Product Bundles 2.0: Shopify’s Cart Transform API

Introduction

If you are on the Giftship Standard plan or higher, you have access to product bundles, a requirement for leveraging our box builder feature or an optional configuration when setting up product upsells.

Prior to September 2024, Shopify didn’t provide app developers with any endpoints to create bundled products. Giftship pioneered the functionality with Bundles 1.0.

With Shopify’s new Cart Transform API, Giftship can now add bundles and bundle discounts to your cart and checkout pages more reliably server-side.

This article will explain the pros and cons and show you how to implement Giftship’s Bundles 2.0 in your shop today. So, let’s begin!

Bundles 2.0 Pros:

1. Less code
   
   Bundling products using Shopify’s Cart Transform API ensures that prices appear correctly on the theme’s native cart without manually installing Giftship’s product bundle snippets in your theme’s cart template.
   
   
2. Grouped in checkout
   
   Shopify’s Cart Transform method now groups the bundled items together underneath the primary item, making it more visually appealing for customers.
   
   
3. Reliability
   
   Bundling server-side reduces the chances of a third-party app, theme, or script conflicting with the bundling process. Furthermore, we no longer rely on the customer submitting the checkout form or visiting the cart page to unbundle the products prior to checkout, this prevents customers from purchasing an empty bundle when they use their browser’s forward and back button or if there is any delay in the storefront loading.
   

Bundles 2.0 Cons:

1. Missing line item properties
   
   Unfortunately, Shopify’s Cart Transform API changes how orders appear in Shopify. It removes all line item properties from being visible when viewing the order in Shopify and prevents other third-party apps from printing them. This isn’t a limitation caused by Shopify but rather a lack of foresight by Shopify.
   
   
2. Order Printer
   
   Due to the missing line item properties, you’ll need to use Giftship’s order printer and define the line item properties you want to display. To get started, go to Giftship’s dashboard > Order Printer > Create New Template, and select an existing option such as “Packing Slip” or “Invoice.” Next, click on the Line Item Property block and edit the Liquid loop that displays fields like “To,” “From,” and “Message.” Here, you can add a date picker or customize it as needed.
   
   
3. Order Confirmation
   
   Because of the missing line item properties, you will not be able to retrieve the line item properties in your native Shopify order confirmation templates.
   

How to install bundles 2.0

1. Upgrading from Bundles 1.0
   
   If you leveraged Giftship’s bundles in the past, you will need to manually remove the product bundle snippets from your theme, please let us know if you require assistance.
   
   
2. Configuration
   
   To enable this feature, please visit Giftship’s dashboard > global settings > tab: bundles and enable.
   
   
3. Orders App Block
   
   To enable the ability to see line item properties in orders, we’ve added an app block extension when viewing the order. To enable this feature, please visit any order in shopify, scroll down to app blocks, click on “+ app block” and choose “Giftship bundled attributes”.
   
   
4. Single Cart Bundled Contents
   
   While the Cart Transform handles the product prices, you will need to manually install the line item properties snippet in your native theme’s cart template files. You can find the properties snippet here and instructions here.
   

5. Drawer Cart Vs Cart Page
   
   If you implement Giftship’s drawer cart, you don’t need to install any snippets. You can learn more here: https://docs.giftship.app/article/drawer-cart-integration-guide/

Conclusion

If you have questions about product bundles, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at support@gist-apps.com.