When running an online shop, there are cases where you want to make a specific product purchasable only in combination with other products.
In this article, using a Shopify snowboard shop as an example, we'll show you how to easily implement a restriction such as "only allow the snowboard cover to be purchased together with a snowboard." This method uses the RuffRuff Order Limits app for the setup, so no special programming knowledge is required. Please use this as a reference to introduce more efficient sales management.
Outcome
At a snowboard-specialty shop carrying three types of products — "snowboards, snowboard covers, and snowboard wear" — we'll show you how to implement a purchase restriction such that "a snowboard cover can only be purchased together with a snowboard."
For example, purchases are possible in the following cases.
⭕️ Purchasing a snowboard cover together with a snowboard
⭕️ Purchasing a snowboard alone
For example, purchases are not possible in the following cases.
❌️ Purchasing a snowboard cover alone
❌️ Purchasing a snowboard cover together with snowboard wear only
Recommended Shopify App for Purchase Restrictions
RuffRuff Order Limits
RuffRuff Order Limits is a Shopify app that lets you implement a wide variety of purchase restrictions — quantity limits, price limits, bundle limits, customer limits, payment limits, access limits, and more — all with a single app.
Using this app, you can implement purchase restrictions such as the following.
✔ Cannot be purchased together with other products
✔ Can only be purchased together with products from the same vendor
✔ Can only be purchased together with products from the same collection
✔ Can only be purchased together with products in the same category, with novelty items allowed as an exception
✔ Cannot be purchased as a single item
✔ Can only be purchased together with products from a special category
The blog article below explains how to use RuffRuff Order Limits to implement a variety of bundle restrictions. Please use it as a reference.
Setup Instructions
Step 1: Install the Order Limits App
(1) Install RuffRuff Order Limits from the Shopify app store
You can find "RuffRuff Order Limits" by searching for "ruffruff" in the Shopify App Store.
(2) Open the app and select "Pricing plans" from the left menu. Using the app may require a paid plan. Subscribe to the appropriate app plan based on your business scale and required features.
(3) Click "Change plan" for the plan you want to subscribe to
(4) Review the plan details and click "Approve"
(5) From the Shopify admin, go to "Online Store"
(6) Select "Themes" and click "Customize"
(7) Select "App embeds" on the left of the screen
(8) Enable the app embed named "RuffRuff Order Limits"
(9) Click "Save"
Step 2: Create Two Collections
For this setup we'll use the following two collections, so please create each of them under Collections in your product management.
- "Snowboard covers" collection — a collection containing only snowboard covers
- "Everything except snowboards and snowboard covers" collection — a collection containing everything except snowboards and snowboard covers (in this case, a collection containing snowboard wear)
Step 3: Create a Bundle Rule
(1) Select "Bundle rules" in the app
(2) Click "Create rule"
(3) Enter any name in "Rule name"
(4) Select "Complementary" as the bundle limit level
(5) Select specific collections for eligible items and add the "Snowboard covers" collection
(6) Select specific collections for excluded items and add the "Everything except snowboards and snowboard covers" collection
ℹ️ With this setting, snowboard cover products cannot be purchased alone, and can only be purchased together with a product from the collection excluding snowboards (i.e., a snowboard product).
⚠️ Caution: this mechanism works by having the excluded items list comprehensively cover "every product other than the category you want to require." Because of this, if you later add a new product category (e.g., snowboard boots) and forget to add that category to the excluded items list, it becomes possible to purchase a snowboard cover by combining it only with the new category's products (without a snowboard), which would let the intended restriction be bypassed without your noticing. Whenever you change or add to your product lineup, be sure to also review your excluded items list.
(7) Add any text you'd like to the product message and alert message
(8) Click "Save"
Step 4. Verify the Behavior
(1) Access the product page for the snowboard cover
(2) Confirm that the product message configured in Step 3 is displayed
(3) Add only the snowboard cover to the cart and go to the checkout page
(4) Confirm that the alert message is displayed
(5) Add the snowboard cover and a snowboard to the cart and go to the checkout page
(6) Confirm that the alert message is not displayed
(7) Add only a snowboard to the cart and go to the checkout page
(8) Confirm that the alert message is not displayed
Conclusion
By using the RuffRuff Order Limits app, we were able to easily implement the following purchase restrictions.
- Restrict standalone purchase of the snowboard cover
- Only allow purchase together with a snowboard
- Display an appropriate error message
This setup makes it possible to sell appropriate product combinations, improving customer satisfaction and the operational efficiency of your shop. Use what's covered here to boost your shop's profitability with your own unique sales strategy.
