How to Create a Digital Product Passport for Your Shopify Store

What You Need Before Creating a DPP

Before you start creating Digital Product Passports, gather as much product data as you can. You don't need everything on day one, but the more you have upfront, the faster the process goes.

Data you likely already have in Shopify:
- Product titles, descriptions, and images
- SKUs and barcodes
- Variant information (sizes, colors)
- Vendor/brand names

Data you'll need to add:
- Material composition (fiber types and percentages)
- Manufacturing country and facility details
- Substances of concern (if any)
- Recycling and care instructions
- Environmental impact data (carbon footprint, water usage)

Don't let missing data stop you from starting. You can create a partial DPP now and fill in gaps as you collect information from your suppliers.

Step 1: Install and Connect Your DPP Tool

For Shopify merchants, the simplest approach is to use a DPP app that integrates directly with your store.

Install Passtiq from the Shopify App Store. The app connects to your Shopify admin through Shopify's standard OAuth flow, so there's no API key setup or technical configuration needed.

Once connected, the app automatically syncs your product catalog. Product titles, descriptions, images, SKUs, barcodes, and variant data all flow in from Shopify. This saves you from manually entering basic product information.

The sync is ongoing. When you update a product in Shopify, the changes reflect in your DPP tool automatically.

Step 2: Fill In the DPP Data

With your products synced, open any product to start creating its passport.

The DPP editor is organized by the ESPR data categories:

Manufacturer information - Enter the manufacturer's name, address, and registration details. If you use a EU representative, add their information too.

Material composition - Add each material component with its percentage. For a product with multiple components (like a jacket with shell, lining, and insulation), you can add materials for each component separately.

Substances of concern - If your product contains any restricted substances, declare them here. If not, you can mark the product as containing no substances of concern.

Sustainability metrics - Carbon footprint, water usage, recycled content percentage, and other environmental data points.

End-of-life information - Recycling instructions, disassembly guidance, and disposal recommendations.

Each field includes a brief explanation of what the regulation expects. You can save your progress at any time and come back later. The editor auto-saves as you work.

Step 3: Publish Your DPP

When you've filled in the required fields, hit Publish. This does three things:

Creates a public passport page. Each published DPP gets its own URL where anyone can view the product's passport data. The page is mobile-optimized, loads fast, and includes all the data you entered.

Generates a QR code. The app creates a QR code that links to the public passport page. You can download it as SVG (for print) or PNG (for digital use).

Updates your Shopify product. The app stores the passport URL as a product metafield, which your theme extension can use to display a DPP badge on your product pages.

You can bulk-export QR codes for your entire catalog if you need to update packaging for multiple products at once.

Step 4: Add QR Codes to Your Products

The QR code is the physical link between your product and its digital passport. It needs to be somewhere customers and regulators can easily find and scan it.

Common placement options:
- Product hang tags
- Care labels (sewn in)
- Product packaging
- Product page on your website (for digital-first verification)

For physical placement, download the SVG version of your QR code and send it to your label or tag printer. SVG files scale to any size without losing quality.

For your Shopify storefront, Passtiq includes a theme extension that adds a "Digital Product Passport" badge to your product pages. Customers can click it to view the full passport. No code changes needed. Just enable the block in your theme editor.

Tips for Maintaining Your DPPs

Creating a DPP isn't a one-time task. The regulation requires passports to stay accurate throughout the product's lifetime.

Update when materials change. If you switch suppliers or change material composition, update the passport. The data must reflect what's actually in the product being sold.

Keep passports active. DPP data must remain accessible for the product's expected lifetime plus ten years. Don't delete passports for products you've discontinued.

Review periodically. Set a quarterly reminder to review your DPP data. Regulations may update requirements, and your supply chain data may change.

Start with your best sellers. If you have a large catalog, prioritize DPPs for your highest-volume products. Expand coverage over time as you build your data collection process.