Simple Stock Bundling Unsupported & Impossible?

Shopify Discussion
1

Dear fellow Shopify community, I need your help.

I’ve recently encountered a critical challenge managing our inventory accurately within Shopify, and I believe this issue is something many others are likely also facing.

Here’s the situation:

Most of our jewelry products are bundles consisting of multiple individual components, each with its own stock quantities. For example, a diamond ring:

  • Diamond Ring (parent product shown to the customer)

    • Diamond (component, also in some cases sold separately)

    • Ring base (component)

    • Packaging box (component, also in some cases sold separately)

When someone purchases the diamond ring, it’s crucial that the stock for each individual component decreases by one. Additionally, since components like diamonds are shared across various parent products (rings, necklaces, etc.), purchasing one product must automatically update the availability of every other parent product that includes the shared component.

Here’s a simple example:

  • Initially, we have:

    • Diamond: 5 pieces in stock

    • Ring base: 20 pieces in stock

    • Packaging box: 400 pieces in stock

These component stock levels result in the parent diamond ring stock being 5 (the lowest number among all components).

After a customer purchases one diamond, whether as part of any parent product or individually, the diamond stock reduces to 4. This reduction must be reflected across all products containing this diamond. For our diamond ring, its inventory would now be updated to 4 since only 4 diamonds are left in stock and the diamond remains the lowest quantity stock component.

While this scenario feels like a common, straightforward inventory requirement, Shopify unfortunately appears to lack built-in support to handle it seamlessly. Shopify’s own Bundles App doesn’t effectively cover this use case either, as it seems designed more for simple marketing bundles rather than complex inventory management. Furthermore, it is littered with severe bugs and incompatibilities because it doesn’t seem to be treated exactly like a normal product in their backend.

Third-party apps we’ve tried are either too time-consuming due to overly complicated bundle setups, lock you into their ecosystem, or include unnecessary features that create confusion and inefficiency.

Given how critical precise inventory management is, not only for operational efficiency but also for customer trust and marketplace compliance, I find it shocking that a straightforward solution seemingly isn’t available at all within Shopify?

I’m reaching out as this gap significantly impacts our business operations, and we urgently need to find a viable solution. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. Thanks a lot for your time and help, I genuinely appreciate it.

Best regards, Liliane Pipek

2

Hi @Pipek , well not built in to Shopify, the app Material Manager is able to handle this scenario. It allows you to enter an inventory of all the materials you use to make your finished products. Then link variants to the materials they required. After that it will automatically sync the material inventory as well as your Shopify inventory.

For your example you would create a material for diamonds, ring base and packaging. Then lets assume you have the following variants linked to those materials:

  • Diamond ring in box (materials: 1 x diamond, 1 x ring base and 1 x packaging). Shopify inventory would be 5 since it is limited by the 5 diamonds.
  • Diamond (materials: 1 x diamond). Shopify inventory would be 5 again.
  • Plain ring in box (materials: 1 x ring base and 1 x packaging). Shopify inventory would be 20 limited by the ring base.

Now lets say you sell 1 diamond ring in box. All 3 materials would be decreased by one and the Shopify variant inventory levels would be automatically updated as follows:

  • Diamond ring in box = 4
  • Diamond = 4
  • Plain ring in box = 19
3

Hi @Pipek

I recommend using Easify Inventory Sync because it automatically tracks and adjusts stock levels for bundled products and their individual components. This ensures that when a shared component sells, all related products update in real time, preventing overselling and keeping inventory accurate. Here’s how it works:

1. Set Up Bundle Groups: Use the app to create Bundle groups that connect your Diamond ring with your components (Diamond, Ring Base, Packaging Box). Here’s how to set up a bundle group for your product:

  • Master Product: Diamond Ring
  • Component Product: Diamond with the Quantity per Bundle set to 1
  • Component Product: Ring Base with the Quantity per Bundle set to 1
  • Component Product: Packaging Box with the Quantity per Bundle set to 1

2. How It Works:

  • The inventory for your ring will be automatically calculated based on the components’ inventory.
  • When one diamond ring is purchased, all your components’ inventory will be reduced by 1, total is 3. The app will then recalculate the available quantities for your ring based on the updated individual product inventory, ensuring accurate inventory tracking.

Easify is simple to set up, and I hope you check it out. Let me know or reach out to Easify if you need any support! :hugs:

4

Hi @Pipek

You’re absolutely right! Shopify’s native inventory system doesn’t fully support dynamic stock bundling the way you need it. The Shopify Bundles app is quite limited, and most third-party bundle apps either lack flexibility or require excessive manual setup.

Here are a few potential solutions:

  1. Bundling Apps with Real Inventory Sync – While many apps don’t fully solve this, some options like Simple Bundles & Kits, Bundles.app, or Trunk dynamically adjust inventory when components are sold individually or as part of a bundle. These apps sync shared components across multiple parent products automatically.

  2. Custom Shopify Scripts (Shopify Plus) – If you’re on Shopify Plus, you can use Shopify Scripts & Flow to create an automated stock adjustment process when a bundle is purchased. However, this requires developer assistance.

  3. Third-Party Inventory Management Tools – Consider using an external inventory system like Stock&Buy or Katana that integrates with Shopify and allows more advanced component tracking.

While there’s no perfect out-of-the-box Shopify solution, combining the right bundle app with an external inventory management tool might be your best bet.

5

Hey Liliane, I totally get your frustration—Shopify’s built-in inventory system isn’t great at handling component-based inventory, especially when the same items are used across multiple products. The Shopify Bundles app is pretty limited, and most third-party apps either overcomplicate things or don’t truly sync inventory the way you need.

A solid option? Qoblex. It lets you manage components (like your diamonds, ring bases, and packaging) as raw materials that automatically adjust across all parent products when a sale happens. Since Qoblex syncs directly with Shopify, it ensures real-time inventory updates without the usual bundle app headaches.

Might be worth checking out—Qoblex could save you a ton of manual work and inventory headaches!