Previous
2D and 3D product configurators are great for companies who sell highly customizable products. They also benefit business models focusing on B2B sales, and companies who already use 3D product and product component models. In this post, we’ll look at some leading brands using 2D / 3D product configurators, and showcase a range of use cases for these tools.
More and more brands in 2021 are utilizing visual product configurators, both 2D and 3D, to showcase wide ranges of customizable products online. Visual product configurators allow brands to not only create stronger product presentations for both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sales, but also to streamline time-to-market for new product content in a cost-efficient manner.
For consumers, visual product configuration tools provide an overall better sense of the products online. More importantly, they help to become familiar with the brand’s complete range of product customization options, models, and designs. This helps consumers feel confident they are making a purchase from a position of knowing all the options available to them and being able to choose something that meets their individual needs and preferences.
Whether it’s footwear and fashion, cosmetics, furniture, sporting goods or any customizable product in general, there are many valuable use cases for configurable product experiences from today’s leading brands. Let’s now look at 3 of these examples, and more specifically at what 2D and 3D visual product configurators do for these brands and their products.
Some strong use cases of visual product configurators in action come from Nike, Kiko Milano, and NZ Aerosports. These brands in particular demonstrate what configurable product experiences can do for a range of different types of products. They also provide some interesting examples for visual product configurators in general.
While Nike isn’t the only footwear brand utilizing visual product configurators, Nike’s shoe line (Nike By You) serves as a strong example of this technology in use. With complete customization options for color and individual component parts, Nike provides consumers with a way to participate in the creation process and design shoes that are truly unique.
This design-your-own product experience includes a step-by-step building process which begins with users selecting their footwear needs from sport or lifestyle. They can then customize shoes for any type of activity (walking, running, athletics, golf, etc), and from there have access to a range of customization options according to their chosen style of footwear.
Users can configure nearly any element of the shoes, from the model of footwear to the colors, textures and designs of individual components like mudguards, laces, airbags, text, logos and more. The only limitation to Nike’s configurator is the lack of zoom features or 360-degree viewing, but the tool does provide a series of multiple close-up images to showcase the results from all angles, top to bottom.
Zooming out further, the next noteworthy example of a 3D product configurator comes from NZ Aerosports, a designer and manufacturer of Icarus Canopies parachutes. This brand was able to take their product experience to the next level with the help of Emersya, a platform for fully interactive 3D product experiences and configurators for e-commerce.
NZ Aerosports needed to enhance the user experience of their visual product configurators, but they also wanted to be able deploy new product models easier and in a way that could link with their ordering management system and their production line. Together with Emersya, they were able to do all of this and create a unique way to customize canopies with a paint feature that users can now click to change.
Another use case of product configurators is for selling cosmetics with customizable elements. Among other cosmetics brands now taking advantage of this technology, Kiko Milano presents a good example of what a product configurator can do for skin-care products and cosmetics for the eyes, lips, and face.
With Emersya’s configurator technology, Kiko Milano launched a new in-store concept to allow shoppers to customize the content and packaging of their lipstick, mascara and brushes. There are predesigned icons and customizable fields for text, all which consumers can preview on-the-fly, as well as select, order, and print custom engravings inside the store.
If your business sells complex, customizable, or configurable products, there is no better way to showcase their moving parts and features than with a visual product configurator. Both 2D and 3D configurators allow for product experiences that are as impressive as they are informative.
Whether it’s for business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B) sales, product configuration software will ensure your sales presentations leave nothing to the imagination.
If you’d like to learn more about visual product configurators to meet your needs or how PhotoRobot can help, contact us today. One of our technical specialists is on standby to schedule a free 1:1 consultation.
