The advent of eCommerce stores started a new battle between online and brick-and-mortar stores. By delivering a highly convenient shopping experience, eCommerce stores were able to gain an edge over their brick and mortar counterparts. However, there was a section of people who preferred brick-and-mortar stores as they were able to feel and experience the product, which was not the case in eCommerce stores.
Eccomerce stores realized this and introduced new features that made the shopping experience at par with that of the offline store. The addition of images and videos was part of the same strategy. However, even then, they were not able to win customers’ trust, especially when it came to customized products. Then came the 3D product configurator. A 3D product configurator is emerging as that pawn on the chessboard, which might help ecommerce stores to win against offline stores. It is because it efficiently fills the gap between what customers wanted from online stores and what those stores were offering.
With cutting-edge features like 3D visualization, easy customization, dynamic pricing, etc., the 3D product configurator offers top-notch customization and shopping experience to all the customers. In simple words, 3D configurator has become the need of the hour for those eCommerce stores that want to leverage customization to increase their sales. If you are also one of those eCommerce store owners, keep reading this article as we discuss why you should not miss out on a 3D configurator.
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Customers Have Moved on 2D Product Pages
Today, customers expect end-to-end customization services that offer a rich customization experience. You will struggle to deliver what customers want if you still use traditional product pages. With 2D images, customers cannot be sure of their customization options. They cannot experience their customized product in 2D images. This may cause customer dissatisfaction and cause an increase in return rates. The 3D configurator lets customers view their customization options in 360 degrees and from all angles. It helps them to have an in-depth knowledge of the product from every angle. Some configurators also help to disassemble, reassemble, and rotate products. 3D product configurator can play a decisive role in boosting user engagement in your store.
Make Your Customers Project Themselves
Today, the eCommerce business is rapidly moving from brick and mortar stores to the online space. In such a time, if your business requires customers to visit your showroom for custom orders, you need to do a lot of introspection for your strategy. It is because in-store customizations are not scalable in today’s day and age. If this is your only customization option, you will struggle to compete with businesses across the globe.
Earlier, the disadvantage of online shopping was that customers were not able to know what exactly they were buying. It was because they were not able to see and touch the product. They were not able to feel the fabric, cut, texture, etc.
However, a 3D product configurator helps businesses to transform and manipulate the product. It does this by projecting the object’s shape, scale, size, etc. This offers a highly immersive experience to the customers. This experience is no match to that of a normal image. It enables customers to study colors and materials in detail. Customers can also configure complex products with numerous combinations of textures, colors, parts, and other elements.
Saves Money With Fewer Returns
As per the NRF, only in the USA, $218 billion worth of items were returned in 2021. This constitutes almost 20.8% of all the purchases made. High return rates have always been a problem for eCommerce stores. Inability to visualize details due to the absence of images and 360 product viewer is one of the biggest reasons for returns. This usually creates a gap between what customers expect and what you deliver. We can further break this into four reasons why customers return. These reasons are:
- Defective products – 5%
- Buyer’s remorse – 37.2%
- The description did not match the actual characteristics – 39.8%
- Others/ not specified – 18%
Here, the second and third reasons that form the highest proportion of all are interesting. It is because they indicate customers’ regret. It shows that customers feel they have made a mistake as the product is not per their expectations.
If we compare this with the 3D configurator, there is an almost 35% reduction in the product return. The reason behind this is obvious, customers who customize and configure the products themselves are less likely to make a mistake. It is because they will customize and configure it to their liking and taste. In addition, a 3D product configurator enables customers to see the estimated cost of their product as they are configuring it. This also helps them to configure and customize as per their budget.
Results in Higher Sales and Better ROI
When you offer product customization, your sales team have to navigate back and forth with the customers across various media like emails, call, and messages to reach a quotation for their customized choices. This is quite a time and energy-consuming process. Also, there is a high chance of errors depending on the magnitude of the preferences. And even if you manage to do all this, your customers can still be dissatisfied with the final product, leading to lower customer satisfaction and higher returns.
A 3D product configurator acts as a savior in this case. It funnels customers through the whole buying process. One major thing to note here is that it does not involve their sales staff in it. In this, customers customize and configure while getting a quotation for the same, all these without speaking to the salesperson.
Conclusion
3D configurator adds a new dimension to your customer experience, leading to customer satisfaction and overall sales. A 3D product configurator is simply the ticket to success if you want to win the customization game. With higher customer satisfaction, reduced returns, and reduced costs, the 3D configurator helps you to grow your eCommerce business exponentially.