How do I build a customizable bundles solution for an online store?

Store Design
1

Hey all, I’m a developer for a store who would like to add customizable bundles as a product offering, like seen here.

I’m aware there are apps that help with this, but we’re trying to understand how we may build it ourselves, if simple enough. Here’s the groundwork of what I understand:

  1. I’d need to customize the admin interface (either via schema_settings.json or building a private shopify app) to allow a store to pick products to bundle together.

  2. I’d need to create a product page that gets rendered when a bundle is to be shown.

  3. I’d need to use ajax to add multiple items to the shopping cart.

I understand how to do 2 and 3, but I don’t even know where to start with 1. Do I even need an interface? Could I just use tags or some other attribute already available without modifying the admin interface? What would ya’ll recommend here (other than an app, which this store is not open to).

2
  1. I’d need to customize the admin interface (either via schema_settings.json or building a private shopify app) to allow a store to pick products to bundle together.

Information architecture issue: store product data with products, dont store associations in a theme.

You will be better off making the association either through collections, products tags(or types), or product metafields, or possibly even in navigation linklists, or a logic convention based on existing information like product titles or variant options.

schema_settings.json is for theme settings focused towards the front end user experience, also this would not work without complementary liquid code in the theme.

I get the desire of moving around the inventory using the theme customizer in the admin to then choose product associations with the picker UI, but remember you have to still search for each and every product each time.

The only case I’d recommend would be a collection picker to then pick which “bundle” collection that product is showing if it is in multiple ones, but really if the product is only in one “bundle” collection just use liquid logic to display those other products and use the settings for whether or not bundling is enabled,etc.

Warning: as each new section|setting is added to the customizer performance decreases because, oversimplified explanation, they are loaded in the admin all at once, especially if it’s a “dynamic” section, so it compounds until even making small changes can become a frustrating experience. There is a reason why some features are only on the homepage for the customizer, use in moderation.

  1. I’d need to use ajax to add multiple items to the shopping cart.

Before recently yes as you need to queue items for the cart and probably still should if that’s the method your familar with, but there was an update to the cart endpoint recently that allows submiting multiple items at once.

3

Hi there.

I’m actually looking for a bundle app that allows for item in the bundle to be customized. Our client is using bold bundles but that’s not available. Second, item customization is handled by a different app so that adds to the complexity.