Product Kits

Merchanter's advanced product management allows for Kit Products. A Kit is a “product” that is sold as a single item but is actually made up of several individual component products. 

The main benefit is that you can manage and sell the kit as a whole, while still keeping accurate stock records for the individual components. Currently, the kits themselves are not stock-controlled on the system.

Setting up Merchanter to Use Kits

Before you can create your first product kit, you must ensure the feature is enabled in your system settings. This foundational configuration activates the kit functionality throughout your Merchanter environment.

You will need to be logged into the system with a Prime user role or higher to access these settings. 

Navigate to Settings → Organisation Settings → Ledger Settings. In the new window, make sure you are in the Ledger Info section and the Stock Settings tab. Then, scroll down to the Use Kits option. Tick this checkbox to activate the product kit functionality across your system. This single setting enables all kit-related features, including creation, editing, and sales processing.

Directly beneath the activation setting, you will find additional options for defining how component costs are calculated within kits. Three costing methods are available:

• Average Cost: Calculates kit cost based on the average purchase price of components
• Standard Cost: Uses predefined standard costs for component items
• Last Cost Price: Bases kit cost on the most recent purchase price of components

Select the option that best reflects your preferred costing methodology. This setting determines how the system calculates the overall cost value of each kit you create.

After making your selections, scroll to the bottom of the window and click the Save button. With this configuration complete, you can now begin creating and managing product kits within your system.

Setting up a New Product Kit

With kits enabled in your system settings, you can now create individual kit products that bundle multiple components into a single saleable item. This process combines product information, component selection, and pricing configuration into a comprehensive kit definition.

From the menu, navigate to Products → Products  

In the products grid view, locate and select the Products - Kits button on the left-hand navigation panel. 

This directs you to the Kits Overview screen, which displays all existing kit products and includes search and filter functionality.

To create a new kit, click the New button in the top-right corner of the Kits Overview screen. 

Alternatively, from the main menu, select New → Kit to access the kit creation form directly.

Adding a New Kit Record

Step 1 - The About Tab

The kit creation form contains three tabs. Begin with the About tab; there are several sections to fill out, which capture essential product information. We will start with the Kit Details section:

• Kit Code: Manually enter your desired product code for the kit.
• Kit Live Status: Select from Live, Archived, Withdrawn, or Catalogue options - ensure this is set to Live for active kits.
• Sell Online: Tick this box if you have online shop integration and want the kit available on your website.
• Kit Pricing Method: Choose between Unpriced, Priced, or Discounted options.
  • Unpriced - this is where the kit doesn't have a price, but the component products are priced individually as if they had been added to an order on their own.
  • Priced - this is where there is a price for the kit of products
  • Discounted - this is where the price of the kit is the total price of the component products, less a discount for ordering them together as a kit.
• VAT Code: If your kit is priced, select the appropriate VAT treatment (Low, Standard, Exempt, or Zero)
• Description Fields: 
  • Description - The title for your product.  This will appear in product lists and is the main description when the kit is added to an order
  • Additional Description - Additional information for the product.  This will appear when a kit is added to an order.
  • Short Description - a much shorter product description intended for till receipts.
  • Internal Description - for team reference if the product is known differently.
• Date on File: Automatically recorded by the system and cannot be edited.

Here is an example of how to fill the tab in for a simple decking kit:

The Sales Order Defaults section only contains 1 setting at this time.

Order decimal precision. This is usually set to 0dp as you don't often sell part of a kit.

In the Categorisation section, you can add the Kit to your product analysis categories:

• Assign the kit to an appropriate product Category, Group, and Subgroup if required.
• Margin Control: Optionally set minimum or maximum margin percentages for stock and direct orders.

This is the last section in the About tab. Double-check your settings and move on to the next Tab.

Defining Kit Contents

Select the Kit Contents tab to specify which components comprise your kit. Using the Add product search functionality, locate and add the individual products that make up your bundle.  

Then add a Quantity

For example, a basic decking kit might include 10 x 4.8m joists, 20 x 4.8m deck-boards, 1000 screws, and a bottle of end grain protection. Add each component in the required quantities to accurately represent your kit's composition.

If you would like to delete or reorder the kit lines, then click the ellipsis at the end of the line to get the Move and Delete options.

Once you have all the required products and their quantities added to the kit, you are ready to move on to the Prices & Costs tab.

Configuring Prices and Costs

Navigate to the Prices and Costs tab to establish your kit's pricing structure. 

Price table is the first section on this tab. This section mirrors standard product pricing options and integrates with any category-based pricing you have implemented.

On of our test systems, we have a Category price table for decking products, so the 10 + 20 + 30 price list is applied automatically. 

You can override this if required by selecting a product price structure if required.

Once your price tables are set, move on to the Pricing section.

• Mark up from: Select your preferred pricing methodology from these options:
  • Manually entered price
  • Markup on average cost price
  • Markup on last cost price
  • Markup on standard cost price
  • Margin on average cost price
  • Margin on last cost price
  • Margin on standard cost price

Manual Pricing: If selected, enter your desired kit price directly in the field.

Markup/Margin Pricing: For these options, a new Markup % field will open. Specify the percentage markup or margin to apply here:

In the Costs section, determine which component cost basis the system should use for calculations from the Cost Source drop-down. Options include the sum of average costs, the last cost prices, or standard costs. 

The system recalculates and displays the kit's cost price based on your selection and component choices.

In the example below, the kit is part of a category-based price list. It is working off a 25% margin from the Average cost price for its base price.

You could now save your Kit product and start using it. But there's one final tab! 

Managing Price Schedules

The final tab: Price Scheduling, allows you to create time-sensitive pricing arrangements for promotional periods, seasonal offers, or temporary adjustments. This tab also displays price history for reference. While you can create and edit schedules here, comprehensive guidance on price schedule management is available in our dedicated help documentation.

Finalising Your Kit

Once all sections are completed, save your kit product. The system will now recognise this as a sellable item while automatically tracking component stock levels with each sale. Your kit is ready for use in sales orders, quotations, and other transactional processes throughout Merchanter.

Note: Kits can also have Tags the same as products.

Finding, Editing, and Using Your Product Kits

Once you have created product kits in Merchanter, they integrate seamlessly into your standard workflows. These bundled products behave like regular inventory items while maintaining their component-based structure behind the scenes.

Locating Your Kits

Your kits appear throughout the system in several key locations:

Smart Search: Kits display in search results alongside standard products when using the system's search functionality.

Products Grid View: Kits are included in the main product listings, and there is a search and filters to help you find them.

Dedicated Kit View: Access all kits specifically via Products → Products - Kits from the left-hand navigation menu, providing a filtered view showing only kit products.

Shopping Basket: Your kits will also be found in the shopping basket when using the search.

Editing Existing Kits

To modify a kit's configuration, you must have appropriate user role permissions for product editing. Once you've located the kit you wish to modify, open its detail view. The Edit button appears in the top-right corner of the screen - click this to access all kit configuration tabs. 

From here, you can adjust any aspect of the kit, including:

• Basic information and descriptions
• Component items and quantities
• Pricing methods and cost calculations
• Categorisation and sales settings
• Online availability status

Always remember to click save after making changes to ensure your kits always reflect current offerings and pricing.

Using Kits in Transactions

Kits function identically to standard products during sales processes. They can be:

• Added to quotations for customer proposals
• Included in sales orders for processing transactions
• Priced according to your configured pricing methods
• Processed through standard checkout workflows

When a kit is sold, the system automatically deducts each component from inventory while presenting a single line item on customer documentation. This simplifies the customer experience while maintaining accurate stock control across all component products.

When added to the order, you can see your kit's description and additional description and then under that, each of the products that make up the kit. 

You will also notice the same Stock info and warnings on the product lines to help you aid fulfilment. 

Product kits include a unique functionality not available with standard products: the ability to explode the kit into its individual components directly within an order. This feature converts the single kit line item into separate lines for each constituent product, allowing for greater flexibility in order processing.

How to ‘Explode’ a Kit

‘Exploding’ a kit is the process to transform a kit of products into a series of individual product lines on an order.

When a kit appears on a sales order or quotation, locate the three-dot menu at the end of the kit's line item. Click this menu and select the Explode option from the dropdown list. The system will immediately replace the kit line with individual lines representing each component product, complete with their respective quantities and pricing.

Exploding a kit is particularly useful when:

• A customer requests modification to a standard kit (adding or removing specific components)
• You need to process partial shipments of a kit's components
• Component-level pricing or discounting is required for specific items
• Inventory adjustments affect only certain components within a kit

The action does not affect inventory levels differently than selling the intact kit would - components are still deducted from stock appropriately.

This functionality provides valuable flexibility when standard kits require customisation or when component-level visibility is necessary for order processing or customer communication.

Documentation

As standard, the documentation will show the kit information with the products that make up the kit underneath. 

Amendments to the standard documentation can be requested but may be chargeable; please check with the Support Team at Ten-25.

Stock Management Considerations

Remember that kits themselves are not stock-controlled items. Inventory tracking occurs exclusively at the component level. When you sell a kit, the system reduces quantities for each constituent product, ensuring your component stock remains accurate even when selling bundled offerings.

This integrated approach allows you to market convenient packaged solutions while preserving detailed inventory management for all individual items within your product range.

Video Guides

Setting up Merchanter to Use Kits

Creating a New Product Kit

Finding, Editing, and Using Your Product Kits