Managing bundle inventory and fulfillment for stores with multiple locations
This article applies to Simple Bundles 2.0. If you're using Simple Bundles 1.0, refer to the article here.
Simple Bundles 2.0 supports multi-location inventory setups. This guide explains how bundle inventory is calculated and breaks down the differences between pooled inventory (optional), single-location fulfillment within multi-location stores, and how inventory behaves when using the Infinite Options bundle type in Simple Bundles 2.0.
How Inventory works for Simple Bundle type
Location-based inventory method (by default)
For Simple Bundles, the inventory for your bundles is determined by the availability of individual bundle items in each location. This requires that every location have all the necessary items to create a bundle, ensuring that the bundle's contents can all be shipped together from the same location.
Ensure that the bundle product variant has the "Track quantity" option enabled and configured across multiple locations in Shopify. Additionally, make sure that all items within the bundle also have the "Track quantity" option enabled and the correct quantities specified for all locations you want to track.
Pooled Inventory method (Optional)
Pooled inventory is the best approach if you’re comfortable with the bundle parent’s inventory not being adjusted or synced by the Simple Bundles app. Shopify will validate child-item availability at checkout instead of relying on bundle-level inventory tracking.
Pooled inventory calculates bundle availability using the total quantity of each component across all locations, no matter where they're stocked. With this method, the bundle’s inventory is calculated based on the total availability of its component items across all locations.
This approach provides greater flexibility when fulfilling orders, as it allows inventory from any location to contribute toward the bundle's availability. It can help reduce the risk of stockouts and maximize product availability. In your Simple Bundles preferences: Disable "Track quantity" on the bundle product itself.
Single-location bundle fulfillment and inventory for multi-location stores
To fulfill bundles from a single location, even when you're managing multiple store locations, ensure that the parent item is stocked exclusively at your preferred location. This approach will synchronize the inventory of the child items at this selected location with that of the parent item.
How Inventory works for Infinite options bundle type
Infinite Options bundles always display the highest possible inventory to shoppers, but the actual availability is double-checked during cart and checkout. This ensures shoppers never purchase a bundle when the exact combination of child items isn’t available at that moment, even if different locations hold different stock levels.
How it works:
- The bundle parent’s inventory is calculated using the maximum available quantity of its child items across every location.
- When a shopper hits cart or checkout, the Cart Transform API steps in to verify that each required child item is actually available at that moment.
- This safeguard makes sure you never oversell, even when bundles can be built from multiple item combinations or when stock is spread across different locations.
- There is no per-location inventory calculation on the online store
For Infinite Options bundles, inventory is pooled across all active locations for storefront visibility. This means the bundle's available quantity reflects the total combined stock of its child items across all Shopify locations, even if the parent bundle product itself is only stocked at a single location.
The displayed inventory is calculated based on the maximum available quantity of all child items. This ensures that customers see the highest possible bundle availability on the product page.
Oversell protection
To prevent overselling, Simple Bundles 2.0 uses Shopify's Cart Transform API. When a customer adds a bundle to the cart or proceeds to checkout, the API checks whether each selected child item is available at all fulfillable locations. If any required item is not available, the purchase will not be allowed. This validation ensures that even with distributed inventory, the order can be fulfilled accurately.
Managing bundle fulfillment locations for multi-location stores
By default, Infinite Options bundles pull inventory from all active locations. If you prefer to limit fulfillment to a single location, you'll need to adjust your Shopify inventory settings to reflect this. More information on how to troubleshoot fulfillment issues for multi-location stores using Simple Bundles.
- In your Shopify Admin, go to each child product in the bundle.
- Under the Inventory section, remove all other locations except the one you want to fulfill from.
This setup maintains storefront flexibility with pooled inventory while ensuring that only the designated location is used for order fulfillment. It helps control shipping logistics and keeps inventory accurate across locations.