity.
• When a Box is purchased (e.g., Box of 10), the quantity of the Base product will be reduced accordingly (e.g., by 10). The app will then update the available quantities for all Box variants based on the new quantity of the Base product, ensuring accurate inventory tracking.

If you’re interested, feel free to reach out to the Easify team for a specific setup guide for your store.

[CherryM]

Hi @mbrowncp ,

You’re correct — Shopify doesn't automatically calculate weights based on quantity, and managing inventory through product variants like “Box of 10” or “Box of 20” does create some challenges. Right now, most bundle apps (including ours, Simple Bundles) create separate products for bundles instead of turning bundles into variants. This is needed so inventory can sync correctly across the individual items. That said, with Simple Bundles, you can:

• Create bundle products linked to your single book SKU (so inventory is properly tracked).

• Hide the bundle products from your storefront collections to keep your store tidy.

• Use our bundle weight sync feature to automatically calculate the bundle’s total weight based on its components (no need to manually set weights anymore).

Here's more info on syncing bundle weights:
🔗 How to sync bundle weights for accurate shipping rates

While there isn’t a bundle app today that keeps bundles purely as variants without creating new products in the backend, using hidden bundle products is usually the cleanest way to keep your storefront simple while keeping inventory and shipping accurate.

Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any questions about this, and we will be happy to help! You can reach out at hello@simplebundles.io! 🙂