Everyone knows the product grid. Row upon row of pictures of goods for sale. Sure, some ecommerce stores spruce up their grids with filters, multiple images, product descriptions, and the like, but at the end of the day virtually all 2D stores have the same user experience.

What does that experience look like for you, the hopeful seller? According to research, a conversion rate in the range of 2.5-3%, and a return rate at around 18%. 

Millions of businesses use Shopify to sell their goods. Think of all the time you put into building out your Shopify store. Don’t you think you deserve better than a 3% conversion rate?

Something needs to change. The issue isn’t Shopify. It’s the grid.

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Move from 2D to 3D

Brick-and-mortar stores don’t rely on the grid. That’s why seasonal displays, endcaps, and other special features exist. They break up the usual flow of things. 

The 2D web doesn’t have the real estate for anything similar. Instead, you get the same old grid on virtually every site. Some ecommerce sites serve up sponsored or suggested items, but then it seems like those same products get repeated every 3-4 rows.

You can walk into a store. Why can’t you walk into a website?

Now you can.

This is where immersive 3D stores shake up the status quo. You can create curated navigational flows to ensure that visitors see what you want them to see, or opt for a completely immersive experience that lets visitors explore your space. 

Those calls to action that are so obvious in the brick-and-mortar context are now back in play.

You can do this already with iR Studio. On top of that, iR Studio integrates with your Shopify store so you can easily pull in the products that matter most to your company or your customers. 

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iR Studio and Shopify

So, what does the iR Studio Shopify integration look like? You have a couple of options for how to set up Shopify in your iR Studio account.

The Setup Wizard

iR Studio features a Setup Wizard that walks you through setting up your immersive 3D space. The Shopify integration is part of this process.

First, create a new project and add a new scene. This kicks off the Setup Wizard. After selecting your template and exterior view, it prompts you to connect your Shopify store.

Click Continue to input your Shopify credentials.

To connect your store, you’ll need the domain address of your Shopify store and an API key for your store. If you’re not sure where to find that information, there are more detailed instructions in the iR Studio documentation.

This video provides a quick overview of how to navigate your Shopify account to find the information you’ll need for iR Studio. 

Once you successfully connect your store, iR Studio automatically pulls in your products. As you continue through the Setup Wizard, iR Studio prompts you to add items to the displays in your space. 

You can scroll through the list of products, select the one you want, adjust the display size, and move on to the next one.

The Dashboard

You can also add your Shopify credentials directly to your project. This is nice because whenever you create a new space, the Setup Wizard automatically pulls in the credentials, so you don’t have to enter them every time you create a new space.

To do this, when you’re at your project dashboard, simply click the Configure button.

This takes you to a new screen and you’ll see Shopify listed in the Plugins section. Enable Shopify and add the same API key and domain address you would enter in the Setup Wizard.

The next time you create a new scene in the same project, you just need to click through the Setup Wizard because your credentials will already be there.

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Embracing 3D

An immersive 3D ecommerce store is a great way to differentiate your company from all the other 2D websites out there. iR Studio also lets you take advantage of all the work you put into your Shopify store. It can pull in any 2D assets you want, plus any 3D assets you already have. We’re actively working on tooling to turn 2D images into 3D assets, as well as improving the look and feel of 2D images in 3D stores.

The point being, a totally 3D experience may be the ultimate goal, but you don’t need to wait until you have everything ready to go in 3D to start leveraging immersive experiences. Taking a crawl, walk, run approach, lets you get comfortable with immersive 3D spaces, while simultaneously leveraging the wealth of data you already have in your Shopify store.

So, ditch the grid. Upgrade to 3D. Let Shopify and iR Studio get you there.

Sign up for iR Studio here.