For clients who want to buy personalized items, one of the most significant obstacles are not seeing what their product will look like, honestly. Many customers are afraid of purchasing things that are created to order since they’ve had bad experiences in the past. They may have bought something that they thought was excellent, only to get an entirely different product in the mail. That poor experience might be exacerbated by difficulties in returning personalized things purchased online.
Customers can overcome their concerns about acquiring a personalized product thanks to visual configurators.
What Exactly Is A Visual Configurator?
Using a visual configurator, clients can see how their product selections will look before they buy them. Rather than imagining what the result would look like in their heads, they can see it right in front of their eyes.
Take, for example, the case of an internet search for a new automobile. A visual configurator may show you an animated 3D representation of the car that changes colours as you choose from the many paint choices. You can immediately see the spoiler and leather seats in the 3D model if you upgrade to a higher specification. Customers are more confident in their purchases because they have a sense of control and ownership over their assets, which increases their likelihood of making more purchases in the future. A visual configurator transforms the whole client experience.
Visual Product Configurators (Vpcs) Of Several Kinds
Static 2D and Interactive 3D visual product configurators may assist your consumers in better understanding what they’re purchasing.
- Two-Dimension Visuals
There is no movement in 2D product visualisations. This means that the picture isn’t fully swivel-able, but consumers may use buttons to modify the image’s component sections.
- 3D Visuals That Can Be Interacted With
A 360-degree view of a 3D visual product configurator is possible because of responsive design. Additionally, customers may modify the configurable sections (e.g. features, colour schemes) exactly as they would with a 2D configurator, which allows them to examine the product from every perspective. With interactive 3D, furniture visualization is taking off. It’s the most excellent method to ensure that customers know precisely what they receive from a high-stakes online transaction.
There Are Several Reasons To Use A Product Configurator
According to research, customers will switch to a competitor’s product if the former’s experience is superior. Your company’s long-term success depends on creating a pleasant customer experience, which involves eliminating friction, relaxing anxieties, and providing precisely what consumers anticipate.
A few examples of how visual product configurators may help eCommerce businesses:
Increased Customer And Visitor Engagement
It’s easy to think of some of the most memorable movie sequences, such as Jack Dawson on the Titanic’s bow or Dorothy and her friends on the yellow brick road. In western culture, even if you’ve never watched Titanic or The Wizard of Oz, you’re virtually likely familiar with the allusion if you grew up in that environment.
Imagination is a powerful tool. You can connect with people via graphics since our brains process them 60,000 times quicker than they can through words. Visuals are the best technique to draw in and hold on to the attention of your audience.
More than any other aspect, including star ratings and suggestions, 83 per cent of customers regard product images as the most convincing reason for purchasing.
Customers that use Threekit’s visual product setup report a 40 per cent improvement in conversion rates and a 20 per cent rise in average order value on average.
There Will Be Fewer Returns
Customers are less likely to return products if they know what they’re buying.
How much less is probable? This may have a significant influence on your bottom line since visual product configurators minimize returns by an impressive 50%. However, the expense of returns is not solely attributable to the costs associated with return shipping and handling.
A product that falls short of customers’ expectations may significantly impact future sales, as we discussed before. If you can considerably limit returns, this will positively impact your brand in the long term.
What more should we know about returns? They have a devastating effect on the environment since each cargo needs to travel twice because of this. Because of this, the order footprint expands, even more, when a consumer purchases a different product.
Because of the detrimental effect on the environment, 82% of consumers feel eCommerce firms have a duty to limit returns. 76% of consumers think they would return less often if online shops supplied better accurate photos and descriptions—and that’s entirely in your hands to improve.
Scalability
At this point, traditional photography is rendered an obsolete by-product visualisation software. For a particular product, a photograph is only helpful for one shot. When you photograph a bike helmet, the only thing you get is a single image of a single product taken from several angles. The requirement for a fresh set of photographs will arise when you grow your product line to include more possibilities (new colours, new component features). Each time you add a new option, the number of photos you’ll have to take increases. There comes the point when shooting all of those photos has a negative return on investment (ROI).
Contrast this to a wholly built product, which can be rendered using visual product configuration. As a result, your picture collection may grow, and your highly customized items can be shown in any number of formats.
Assistive Technology
This technology became famous in 2016 with the rise of Pokémon GO, which allowed people to experience their childhood again via a smartphone’s camera to project virtual Pokémon onto the real-world backdrop in front of them.
Even if the Pikachu-hunting millennials have gone away, they’re now designing their houses using augmented reality—projecting virtual furniture combinations onto their living rooms to try out the furniture before making an order.
By the way, augmented reality isn’t only for millennials. See how Gen-Z is enthusiastically adopting this technology in our piece.
Product Configuration In A Visual Form
From B2C to B2B sellers, eCommerce organizations are employing product visualisation services to offer their customizable items through various channels. The following are a few instances of how Threekit customers have used the technology in their workflows.
Architectural Awnings And Pergolas From MASA
In addition to aluminium frames and canopies, MASA Architectural Canopies offers a variety of options for each product (with variations on mounting, drainage, lighting, and more). Detailed product descriptions may often overwhelm clients, but 3D product visualisation makes it easier for them to see all of the possible variations right once.
As a result, MASA may develop and scale its customization possibilities without spending a lot by producing representations of each component element. In other words, they won’t have to redo the mounting choices in the next edition if they want to establish a new product line that provides for similar mounting possibilities. To avoid this, they may include the same mounting options in the new product’s list of options instead.
Herman Miller Is A Well-Known Name In The Design
Herman Miller has been making award-winning office and home furniture for more than a century and is one of the most well-known brands in the industry. Providing consumers with the ability to test out their customizable office chairs before putting down a large sum of money is essential for a leading B2B vendor of quality furniture. Customers can change 27 aspects of the product using 3D visualisation technology. Rather than employing a configurator, Herman Miller would have to photograph every possible arrangement, resulting in 4,320 different products.
It’s evident that taking photos is a waste of time and money, but customers may make their dreams come true with a visual product configurator.
In terms of retail sales, few purchases have as much weight as home furniture. In the end, purchasing a new couch or dining room table might be rather costly. You’ll be reminded of your terrible error every time you see anything that doesn’t fit with your home style. As a result, Crate & Barrel’s revolutionary sectional planning tool employs visual product arrangements. Customers may use the sectional planning tool to design their sectional couches before purchasing them. With a single click, buyers can see how much space each component of the sofa takes up in their homes and determine the overall square footage of the couch. It’s also possible for them to change the couch’s fabric and colour.
Does Your Company Make Use of Visual Product Configuration?
The ability to configure a product visually is impressive, but let’s be honest—you need more than just the “wow” factor to make the purchase. For example, in the case of cat food, a 3D Meow Mix representation could not have much value.
So, who stands to gain by providing their consumers with a visual product configurator?
Complicated, Customizable Products Brands
Visual product configuration may be a tremendous asset for selling customizable things (such as garments and furniture).
In the first place, buyers want to see what they’re paying for before they part with their money. A pair of shoes with, say, five separate adjustable pieces may have hundreds (or even thousands) of unique combinations. If you don’t have a visualization tool, your buyers have to rely on their imaginations to determine what your product will look like. Customer satisfaction reduced returns, and greater engagement is all a result of a well-designed visual layout.
The second advantage is scalability, which is less visible. A 3D depiction of each product component allows you to reuse those components in future product offers. As an illustration of how easy it is to grow your product offers online, imagine creating a 3D depiction of a sofa’s colour and fabric and then using those components on another couch.
Businesses In The B2B Sector In Need Of Better Sales Support
Salespeople in today’s highly competitive marketplaces need every edge they can get. With the help of 3D product models, customers are more likely to buy from you. The stakes are high with 300 desks or 1,000 office chairs, and a customizable 3D model makes the process stress-free and straightforward for your clients.
Brands That Already Have 3D Models And Want To Maximize Their Potential
Some firms are already exploring 3D modelling and may even have a few 3D models of their most popular goods. Those firms may be considering expanding their activities and searching for the most efficient way ahead.
Visual product setup, specifically scanning individual product components, sets the scene for cost-effective expansion as their library increases.
Enhancing Your Business with Threekit Visual Product Configuration Using AR and MR.
Is your e-commerce business selling items that are difficult to customize? Is your company’s sales force in need of more effective sales enablement tools? Do you offer furniture or other things that buyers may virtually place in their own homes before buying them? If you responded “yes” to any of the following questions, Threekit might assist you:
Enhance the shopping experience for your customers by allowing them to see precisely what they’re purchasing before they make a purchase.
Reducing Returns
Enable a B2B sales team by providing them with practical sales tools.
Create 3D representations of your items’ components so you may use them again and over again as you grow your company.
Consumers can see furniture like sofas and tables in their homes using augmented reality. Threekit’s visual product configurator can delight your customers, keep them coming back, and propel your company ahead.
How Can I Include A Visual Configurator Onto My Website?
Threekit’s visual configuration tool is compatible with three major eCommerce platforms: Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce.
The New Version Of Magento
Our visual setup software may be quickly installed on your Magento shop. If you have a Magento shop, you may use our plugin for extensive configuration options. If the buyer decides to purchase the product, our technology instantly produces an order that meets the customer’s exact criteria, saving you time and money.
All 3D elements are readily managed so that you may keep your product data as distinct materials, textures, and models. Assembling instructions, cut patterns and CAD files are among the outputs that may be generated automatically.
WooCommerce
An easy-to-use plugin for WooCommerce lets companies integrate Threekit’s configurator with their site. Advanced configuration options like parametric and layered configuration are available to WooCommerce clients, as with Magento and Shopify. When a consumer purchases a bespoke product, the order is processed automatically. It’s also possible to manage all of your 3D assets separately and automatically produce CAD files, assembly instructions, and other manufacturing outputs.
Shopify
With our plugin, you can make use of the same benefits as our Magento and WooCommerce plugins. Automated order processing, 3D asset management, sophisticated nested and parametric configuration, and production outputs all contribute to this goal.
How Can I Construct A WordPress Visual Configurator?
Threekit’s visual product configurator may be integrated into a WordPress site using WooCommerce, a plugin for WordPress. Open-source plugin WooCommerce may be used to turn your WordPress blog into an eCommerce shop. To use our configurator platform with WooCommerce, you will need to have WooCommerce installed.
How To Implement A Visual Configurator In My Salesforce Shop?
Threekit’s visual product configurator can be integrated into your Salesforce shop, offering your sales staff easy access to a powerful sales tool. Salesforce CPQ, Salesforce Service Cloud, Salesforce Sales Cloud, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud are all supported by our platform.
How Can I Know Which Visual Configurator Is Best For My Needs?
Choosing the correct CPQ solution for your company’s requirements is critical when you’re looking for a visual tool. Make sure clients are immersed inaccurate visual representations of items by finding a configurator. Find a product configurator that is both simple to use and produces high-quality models that make setup straightforward. ‘
Product configurators with real-time pricing through price API should be sought after in addition to high-quality graphic components. A product’s pricing may be updated in real-time when cost-related parts are changed or replaced in the configuration. This means clients will get a clear picture of the product’s pricing depending on their input.
Wrapping Up
There are several types of software technologies that may be used to create visual product configurators, which enable e-commerce enterprises to display items that can be customized in many ways online. Products that may be customized in terms of their component components, designs, colour, and more may fall into this category. These tools allow customers to see, alter, and personalize things according to their own preferences and the available possibilities.
Photorealistic 3D renderings of your items may be generated with Threekit’s visual configurator. Customers may use the configurator to modify things, but we also simplify companies to upload configurable models and link them to eCommerce shops using our user-friendly platform. Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce and Salesforce are just some of the media that our platform can connect to.
You can trust our configurator for any company since it combines the best in quality, flexibility and simplicity of use.
