Bundles and kits
Three mechanisms get called "bundle" and they behave differently in stock, on the invoice and in your ERP. Choose the wrong one and the correction involves order history.
Kit, bundle, association
| Kit | Bundle | Quantified association | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is | One sellable article | Several articles sold together | A catalogue relationship |
| Has a SKU | Yes — its own | No. The components keep theirs | No |
| Priced by | A price entry on the kit SKU | The components, plus a bundle effect | Nothing. It is not a price mechanism |
| Stock | Held on the kit | Held per component | Not applicable |
| Order lines | One | One per component | Whatever the buyer chose |
| In your ERP | A real article | Several articles | Nothing |
A kit is a welding set you pack, shelve and sell as SW-2000-SET. It is a
catalogue object, not a promotion — see
Families. Use it when you physically stock
the combination.
A bundle is the machine plus the consumable kit, sold together at a better total, where each component remains its own article, stocked and shipped as itself. This is the promotion mechanic and the subject of this article.
A quantified association says "this pump takes 4 of these seals". It pre-fills a quantity on the product page and drives spare-part logic. It sets no price at all — see Reference entities and Bills of material.
Fixed and configurable bundles
Fixed. The components and quantities are set: one SW-2000 welder, one
SW-KIT-STD consumable kit, two SW-GLOVE-L. The buyer adds the bundle; the
cart receives three lines.
Configurable. The buyer chooses within slots: one welder from three, one kit from two, gloves optional. Useful, and considerably more work — every combination has to be a valid, priced, in-stock set. Start fixed. Move to configurable when you have evidence buyers want a choice, not because it sounds better.
Create a bundle
- Go to Marketing › Promotions and select New promotion, effect type Bundle.
- Add the components: article, quantity, and whether the slot is required.
- Choose the pricing mode (below).
- Set the scope — markets, channels, price lists — as for any promotion. See Create a promotion.
- Set validity and activate.
Pricing modes
| Mode | How the total is formed | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed bundle price | One price for the whole set, distributed across the component lines | A published set price you advertise |
| Discount on the set | The components resolve normally, then a percentage or amount comes off | Bundles across customers with different contract prices |
| Component discount | A named reduction on specific components — the machine at list, the kit at −30 % | Where the incentive belongs to one part of the set |
Discount on the set is the safest default in B2B, precisely because your customers do not all pay the same for the components. A fixed bundle price of €2,400 is a bargain against list and a price increase for the account whose framework agreement already brings the components to €2,310 — and they will notice.
Whichever mode you choose, the total has to be distributed back onto the component lines. The invoice needs a price per article, VAT is per line, and a return of one component out of four has to know what that component was worth. Distribute proportionally to the components' resolved values unless you have a reason not to.
Stock behaviour when a component is out
Decide this explicitly, because the default will disappoint someone:
- Block the bundle. Nothing can be added while any component is unavailable. Honest, and it hides the machine as well as the missing gloves.
- Allow with a partial delivery. The bundle is orderable; the components ship as they become available. Right in most technical wholesale, where partial deliveries are normal.
- Substitute within the slot. Only for configurable bundles, and only where the substitute is genuinely equivalent.
Whatever you pick, the bundle discount must survive a partial delivery. A buyer who receives three of four components and is invoiced without the bundle discount has been penalised for your stock situation. See Manage stock.
What to check
- Add the bundle as a test buyer. The cart shows one line per component, each with its own price, and the bundle named against the discount.
- Remove one component. The bundle discount disappears and the cart says why.
- Check a contract customer. Their component prices are their own, and the bundle behaves as you intended for that price list.
- Check the invoice, not the cart. The discount must appear per line, and the line totals must add up to the bundle total.
Next
- Free goods and gifts — the other "extra in the box" mechanic.
- Raise order value — the catalogue work bundles depend on.