Product Variance SKUs with Pooled Inventory

[pat0788]

I wanted to inquire if there was a way to have multiple versions of a product addon that pulls the variant from a pooled inventory, the example below clarifies the question.

We have a product A that can be purchase by itself but we offer that same product packaged in a backpack for an upcharge and then we have 3 different colors of that backpack.
Currently we have 4 different SKUs and pages for Product "A" and the three different backpack colors that the customer can choose to buy.

We would like to simplify the SKU by just having one product page for Product "A" and then the three different color backpacks as a package deal, we'll call the variants, A, A1, A2, and A3 for the product itself and then the 3 package deal variants.
Where it gets more complicated, is that we want the backpacks to have their own pool of inventory because we also sell the same 3 backpacks in other product packages.

For example we have:
Product A, A1, A2, and A3
Product B, B1, B2 and B3

If I run out of the A1 package, I would also want all of the B1 packages to be sold out since they use the same backpack in the package. Right now it's all manual with numerous pages, we are looking to simplify it.

Is there anyway to do this?

Thank you

[cyoung]

The out-of-the-box solution only supports one product inventory count per SKU. Here are two options you may want to consider:

1. API option
The ShopSite Pro version has an Inventory API that allows you to connect to a third-party inventory Database. A developer may be able to develop a customized solution to meet your needs.
API Documentation can be found here: https://www.shopsite.com/developer_tools.html

2. Multi-add to cart
Another custom possibility would be to have a designer set up a multi-add to cart bundle. This approach would add each individual product in the bundle to the cart along with their associated individual SKU.
Inventory would still maintain a 1:1 ratio but could be added as part of a bundle or individually. If pricing is different, you could then implement a coupon, or quantity discount so that the price gets discounted correctly based on the package selected (if using a coupon, then you would probably need to add JavaScript or something to automatically add the coupon).

Multi Add to cart Documentation: https://www.shopsite.com/templates/cookbook/tips-multiaddtocart-page.shtml

You could further 'enhance' this option by modifying the templates so that if a product is part of a bundle and if the product has variable name enabled, it could only use the variable name on bundle pages (template modification), and for bundles, add the bundle name into the product name in the cart. That way the cart shows it is part of a bundle, but the SKU and inventory are specific to that product, so the quantity is updated correctly.