What are dummy products?
When you create a bundle, Bundle Builder automatically creates a dummy product on the Shopify admin dashboard. Dummy products are required for the app to function correctly. Bundle Builder and Shopify communicate using this dummy product, enabling customers to build bundles, add them to their cart, and complete their orders.
Dummy products can be confusing - even for experienced merchants. So let's start from the beginning:
It begins with Product pages
On the Shopify platform, every product has its own Product page. These pages contain each product's title, description, and other various information regarding variants, shipping, and more. Product pages can be found on your Shopify admin dashboard under Products.
So, how do dummy products fit in?
Bundles also need to have Product pages in order to function correctly. So, Bundle Builder automatically creates a dummy product to represent a bundle. These are essentially placeholders, and the data on dummy product pages does not accurately reflect the real data for bundles.
Much of the data is randomly generated. However, it's important that you do not alter the data on your dummy product pages. Doing so will disturb the functionality of the app.
The real data for your bundles is not stored on the dummy product page, so dummy data has no impact on your customers, products, or orders.
Why do we need dummy products?
Dummy products and their Product pages, and the data each contains, are essential and must exist. This is because they:
- Allow your bundle to show up in search results.
- Allow you to share the bundle in newsletters and on social media.
- Allow you to display your bundle as part of a Collection.
Finding the dummy product page
Dummy product pages look like any other Product page. They can be found by selecting the dummy product from your Shopify Admin dashboard under Products.
Dummy products share the same name as your bundles. They are also listed as a Custom Bundle Product type (exclusive to Bundle Builder).
Note: If you have a large number of products, you can sort by Type to find all your Custom Bundles (dummy products).
To access a dummy product page, click the dummy product. Dummy product pages look like normal Product pages, and contain a text note in the description confirming they are a dummy product.
Ensure your dummy products are visible
This is because, as the dummy product is a placeholder for the real product, making the dummy product visible on your sales channel avoids any out-of-stock errors showing at the checkout.
However, if you have dummy products that aren't visible, you can make them Available by following these steps:
Step 1: Within your Shopify admin dashboard, go to Products.
Step 2: Select the dummy product for your bundle.
Step 3: Within the Publishing section on the right sidebar, select Manage.
Step 4: Click Manage sales channels.
Step 5: Select the Online Store checkbox and click Done.
Step 6: Click Save at the top of the page.
Have more questions?
Click here to read our FAQ: Why is the information on my dummy product page incorrect?
Click here to read our FAQ: Why are my dummy products duplicating?