EcomSupport360 developed a brand new custom apparel business’s product configurator from scratch on PrestaShop 9, offering multi-side design editing, real-time pricing and a completely native, future-ready eCommerce experience with no data loss.

CUSTOM T-SHIRT CONFIGURATOR: ADVANCED PRODUCT CUSTOMIZATION FOR ECOMMERCE

The Business Needs

Outgrowing a Legacy Platform That Could No Longer Keep Up.

Florian Rotermund’s online custom apparel company used PrestaShop 1.6, an outdated platform that is no longer being supported with modern features or security patches. The module for the T-shirts had been created for the old version, and it was impossible to make it compliant with current web standards, which poses a serious security hazard in addition to its functional limitations.

The old building was stifling the business at an opportune moment. With soaring and ever-evolving customer expectations for rich and interactive product customization on mobile and desktop, the legacy system simply could not enable multi-side editing of designs, real-time pricing calculations and the layered design elements that modern custom apparel buyers are now demanding.

The only viable option to not only update the tech stack but to completely reimagine the custom T-shirt configurator was to rebuild it on PrestaShop 9’s newest architecture to ensure full compatibility, scalability and a vastly improved customer experience.

About Our Client

Florian Rotermund is an eCommerce Custom Apparel company in Germany that specializes in creating personalized t-shirts and branded products for people who want to have full creative control over their design, text, images and branding.

Our Approach

Reconstructing from the ground up, not patching the past.

We decided to start afresh, rather than trying to patch and incrementally update the old configurator; the architecture of PrestaShop 9 was completely different from 1.6, and a new, purpose-built solution was the only way to do it right.

The very first step of our work has been analyzing the structure of the PrestaShop 1.6 module and the current configurator’s functionality so that none of the features was lost in the process of transition.

The main focus of our development was to integrate deeply with the native systems of PrestaShop 9: product management, shopping cart, checkout system, order workflow, etc. so that the configurator would feel more like a part of the platform, than a plug-in add-on. Thanks to the modern and clean codebase of PrestaShop 9, we also made sure that our client was set up for easier long-term support and further enhancements.

Throughout the frontend build, user experience and performance were top priorities. We optimized the live canvas interactivity, transitions, and rendering, ensuring a seamless experience on all devices, and performed cross-browser testing to ensure that all users have a consistent experience regardless of which browser they are using.

The whole system has been designed with the scalability in mind, allowing easy integration of new product types, design layers and customisation options in subsequent phases.

Team members

30+

Development Days

8.5

Complexity Score

100%

Custom Built

The Solution

A Fully Custom T-Shirt Configurator Built Natively for PrestaShop 9.

We performed a complete 9 migration to PrestaShop, combined with a completely redesigned, high-powered and feature-packed T-shirt configurator, built on the most recent PrestaShop architecture and built to be as efficient, compatible and scalable as possible.

Phase 1: Platform Migration

Migration to PrestaShop 9 without losing any records.

The foundation itself had to undergo a change before any new feature could be built. We performed a full migration from PrestaShop 1.6 to PrestaShop 9, ensuring all data was intact, including all business-critical data.

Transferred product information, order history and customer information to PrestaShop 9
Migrated data in accordance with complete data integrity, no data loss.
Re-constructed platform foundation on the modern and future-proof architecture of PrestaShop 9

Phase 2: Configurator Rebuild

A Native, Feature-rich Alternate to the Legacy Module.

After installing the platform foundation, we created a new T-shirt configurator from scratch as a native PrestaShop 9 module, rather than a porting of the previous version.

Created a 100% custom configurator module designed to fit PrestaShop 9’s structure
Multi-side design editing was implemented, enabling customers to use three different design panels: front, back and side.
Introduced support for layered design components such as text, uploaded images, clipart and coloring fills, and provided position and z-order control for them.
Developed a dynamic real-time pricing engine that updates automatically on the fly with customizations, quantities, colours and design complexity.

Phase 3: Integration & Cross-Device Optimization

Making the Configurator Feel Like a Native Part of the Store.

The last phase was to integrate the configurator into the shopping experience and make it perform perfectly anywhere it would be deployed.

Made the configurator fully functional with PrestaShop 9’s shopping cart, checkout, and order management systems
Ensured that products are properly flowing in the purchase process from beginning to end without data loss.
Provided a fully responsive and optimized desktop, tablet and mobile experience
Thoroughly tested in all browsers to ensure a uniform experience for all customers

Key Features

Multi-Side Design Canvas

Design every panel, not just the front.

Interactive canvas allows independent design of front, back, and sleeve panels
Gives customers full creative control over every visible part of the garment
Replaces the legacy module’s limited single-side editing capability

Layered Design Elements

Text, images, and color, all working together, all under control.

Supports multiple overlapping layers including text, uploaded images, and clipart
Independent positioning and z-order control for every layer
Enables far more sophisticated designs than the previous platform allowed

Real-Time Price Calculation

No surprises at checkout, the price updates as the design does.

Dynamic pricing engine reflects cost changes instantly as customizations are made
Accounts for quantity, color selection, and overall design complexity
Builds buyer confidence by making pricing fully transparent throughout the design process

Real-Time Preview

See exactly what you’ll get, before you order it.

Instant visual updates show the product as it will actually be printed
Reduces returns and disputes caused by mismatched expectations
Makes the customization process feel responsive and trustworthy

Layer Management & Undo/Redo

Creative freedom, without the fear of mistakes.

Full layer management with reordering, grouping, and deletion
Complete undo/redo history so customers can experiment freely
Save-and-resume functionality lets customers finish a design later

Cart & Order Integration

Every customization, carried through perfectly to checkout.

Configured designs pass all customization data accurately into the cart
Order records include full design specifications and print files
Eliminates the data loss and mismatch issues common with bolted-on configurators

PrestaShop 9 Native Architecture

Built into the platform, not bolted onto it.

Module built fully to PrestaShop 9 standards, with no compatibility workarounds
Ensures long-term stability and compatibility with future platform updates
Provides a clean, maintainable foundation for future feature additions

Cross-Device & Cross-Browser Performance

One consistent experience, wherever customers shop.

Fully responsive and functional across smartphones, tablets, and desktops
Tested extensively across Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge
Optimized assets and rendering keep the configurator fast on every device

Final Outcome

A Future Ready Custom Apparel Platform On Time.

We finished the PrestaShop 1.6 to PrestaShop 9 migration process in 7 weeks and successfully created the fully custom T-shirt configurator, which is a big improvement in functionality, speed, and user-friendliness.

The new configurator is fully compatible with PrestaShop 9’s internal system, which means that it remains stable and compatible for the future updates of the platform.

On the new platform, users no longer have to navigate the menus to select the appropriate item to edit; they can edit multiple sides at once and get real-time previews of the file, features that were unavailable on the old platform, not to mention dynamic pricing.

The organization and code that can be easily maintained provides a solid base for future improvement and further development of the system, such as additional product types, advanced design programs, and extended customisation features, making it possible to sustainably grow the company in the competitive custom apparel market

Metric	Result
Custom Module Rebuilt for PrestaShop 9	100%
Data Loss During Migration	0%
Design Complexity Successfully Delivered	8.5 / 10
PrestaShop 9 Native Architecture Integration	100%

Custom T-Shirt Configurator with Advanced Product Customization for Ecommerce