A vivarium setup on the counter
A customer is setting up for a leopard gecko. Your reptile specialist builds the setup: vivarium, heat mat, thermostat, hides, substrate, water bowl, a thermometer and a light. You advertise a starter setup at a single price. At the till, the staff member scans each item, totals it, then applies a discount to reach the setup price, or rings the whole thing through as one miscellaneous line.
The next week, a different staff member builds a similar setup but swaps the thermostat for a better model at the customer's request. The discount is worked out differently. The stock figures for heat mats and thermostats drift, because some setups were rung through as one line, and the owner cannot tell whether the setups are making money.
Why bundles break the till
Most tills handle individual products well and bundles poorly. Starter setups need a single price for the customer, stock deducted per component and flexibility for swaps and upgrades.
- The till has no bundle product, so staff discount manually.
- Some setups are sold on a miscellaneous key, so stock is not reduced.
- Swaps and upgrades are priced differently by each staff member.
- Margin per setup is unknown.
- Online, setups cannot be sold because they do not exist as products.
What manual bundles cost
Inconsistent pricing annoys customers who compare setups, and manual discounts tend to be generous. Stock drift means you run out of components you thought you had. The owner cannot tell whether the starter setup is a sensible offer or a loss leader, which makes it hard to decide what to promote.
Stock drift in components hurts twice over. Heat mats and thermostats are also sold on their own to existing keepers replacing a failed unit, and when the till thinks you have three and the shelf has none, that customer leaves disappointed too.
Starter setups are often a customer's first purchase with you and the start of years of buying food and supplies. It is worth getting them right.
Kit bundles that behave properly
- We define each starter setup as a kit: the components, the quantities and the setup price.
- Where your till supports bundle or kit products, we set them up there. Where it does not, a small kit screen beside the till builds the sale and sends the components to the till with the right prices.
- Swaps and upgrades are handled by rules you set, such as the price difference for a better thermostat, so every staff member gets the same answer.
- Every component is deducted from stock when a kit sells.
- A report shows kit sales, component availability and margin per kit.
- Kits can be listed on your website as single products, with stock available based on components.
| Issue | Manual discount | Kit bundle |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Worked out each time | Fixed kit price |
| Swaps | Varies by staff | Rules applied the same way |
| Stock | Drifts | Each component deducted |
| Margin | Unknown | Shown per kit |
| Online | Not possible | Kit sold as one product |
Which components go into a setup, and what suits a given animal, is decided by your specialists. We set up the kits to match their choices.
Setups that sell the same way every time
At the till, the staff member selects the leopard gecko starter kit, swaps the thermostat for the upgrade, and the till shows the correct price. Every component comes off stock. The customer gets an itemised receipt showing what is in their setup.
Staff training gets easier too. A new team member does not need to learn the unwritten rules about which discount applies to which setup; the kit screen shows the options and the prices, and the specialist's knowledge goes into the kit definitions once instead of being repeated at every sale.
The owner can see how many kits sell each month, what they earn and which components are running low. The kits can go on the website, which means customers can research and buy a whole setup before they visit.
Are your starter setups priced by hand?
- Starter setups are sold with manual discounts.
- Some are rung through as one miscellaneous line.
- Staff price swaps and upgrades differently.
- Component stock figures drift.
- You do not know the margin on a setup.