Kit Builder offers two powerful main features: automatic component subtractions when kit products sell in your store, and “Total Available” kit quantities pushed dynamically from Kit Builder to kit products based on the number of available components. These two features together ensure that you can always sell the maximum number of kits or components without overselling and have accurate inventory levels for both types of products at all times.

How Does It Work?

Within Kit Builder, you first identify which of your BigCommerce skus are kits and specify their component skus and quantities. Then the following automatic processes occur:
  • When the sale of a kit product occurs, the components required to assemble the kit are automatically subtracted from inventory
  • When skus that are identified as components in one or more kits sell or their inventory level is edited, the number of kits that can be built is recalculated and the inventory levels for all affected kit products are updated

Known limitations

Unfortunately we could not find solution yet for the few limitations:
  • Kit components cannot be customized by customer
  • 3rd party tax systems (like Avalara) cannot be used when Kit Builder adds components to the order

Configuration Options

As kits from Kit Builder sell in BigCommerce, the way that the kits and their components are displayed can be selected. The default is for only the kit to show, with no list of what components are included. Typically staff refer to the Kit Builder app to look up the kit components when fulfilling the order, this prompts staff to check for notes about assembly or packing that have been included in the kit configuration

Optionally the kit components can be shown with zero prices. Weighted component pricing is available as an option also

Default - no components shown Components shown

The Kits Screen

The Kits screen shows a list of all products that you’ve identified and configured as kits. It lists the product title, SKU, and the total number of kits that are available for sale. This TOTAL AVAILABLE value is pushed dynamically to each BigCommerce Kit SKU, and will overwrite any values entered in the BC Kit SKU.

The Kits screen is a powerful way to see at a glance which kits have low component stock. Click on each kit to view the list of component stock, edit the contents, or make manual stock adjustments for the kit.

Click on ADD KIT to create a new kit. You’ll be prompted to search for an existing Bigcommerce product to identify as a kit and press CREATE to confirm. Each product selected to become a kit must have inventory tracking enabled for Kit Builder to operate correctly.

If you’ve just edited the inventory level of kit components in BigCommerce (such as receiving more stock) and don’t see a change to the ‘total available’ values on the Kits screen, press REFRESH. This checks component inventory, kit and component sales, and recalculates the displayed values.

To fully rebuild the Kit Builder cache, press REBUILD CACHE. This is rarely necessary, but may be useful if Bigcommerce webhooks have been significantly delayed.

The Configure Kit Dialogue

Once a kit has been added to Kit Builder, click on its row to open the Configure Kit dialogue. Here you can enter notes, specify kit components, enter stock modifications, and delete the kit if necessary. The notes field is a great place to document assembly or packaging requirements or special instructions.

The Components Tab

Here you can specify components - products from your store that are parts of the Kit. Start typing the name or SKU of the item product and then select one from the list of suggestions. Press SAVE to add the component to the kit. Add as many items as you wish, or remove components from the kit by pressing the garbage can. It is not possible to add one kit product inside another, so SKUs in BigCommerce that are already identified as kits in Kit Builder won’t appear in the product search bar. Inventory tracking for products used as kit components can be set in BigCommerce to ‘do not track’, ‘track inventory’, or ‘track inventory by options. While all three are possible, we recommend tracking the item inventory levels.

You can also set the number of components per kit, for example you may wish to include two bottles of wine in the Valentine’s Day kit.

Modify Stock

It may be necessary to manually subtract or add a quantity of a kit and its components from or to BigCommerce. For example, perhaps two kits were returned by a customer and they will be disassembled and their components should be restocked. In this case, use the MODIFY STOCK / INCREASE field and button to enter a quantity of 2 and press INCREASE. This will put 2 of every kit component back in stock in BigCommerce, and you would physically restock the components to their SKU bins at the same time.

Deleting a Kit

To delete a kit, click on the kit name in the Kits screen, and select the DELETE tab. Press DELETE to delete the kit.

Prebuilding Kits

It is efficient to build kits in large batches, so you may wish to enable the optional “Kit Prebuilt Functionality” from the Configuration screen. This allows users to subtract kit components from inventory and commit them to a specific kit that is physically assembled before they sell in BigCommerce. Because the components are subtracted from inventory when the kits are prebuilt, no subtraction is made when the kit later sells. This is true as long as prebuilt stock exists for that kit SKU; once the prebuilt stock runs out, Kit Builder will resume component subtractions as more sales occur.

When enabled, you’ll see additional columns added to the kits screen to track the number of kits that are pre-built, and the TOTAL AVAILABLE column becomes the sum of PREBUILT and CAN BE BUILT kit stock.

To prebuild kits, select the kit from the Kits screen, and activate the Prebuild tab. Enter the quantity of kits you are prebuilding and press the green SAVE button. You can also enter negative quantities if you need to disassemble kits

If the number of prebuilt kits needs to be corrected without subtracting/adding components from inventory, enter the correct prebuilt stock level in the NEW PREBUILT STOCK field and press the red OVERRIDE button.

Note that these two functions replace the “Modify Stock” option that appears by default when prebuilt kits are disabled.

Workflow and Operation Examples

Once you have identified your kits and specified their components, Kit Builder works automatically as described in the “How Does It Work” section above. All that is required from staff is to pick the components and physically assemble the kits in your open orders.

Component products are received into BigCommerce as usual, and manual edits to component product stock levels are totally okay. However, no manual edits should be made to the stock levels of kit products. While it is possible, these edits will be ignored by Kit Builder and overwritten with the next recalculation. Any changes to the number of prebuilt kits must be made in Kit Builder, and the number of available components will then determine the total available value that is written to the kit product

Let’s step through an example of the Kit Builder operation. The “Complete Valentines Kit” with sku VALENTINES that we configured in our example earlier is ready to be purchased! When we created it, the inventory levels of the components were:

WHITE-BEAR Do not track inventory N/A
CHOCOLATES Tracked inventory Stock level = 5
RED-WINE Tracked inventory by option Stock level = 3

Kit Builder has now sets a stock level of 3 units to the VALENTINES product in BigCommerce. With each kit sold, the inventory level of the components is automatically reduced. Let's say we just sold one VALENTINES kit. The resulting inventory levels are:

WHITE-BEAR Do not track inventory N/A
CHOCOLATES Tracked inventory Stock level = 4
RED-WINE Tracked inventory by option Stock level = 2

Note that no changes are registered for the WHITE-BEAR SKU as its inventory is not tracked. Now Kit Builder sets the VALENTINES kit stock level to 2 units. If our warehouse receives shipments of 10 of each component and manually adds 10 units to each stock level in BigCommerce, then we have:

WHITE-BEAR Do not track inventory N/A
CHOCOLATES Tracked inventory Stock level = 14
RED-WINE Tracked inventory by option Stock level = 12

As soon as stock levels change in Bigcommerce, Kit Builder recalculates how many kits can be built and updates the VALENTINES kit to a stock level of 12 units. If a hungry customer orders 3 boxes of chocolates, the component levels will then be:

WHITE-BEAR Do not track inventory N/A
CHOCOLATES Tracked inventory Stock level = 9
RED-WINE Tracked inventory by option Stock level = 12

Kit builder now sets the VALENTINES kit stock level to 9 units. Lastly, let’s say that due to not tracking the WHITE-BEAR stock, we’ve suddenly run out of them. With an untracked component in the kit, we’re in danger of overselling. We’ll set the WHITE-BEAR product to ‘tracked inventory’ and zero stock to correct this:

WHITE-BEAR Tracked inventory Stock level = 0
CHOCOLATES Tracked inventory Stock level = 9
RED-WINE Tracked inventory by option Stock level = 12

Kit builder now sets the VALENTINES kit stock level to 0 units, putting it out of stock and preventing further sales. Note that the chocolates and wine can still be purchased as individual items, and their inventory tracking remains accurate. Also note that any other kits that include the teddy bear will also show a zero stock level in BigCommerce and overselling will be prevented

Canceling and Refunding Orders

When orders are canceled in BigCommerce, the items that have been subtracted from inventory are returned to stock. When an item that has been configured as a product in Kit Builder is canceled, the app returns the kits to stock by returning the components to virtual stock in BigCommerce. Because orders could be canceled before or after the physical assembly of the kits, it’s important to confirm if the kits were physically built and to disassemble them physically when they are restocked virtually.

Refunding orders in BigCommerce does not return items to stock in our experience, contrary to the documentation. So, refunding orders will have no effect in Kit Builder.

Fulfillment of Orders

The Assemble Reports tab in Kit Builder provides a clear list of kits that have sold and need to be assembled and shipped. You can view this list by kit SKU, with the ability to expand each kit to see what components are required to build it. The complete flat list of components to build all kits requiring assembly is on the Kits Components tab.

If prebuilt kits are enabled, they will not be listed here in the Assemble Reports tab because they are already assembled and ready to pick and ship.

Notes on Syncing

Here are the fine details on syncing activity, so that you know what to expect. The following events are immediately registered by Kit Builder, and result in a recalculation. Affected kit products are then sent updated stock levels:

  • Sales of kit products or kit components through BigCommerce
  • Manual edits to kit component stock levels in BigCommerce
  • Editing the contents or quantity in a kit in Kit Builder
  • Entering prebuild or prebuild override values in a kit in Kit Builder
  • Opening/viewing/closing a kit in Kit Builder
  • Pressing the REFRESH or REBUILD CACHE buttons in Kit Builder

Remember that if you’re using separate browser tabs to view BigCommerce products and Kit Builder, neither tab will refresh automatically when an action occurs in the other. Press F5 or ‘Refresh’ for the BigCommerce tab, and press REFRESH in the Kit Builder tab. If you navigate in a single tab, the pages will be refreshed when changing pages.

Kit Builder API

NOTE Kit Builder API is available for Platinum subscription only

Every request requires auth token passed via X-Auth-Token header. Value of this token can be found on Configuration page.

Create Kit with a set of components

If kit with same SKU exists, method will re-create it with the new components.
REST API
    POST https://kb-load.anvasoft.ca/api/{store_hash}/kit/create
    Content-Type: application/json
    X-Auth-Token: {access_token}
    {
        "kit_sku": "{kit_sku}",
        "price_formula": "{formula}",
        "sale_price_formula": "{formula}",
        "components": {
            "{component_1_sku}": {items_per_kit},
            "{component_2_sku}": {items_per_kit},
            ...
        }
    }
                                
EXAMPLE
    POST https://kb-load.anvasoft.ca/api/xyz123/kit/create
    Content-Type: application/json
    X-Auth-Token: access_token_value
    {
        "kit_sku": "VALENTINES",
        "price_formula": "total_price / 1.05",
        "sale_price_formula": "total_price / 1.10",
        "components": {
            "RED-WINE": 1,
            "WHITE-BEAR": 1,
            "CHOCOLATE": 1
        }
    }
                                

Get Kits

Get list of all kits with components
REST API
    GET https://kb-load.anvasoft.ca/api/{store_hash}/kits
    Content-Type: application/json
    X-Auth-Token: {access_token}






                                
RESPONSE EXAMPLE
[
  {
    "kit_sku": "VALENTINES",
    "price_formula": "total_price / 1.05",
    "sale_price_formula": "total_price / 1.10",
    "components": {
        "RED-WINE": 1,
        "WHITE-BEAR": 1,
        "CHOCOLATE": 1
    }
  }
]