Product Packs

What a Product Pack represents

A Product Pack is a specific quantity of one Product that can be identified, offered, stocked, or shipped as one unit.

Keep these four records separate:

A Product Pack does not store a price. The same Product Pack can have different prices and ordering terms in different Sales Catalogs.

The automatic base Product Pack

Every Product has an automatic base Product Pack:

• quantity is 1;
• the Measure and Measure Unit come from the Product-level Category;
• it has no physical Package;
• it is a Customer unit and can be ordered;
• its logistics values are resolved from the Category logistics profile.

The automatic base remains virtual until an offer, identifier, or explicit customization needs a stable Product Pack ID. Saving a Sales Catalog offer for the base unit materializes it without changing its meaning. There can be only one base Product Pack for a Product.

The base pack cannot be deleted or deactivated. Changes to mapped Product logistics attributes are reflected immediately because those values are resolved rather than copied.

Where Product Packs come from

The Product Packs tab can show several sources:

• Automatic base — the mandatory one-unit Product Pack.
• Category default — a reusable Product Pack inherited from the nearest Category that defines packaging defaults.
• Product override — a Product-specific replacement for an inherited default.
• Product package — an additional Product-specific Product Pack.

Category defaults and the automatic base appear together. A Product-specific pack does not remove the base.

Category default packaging

A Category can define a complete set of default Product Packs for Products in that part of the taxonomy. Products inherit the complete set from the nearest Category in their hierarchy that defines packaging. Actualog does not merge several default sets from different hierarchy levels.

Use Category defaults when Products normally share the same sellable or shipping quantities. For example, a sensor Category can define a box of 10 and a case of 100 once instead of repeating those Product Packs on every Product. The automatic base Product Pack is still included separately.

Product-specific Product Packs remain available for exceptions. They can add another quantity or replace one inherited Category default without changing the Category definition for other Products.

Category logistics profile

A Category logistics profile describes how Products in that Category become usable logistics values. It is inherited from the nearest Category profile first and then from approved Universal Category profiles.

The profile has three parts:

• Shape says what kind of product is being described: non-physical item, rectangular solid, long rigid product, liquid in a container, bulk material, flexible bag, live transport, kit, roll, reel, and similar shapes.
• Rules map only shape-supported logistics roles to a Category source: Product attribute, Package, formula, sold quantity, not applicable, or blocked until packaging exists.
• Channel requirements decide which resolved values are required for each external system.

The available Product attributes in the Category logistics editor come from the live Category Attribute profile: current Category links, inherited parent links, and approved Universal Category links. A selected attribute must be part of that live profile, and its Measure must match the role. A Unit alone is not enough: an attribute measured in grams must still belong to the mass Measure, while an attribute measured in millimetres must belong to the length Measure. Product Pack runtime resolution uses the activated product template snapshot together with Product values, Package data, and explicit Product Pack overrides.

Product Pack overrides are not edited in the Category logistics profile. They are explicit packed measurements on the Product Pack and still have the highest runtime precedence when Actualog resolves logistics for a concrete trade unit.

Do not force every Category into weight, length, width, and height. Use a shape recipe instead:

For the automatic base Product Pack, Actualog may use product-level values directly only when the profile says unpacked shipping is valid. For a multi-quantity Product Pack, Product net weight can be multiplied by contained quantity, but shipping dimensions normally come from the physical Package or an explicit packed override.

Missing mappings, missing Product values, conflicts, or package-required states remain visible as unresolved logistics. Export preflight reports them; Actualog does not replace them with zero or invent a value.

Physical Package fields

Package Type

Package Type classifies the physical packaging form, such as Box, Bag, Drum, Reel, Pallet, or Container. Select the type first to limit the Package list.

For a new Product Pack, Package Type is derived from the selected reusable Package. It is not a second physical description. Legacy Product Packs without a reusable Package may retain their old Package Type as a snapshot.

Package

Package selects the named reusable physical material. The list contains:

• Company Packages owned and editable by the current Company;
• Application Packages maintained as shared master data.

The selected Package supplies its Package Type, package shape, external shipping dimensions, material, code, optional empty-package weight, and optional internal capacity. These values remain on the Package record so the same carton, drum, bag, reel, pallet, or container can be reused by many Products.

Use Manage Packages when the required physical Package does not exist. Do not create another Package merely to represent a different contained Product quantity; create another Product Pack using the same Package.

Package fit checks use known Product envelope and Package capacity values. They block physically impossible combinations, such as a rigid Product longer than the Package maximum content length. When the required values are unknown, Actualog marks the fit as needing review instead of guessing.

Product quantity fields

Quantity

Quantity is the amount of Product contained in one Product Pack.

Examples:

• 2 pieces in one carton;
• 10 metres on one reel;
• 25 kilograms in one bag.

Quantity is displayed without unnecessary trailing zeroes.

Measure and Measure Unit

Measure describes what is counted, such as item, length, mass, area, or volume. Measure Unit specifies the unit, such as piece, metre, kilogram, square metre, or litre.

The Product-level Category Measure and Measure Unit are selected by default. Only Measures enabled for Product and Category use are available. Changing the Measure is appropriate only when the Product can genuinely be sold using another supported basis, for example cable by length or bulk material by mass.

Do not use unrelated scientific Measures for Product quantities.

Advanced composition

Most Product Packs directly contain a measured Product quantity. Use Advanced composition only for a real packaging hierarchy.

Contains

• Measured Product quantity — this Product Pack directly contains the Product quantity entered above.
• Another Product Pack — this Product Pack contains a number of an existing inner Product Pack.

Inner Product Pack

Select the lower packaging level, for example:

• a case contains 12 orderable boxes;
• a pallet contains 40 cases.

Inner quantity

Enter the number of inner Product Packs contained in the outer pack.

Actualog blocks self-references and packaging hierarchy cycles. Create inner levels before outer levels.

Packed weight fields

Gross weight

Gross weight is the measured shipping weight of the complete Product Pack: contained Product plus all packaging and packing material.

Use an explicit Gross weight when the real packed result is known. It takes precedence over calculated values. Do not enter the empty Package weight here.

If explicit Gross weight is absent, Actualog resolves weight in this order:

1. explicit Product Pack weight overrides;
2. Product net weight multiplied by Product quantity;
3. optional reusable Package empty weight added to net weight.

Unknown values remain unknown and are reported by export preflight. Actualog does not invent packaging weights.

Weight Measure Unit

Use grams or kilograms. For a new Product Pack, Actualog preselects the Product weight unit from the Category logistics profile when that unit is supported.

Resolved logistics provenance

The Product Pack editor shows where each logistics value came from:

• Explicit means the Product Pack owns the packed value.
• Package means the reusable Package supplies the packed value.
• Product attribute means the value is read from the Product through the Category logistics profile.
• Formula means Actualog derived the value from approved shape parameters, such as pipe length and diameter.
• Blocked until package means the Product cannot be exported as a physical offer until a transport Package or packed override exists.
• Not applicable means the Category is non-physical or the role is intentionally outside the product's logistics model.

Marketplace connectors consume the resolved values according to their own contract. Google can omit shipping measurements unless the Channel Profile requires them. Yandex Market, Wildberries, Alibaba ICBU, and AliExpress need positive packed dimensions and gross weight for physical orderable listings. Amazon is validated against the fetched Product Type Definition schema instead of a hardcoded Actualog rule.

Roles

Roles are independent. One Product Pack may have more than one role.

Customer unit

Marks a trade item presented to a customer as one recognizable unit. Use it for the level that has customer-facing identifiers, labeling, or marketplace identity.

Examples:

• one retail bottle;
• one manufacturer-defined box containing two sensors;
• one bag sold as a named trade item.

Customer unit does not by itself create a price or make the pack orderable.

Can be ordered

Allows this exact Product Pack to appear as an independent offer in a Sales Catalog. Each orderable Product Pack can have its own price, currency, stock, minimum order, order increment, preparation time, and enabled state.

Clear this role for logistics-only hierarchy levels that customers cannot order directly.

Shipping unit

Marks a logistics level used for handling or transport, such as a case, pallet, or container. A Shipping unit may contain another Product Pack and may also be orderable.

This role helps integrations interpret packaging hierarchy. It does not automatically create freight charges or stock.

Status

Active

An Active Product Pack can be used by new Catalog offers, Product Identifiers, stock records, and packaging hierarchies.

Deactivate a Product Pack when it should no longer be selected but its existing references and history must remain valid.

An unused Product-specific Product Pack can be deleted. A Product Pack referenced by a Catalog offer, stock record, identifier, or another Product Pack cannot be deleted; deactivate it instead.

Product Pack identifiers

Use the Product Identifiers tab to assign an identifier to the exact Product Pack.

Examples:

• Product GTIN for one base unit;
• a different GTIN for a manufacturer box of 10;
• pallet GTIN for a shipping unit.

Marketplace export selects the identifier of the Product Pack used by the Catalog offer. Do not reuse the base-unit GTIN for a different trade item.

Creating a Product Pack

1. Open the Product and select Product Packs.
2. Select Add Product Pack.
3. Choose Package Type and then a named Package.
4. Enter the contained Product quantity and confirm its Measure Unit.
5. Enter Gross weight only when the actual complete packed weight is known.
6. Select the roles that match how this pack is presented, ordered, and shipped.
7. Keep Active selected and save.
8. Add a pack-level Product Identifier when the pack has its own GTIN or other code.
9. Open the Sales Catalog and create an offer for this Product Pack.

Example: sensors sold individually and in boxes

A sensor Product may have:

The Catalog may enable the one-piece and two-piece offers with different prices and stock. The shipping case can remain non-orderable.

Common mistakes

• Do not put price, currency, stock, or minimum order on the Product Pack. Those belong to a Sales Catalog offer.
• Do not create a new Package for every Product quantity when the same physical Package is reused.
• Do not enter Package dimensions again on the Product Pack unless a true Product Pack override is required.
• Do not mark every hierarchy level as Customer unit or orderable.
• Do not enable Merchant-created multipack for a manufacturer-defined box; that setting belongs to the Catalog offer and has a narrower marketplace meaning.

Related topics

• Packaging
• Logistics Shape Profile
• Package Types
• Packages
• Products
• Commercial Offer
• Sales catalog
• Product mass update