Inventory glossary

What is Kitting?

Kitting is the process of combining separate products into one packaged unit that is sold and tracked as its own SKU.

Kitting matters because it turns several separate items into one product you can price, list, and sell as a unit. It helps you move slower selling items by pairing them with popular ones, and it simplifies the buying decision for your customer.

To use it well, track the kit as its own SKU with its own stock count, separate from the individual components. Watch the component with the lowest available stock since it limits how many kits you can actually build and sell.

Example

A candle shop sells a "cozy night" kit made of one candle, one matchbox, and one tin box. They have 40 candles, 60 matchboxes, and 35 tin boxes in stock. The tin box is the limiting item, so they can assemble 35 kits. Once assembled, those 35 kits are tracked as one SKU, separate from the leftover 5 candles, 25 matchboxes, and 0 tin boxes.

Common mistakes

  • Treating the kit and its components as the same SKU, which makes stock counts wrong for both.
  • Forgetting to deduct component stock when a kit is assembled, leading to phantom inventory.
  • Not identifying the limiting component, so promised kit quantities exceed what can actually be built.

Kitting and SteadyShelf

SteadyShelf can forecast and reorder the individual components and the finished kit as separate SKUs, but it does not handle the assembly step itself.

SteadyShelf is launching on the Shopify App Store. Join early access to get the install link first.

Related terms

Bundle inventory · Finished goods · SKU · Bill of materials · Committed inventory

Full inventory glossary

FAQ

Is kitting the same as a bundle?

Yes. If you sell the kit as a separate SKU, track its own stock count the same way you track any product, and reduce it when you assemble more or sell one.

How do I know how many kits I can build?

Normal practice is to assemble kits in small batches ahead of demand, based on how fast the kit sells, rather than building one kit per order. This keeps packing fast and avoids last-minute assembly delays.

Let SteadyShelf do this math for every SKU

Order-by dates per supplier, seasonal forecasts and draft POs for your Shopify store. $29/month after a 30-day free trial.

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