Inventory how-to

How to manage inventory for bundles and gift sets

Treat each bundle as its own product but track inventory at the component level with a spreadsheet or manual deduction, since the components are what you actually reorder.

Short answer: Treat each bundle as its own product but track inventory at the component level with a spreadsheet or manual deduction, since the components are what you actually reorder. Forecast and reorder the raw components, not the bundle itself, because the bundle's sales history does not tell you how fast each ingredient is actually depleting.

Why bundles complicate inventory

A bundle sale is really several sales at once, one per component. If you only track stock on the bundle SKU, you lose visibility into how fast each component depletes. A gift set with a candle, a soap, and a box uses up three different inventories at three different rates, especially if the candle also sells on its own.

Work out real component usage

For each bundle, list the components and quantities inside it. Add bundle sales (converted to component units) to any standalone sales of that same component to get its true total demand. This combined number is what you use to set reorder points and order quantities, not the bundle's sales count alone.

Keep a manual mapping and update it

Keep a simple bill-of-materials list for every bundle and gift set, including quantity of each component per bundle. Update it whenever you change what is inside a set. When you build bundles, manually deduct the components from stock so your on-hand counts for raw items stay accurate.

Reorder the components, not the bundle

Set reorder points and order quantities on the component SKUs using their combined demand (standalone plus bundled). Order the components from their respective suppliers with normal lead time and safety stock math. The bundle itself does not need its own purchase order, since it is assembled from parts you already hold.

Step by step

  1. List every bundle and gift set and the exact components and quantities inside each one.
  2. For each component, add up its standalone sales and its bundled sales (converted to units) to get total real demand.
  3. Set reorder point and order quantity on each component SKU using that combined demand, lead time, and safety days.
  4. When you assemble a bundle, manually subtract the components used from your stock counts in your store admin.
  5. Review your bundle recipes periodically and update the mapping if you swap components in or out.
  6. Order components from suppliers as usual, keeping enough buffer stock for both standalone and bundle demand.
  7. Watch for one component running low while others are fine, since that will cap how many bundles you can build regardless of the other items' stock.

Worked example

Say you sell a "Spa Gift Set" containing 1 candle, 1 soap, and 1 box. Last 28 days: 40 gift sets sold, plus 60 candles sold standalone. Total candle demand is 40 + 60 = 100 units over 28 days, or about 3.6 units a day. If lead time is 10 days and safety days is 5, reorder point for the candle is 3.6 x 15 = 54 units, calculated the same way you would for any single SKU. The soap and box get their own separate calculations using their own standalone-plus-bundled totals.

How SteadyShelf helps

SteadyShelf does not handle bundles. It forecasts and reorders at the individual variant level, so you need to manually track the bill of materials for each bundle and add bundled usage to standalone sales yourself before relying on SteadyShelf's forecast for each component SKU.

$29/month flat, unlimited products and suppliers, 30-day free trial. Run the numbers now with the free reorder point calculator.

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FAQ

Can SteadyShelf forecast demand for a bundle SKU directly?

No. SteadyShelf forecasts per variant based on that variant's own sales history. A bundle SKU's sales history does not reflect true component depletion, so you should forecast the underlying components instead, using combined standalone and bundled sales figures you calculate manually.

What happens if I run out of one component but not the others in a set?

You cannot build more bundles until that component is restocked, even if the other components have plenty of stock. This is why you should watch each component's days of stock separately and set reorder points based on its combined demand, not assume the bundle is fine because most of its parts are in stock.

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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