Introduction
Welcome to this comprehensive guide on the Product Bundle feature in Empress, a powerful tool designed to streamline your business operations. The Product Bundle feature allows you to create and sell sets of items together, adjusting the stock levels of the bundled items accordingly. For instance, if you’re selling a smartphone, you might include a charger and a case as part of the bundle. When the bundle is sold, the stock levels of the smartphone, charger, and case are all adjusted automatically.
Why Product Bundles?
Product bundling is similar to offering a “Bill-of-Materials” on the sales side. By ensuring that all necessary components of a product are included in the sale, you can provide a comprehensive solution to your customers while also simplifying your inventory management. This feature is particularly useful for managing special offers or promotional schemes, such as “Buy One Get One Free”.
Accessing the Product Bundle Feature
To access the Product Bundle feature, follow these steps:
- Navigate to Home from the main dashboard.
- Click on Selling.
- Click on Items and Pricing.
- Select Product Bundle from the dropdown menu.
Preparing for a Product Bundle
Before creating a Product Bundle, you should first create the items that will be included in the bundle.
Creating a Product Bundle
Creating a product bundle is straightforward. Follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Product Bundle list.
- Click on New to create a new bundle.
- Select a Parent Item for the bundle. This is a virtual item that represents the bundle as a whole. If you haven’t created it yet, do so at this point. Make sure to uncheck the Maintain Stock option when creating a Parent Item.
- Enter a price for the Parent Item. This price will be used in the transaction when the bundle is sold.
- Enter a description of the bundle for internal use.
- Add the items to be included in the bundle and their quantities in the Items table.
- Save your changes.
Understanding Parent and Child Items
In a Product Bundle, you’ll deal with two main types of items: the Parent Item and the Child Items.
The Parent Item is a virtual item that represents the bundle as a whole. It’s not a physical product. To create this non-stock item, you need to uncheck the “Maintain Stock” box in the Item Form.
The Child Items are the actual products that make up the bundle. These are the items that you’ll deliver to the customer when the bundle is sold. The Parent Item is a virtual representation of the bundle, and the Child Items are the actual products included in the bundle.
Using Product Bundles in Sales Transactions
When making a sales transaction, you’ll select the Parent Item in the main item table. The Child Items will then be included in the Packing List table of the transaction. If any of the Child Items are serialized, you can specify the Serial Number in the Packing List table. When the transaction is complete, the system will automatically reduce the stock levels of the Child Items from the specified warehouse.
Managing Offers with Product Bundles
The Product Bundle feature is also a powerful tool for managing special offers or promotional schemes. For instance, you can create a “Buy One Get One Free” offer by creating a Parent Item that represents the offer and including two of the sellable product in the Child Items. When you sell one quantity of the Parent Item, the system will automatically deduct two quantities of the product from your warehouse.
Conclusion
The Product Bundle feature is a powerful tool that can streamline your sales and inventory management processes. By allowing you to sell sets of items together and adjust stock levels accordingly, this feature can enhance the efficiency and profitability of your business. For further help or information, please refer to the Empress user manual or contact our support team.