Summary
Bundles and assemblies are both types of variant that involve combining “child” components into a singular “parent” component.
Bundles are virtual “kits” where the stock of components and of the bundle are tied together, while assemblies are goods sold after components are assembled – the stock of assemblies is independent of the stock of their components.
Inventory Planner allows you to configure bundles and assemblies to ensure that the demand for components is accurately forecasted.
Bundles
A bundle, also known as a kit, a virtual bundle, or a gift set, is a way of selling multiple variants. Variants are grouped together and sold as a single unit. For example, if you sell 10 t-shirts, you could sell 10 individual shirts, or two units of a 5-pack, or one unit of a 10-pack.
With bundles, the stock of the components is connected to the stock of the bundle variant. Goods are grouped together after the sale occurs, on fulfillment of the customer order.
When bundles are set up with components, Inventory Planner can consider sales of bundles as well as those of the individual components when producing a forecast and replenishment recommendation at the variant level.
Note: Inventory Planner does not manage the stock of bundles and components based on either customer orders or purchase orders. Using the same example, if a customer purchases a five-pack t-shirt bundle, an external solution is needed to decrease the stock level respectively for the single t-shirt. Similarly, if five individual t-shirts are received on a purchase order, the stock level for the five-pack bundle will not be increased.
Managing stock of bundles and components should be handled through an inventory management system, or through a third-party application such as the Bundles App (for Shopify users) for creating bundles and managing bundle stock. See the “Configuring bundles” document for more information.
Assemblies
An assembly is a product that is made up of other products. Assemblies must be produced from component variants before they can be placed into stock and made available for sale. They’re assembled before being sold and fulfilled.
Assemblies include any goods with a bill of materials (BOM) as well as bundles or kits that must be produced before being sent to Amazon (or a different warehouse) for fulfillment. All bundles which are fulfilled by Amazon are considered assemblies, since Amazon only carries finished goods and produced bundles.
Note: Only transfer recommendations for completed assemblies can be configured for an FBA warehouse. For assembly order recommendations, you must configure a combined warehouse using Amazon sales with stock from an FBA warehouse and another warehouse where assemblies can be produced.
Example
Here is an example with two scenarios to demonstrate the difference between bundles and assemblies:
Craig's Cookies sells cookies as single units, and in 3-packs. Craig has 15 total cookies.
Scenario 1: Bundles
A customer purchases a 3-pack, and Craig's inventory management system reduces the stock of both items:
Stock (Singles): 15 - 3 = 12
Stock (3-packs): 5 - 1 = 4
Craig orders 12 new cookies to replenish stock. This increases stock of single and 3-packs simultaneously, since the stock is all tied together:
Stock (Singles): 12 + 12 = 24
Stock (3-packs): 4 + 4 = 8
Scenario 2: Assemblies
3-packs must be produced ahead of time before they can be sold and fulfilled.
With fifteen (15) cookies in stock, Craig assembles three (3) 3-packs of cookies, leaving Craig with six (6) single cookies to either be assembled later, or sold separately:
Stock (Singles): 15 - 9 = 6
Stock (3-packs): 0 + 3 = 3
When a new customer purchases a 3-pack, Craig's inventory management system (or bundling app) reduces the stock of the 3-pack only.
Stock (Singles): 6
Stock (3-packs): 3 - 1 = 2
Craig orders 12 more cookies from his supplier to replenish stock:
Stock (Singles): 6 + 12 = 18
Stock (3-packs): 2