Shopify product customizers continue to spring up as the demand for personalized products increases online. New machine technologies have played a key role in this shift, where individual items can now be created in minutes without sacrificing efficiency on the shop floor.
Small manufacturing shops are relying more and more on these customizers to be able to pass on the art files that they need in order to complete the jobs that their customers give to them. As we assess all of the customizers below, we will ask a few questions, including:
- Who is this customizer made for?
- What is the cost?
- What features set this customizer apart for the niche that they are serving?
- What is the workflow for the order and the art files in the backend of the customizer?
So, without further adu, here are the list of customizers that we will be digging into:
Riverr
You knew this was coming right? Well in any case, we are going to attempt to debias this as much as possible.
So what is Riverr? Riverr is a product customizer, but it is actually an order management system at its core. It is the only multi-channel order management system specifically designed for print businesses (That we know of). The problem with this in the print world is that an order management system itself is not enough because of the impact that the print file has. That is why we also have a complete production workflow module in the backend to process the orders efficiently as well as the product customizer in the front end to bring those print files into the oms.
Who is this product customizer made for?
Riverr is ideal for most print companies, including DTG and DTF, screen printers, embroiderers, sublimation, and more.
What is the cost?
There are various tiers depending on your needs, but the customizer is completely free! We want to help you scale, so whether you have 1 order or 10000 this month, this plan is always free. For more information about our pricing, check out our pricing page.
What features set this customizer apart for the niche they are serving?
The most important part about Riverr is that it is an end-to-end solution. This means that you will not have to purchase an oms and a backend solution to put it all together.
If that wasn’t enough, we also include image color detection and stitch estimators to ensure that pricing is correct without having to reach out to you first.
Product Options & Customizer
From their website: Overcome Shopify's product variant limitations - create unlimited product options fields for all your store's products, with add-on pricing, conditional logic, AJAX cart compatibility, swatches, file upload, and more.
Who is this product customizer made for?
Because of the way this customizer is set up, it allows it to have a very broad user type. This is because it does not actually apply customizations to products. Instead, it has simple text boxes next to the product image where it asks for inputs from the user.
What is the cost?
Their basic plan starts at $19.99 and the advanced plan comes in at $99.99 per month.
What features set this customizer apart for the niche they are serving?
Like I mentioned above, their user base is very broad because of the way their customizer works. The upside of this is that it is relatively easy to set up and it is also easy to use for the end user. The downside is that it makes it limited for specific use cases.
Inky Bay
From their website: Inkybay - Product Customizer is a web-based application which provides ultimate solution for business owners who want to enable self-customization options on their online stores. So, the customers can easily personalize the products according to their requirements, and place an order, and the store owners receive the print-ready vector files eventually.
Who is this product customizer made for?
This product customizer is made primarily for the print industry but can be used across a range of industries. Unlike the previous customizer, Inkybay does allow you to make live changes to a product so that you can see the mockup in real time. They also have specific pricing options available that also cater to the print industry.
What is the cost?
The pricing for this app starts at $19.99 for 10 products and 20 orders per month and goes all the way up to $249.99 per month for the highest plan.
What features set this customizer apart for the niche they are serving?
There are very niche features that are designed for print businesses. This includes items like names and numbers for backs of jerseys, glitter as a print color, multiple print locations and types for single products, etc.
Zakeke
From their website: Don’t settle for ordinary shopping experience when you can add a powerful and complete Visual Commerce tool for your store, enabling your customers to custom-design any products at their fingertips both online and instore.
Who is this product customizer made for?
This is a great customizer for those who have complicated custom products. This is because they have an intuitive 3D designer that will allow you to customize any area on the product and see real time updates. This designer is great for packaging, purses, shoes, and other similar items.
What is the cost?
The pricing starts at $19.00 plus a 1.9% fee on every order. The most expensive plan is $99 plus a 1.7% transaction fee.
What features set this customizer apart for the niche they are serving?
Zakeke has a very high quality 3D product configurator. They do not focus on a certain niche, but if you have a very complicated product that needs a high level of customization and a real time render for the product, then this customizer may be for you.
Although there are other options out there, these are the most common options in the Shopify App store. Each one of these options has its strengths and weaknesses based on the type of customer you are.
Our only advice is to try a few of them out and use the one that fits your needs the best. If you have any other apps that you would like to add to this list, please reach out to us and let us know!
