Gift sets: how to account for the items inside
Once a set is assembled, every item inside leaves the balance; make the set its own line and write its contents down once.
As a holiday nears, many sellers put together gift sets: soap, cream and a candle; tea, sweets and a nice glass; a notebook, pen and toy for children. On a Telegram page this is "set no. 3", one product, but in the stockroom four or five separate items sit waiting. How should it be recorded? If you leave both the finished set and everything inside it in the balance, one bar of soap shows as available twice, and you promise a customer a set when the parts to make it cannot be found.
The set as its own line
Give each set a name and a short code, such as "Set 1, Spring". Add it to the item list as its own line, and beside it write its contents: what goes into one set and how many. For example: 1 soap, 1 cream, 1 candle, 1 box, 1 ribbon. This is a simple "recipe", and with it anyone, a helper included, can assemble the set the same way.
Without a recipe, one day the set comes out with a candle and the next without, while the customer expects what was in the photo.
In advance or to order
There are two ways to assemble sets, and the records differ.
- Sets made in advance. On the day you assemble them, the items inside leave the balance and the sets enter their own line. When a set sells, only the set line is reduced. If you take a set apart and return the items, add them back to the item balance.
- Sets made to order. Until an order arrives, the items stay in their own balance and the set line shows zero. When an order comes, the items are written off and the set is sold at once.
The first way suits quick dispatch; the second helps you avoid over-assembling. Before a holiday you can mix both, but note in the book how each set is kept.
How many sets can you make?
If a customer asks for 15 more sets, you can learn in a minute how many you can build. The rule: divide the balance of each item in the contents by its quantity per set. The smallest result is your limit.
Example: 40 soaps, 25 creams, 18 candles and 30 boxes, one of each per set. The smallest figure is for candles: 18. So at most 18 sets can be made, and the other goods will be left over. If you buy 10 more candles, the limit rises to 25, but there cream stops you, since you have only 25.
Packaging, price and changing the contents
The box, ribbon, card and paper are goods too. If they run out the set cannot be made, so keep their balances as well.
When working out the price, add up the purchase prices of the whole contents. Say soap 8,000, cream 12,000, candle 6,000, box and ribbon 3,000 so'm: 29,000 so'm in total. Set the selling price higher, since your assembly time counts too. Keep an eye on prices: if one item in the contents rises, the set price changes as well.
If an item runs out and you put another in its place, the recipe changes. Give the new version a new name, such as "Set 1, version 2", and update the photo. Then what the customer saw matches what they received.
Photograph the finished set and put the recipe sheet beside the assembled sets, so that both you and a helper work from an exact model on a rushed day. After the holiday, take apart any unsold sets and return the contents to the balance; otherwise they stay assembled and the goods inside get lost.
Common mistakes
- leaving both the set and its contents in the balance;
- not writing the contents down and assembling from memory each time;
- ignoring the packaging and ribbon;
- leaving unsold sets assembled after the holiday and losing the items inside;
- changing the contents without updating the photo and name.
Conclusion
A gift set looks like one product, but in the records it is several. A separate line, a written recipe, the bottleneck rule and counting the packaging solve it easily. If stock has grown before a holiday and you have no time to establish the balance yourself, the Sanab team can count the goods and the ready sets and show them separately in the report.