How to Create Customizable Products in Shopify

December 9, 2024

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You might have heard that a Shopify product customizer is an essential tool for store owners who want to offer a personalized shopping experience. Still, you don’t understand why since Shopify offers customization options 🤔

However, if you have a Shopify store, you might also have noticed that Shopify's default customization options are limited. Shopify allows each product only three options and a maximum of 100 variant combinations. For stores looking to offer a personalized experience with multiple choices for customers, these constraints can be restrictive. But don’t worry, there is a solution to this!

Read on to learn how to overcome Shopify's limitations and introduce extensive, interactive customization options for your customers.

The Importance of Offering Customizable Products

Customizable products are a powerful way to differentiate your store and create a memorable shopping experience. Allowing customers to make a product their own, whether by choosing colors, adding text, or uploading images, gives them a personal connection to the item and your brand. Customization matters for several reasons:

💚 Enhances customer engagement: 

When customers can interact with a product and make it unique, they’re more engaged in the buying process.

💚 Increases sales: 

Customizable products often have higher perceived value, allowing you to justify a premium price.

💚 Builds brand loyalty:

Customers appreciate having the freedom to create products tailored to their preferences, which encourages repeat business.

However, Shopify's built-in limitations on product options can make it hard to meet these expectations. This is where a customization app such as Customily can bridge the gap.

Limitations of Shopify Default Product Customization Features

Shopify provides a streamlined way to set up products, but it doesn’t natively support the level of personalization many sellers need. Let’s take a closer look at some of the constraints:

💚 You have three options per product. Shopify limits each product to three options (like size, color, and material), which can be restrictive if you need multiple custom fields.

💚 There is a 100-variant limit. Shopify generates a variant for each unique combination of options, but the total number of variants cannot exceed 100. For example, if you have a shirt with five colors, five sizes, and two sleeve lengths, that alone would exceed the Shopify variant limit.

💚 Most important of all, it offers limited visual customization. There’s no option for real-time visual previews, which can reduce customer confidence when they can’t see what their customizations will look like.

To address these limitations, you’ll need to turn to a product customization app like Customily, which seamlessly integrates with Shopify and enables a wide range of customization options.

Customily demo store

Customily: A Powerful Tool for Product Customization

Customily is a feature-rich app designed to extend Shopify functionality by offering extensive personalization options. These are five benefits that you can get from integrating Customily into your Shopify store:

💜 Unlimited customization fields

With Customily, you’re not limited to three options per product. You can add as many customizable fields as you need, including text, photos, clipart, colors, and even special add-ons like street maps, star maps, crossword puzzles, and many more. 

💜 Live product preview

Customily allows customers to see a real-time preview of their customized product. For example, if they’re adding a personalized name or choosing colors, they can see these changes reflected instantly. This reduces guesswork and helps customers feel more confident in their purchases.

💜 Image and design uploads

Customers can upload images or designs directly to the product, a feature perfect for stores selling personalized gifts, T-shirts, mugs, or accessories.

💜 Print-on-demand integration

Customily integrates seamlessly with print-on-demand services, streamlining the customization-to-fulfillment process. This is particularly beneficial if you use POD for custom products, as orders go straight to production without manual intervention.

💜 Easy setup and user-friendly dashboard

Customily offers a straightforward setup process, allowing you to quickly add customizable options to your products and easily manage all customization options through its intuitive dashboard.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Set Up Customily on Shopify

Follow this easy step-by-step guide to integrate Customily with your Shopify store and set up customizable products.

💜 Install Customily from the Shopify App Store

Visit the Shopify App Store, search for Customily, and click “Add app” to install it on your Shopify store.

💜 Create customizable templates

Using Customily’s templates, you can set up designs with all the customizable fields you want to offer customers, like text input, file uploads, dynamic images and maps, image filters, and more. Customily’s flexible interface allows you to tailor fields for each product type.

💜 Set up a real-time preview

Apply your designs to your products and get them published in your Shopify store automatically, including a live preview feature so customers can see a visual representation of their customizations in real-time. 

💜 Connect to print-on-demand services

If you’re using a print-on-demand provider, integrate Customily with your POD service. This way, orders will be processed automatically and sent for printing with the customer’s specifications. The provider you select will complete the production and fulfillment stages, so you won’t need to worry about these steps of the purchase.

💜 Optimize your product pages

Make sure your product pages highlight the customization options available, including visual cues and sample images of popular designs. This helps customers understand the possibilities and guides them through the customization process.

Shopify app store to download customily

Customizing products on Shopify allows you to provide a tailored shopping experience that stands out from competitors. While Shopify's default settings limit customization, integrating an app like Customily unlocks almost limitless possibilities. 

Customily not only lets customers add personal touches to their purchases but also integrates seamlessly with print-on-demand services, making it easier to handle fulfillment.

Whether you’re new to e-commerce or looking to expand your existing offerings, Customily provides the tools to elevate your store and offer products customers can truly call their own. 

Start using Customily today and watch your store grow with the added value of personalized products! 🚀

Happy Customizing! 💫

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Sara Selva

​Sara Selva is a copyrwriter writer at Customily, passionate about crafting engaging content that celebrates the art of personalization. Her enthusiasm for creating unique, tailored experiences aligns seamlessly with Customily's mission to empower businesses in offering personalized products.

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Logo of Johnnie Walker, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom gifts.Logo of HBO, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom merchandise.Logo of Kipling, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom bags.Logo of Mattel, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom merch.Logo of Stanley, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom drinkware.Logo of Heinz, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom packaging.Logo of Mont Blanc, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom pens.Logo of PaperSource, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom stationery.
Logo of Johnnie Walker, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom gifts.Logo of HBO, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom merchandise.Logo of Kipling, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom bags.Logo of Mattel, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom merch.Logo of Stanley, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom drinkware.Logo of Heinz, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom packaging.Logo of Mont Blanc, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom pens.Logo of PaperSource, a top customer using our product personalizer for custom stationery.