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Why use a product configurator to sell custom shirts?
Without a product configurator, selling custom shirts feels like guesswork. Customers fill out forms, click through dropdowns, tick a few checkboxes… then cross their fingers. You send mockups, reply to emails, double-check specs. It’s clunky. It’s slow. And it breaks the spell of a magical buying experience.
A product configurator software changes that. It gives your shoppers the wheel. It lets them choose product options like fabrics, colors, cuff and collar styles, buttons, and even add a monogram — all while seeing their shirt come to life in real time within an interactive interface, showcasing what the final product will be like. This level of personalization allows customers to create a unique piece tailored to their preferences, enhancing customer satisfaction and eliminating the need to sift through a traditional product catalog. They see their design before they buy. That builds confidence. It makes the experience fun. And when customers enjoy the process, they’re more likely to buy, and come back for more.
For your business, the benefits are just as real. Fewer errors. Fewer back-and-forths. Higher engagement. Better margins. You’re not just selling a shirt, you’re offering an experience that scales.
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That’s why brands like Proper Cloth and Hockerty rely on visual product configurators to power their custom shirt sales. And with the right setup on WooCommerce, you can too.
Essential tools & plugins you’ll need
To build a seamless, high-converting custom shirt experience on WooCommerce, you’ll need three core components working together: your e-commerce platform, a powerful product configurator, and quality visuals driven by 3D modeling.
Ecommerce platform
The backbone of your online store. WooCommerce lets you manage products, process orders, and handle payments. If you’re serious about selling online, this is where it begins.
Product configurator platform
This is where the magic happens. Kickflip transforms your static product page into a dynamic, interactive experience. Customers can choose colors, fabrics, styles, and see it all update in real time. It’s fast, intuitive, and built to work beautifully with WooCommerce. You can simply start by creating your Kickflip free trial, and then connect it with your Woocommerce Store.
3D modelling and rendering software
To create a dynamic, high-quality product preview, you’ll need a 3D model of your shirt. This model should accurately reflect the shape and proportions of your shirt, including all the customizable elements—collars, cuffs, buttons, and more. You’ll also need fabric textures for every material you plan to offer, so customers can see exactly how their shirt will look.
While you could build your configurator using high-resolution photos, that route becomes quite complex and time-consuming. You’d need to photograph every options — every collar style, every cuff, every button — all perfectly aligned and lit.
That’s where 3D shines for that king of product. It’s faster, more scalable, and gives you pixel-perfect control. You can generate photorealistic renders that feel real and polished, while keeping your workflow streamlined. In short, for a shirt configurator, having a 3D model gives you a cleaner, more flexible foundation.
For 3D modeling, rendering and textures, consider tools like:
CLO 3D – Built specifically for apparel with realistic fabric simulation.
Blender – A powerful and free option for custom modeling.
How to prepare assets for custom product visualization
From your 3D model, you’ll need to export transparent PNG files for each customizable part and fabric variation — collars, cuffs, buttons, textures, and so on. These files will be layered in your configurator to create a smooth, real-time preview with perfect alignment.
Make sure every PNG shares the exact same dimensions — this is key. Matching sizes ensure that all elements align correctly on top of one another, no matter which combination the customer selects.
Here are some example PNGs available for download.
Offering plain color options?
If you’re offering plain color options for your custom shirts, Kickflip’s dynamic coloring feature can streamline your workflow and enhance the customer experience. Instead of rendering a separate image for each color variation, you can apply colors dynamically to a single desaturated image, allowing customers to see real-time color changes without the need for multiple image files.
To utilize this feature, ensure your base images are desaturated — ideally, close to white — to allow the dynamic colors to display accurately and vibrantly. This approach will not only save you setup time but will also make your customizer load faster.
For a step-by-step guide on applying dynamic colors to images in Kickflip, refer this help article: Applying colors on an image.
Want help creating this imagery?
We’ve partnered with professionals who specialize in apparel modeling and rendering. If you’re looking for expert support to create your shirt assets, feel free to reach out to some of our expert partners.
Styling your product configurator
After installing Kickflip and integrating it with your WooCommerce store, you can tailor your product configurator to align seamlessly with your brand’s identity. Kickflip offers two distinct, fully customizable themes:
Booklike Theme: Ideal for products with fewer customization options. This theme presents all choices on a single page, allowing users to scroll effortlessly through available configurations. It’s perfect for a streamlined, intuitive customization experience.
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Barebones Theme: Suited for more complex use cases with product containing numerous customization steps. This theme displays each question on a separate page, guiding users through the customization process step by step, ensuring clarity and focus at each stage.
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Both themes can be extensively customized using Kickflip’s Theme Editor. You can adjust fonts, colors, layout elements, and more to ensure the configurator reflects your brand’s look and feel. This flexibility ensures a an unlimited cohesive shopping experience, reinforcing brand recognition and trust.
Creating your product customization experience
Creating questions and answers
In Kickflip, crafting your product configurator revolves around two core elements: questions and answers. Questions are the prompts you present to customers — like "Choose a Cuff Style" — while answers are the selectable options, such as Angled, Rounded, Square, or French.
When setting up a question, you’ll define both an input type and a display type:
Input Type: Determines how customers interact with the question. Options include:
Thumbnail Buttons: Visual selections with images.
Dropdown Menus: Compact lists for multiple choices.
Radio Buttons: Standard circular selectors.
Label Buttons: Text-based options.
Color Picker: For selecting custom colors.
Text Input: Allows customers to enter custom text.
File Upload: Enables image or logo uploads.
Checkboxes: For selecting multiple options.
Display Type: Controls how the selection affects the product preview. Options include:
Image: Displays a specific image based on the selection.
Color: Applies a color overlay to the product.
Logo: Places an uploaded logo onto the product.
Text: Adds custom text to the product.
For instance, if you’re offering various cuff styles, you might choose Thumbnail Buttons as the input type to provide visual options, and Image as the display type to show the selected cuff style on the shirt preview.
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When setting up answers in Kickflip, you can upload images for each thumbnail to help customers choose visually—but more importantly, you’ll also upload the images that represent each cuff option in the actual shirt preview. When a customer makes a selection, Kickflip instantly displays the corresponding image on the product, updating the preview in real time.
Once you’ve set up the cuffs, simply repeat the same process for each component of the shirt—collars, buttons, sleeves, fabrics, and more. Step by step, you’ll build a complete, interactive experience where every selection comes to life in real time.
Custom text functionality
Want to let your customers add their name to the shirt with embroidery? Just create a Text question in Kickflip.
The text will appear directly on the shirt preview — simply drag and drop it into the right position. You can also set a character limit to keep things clean and consistent.
If you’d like to offer font choices, add a Font question and upload your own font files as answers.
Want to let customers pick the text color too? Create a Text Color question and define the available options.
It’s that easy to give your customers a personalized touch.
Creating logic rules
Rules in Kickflip let you guide customers toward valid product combinations and prevent ones that don’t make sense. Whether you want to restrict certain choices or automatically select others, rules help ensure every configuration looks just right.
You create rules using plain language, like: "When Sleaves is Short, then Choose a Cuff Style should be unavailable". This makes it easy to build logic into your configurator without needing to code.
Rules are also great for conditional questions. For example, you can ask “Add embroidery?” with options like “Yes, please” or “No, thanks.” If the customer selects yes, then your embroidery-related questions — like custom text, font, and thread color —can appear automatically. Smart, simple, and seamless.
To create a rule:
Open your product in Kickflip
Click the "Logic" button
Click "+ Add rule"
Create your rule and click "Add"
Setting your product price
With Kickflip, pricing your product is simple and flexible. You can set a base price for your shirt, then assign additional costs to specific options—like premium fabrics, monogram embroidery, or special cuff styles.
As the customer designs their shirt, Kickflip automatically calculates the total price in real time, reflecting their choices instantly. The final price is then passed directly to the shopping cart, ensuring a smooth, transparent checkout experience.
To set the base price:
Open your product in Kickflip
Click on the Pricing tab
Under Base price, type in your base price
Hit the Save button
To set an extra price:
Open your product in Kickflip
Click on the Pricing tab
Within the Extra price container, click on + Add extra price
Select the question and answer for which you want to add an extra price
Enter your extra price
Click on Add
Hit the Save button
Integrating the product configurator to your website
To integrate a Kickflip product into your Woocommerce online store, begin by logging into your Kickflip account. Navigate to the product you wish to add and ensure it has been published. Next, open the Connect tab within the product settings. Click the Connect button, and Kickflip will automatically create a corresponding product in your online store, embedding the customizer directly into the product page.
From there, make sure your product is published and its catalog visibility is set to appear in your shop... and just like that, your custom shirt configurator is live. You’re good to start selling! ✨
Final thoughts on product configuration
In a world of off-the-rack, giving customers the power to make something truly their own through product customization is a game-changer. By setting up a product configurator for custom shirts on WooCommerce with Kickflip, you’re not just adding a feature — you’re creating an experience. One that’s interactive, premium, and designed to convert.
From crafting beautiful visuals with 3D renders to building intuitive, logic-driven questions, you now have everything you need to bring your custom shirt vision to life with various product variants, enhancing the overall product experience. You’ve seen how easy it is to design, price, and publish your product configurator — and more importantly, how much value it adds for your customers and your business.
Your configurator is more than a sales tool. It’s a creative space, a brand statement, and a reason for customers to keep coming back. Now it’s your turn. Build something remarkable.
Let your customers create something that’s uniquely theirs with Kickflip. Start your free trial today and bring your custom shirt experience to life.
FAQs
Can I offer unlimited product options?
Yes, with Kickflip, you can offer unlimited product options for your customizable products. This means you can provide as many customization choices as you like — such as colors, sizes, materials, text inputs, image uploads, and more —without being constrained by the typical limitations of e-commerce platforms.
Is Kickflip mobile-friendly for customers shopping on phones?
Yes, Kickflip is fully mobile-friendly. The product configurator is designed to work seamlessly across all devices — including smartphones and tablets — ensuring your customers enjoy a smooth, intuitive experience whether they’re customizing on desktop or on the go.
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