Quick answer: Plan a mix-and-match gift box from the available stock of each selectable variant at the shared fulfillment location. Calculate demand for specific allowed selections, then check what happens if shoppers repeatedly choose the scarce item. Total component units divided by the box size cannot tell you whether every permitted selection is still possible.
This is a manual planning worksheet for tnova's fixed-price boxes, not an app inventory forecast or stock reservation. Use the inventory-readiness checklist first to confirm candidate eligibility and fulfillment setup. Here, the question is narrower: what can the remaining stock support when shoppers choose different contents?
Public installation of tnova is still being prepared. The examples describe its documented workflow; current availability and upcoming additions are listed on the feature page.
Start with available stock at the relevant location
In Shopify admin, open Products → Inventory, select the location used for the box components and identify the exact variants. Shopify's inventory viewing guide explains the inventory columns and location-specific records. Record the time of your review alongside the quantities.
Choose the right number for the worksheet:
| Inventory state | How to treat it when planning new sales |
|---|---|
| Available | Use this as the starting quantity for a new-sale estimate. |
| Committed | Already set aside; do not add it to available stock. |
| Unavailable | Exclude stock held for reasons such as safety stock or quality control. |
| Incoming | Exclude it until received and made available. |
| On hand | A broader physical-stock total; do not substitute it for Available. |
These distinctions follow Shopify's inventory-state definitions. If Available is missing or cannot be confirmed, leave the estimate unresolved rather than entering zero or using stock from a different warehouse.
tnova requires physical, inventory-tracked components, with selling when out of stock disabled. Its supported fulfillment setup requires every candidate to share exactly one active online fulfillment location. A store-wide stock sum can conceal a component that cannot be supplied from that location.
Compare two legal selections from the same stock
Suppose a fictional six-item snack box allows up to two units of each variant, with one shared candidate pool. All four variants pass the other readiness checks. No other sales occur during this calculation.
| Candidate variant | Available units | Selection A, per box | Selection B, per box |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berry snack | 8 | 2 | 2 |
| Oat snack | 15 | 2 | 2 |
| Cocoa snack | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Nut snack | 20 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 48 | 6 | 6 |
For a known recipe, divide each used variant's available stock by the units needed per box, round down and take the smallest result. Shopify documents this approach for predetermined contents in its bundle inventory guidance.
For selection A, the limits are Berry: 8 ÷ 2 = 4 boxes; Oat: 15 ÷ 2 = 7 whole boxes; Cocoa: 5 ÷ 2 = 2 whole boxes. The smallest result is two copies of selection A.
For selection B, the limits are Berry: four boxes; Oat: seven; Nut: 20 ÷ 2 = 10. The smallest result is four copies of selection B.
Both selections contain six units and obey the same repeat limit. Yet the same starting stock supports different numbers of copies. The tempting calculation, 48 ÷ 6 = 8, ignores which items customers want. It cannot establish eight copies of either recipe or eight purchases with unrestricted choice.
Check the demand needed to preserve every allowed choice
Now ask a different planning question: could the starting stock cover any allowed sequence of three boxes, without restocking or other sales?
In this example, every candidate can legally appear twice in a box. Three shoppers choosing two Cocoa snacks each would need six Cocoa units. Only five are available, so three purchases with every configured choice still available cannot be assured from this snapshot.
A conservative component check for this particular pool is:
Planned boxes × maximum allowed units of that variant per box.
For three boxes, that is six units of each candidate. The check considers different possible selections, not a recipe containing two of all four variants: that would be eight units and would break the six-item rule. The combined six-per-variant figure of 24 units is coverage across possible choices, not a forecast that three orders will consume 24 units.
Two boxes would need coverage of four units per candidate, which the starting quantities meet. This is only a stock-planning result under the stated assumptions. It is not a sale quota, an inventory hold or evidence that a later checkout will succeed.
For a different assortment, first verify that the maximum you use can actually occur within a complete legal box. A tighter repeat limit changes component demand; use the item-count and repeat-limit guide to review the offer before changing it.
Count standalone sales and other boxes against the same variants
If the Cocoa variant also sells on its own, those sales matter to this plan. Two completed standalone sales that each commit one Cocoa unit would leave three available units from the original five, assuming no other inventory changes. That would support only one further copy of selection A, which needs two Cocoa units per box.
Do not subtract those two units again after reading a fresh Available quantity of three. The new platform quantity already reflects the change. Likewise, another gift-box configuration using the same variant needs to be considered when reviewing demand; it does not create a second supply of that item.
Do not treat a shopper's unfinished selection as a reservation. tnova checks component eligibility and requested quantities in its selling flow, but this worksheet cannot promise isolation from concurrent purchases. Keep Shopify's actual inventory and order records as the operational reference.
Turn the worksheet into a clear assortment decision
If a scarce candidate prevents the choice you intend to advertise, decide whether to replenish it, revise the repeat limit or remove it from a future offer. Each option changes a different fact. Reducing a repeat limit does not create stock, and removing a candidate changes what shoppers can choose.
For an existing published configuration, follow the pause, revise and publish workflow before changing its rules or candidate pool. Recheck whether the revised pool can still fill the required count. Do not substitute a different item into an already placed order to make the worksheet balance.
Keep a short record: configuration version, count and repeat limit, location, observation time, available quantities, recipes checked and the decision made. Refresh the quantities after sales or inventory changes. Keep customer-facing claims tied to the verified offer; a planning estimate alone is insufficient evidence for a claim such as “only eight boxes left.”
Prepared with AI assistance and checked against tnova's product implementation and current official Shopify documentation. The snack variants and quantities are fictional; the calculations illustrate a manual planning method, not customer results.
See a gift box in action
Try the sample picker with fictional products. It creates no cart or order.
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