Testing with select customers

Before rolling out Instant Art Kit to all your customers, you may want to test with a small group first. This helps you validate your setup, gather feedback, and ensure everything works smoothly before going live.

Recommended approach: Product duplication

The easiest way to test Instant Art Kit with select customers is to duplicate your Shopify product and assign it to a separate product template. This keeps your main product unchanged while letting testers experience the full flow.

Step 1: Duplicate your Shopify product

1. Go to your Shopify admin
2. Navigate to Products
3. Find the product you want to test with Instant Art Kit
4. Click the product to open it
5. Click More actions → Duplicate
6. Give it a clear name like “Diamond Painting Kit (Beta Test)“

Step 2: Create a test product template in Shopify

1. Go to Online Store → Themes
2. Click Customize on your active theme
3. Navigate to the duplicated product page
4. In the top bar, click the template dropdown (usually shows “Default product”)
5. Click Create template (or Duplicate existing template) and name it something like “product-beta-test”
6. Save the template

Step 3: Map the duplicate product in Instant Art Kit

1. Open your Instant Art Kit dashboard
2. Navigate to Products → Create product
3. Select your duplicated product from the dropdown
4. Link it to your template and configure variant mappings
5. Save the product

Learn more about product mapping →

Step 4: Add the Instant Art Kit button to the test template

1. Go back to Shopify theme customizer
2. Open the product page using your new test template
3. Add the Instant Art Kit block in or under the product information section
4. Customize the button appearance if desired
5. Save your changes

Learn more about theme setup →

Step 5: Share with testers

Copy the URL of your duplicated product and share it directly with your testers. You can also email the link to a select group of customers to invite them to try the new feature. Since it’s a separate product using a different template, your main product remains unchanged.

Alternative testing methods

Hidden collection testing

Create an unlisted collection containing products with Instant Art Kit enabled:

1. Create a new collection in Shopify (e.g., “Beta Testing”)
2. Add your IAK-enabled products to this collection
3. Set the collection visibility to Hidden in your theme settings
4. Share the direct product URLs with your testers

Products in hidden collections don’t appear in navigation or search, but are accessible via direct link.

Draft product testing

Use Shopify’s draft status for completely private testing:

1. Set your test product status to Draft
2. Use Shopify’s preview feature to generate a shareable preview link
3. Share this preview link with your testers

Draft products are invisible to the public until you publish them.

Advanced methods

For more sophisticated testing approaches like customer tag-based display or percentage-based rollouts, you can use Shopify’s Liquid templating language. These methods require custom code in your theme.

Learn more about Liquid →

Best practices for testing

1. Start small: Begin with 5-10 trusted customers or friends who can give honest feedback

2. Test the full flow: Have testers complete an actual order, including checkout, to verify everything works end-to-end

3. Set clear expectations: Let testers know this is a beta test and you’re looking for specific feedback

4. Document issues: Keep track of any problems or confusion points to address before full rollout

5. Test different scenarios: Try different image sizes, file types, and product variants

Measuring success

Monitor test print jobs

Check your Instant Art Kit print jobs to see test orders coming through. Verify that:

• Print jobs appear correctly in the dashboard
• Production files generate as expected
• All variant information is captured correctly

Learn about print jobs →

Gather qualitative feedback

Beyond metrics, talk to your testers. Their direct feedback about the experience is invaluable for identifying improvements.

Going live

Once you’re satisfied with your testing:

1. Enable on your main product: Add the Instant Art Kit button to your main product template
2. Keep or remove the test product: You can delete the duplicate or keep it for ongoing testing
3. Monitor initial orders: Keep an eye on your first real orders to catch any issues early

Next steps