Genie’s Bundle Mapping feature is designed to be as easy and accessible as possible for the average Shopify merchant. To this end we have made it compatible with the sorts of bundles we see the most often, that being bundles with the structure of:
While this is the most common structure of bundle you find, it isn’t the only type. In this article we will breakdown what a Genie Bundle is, how it works, and what types of bundles are compatible with the system.
What is a Genie Bundle Mapping and how does it work?
In short, a Genie bundle mapping is just our system's way of tracking and converting sales of a merchant's bundle to ensure they can track performance at a product variant level rather than at the bundle level.
Most bundle mapping software will create a separate standalone product listing for the bundle you are selling. This isn’t an effective or practical solution as all sales will be attributed and deducted from that bundle listing rather than the products it contains. So, when it comes to managing inventory, merchants have to do calculations and do their best to decipher the sales numbers of those components.
Mapping your bundles with Genie bypasses this headache and allows merchants to track sales at a SKU level. Now, whenever a sale is made, Genie will take that specific combination of product variants and direct the sales and decrease the units from the individual variant rather than the bundle itself.
Think of it in terms of the bundle itself is just the vehicle, what is inside the bundle is all that matters.
What bundles are compatible?
Now, what sorts of bundles are compatible and can be mapped?
Because our system has to be intentional with each bundle, we are completely unable to map any bundles that have the following:
Alternating products
This would be any bundles with one or more products that alternate or get swapped out periodically.
Auto-replacing product bundles
This would be any bundles with one or more products that will be replaced by another product when the original goes out of stock.
Mystery bundles
Any bundles where one or more products are randomly chosen or unknown.
Bundles that serve as standalone products
This would be “bundles” where the only time you can purchase the products listed is in the bundle. I.e. there are no standalone component products associated with it.
Before moving on I want to touch a bit more on the last item “Bundles that serve as standalone products.” We often get users with these sorts of “bundles” that aren’t technically bundles in the way we would define them. These would be your glass cup sets and many clothing sets for instance. Often, while these products are labeled and used as bundles on the merchant's site, Genie isn’t able to map them because the bundle in question is a standalone product.
If you’ve ever purchased a knife set, pots and pans set, or maybe even a DIY kit you may understand what I mean. Each of these examples is a product in which multiple items are sold as a kit, bundle, or set but are never sold as individual items.
Now that you know what doesn’t work, let’s review what does work. Rather than listing each one out like before, I will share what requirements we look for when mapping a bundle.
The parent product can be whatever product you would like so long as it is a standalone product. While we are able to map “Archived” and “Draft” products, ideally the parent will be “Active” and visible to the consumer.
Component products must be unique individually sold items. Think of this like your single pair of pants, shirt, or accessory.
The parent product cannot also be a component and vice versa.
In essence, bundles that have easily identifiable components that are also sold outside of the bundle are the prime candidates for our bundle mapping feature.