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15.2. Creating Rental Item Sets
Arctic gives you the ability to create sets of rental items that can be rented as a single item. This is especially handy, for example, if you have a camping gear package that you rent for $50 per day that includes a backpack, a tent, a sleeping bag, and camp mat. Using the rental item set feature, you can create a rental item that is called "Camping Gear" and tell Arctic that it is a set of items and what items make up the set. You can still manage pricing, attachments, forms and online rental information as though the set were a single rental item. When you rent the rental item set, Arctic will allocate each item in the set for the appropriate time frame. This saves time when booking rentals because you can rent everything in your camping gear package with one click rather than having to select each individual rental item contained in the package. It will also make it easier for your guests to book these items online and ensure that they get each piece of gear they need.
To use the Rental Item Sets feature you must first enable it by going to the "Settings" page under "Rentals" and clicking the "Pencil" icon next to "Enable Rental Item Sets".
On the "Configure Setting" page, click "Yes" to enable the rental item sets feature and click "Save Setting" to save your changes. Now that the Rental Item Sets are enabled, you will see a new tab added to the "Create New Rental Item" or the "Update Rental Item" pages shown here:
On the "Set Items" tab, click the blue "+ Add Item in Set" to add an item to the rental item set.
Arctic will add the following form to the "Set Items" tab.
The "Include" drop down field is where you will select an existing rental item from your existing rental items to include in the set.
(Note: you can only choose items that are already in your rental item inventory to be included in a rental item set. If you need an item that you have not yet created in your rental item inventory, you will need to click "Submit" to save your progress on the Rental Item Set and then create the item you need. Once the item has been added to your rental item inventory, you can go back to the Rental Item Set and add it to the Set Items.)
Next, you will tell Arctic how many of the item the set needs by completing the "Quantity" field. This essentially represents how many of the included item should be allocated per one of the main item rented. For example, if the quantity field is set at two and a guest rents three of the main item, then six (2 × 3) of the included items will be allocated.
Finally, you can tell Arctic how long the included item should be allocated. If you need an hour to prepare the specific included item before your guest picks it up the set then you will enter 1 hour before the main item starts in the first allocation field. If you need additional time to clean the item before it can be rented again, you will enter, for example, 2 hours after the main item ends in the second time field. If neither of these scenarios apply to the item you are adding to the set, then you can leave the both allocation fields at 0 and the included item will be allocated for the length of the rental chosen during the rental creation process. These allocation times allow you to manage your inventory precisely so you can get the maximum amount of usuage out of your items as well as ensuring that you do not over extend your inventory.
You will click the blue "+ Add Item in Set" for each different item that is contained in the rental item set you are creating and complete its accompanying form.
In the example below, we are creating a rental item set for a Two Person Canoe Kit so the completed "Set Items" tab looks like this:
Notice, that for this set we have included 2 life jackets since this is a 2 person kit. However, we only need 1 canoe for the kit because it can be shared by two people. Also notice, that we have allocated the life jackets for 15 minutes more than the duration of the rental. This means that if the rental starts at 1 and ends at 4 then the life jackets will be put back in the available life jacket inventory at 4:15. This gives time to rinse and re-stage the life jackets for the next guests. The canoe is allocated for 45 additional minutes because more time is needed to clean and prepare it for the next set of guests. Each item in the set can have its own allocation times.
After all of the items have been added to the set and you have completed all of the other tabs for the new rental item set including the General, Pricing, Forms, Attachments and Online Reservations tabs. You can scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Submit" to save your new rental item set.
Now, you are ready to start renting the new set. To rent your new set you will go to the "Create Rental" page and select the business group the set belongs to. Then choose it from the available items shown.
Arctic will display the number of sets you have available based on the inventory availability for each item in the set and how many sets you told Arctic you could make. For instance, you may have 200 canoes and 400 life jackets but only want to offer 50 Two Person Canoe Kits even though you have the inventory to make 200 kits.
Once you complete the rental, Arctic will allocate each item in the set according to the duration of the rental chosen by the guest and the allocation times you set when you created the rental item set.
If you view the "View Usage" page for the rental item set, you will see the number of sets included in the rental for your guest as well as a box detailing the items included in the set.
If you click on the name of one of the items in the "Set Includes" box, Arctic will take you to the "View Usuage" page for that item. As you can see, Arctic lists that there are 2 life jackets included in the set. If you click on Life Jackets, you will see that there are 4 life jackets allocated for the rental for Big Bird because he rented 2 Two Person Canoe Kits.
Also notice that the life jackets are put back into the available inventory 15 minutes after the rental ends. This is based on the allocation time entered for the life jackets when the rental item set was created.
You can also use the overall allocation report to see a summary of all items included in the rental.