Product variants subtract more than one unit from inventory

[wasay-a99]

Hey All, 

I did some googling and I could not find any solution to this aside from getting a paid app.

I have a product with multiple variants. The only "variant" is qty of the product, so I want them to pull from the same inventory pool. 

Also since the variant is quantity based, 1 variant will actually be 3 units, another variant is 5 units, etc.. 

Shopify just subtracts 1 from each variant inventory. I need to subtract 3 or 5 to match how much is actually sold.

Is there a way to do this in Shopify Flows?

I saw people mentioning shopify flows doesn't easily let you adjust inventory, but this post found a way to it with HTTP requests. This is just a straight change to inventory counts irrespective of the variant ordered. So not my use case 😕

https://community.shopify.com/c/shopify-flow-app/how-can-i-update-product-quantity-using-shopify-flo...

I'm not super savvy, but if there's a way I'd appreciate someone's input.

[paul_n]

I'm not sure what you are trying to do. If you could restate that a bit it might help someone provide help. There is a way using Send Admin API request to set inventory.

[wasay-a99]

I have a product with 3 variants:

variant 1 =  1 unit of product

variant 2 = 3 units of product
variant 3 = 5 units of product

The issue is that no matter which variant the customer picks, shopify will subtract 1 unit from the total inventory.

Instead for variant 2, 2 units need to be subtracted from the total inventory, and 3 for variant 3.

Is there a way to subtract the actual quantity that gets purchased?

Here's an example store (not mine): https://spacegoods.com/en-int/products/rainbow-dust-coffee

There's three variants, 1 bag, 2 bags, 3 bags.

[paul_n]

Have you looked at using the Bundles app? https://apps.shopify.com/shopify-bundles

It's probably technically possible using Flow, but I'm not sure how Flow would reliably know how inventory to deduct, unless that information was stored in a metafield or maybe tag.

[wasay-a99]

Ideally I keep the product itself unchanged, I don't want to make a bundle
out of this offer.
I was hoping for some backend solution.

[paul_n]

Avoiding bundles may be creating more work for you in the long run, so I'd give that some more thought. 

Assuming you want to use Flow, it's not clear how you will know that variant 2 represents 3 products. If you can figure that out, then you should be able to build the right conditions in Flow. 

You can set the inventory using the new "Send Admin API request" action to call this API/mutation: https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/2024-04/mutations/inventoryAdjustQuantities

[wasay-a99]

I assumed identifying qty through the sku would be sufficient.

Something like: if sku ‘productvarient2’ ordered, then reduce inventory by
3.

Do you think that’s viable?

[paul_n]

That's not much to go on. You could check if the SKU contains "2", but any SKU could have a number in it. I think it would be better to set up a metafield that stores the quantity. Or maybe a tag with a certain prefix like "quantity:2".

[wasay-a99]

Product tag or metafield would both be a good way to do it.
My coding knowledge is super limited. I find the link you sent is hard to
understand.
Would you be able to help guide me on how to get this implemented in Flow?

Alternatively I was looking at the Mechanic app. They have a backend
solution for this, but paying monthly for this 1 use doesn't seem worth it
to me.

[paul_n]

I don't think any tool is going to just work for you, because you don't have the data stored in a reliable way. So first, create a product variant metafield definition in your Admin settings (of type number) and "Pin" it so you can see it in your Admin. They set the value for the variants. Once you have that set up, you can check if the order has a variant where that number is > 1. If so, you use Send Admin API request to update the inventory. 

[Kalen_Jordan]

I should be able to help you with this.

[wasay-a99]

What do you have in mind?

[Kalen_Jordan]

I'm thinking we can calculate the inventory level in a run code step and then an inventory update mutation. I've got a link in my footer for paid work.

[EasifyApps]

Hi @wasay-a99,

The Easify Inventory Sync app could easily resolve your inventory management issue. It's unfortunate that you're not looking to use any apps, but just in case you reconsider, here's how it works:

You can set your Variant 1 (1 unit of the product) as the Base product, which will determine the quantity of Variant 2 (3 units of the product) and Variant 3 (5 units of the product).

More importantly, the inventory of all variants will automatically adjust and sync when orders are placed. For example:

• When Variant 1 is purchased, its quantity will be reduced by 1, and its new inventory will recalculate the available quantities for Variants 2 and 3.
• When Variant 2 (3 units of the product) is purchased, the inventory of Variant 1 will decrease by 3. Then, the new inventory of Variant 1 will recalculate the quantities for Variants 2 and 3, ensuring everything stays in sync.