5 Great Examples Of Custom Kit Assembly
Posted On February 19, 2015 by
In the world of fulfillment, Kit Assembly is the process of assembling two or more individual products into a single package to make it ready to ship to the customer. Companies often use kitting as a way to improve speed of shipping and to reduce overall costs. As more kits are produced at once, the time for assembly per kit is reduced by avoiding the stops and starts associated with orders as they come in separately.
Kitting is an ideal method to use when you are fulfilling multiple orders with identical or similar items and is popular with many online sellers. Some of the most common items that are used in kit assembly are media kits, skin care, cosmetics, games and toys. Let’s take a look at some ways in which kitting assembly makes sense for some retail brands and their customers:
MEDIA KITS
If your company sells audio books online and has a series of 3 or more books on CD that can be purchased individually or as a group, you may offer discounts or free shipping to your customers if they purchase them as a series such as the Harry Potter Audio Book Collection pictured below offered by retailers on ebay. This works well for kitting because you would have a consistent flow of orders that will be grouped together. The kit of these combined items would be assigned it’s own SKU number separate from the books sold individually and would be stocked and tracked as a single unit.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
SKINCARE KITS
When your company sells a full line of skincare products such as facial cleansers, toners moisturizers serums and so on, sometimes a customer will only purchase one at when they run out of each separate product, but many will choose to purchase them as a set if they know they can save money. For instance, through Google shopping you can find multiple skincare offerings that use this practice like Meaningful Beauty Anti-Aging Skin Care by Cindy Crawford Advanced System that combines a 5-piece kit with Crème de Serum, Skin Softening Cleanser, Antioxidant Day Crème Broad Spectrum SPF 20, Skin Brightening Décolleté and Neck Treatment and Lifting Eye Serum. Many brands have made this kitting approach to selling very popular as can keep costs down while still catering to customers needs.
Meaningful Beauty Cindy Crawford 5 Piece 90 Day Kit & Free Gift
COSMETIC KITS
Make-up and other related cosmetics works very similar to skincare in that they usually have a broad product line offering with perishable products that are used on a consistent basis by their customers. Cosmetic companies are the masters at packaging multiple products in sets. It used to be popular only during the holidays but with the introduction of so many new product lines it’s become a repetitive year round theme for most. For example, well known brands like Dior, Bare Minerals, Clinique, Elizabeth Arden, MAC and others often package multiple products together at a discount to the consumer such as the Dior It Lash Kit that includes mascara and lipstick or Bare Minerals Up Close & Beautiful: 30 Day Complexion Starter Kit that includes a foundation primer, SPF foundation, concealer, finishing powder and face finishing brushes all of which need go through the kit assembly process.
Dior Addict It Lash
Bare Essentials 30 Day Starter Kit
GAMING KITS
According to Reuters, video game revenues has grown to a whopping $58 billion industry in 2013 and continues to grow. Video game kitting has become a hugely popular practice as a result. Disney offers a great example of how these video gaming kits can be packaged such as the Disney Infinity gaming kit for the PlayStation Network (PS3) by places like Wal-Mart. In this kit, they sell a starter pack that includes the video game, the Infinity base, 3 infinity figures, 3 Infinity Play Sets, the first Infinity Power Disc and the Unique web codes to unlock content online and on your mobile device. Their special offer is free pickup with orders or discounted shipping due to the high volume of demand for this product. Another great example of gaming kit assembly could be as simple as a board game like monopoly or a chess and checkerboard games that include multiple playing pieces that need to be combined as a complete package before shipping to the consumer.
Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (2.0 Edition) Video Game Starter Pack (PS3)
TOY KITS
Thousands of kitting examples can be found in the toy industry such as model kits like the Batman Batmobile Trophy Series Kit Pinewood Derby offered by Amazon and several other online retailers. The contents include a shaped wood block, peel and stick decal sheet, 2 sandpaper sheets, official wheels and axles, stick-on chassis weight, foam brush and small brush, 2 bottles of paint, 2 plastic wings, 2 plastic weapons and an instruction sheet for assembly. All of these components need to be included in one container through the process of kit assembly. Loyal customers often order several in a series of these types of hobby kits since there is usually a cost savings associated for both the customer and the manufacturer to offer this option.
PINE WOOD DERBY BATMOBILE SERIES KIT
PRODUCT SAMPLES
Product samples are becoming a popular way retailers are using kitting services today as well to reach customers. Some third party cosmetic and skin care companies like TAAZ, specialize in offering beauty sample programs packaging several product samples of multiple brands for consumers to try before they buy a full size version of a product that they may not like. This allows them to sample several brands and products in a smaller size helping them to avoid the overwhelming costs of figuring out which products work best for them.
There are thousands of examples of kitting assembly used in today’s consumer products goods (CPG) market. You can find an example in almost any company that operates across any industry with retail leading the way. Hopefully the examples above prove to provide a starting point for you and your business to decide whether kitting assembly makes sense for your products and customers.
To learn more details about the kitting process and if it’s the right choice for your company, try reaching out to some local fulfillment companies in your area to speak to a fulfillment expert who can advise you for your specific business. Narrow it to those who have experience in your industry and ask for references to find the right fit for your needs.