Bundles and Linked Products
Two different ways of relating products: bundles sell them together, links suggest them alongside.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → Commercial:
- Carts — the cart itself and its options
Architect Panel → Data:
- Datastores — then View Data on the cart table, and look for the row actions
Bundles
A bundle has a name, a category, and lines. Each line is a slot in the bundle with its own type and order, and each line holds the products that can fill it.
That structure supports both a fixed bundle — these three items — and a configurable one, where the buyer chooses which product fills each slot.
Bundle detail is per language
Name, description and search metadata are held per language, the same as products. A bundle is a thing a customer browses and search engines index, so it deserves its own description rather than a list of its contents.
When a bundle earns its place
- A starter kit where the combination is the product.
- A configurable set — choose a frame, choose a lens, choose a case.
- A price that only makes sense together.
Not simply to suggest a second item. That is what links are for.
Linked products
A simple relation from one product to another, used for accessories, alternatives and "goes with this". Cheap to maintain and effective, and it does not change what the customer is buying.
Link deliberately, not exhaustively
Three good links beat twenty. Linking everything to everything produces suggestions that are obviously automatic, which buyers learn to ignore.
The best links are the ones a salesperson would mention: the thing you need with it, and the thing to buy instead if this one is too expensive.
Watch the stock implications
A bundle is only sellable if every slot can be filled. If one component is out of stock, the bundle is unavailable — which surprises people who set bundles up and then wonder why they vanished from the shop.
Review links when products retire
A link to a discontinued product is a dead end in the middle of a purchase. When retiring a product, check what links to it.
Worked example
A camera shop sells a starter bundle with three slots — body, lens and case — where each slot offers a choice. Individual products carry three or four links each: the matching accessory, the next model up, and the consumable. Links are checked whenever a product is retired.
Recommendations
- Bundles for products sold together, links for suggestions.
- Give bundles their own description.
- Three good links beat twenty automatic ones.
- Check links when retiring a product.