Dummy Products for Mystery Boxes

What are Dummy Products?

Dummy Products is an innovative feature that allows you to keep your mystery box contents secret from customers while maintaining accurate inventory tracking and enabling seamless 3PL (third-party logistics) fulfillment for mystery boxes. When enabled, the system creates placeholder "dummy" products that represent your actual child items and these are added to the order instead of actual child items, hence not revealing what's actually inside the mystery box.

Why Do You Need Dummy Products?

The Problem with Traditional Methods

Previously, merchants relied on custom JavaScript scripts to hide child items from customers at various customer facing surfaces. However, with Shopify's introduction of Checkout Extensibility, these traditional methods no longer work:

❌ Additional scripts have been deprecated - Shopify's new checkout system doesn't support the old JavaScript-based hiding methods in order status page. ❌ No way to hide items for orders placed on shop app - There is no way to hide the order line items on shop app

The Modern Solution: Dummy Products

Dummy Products solve these limitations by working within Shopify's new checkout system:

✅ Full compatibility with Checkout Extensibility - Works seamlessly with Shopify's new checkout ✅ No scripts required - Everything works through native Shopify products and variants ✅ 3PL automation ready - Your fulfillment partners can process orders without manual intervention ✅ Mystery maintained - Customers only see generic dummy items, keeping the surprise intact

How Dummy Products Work

The Magic Behind the Mystery

Creation Phase: When you enable dummy products, the app automatically creates placeholder products for each child item in your mystery boxes
Order Phase: When a customer purchases a mystery box, they see dummy items (like "DUMMY-MB-001") instead of the actual products in there orders.
Fulfillment Phase: Your 3PL receives the order with dummy items but they have the same SKUs / Barcode as your original child items, hence when they scan the order it maps to the actual product.
Inventory Phase: The system tracks real inventory behind the scenes for actual products, preventing overselling

Benefits for Your Business

1. Maintain the Mystery

Your customers will only see generic dummy product names in their cart, checkout, and order confirmation. The actual items remain a complete surprise until they open their package.

2. Automated 3PL Fulfillment

Send orders directly to your warehouse or 3PL
No SKU mapping required - Dummy items use the same SKUs as original products
Your 3PL can fulfill orders without any changes to their process
Zero learning curve for your fulfillment team
Reduces fulfillment errors and processing time

3. Dummy item Lifecycle Management

App manages the lifecycle of the dummy items.
App creates unique dummy item for every child item added to the product pool of mystery boxes.
If any product property is updated for original item like price it will get synced with dummy item in realtime.
When you switch back to original item fulfillment or uninstall the app, then app automatically deletes all the dummy items it created.

4. Seamless Customer Experience

Works perfectly with Shopify's new checkout and shop app.
Compatible with all Shopify themes and checkout customizations

Setting Up Dummy Products

Step 1: Choose Your Fulfillment Method

When setting up your mystery box, select either "Shell" or "Regular" fulfillment method. You'll then see the option to activate "Use Dummy Products"

Step 2: Configure Your Dummy Products

When you select "Dummy Components," you'll need to:

Choose a naming series: For example, "Mystery item" will result in dummy items being named "Mystery Item 22, Mystery Item 43"
Set a product tag: This helps identify dummy products in your admin and in your analytics reports.

⚠️ Important: The naming series cannot be changed once dummy products are created. To change it, you'll need to deactivate "Use Dummy Products" (which deletes all dummies) and then recreate them with the new naming series.

Step 3: Bulk Creation Process

After configuration:

The app will automatically create dummy items for all child items in your existing mystery boxes
This happens as a bulk operation in the background
You'll receive an email notification when the process is complete
All dummy products will be tagged with your specified tag identifier.
Each dummy product will have the same SKU as its corresponding original product

Managing Dummy Products

Adding New Mystery Boxes

When you create a new mystery box or add items to an existing one:

The app automatically checks if dummy products exist for new items
Missing dummy products are created automatically
The summary screen shows which items will have dummies created or removed

Updating Product Information

When you update any original product (price, weight, SKU, etc.):

The corresponding dummy product updates automatically
SKU changes are synchronized to maintain consistency
No manual synchronization required
Changes reflect immediately in new orders

Switching Back to Real Products

If you need to disable dummy products:

Go to Settings in the app.
Deactivate "Use Dummy Products".
All dummy products will be automatically deleted
Original products will be used in future orders

Best Practices

1. Plan Your Naming Convention

Choose a clear, consistent naming series that makes sense for your team. Since you can't change it later without recreating all dummies, think carefully about your naming structure. Remember, the name you pick will be visible to your customers in mystery box orders.

2. Coordinate with Your 3PL (Optional)

Inform your 3PL that order line items may show different product names but SKUs remain unchanged
No SKU mapping needed - They can use their existing pick lists
The only difference they'll notice is the product title (e.g., "DUMMY-MB-001" instead of "Red T-Shirt")
Test a few orders to ensure smooth processing

3. Monitor Your First Orders

After enabling dummy products:

Place a test order to verify the customer experience
Check that inventory deducts correctly
Confirm your 3PL can process orders with the dummy product names but familiar SKUs

4. Use Descriptive Tags

Choose a clear tag for your dummy products (like "dummy-mystery-item") to easily identify them in your product list and reports.

How SKU Matching Works

For Your Operations Team

Pick lists remain the same - SKUs don't change
Warehouse locations stay consistent - Same SKU means same bin location
Barcode scanning works normally - Existing barcodes remain valid

For Your Inventory System

WMS integration continues working - SKU-based syncing is unaffected
Reorder points remain accurate - Based on real product inventory
Reports show correct SKUs - Easy to reconcile with actual inventory

Example:

Original Product: "Vintage Band T-Shirt - Red/Medium" | SKU: "VBT-RED-M-001"
Dummy Product: "DUMMY-MB-047" | SKU: "VBT-RED-M-001"
What 3PL sees: Order for "DUMMY-MB-047" with SKU "VBT-RED-M-001"
What they pick: The item at the location for SKU "VBT-RED-M-001"

Troubleshooting Common Issues

"I can't change my naming series"

This is by design. The naming series is locked once dummy products are created to maintain consistency. To change it, you must switch back to real products (deleting all dummies) and start fresh.

"Dummy products aren't creating"

Ensure you've selected "Dummy Components" in settings
Wait for the email confirmation that bulk creation is completed and is successful.

"My 3PL is confused by the product names"

Remind them to fulfill based on SKUs, not product names
The SKUs haven't changed - only the display names are different
Share this guide's SKU matching section with them

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Will customers see the real product names anywhere? A: No, customers only see dummy product names throughout their entire purchase journey - order related mail, order status page, and customer account.

Q: Do I need to update my 3PL's system with new SKUs? A: No! Dummy products use the exact same SKUs as your original products. Your 3PL doesn't need to make any system changes.

Q: What if I change a product's SKU after creating dummy products? A: The dummy product's SKU automatically updates to match. The synchronization happens instantly.

Q: How does this affect my inventory tracking? A: Dummy products don't track inventory themselves. The system automatically updates the real products' inventory after each order, maintaining accurate stock levels.

Q: Can I use dummy products with subscriptions? A: Yes, dummy products work with subscription orders, maintaining the mystery for recurring deliveries.

Q: What happens to existing orders when I enable dummy products? A: Existing orders are not affected. Only new orders placed after enabling the feature will use dummy products.

Q: Will my barcode scanners still work? A: Yes! Since the SKUs and barcodes remain the same, all your existing scanning equipment and processes will continue to work normally.

Q: Can I have some mystery boxes with dummy products and others without? A: Currently, the dummy product setting applies to all mystery boxes using Shell or Regular fulfillment. You cannot mix methods within the same store.

Getting Help

If you encounter any issues or have questions about dummy products:

Check this guide for solutions
Contact our support team through the app
Include specific mystery box details when reporting issues

Remember, dummy products are designed to make your mystery box business more efficient while maintaining the element of surprise that your customers love. The initial setup might take some time, but the long-term benefits of automated fulfillment and accurate inventory management make it worthwhile. Best of all, your fulfillment team can continue using the same SKUs they've always used!