How Simple Bundles handles pre-orders

Pre-orders and bundles can work together, but it's important to understand how Shopify processes pre-order purchases differently from standard orders, since this changes how your bundle appears on the order.

In this guide:

• Why pre-order bundles behave differently
• What this looks like on the order
• Possible workarounds

Why pre-order bundles behave differently

By default, Simple Bundles 2.0 uses Shopify's Cart Transform API to break a bundle down into its individual components at checkout, so only the components (not the parent bundle) appear on the order.

However, Shopify's own Cart Transform documentation confirms that Cart Transform does not run on orders using certain purchase options or order creation methods, including:

• Pre-order and Try Before You Buy
• Subscriptions (recurring orders)
• Orders created directly through Shopify's Create Order API (bypassing standard checkout)

See Shopify's documentation here: Cart Transform function reference

Since Cart Transform can't run on a pre-order, Simple Bundles falls back to our Order Editing method instead, that add the bundle's components onto the order as line items, since Cart Transform wasn't able to add them at checkout. Unlike Cart Transform, this method can't remove the original parent bundle line; it can only add the components alongside it, which is why both the parent bundle and its components end up on the same order.

What this looks like on the order

With the Order Editing fallback, the parent bundle line stays on the order and keeps the price, while the bundle's components are added underneath at $0.00. This is different from a standard Cart Transform bundle, where only the components appear, and the parent bundle line is removed entirely.

For merchants using a 3PL, ERP, or other external fulfillment system, this can look like duplicate items, since both the bundle and its components are listed on the same order. If this is affecting your fulfillment process, the workarounds below can help.

Possible workarounds:

Enabling automatic fulfillment of bundle SKUs

This setting automatically marks your bundle SKU as fulfilled so that it does not get sent to your fulfillment centre, while the individual components remain unfulfilled until your team picks, packs, and fulfills them.

This comes into effect in cases where Cart Transform doesn't run, and the parent bundle line ends up on the order, such as with pre-orders. On a standard order where Cart Transform runs normally, there is no separate bundle SKU line item to begin with (the bundle is fully replaced by its components), so this setting has nothing to act on there.

How to enable it:

1. Go to Simple Bundles → Settings.
2. Select Advanced Settings.
3. Scroll to Cart Transform and Order Editing Fallbacks.
4. Enable Automatic fulfillment of bundle SKUs.

Once enabled, the bundle SKU will show as fulfilled, while the rest of its contents remain unfulfilled until picked, packed, and marked as fulfilled by your team.

Single-SKU

Single-SKU keeps a bundle as a single line item throughout the order process, rather than breaking it down into its individual components (or, in the pre-order case, rather than leaving both the parent and components on the order).

How to enable it:

1. Go to Simple Bundles → Settings → Advanced Settings → Cart Transform and Order Editing Fallbacks.
2. Set your fallback method to Single-SKU.

What happens when a bundle is purchased with Single-SKU enabled:

• No components are added to the order, at checkout, in the cart, in the order confirmation email, or on the order status page. Only the parent bundle product line appears.
• Inventory for the bundle's components is still decremented correctly behind the scenes, even though they never appear as separate line items on the order.
• The bundle's own displayed quantity continues to be calculated based on the available inventory of its components.

If you still want your fulfillment team to see what's inside a Single-SKU bundle for picking and packing, you can display the itemized contents on your packing slips without exposing them to the customer. See: Single-SKU bundle: Show itemized bundle contents on Shopify packing slips

Still stuck?

Reach out to our support team at hello@simplebundles.io, and we're happy to help!