My kids want to start a little home based business So they ended up buying a friend of theirs business because she was going to university and now I’ve been tasked with trying to set up something on Shopify.
Because phone cases there’s many different versions of the three main devices which are iPhone, Samsung, Pixel and then on the first two there’s like 60 different phones for Samsung and iPhone.
So the general idea is a customer will come to the site they’ll have a choice to pick predefined design that my kids made or they can upload a design they would like us to use for them for example, family pets, family photos and Favorite sports team etc etc etc.
Now this looks nice neat and clean However for the Premade designs we have a library of well over 500 So in my head that’s 500 designs for every model number of each device which to be honest seems overkill that would be 500 * 60 = 30,000 data entries.
I was wondering if there was a way to change the device from the current buttons to maybe a drop down menu and then add an additional variant where I can list off all the different designs.
To be honest I don’t like the drop down menu but because there are 60 plus devices and 500 plus preconfigured designs I’m thinking that’s the only way to set this up so it’s more efficient.
If anyone has a better idea on how I might be able to set this up or a post or video of someone who’s done something like this somewhere else I would greatly appreciate sharing that information with me or making suggestions on what I should look at or consider doing.
On the flip side we have these really cool Magsafe cases coming in which will be slightly higher than the existing stock so it would be like an upgrade but it gives people wireless charging and you can end up putting a magnet or a popIT on it that is removeable So that again is going to add 60 plus devices for that product line for that specific case type.
I feel like I bit off more than I can chew so any suggestions on how I should organize or clean this up or how I could set it up would be greatly appreciate it by me and my children.
First off, that’s awesome what you’re doing with your kids, love that you’re helping them kick off a creative business like this. And you’re right, phone case variants can get out of hand fast if you try to manage every combination manually.
You definitely don’t want 30,000 variants, Shopify will cap out long before that anyway (it allows 100 variants per product). Instead, here’s a better approach that’ll keep things tidy and scalable:
Or upload their own photo directly on the product page
This method keeps it one single product but lets people build their custom case dynamically without creating endless variants.
Organize your designs in collections
Instead of linking 500 designs as variants, create “Design Collections” (e.g. Floral Series, Pets, Sports, Abstract) and use a picker or link that brings users to a gallery where they choose their favorite design before returning to the main product page.
For Magsafe or premium upgrades
Treat those as add-ons or separate products, not variants — for example, a “Magsafe Upgrade” checkbox or a small upsell popup (apps like Bold Product Options or YMQ Options can handle that too).
If all these are feeling too technical since it’s something you just got into and not much expertise in, I can help set up the structure and guide you on which apps and layout will keep it visually clean while handling uploads and custom requests smoothly.
and super careful of using other brands names on a store it’s the easiest way merchants get shutdown.
Yes if it’s not already a theme setting(did you check?), then it’s an advanced theme customization or app.
For any theme just search first: *theme name* variant dropdown
And that’s not even the tip of the information architecture iceberg with products like this.
Are you selling designs, or someone else’s cases.
If sell designs then the navigation and product structure should be setup for that as you could just be doing this backwards.
Reach out if your serious and have a budget for exploring these customizations with or without apps.
Use product options apps for custom combinations
Organize your designs in collections
For Magsafe or premium upgrades
and super careful of using other brands names on a store it’s the easiest way merchants get shutdown.