Are you maximizing the business value of your 3D configurator? Or still debating whether you should deploy one or not? Implement and scale it in the right way, and it becomes an indispensable, revenue-generating asset for your furniture business.
Like any other digital marketing or sales tool, your configurator needs to be part of your marketing and sales strategy. Otherwise, it could remain hidden in the depths of your website: collecting dust and costing you sales.
Here’s how to turn your 3D configurator into a revenue driver.
The potential wins of a 3D configurator
3D commerce has many potential benefits for your business. To maximize its business value, you need to be aware of all the advantages that come with a 3D configurator. Perhaps you need a convenient way for customers to configure a complex piece of furniture? Or maybe, you’re looking to reduce costly returns?
Whatever the reason, being aware of all the potential benefits is the first step toward increasing the value of your 3D configurator. Here are some potential wins for furniture brands when deploying one:
- Increase conversions by enabling people to customize features like colors, fabrics, and dimensions, and visualizing those changes in real-time. A 3D configurator helps increase consumer confidence in their choices.
- Decrease churn rates by enhancing customization and visualizing changes, helping customers with their purchases and guiding them towards completing the sale.
- Speed up quoting and improve pricing accuracy for configurable furniture products, using a 3D configurator equipped with pricing and business rules. By adding a visual layer to the CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) system, turning it into Visual CPQ, you allow users to see exactly what they’re ordering in realistic detail. It simplifies complex pricing, streamlines quoting, and minimizes order errors.
- Reduce return rates by enabling customers to preview the final product in highly realistic 3D – closely aligning it with their expectations and minimizing the chances of disappointment.
- Make cost savings by implementing virtual showrooms and reducing the necessity for physical showroom models. Utilize realistic 3D virtual experiences of products, eliminating the need for extensive photography or artist renders for every product variant in catalogs or online visual commerce.
- Gather data and actionable insights from customer interactions through the 3D configurator, informing product offerings, and marketing strategies.
- Enhance customer experience through realistic 3D visualization – such as Augmented Reality (AR) and room planners – aiding customers’ understanding of how the furniture will look in their own spaces.
- Increase customer satisfaction with the final product by offering configuration and customization options, empowering customers to personalize furniture according to their preferences.
- Brand differentiation by elevating the customer experience and increasing engagement through 3D technology.
Winning ways to scale your 3D configurator
To optimize the business value of your 3D configurator, you need to carefully consider all the possibilities for deploying it across online and offline channels. Rather than hiding it away inside a product page on your website, consider bringing it to the forefront of your sales and marketing efforts so it becomes an additional USP.
Pushing it across multiple channels helps extend your reach into both new and existing customer bases, enhancing your brand’s visibility and providing customers with multiple touchpoints for interaction and configuration. Use the following table to help you decide where to scale it, and how:
Mobile apps
Develop mobile apps that embed your 3D configurator for on-the-go configuration and shopping.
Social Media
Use social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest to showcase 3D configurator experiences and engage with potential customers.
Digital Advertisements
Interactive Kiosks
In-store Tablets
Booth Installations
Product Demonstrations
Why a 3D configurator is the beating heart of sales
A 3D configurator is not just a ‘nice-to-have’ tool for sales and marketing. It’s much more than that. It’s an essential piece of versatile technology that adds real value to your sales process and company results. As revealed in our recent white paper, furniture manufacturers that have already implemented one, are able to monetize existing 3D models and bring a new and powerful dimension to their sales process.
Investing in and fully embracing your configurator demonstrates your commitment to meeting the evolving needs and preferences of your customers. In today’s digital age, consumers expect immersive and interactive experiences when making purchasing decisions, and a 3D configurator delivers precisely that. By offering customers the ability to visualize and customize their furniture options in real-time, you enhance their shopping experience and increase their confidence in their buying decisions.
Integrating a 3D configurator into your sales process enables salespeople to leverage customer configurations during consultations, reducing communication errors, and eliminating a lot of manual work. It allows sales teams to efficiently guide customers through design and customization, streamlining the path from exploration to conversion.
Connected to your ERP system, a 3D configurator ensures accurate order management and fulfillment. Once a customer finalizes a configuration, your sales team can capture and process the order immediately. This minimizes errors and reduces delays. It also facilitates valuable data collection and insights from interactions, informing future strategies and product enhancements tailored to evolving customer needs.
3D configuration for furniture from iONE360
To truly maximize the revenue-generating potential of a 3D configurator, you need software that’s built for configuring furniture, and a vendor that truly understands the furniture industry.
With over 40 years experience, Colijn IT (the company behind iONE360) is the ultimate visualization partner for furniture brands. In fact, we already work with some of the biggest names in Europe. Here’s what our unique, ERP-based platform – iONE360 – can do for you:
- Configure products in high-quality, interactive 3D
- Generate photorealistic 2D product images, automated, and on demand
- Add next-level extensions, such as AR and 3D room planning
- Push your catalog throughout your supply chain, including 3D configurations
- Enable dealers to easily embed your 3D configurator in their website